It’s been nearly three years since we last got to experience the greatness that is Pond, but finally this past weekend at Desert Daze, it happened once again. Essentially closing out the festival in their late night time slot, let us please break down for you below exactly how the night went with all the highlights included.

Marking the ninth and potentially best time we’ve ever had seeing the band, Pond strolled on stage like they owned the place and threw down easily one of the most energetic and explosive sets of the already stacked weekend. Their latest record 9 has been on nonstop repeat since its release last year, but we haven’t yet had the opportunity to see any of the songs performed in person. Our last meet up with the band was an interview with frontman Nick Allbrook last September to promote the record and ever since then we’ve been dreaming of this day.

As for the actual set itself, Pond had a 75 minute time slot slated and made the best of every single moment. They were lucky enough to be featured on The Block stage which had the best built in visuals of the weekend, only adding to the allure of their already psychedelic set. Performing some of our favorite tracks off of The Weather, Man It Feels Like Space Again, and many more, we’re thrilled with the selection they chose given the constraints. Consistently that’s the most difficult part of releasing more music is trying to get the best stuff all out there on stage. Fortunately for the group, they’ve got no bad songs, so there’s really no such song as a “bad setlist”.

It’s not difficult to argue that Jay Watson was the hardest worker of the weekend while playing live with Tame Impala, Pond, and even a DJ set under his moniker GUM, but he laid it all out on the table and the crowd ate it up. Honestly the set itself felt like one long performance with an energy from the crowd that we’ve never witnessed at any of their shows before. We were situated right up front in the mosh, which is the only place to be, but looking back you couldn’t really see where the crowd ended. It felt like everyone headed over from the end of Beach House and ending on this type of enthusiasm was truly the only way to wrap up a Desert Daze weekend.

If for some reason you’ve never had the opportunity to enjoy Pond’s music, we urge everyone out there to start from the beginning and work your way forwards. They are 100% the most underrated and underappreciated band in music.

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Pond Play a Career-Spanning Set to Wrap Up Desert Daze 2022