desert stars

The recently postponed psych-rock and shoegaze festival Desert Stars in Joshua Tree faced the same fate as many events in 2020 — die out or go digital. This week the festival announced that they’ve chosen the latter, opting to host a virtual version of the festival with streamed performances from headliners, Mercury Rev, Alex Maas of the Black Angels, Ringo Deathstarr and dozens more. Sticking to its postponed dates of Sept. 25-26, Desert Stars founder Tommy Dietrick says the show will go on after pushing back from its original spring dates in March. Despite being a boutique festival in the desert with a cap of 500 people, the festival that’s survived for 12 years in the small town of Joshua Tree was not allowed to move forward due to COVID-19 restrictions. “It was a risk to move it to fal...