Stoner Hands of Doom

Stoner Hands of Doom
Logo for the 2000 edition of the Festival.
Background information
Genre(s)	Stoner Rock, Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Traditional Doom, Sludge Metal, Psychedelic Rock
Date(s)	Various
Location	United States, Germany
Venue(s)	Various
Years active	1999 - 2013
Promoter(s)	Various
Associated Events	Eye of the Stoned Goat, The Maryland Doom Fest
Website	Official Page

Stoner Hands of Doom (Sometimes abbreviated as SHoD) was a festival run in different cities in the United States (Except for 2008 which was in Germany.) from 1999-2013 with a few short hiatuses. The festival was initially organized by Rob and Cheryl Levey to present a premier festival for doom metal and stoner rock bands.

1999

The inaugural edition of the Stoner Hands of Doom Festival was held on 14 August 1999. Initially the festival was held at The Bull Run State Park in Manassas, Virginia but sets were cut short due to a freak thunderstorm happening that day.

“	“The first SHoD was held at an outdoor venue in August after an entire summer of drought, not a drop of rain. At the moment Bobby Liebling (singer of Pentagram) arrived, the storm clouds appeared out of nowhere so suddenly that no one could even prepare, and we got what felt like a hurricane. One of the memories of that one was Wino on stage desperately trying to hold tarps down over the amps and everyone crowded under the tent we had and then the incredible coolness of everyone as we moved the whole thing to a club in Wheaton (Phantasmagoria).”	”
	— Cheryl Levey, Metallomusikum

Luckily, the remainder of the festival was moved to Phantasmagoria in Wheaton, Maryland that same evening. This festival was notable as being a billed reunion set for Revelation. Trouble billed this performance as "Their last performance ever" at the time, with Kyle Thomas (Exhorder) on vocals. Notably, Pentagram performed a one-song set as well. Bobby Leibling performed onstage with Rick Wartell, Ron Holzner and Joe Hasselvander performed "Relentless" as a bonus to festival attendees. The band also proposed other bands such as Volume, Drag Pack, Nebula, Sheavy and Internal Void.

Bull Run State Park	Phantasmagoria
Revelation (Reunion Set)	Leadfoot
Solace	Trouble
Las Cruces	Pentagram (One-song set with guests.)
Fireball Ministry	The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight
Pale Divine	While Heaven Wept
Smoke in Sunshine	Rotors to Rust
Warhorse	Spirit Caravan
	Penance
	Revelation (Reunion Set)

Smoke in Sunshine live at the first Stoner Hands of Doom (SHoD) in 1999

CLEARLIGHT - Live at S.H.o.D. 1999

Spirit Caravan - Phantasmagoria Weaton 99

TROUBLE -- Live at S.H.o.D. 1999

Bobby Liebling of Pentagram -- Live at S.H.o.D. 1999

2000

The second edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held at Nyabinghi in Youngstown, Ohio on September 2 & 3, 2000.

September 2	September 3
Raging Slab	Keelhaul
Bottom	Spirit Caravan
Red Giant	Boulder
Solace	Internal Void
Slowhorse	Penance
Earthride	Unorthodox
Oversoul	Gonzalez
Kung Pao	Pale Divine
Rebreather	Plaster
Dragon Green	Positraction
After The Sun	Soul Of The Earth
	Borgo Pass

2001

The third edition of Stoner Hands of Doom, now expanded to a three-day event, was held between October 5 - 7, 2001. It was held at The Red Blood Club in Dallas, Texas.

October 5	October 6	October 7
Dixie Witch	The Glasspack	Sourvein
Porn (The Men Of)	Las Cruces	Solitude Aeturnus
Burnout	Acid King	Witch Mountain
Mr. Plow	Place of Skulls	Oversoul
Super Heavy Goat Ass	Plaster	After The Sun
	Slow Horse	Die Daily
	Calamus	Well Of Souls
	Life Beyond	Soul Of The Earth
	Roller	Zero The Hero
	Thee Plague of Gentlemen	Santeria
	Mala Suerte	Sons of Serro
	IronKind

2002

The fourth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held from November 8 - 10, 2002. Notably, it was one of three times the event would be held at Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Arizona and also was notable for being a rare United States appearance for japanese stoner metal band Eternal Elysium.

