SATURDAY, JAN. 12

Bill Ross can really fucking put on a good show. And I don’t say that just because I happen to think he’s one of the dearest souls ever to walk the planet. Hosting the Vandelles, Stevenson Ranch Davidians, and LSD and the Search for God in Long Beach at the Prospector last Saturday, Billgazer presented us with some of the finest psyche rock out there to play these days. The bands soundtracked a lucid trip through the night, highlighted by projections from Billgazer’s paramecium lamp (it’s awesome) and experimental film from the ‘20s and ‘30s showing on the monitors. This kind of psych rock is the soundtrack to That Moment When with Special People You Love. It’s driving on the 10 towards nothing, blissful in the moment of Being. Psych and noise rock can either be aimless and entirely either unaware of or uncaring for who might be listening, or it can be blissfully full of notes wandering as if in a dream through the background. These bands are the better kind. Starting with the lullaby road-trip soundtrack that is Stevenson Ranch Davidians and traveling on through to LSD and the Search for God (possibly the best band name ever), the bands peacefully untangled their particular tapestries of noise and love. Ending with the Vandelles (who are surely a sight to catch) the night was topped only by the gorgeous vision of DJ Short Shorts, who spins everything from The Modern Lovers to the theme from Dr. Who. But actually, I might be making all of this up, because I think I dreamed all of this. Or did I? (CH)