I’m so glad there’s fantastic audio and video record of this singular, career spanning theater set by these psychedelic legends. This concert took place at my favorite venue in the United States, Red Rock Amphitheater. Concerts (outdoors) had only recently returned as the covid-19 pandemic wound down and this was one of the first performances in years for the band and most of the fans attending. Osees 5/15/21 was also an extremely large theater show for a group that continues to perform in medium sized clubs with mosh pits and stage diving- even as those shows have become multi-night runs that sell out 6+ months in advance.

After beginning the show inoculating Red Rocks and the bewildered Denver audience with a couple firey garage rock classics, Dwyer explains that tonight’s set is very much catered towards the venue and includes multiple live debuts. They start immediately with Scotum and Scorpious, the length centerpiece to 2019’s proggy Face Stabber and that’s just the beginning of two hours of heat.

They play stuff from as far back as 2009 when Thee Oh Sees were an instrumental figure in the blooming psych scene (and a refreshing dose of electric guitar rock in an era marked by groundbreaking electronic, folk and pop records.) Of course there’s also a whole lot of modern songs here written for the current 5 piece band and no side of this new era is neglected. They hit catchy and funky synth rock, lengthy progressive epics, absolutely brutal heaviness and full out hippy jams.

Osees does a great job of breaking up all these exclusives and choice cuts up with well loved live staples such as Fortress, The Dream, Web, Toe Cutter/Thumb Buster and more. The band’s pent up energy, creative and physical, comes through on these psychedelic classics. They’re great even among all the other times I’ve seen the band and all the other recordings I’ve heard. Iconic songs like The Dream are delivered tight with pristine vocals, thoughtful solos, and telepathic jams.

That night was a true celebration of Osees as a shining light on modern psychedelic/experimental rock and is an essential live recording. You can watch it on YouTube or download the files from slsk or from the unofficial Osees archive on Patreon (check it out for only $1 a month!)