November 8	November 9	November 10
Suplecs	Unida	Tummler
Sourvein	Witch Mountain	Sons of Serro
Dixie Witch	Eternal Elysium	Pale Divine
Carol Ann	Slow Horse	The Rubes
Marshan	Smoke in Sunshine	Graves at Sea
Pinky Tuscadero	Spiritu	Smoke
Super Heavy Goat Ass	Borgo Pass	Mountain Maker
Southern Gun Culture	Volume	Hillbilly Devilspeak
Nesta	Greenhouse Effect	Medea
Hognose	The Deed	Thee Plague of Gentlemen
	Floating Goat	Iron Kind
	Greenhaven	The Cremains
	Core Of The Earth	Solid Donkey
		Blackwater

2003

The fifth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held at Berbati's Pan in Portland, Oregon between August 29 - 31, 2003. Early on in the festival's booking it was originally planned to be the final edition but ultimately ended up not being the case. It would gain sponsorship by Relapse Records for the event. Also of note was The Prophecy, Mourning Beloveth and Orodruin participated in this festival during the Doomination of America tour.

August 29	August 30	August 31
YOB	Bottom	Totimoshi
Sunn O)))	Porn (The Men Of)	Subarachnoid Space
Morgion	Ludicra	Wormwood
Goatsblood	Fireballs of Freedom	Turbo 400
Floor	The Lizards	Hillbilly Devilspeak
Orodruin	Iommi Stubbs	Turambar
Graves at Sea	Fall Of The Bastards	Ten Miles Wide
Mourning Beloveth	Stovokor	Diesto
The Prophecy	Mountain Maker	M-Squad
God's Iron Tooth	Secret Order of Tusk	Sons of Serro
	Jecano	Greenhouse Effect
	Floating Goat	Argonaut
	Avoid The Future Shadow	Castrati
		Ditchliquor

2004

The sixth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held at Nyabinghi in Youngstown, Ohio from September 3 to September 5, 2004

September 3	September 4	September 5
Delicious	Sons of Otis	The Atomic Bitchwax
Beaten Back To Pure	Throttlerod	Solace
Fallopian Dudes	Rebreather	Orodruin
Headache	Unorthodox	A Thousand Knives of Fire
Lawnmower	Wretched	Black Nasa
	Secret Order of Tusk	Penance
	Cable	Burnout
	Wooly Mammoth	Test-Site
	Greatdayforup	Hyatari
	Rue	Devil To Pay
		We're All Gonna Die

2006

The seventh edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held after a short hiatus between from August 31 to September 3, 2006. For the first time the festival was held at two venues with the main portion of the festival being at the Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Arizona while the August 31 set was held at Chaser's in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Game Two Records and 13th Floor Records served as vendors for the event.

August 31	September 1	September 2	September 3
Smokey Mountain Skull Busters	Graves at Sea	Greenhaven	Middian
Hazard County Girls	Grey	Greenhouse Effect	Acid King
Dexter Jones Circus Orchestra	Deer Creek	Against Nature	Eternal Elysium
Mosara	Turambar	Golden Godz	Black Cobra
Suicide Circus	Salt Of The Earth	Valkyrie	Dirty Red
Inflatable	Reverend Doom	King Valley	Hazard County Girls
	Via Vengeance	Admiral Browning	Hognose
		Mos Generator	Sasquatch
		Dexter Jones Circus Orchestra	Iota
		The Cremains	Ditchliquor
		Sinister Farmers Big Machine	Automatic Animal
		SuperGiant	PB Army
		Dynamite Plan	Damnweevil
		Vincent Black Shadow

2007

The eighth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held between November 9 and 11, 2007 at the Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Arizona.

November 9	November 10	November 11
Sasquatch	Dixie Witch	Greenhaven
Against Nature	Bottom	House of Broken Promises
Black Hell	Blood of the Sun	HDR
Iota	Greenhouse Effect	Super Destroyer
Pinky Tuscadero	Supergiant	Husky
Electric Magma	The Cremains	Antique Scream
Enirva	Turambar	Via Vengeance
Iron of Odra	Devil To Pay	Chowder
	Swampbelly	Admiral Browning
	Floating Goat	Lovemound
	Hellrancho	Full Stride
	Space Truckers	Devil Riding Shotgun
	Telestrion	Worm-Hole
	Iron Mountain	Golden Pig Electric Blues Band
	Soul Broker	Ol' Scratch
	Eroder

2008

The ninth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was brought outside of the United States for the first time by booking group Caligula666. It was held on September 19 and 20th, 2008 at the Stadtgarten in Erfurt, Germany.

September 19	September 20
The Freeks	End of Level Boss
Greenhaven	Black Shape Of Nexus
Gorilla Monsoon	Beehoover
Obiat	Versus The Stillborn Minded
Mills of God	Petrified
Suffering Souls	Voltron
	Kodiak
	Holy Hydra
	Tortured Spirit

2009

The tenth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held at Krug's Place in Fredrick, Maryland from September 3 - September 6, 2009. Iron Horse Magazine was a partner for the festival.

September 3	September 4	September 5	September 6
Backwoods Payback	Valkyrie	Place of Skulls	Solace
Argus	Unorthodox	Earthride	Sixty Watt Shaman
Ol' Scratch	Professor Dark Project	Internal Void	Against Nature
Maegashira	Pale Divine	Sons of Otis	Flood Foundation
The Crimson Electric	Hatchetface	The Gates of Slumber	Elder
Ambition Burning	Borgo Pass	Devil To Pay	White Witch Canyon
	John Wilkes Booth	Admiral Browning	Nitroseed
		Telestrion	Black Pyramid
		Stone Axe	Electric Magma
		Sun Gods In Exile	Black Cowgirl
		We're All Gonna Die	Centrifuge
		Count Von Count	Nagato
		Armazilla	Cortez

2010

The eleventh edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held between August 12 - 14, 2010 at Krug's Place in Fredrick, Maryland. The tenth edition the previous year was intended to be the final edition at the time, according to Rob Levey:

“	“Cheryl and I just can't seem to let it go we love the music and the scene and just want to do our part as best we can. Honestly, we went to a Valkyrie show in Harrisonburg VA. Bible of the Devil was playing with them as well. But it was on a Wednesday and the show was very well attended. The energy and enthusiasm just overwhelmed plus both those bands jammed and it just motivated me.”	”
	— Rob Levey, Stoner Hands of Doom

The Gates of Slumber were intended to play on Friday but for unknown reasons canceled.

August 12	August 13	August 14
Negative Reaction	Earthride	Backwoods Payback
Apostle of Solitude	Blood Farmers	Hour of 13
Windhand	War Injun	Weed is Weed
Against Nature	Pale Divine	Lord
Ancient Astralnaught	Admiral Browning	Cough
Borracho	Lo-Pan	Nagato
	Electric Magma	Wrath of Typhon
	Iron Front	Demonaut
	Mynoch	Earthling
	Muffler Crunch	Acid Queen
	Sinister Realm	Fire Faithful
	PB Army	Heavy Burner
	Ambition Burning

2012

The twelfth edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held From August 30 to September 2 at The El Gee Club in New London, Connecticut. Notably, The Obelisk did full coverage of the entire festival that year in an effort to promote the bands and festival.

August 30	August 31	September 1	September 2
Roadsaw	Pilgrim	The Skull	Iron Man
Black Thai	Revelation	Pale Divine	Elder
Ichabod	Lord Fowl	Devil To Pay	Black Pyramid
Raw Radar War	Faces of Bayon	Earthen Grave	Summoner
Birch Hill Dam	John Wilkes Booth	Admiral Browning	Negative Reaction
Rozamov	Wizard Eye	Orodruin	Borracho
	When The Deadbolt Breaks	One Inch Giant	Hovel
		Beelzefuzz	Gypsy Chief Goliath
		Black Cowgirl	Skrogg
		Kin of Ettins	Fire Faithful
		Curse The Sun	Infernal Overdrive
		Stasis	Insano Vision
		Eerie	Witchden
		Akris

2013

The thirteenth and final edition of Stoner Hands of Doom was held between November 7 - 10 at Strange Matter in Richmond, Virginia. Roughly, a month before the festival happened it was canceled by Rob and Cheryl Levey before Brendan Burns of Eye of the Stoned Goat took over to make sure the festival still went as planned.

“	“We regret to inform you that after careful consideration Cheryl and I have decided we cannot go through with SHoD Festival this year or in the future. We appreciate all that have helped and support our efforts and regret and problems this will create but we are done with our festival thank you for all you do and hope to see you in the future. Peace, Rob and Cheryl	”
	— Rob Levey, The Obelisk

“	“To all bands playing SHoD this year- I am working on trying to take over this event as a ‘Eye of the Stoned Goat’ event. I would really love your support and if we can get Robert Levey to give us his blessing I would still like to see the event go as planned…. -Brendan - Just talked to Mark at strange matter we are still good to go! Spoke to Rob, I have his full support… SHoD XIII will go on as planned”	”
	— Brendan Burns, The Obelisk

November 7	November 8	November 9	November 10
Compel	Order of The Owl	The Skull	Devil To Pay
Pillbuster	Weed is Weed	While Heaven Wept	Akris
Gritter	Freedom Hawk	Backwoods Payback	Wizard Eye
Clamfight	Gozu	Valkyrie	Black Thai
Dirt Merchant	Doctor Smoke	Pale Divine	Stone Magnum
Druglord	Fire Faithful	Admiral Browning	Lord
APF	Demonaut	Beelzefuzz	Kin of Ettins
	Pike Possum	Wasted Theory	Faces of Bayon
	It's Not Night: It's Space	Grel	Destroyer of Light
		Second Grave	Blind Horse
		Heavy Burner
		Oberon
		VRSA