This show brought out all of the local weed wizards…and things get a little hazy from there.

Marijuana legalization is certainly in a hazy state of affairs these days. While a 2018 Farm Bill loophole seemingly allows for enough grey area for certain products to be sold within states and transported across state borders, there is a patchwork of states that have legalized it whole-ham or medicinally that are buttressed against states where it’s still very illegal.

This is the absurd state of affairs when it comes to Kansas. We have Missouri, which very recently legalized it in a referendum, that lies just east of the state. Colorado, which was among the first states to legalize it, directly to our west. And Oklahoma, a state that still just has medicinal and recently rejected full legalization, along our southern border. Now Lawrencians, who, I would strongly suspect, make up the highest per capita concentration of weed-smoking citizens of any city in the state of Kansas, just have to drive 30 or 45 minutes east to Kansas City, Missouri, to purchase perfectly legal marijuana products.

After attending this show and seeing how openly people were smoking weed — more people than I have ever seen at any show in Lawrence or Kansas City — it definitely made me feel optimistic about the imminence of weed legalization even though the state politics don’t reflect that.

This is where the first band of the night comes in. The first band was a local collective called Stoney-Doom, made up of members of local bands like Keef Mountain and Bleed the Victim, whose purpose is to advocate for marijuana legalization in the state of Kansas. The guitarist/vocalist was adorned in a green shirt and red corduroy pants that, by a later point in the show, became an obvious nod to Shaggy of Scooby Doo fame. The bassist/vocalist was dressed up as Rick from Rick & Morty. And the drummer was just dressed normally if I remember correctly.

The band played a strong dose of that stoner rock/metal good-good, but I would argue that the highlight of their performance was non-musical in form. And, no, it was not the guitarist/vocalist’s rather cheesy “I’ve got the munchies” joke in the voice of Shaggy, replete with a gas station sandwich. No, by far the highlight of their performance was the fact that the band announced a ticket raffle for a homemade bong made by the guitarist/vocalist of Stoney-Doom himself. He announced the raffle from the stage and tickets could be bought at their merch table. But this wasn’t just some clever way for the band to make a lot more money off a novel item than they normally would if they were to sell it a more straightforward way. No, this was done in an effort to raise money for NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Legalization) in Kansas.

Stoney-Doom was not the only costumed band of the night. They Watch Us From The Moon was adorned in futuristic and fantastical costumes ranging from the Starship-Trooper-style of guitarist General Shane Thirteen to the lunar goddess style of vocalist Luna Nemeses. Far from relying on their science fiction schtick, the band performed a tight, well-rehearsed set that consisted of lumbering stoner rock riffage with some progressive flair. The near-constant harmonies of vocalists Nova 1001001 and the aforementioned Luna Nemeses were foreboding at times and positively celestial at others. I would argue that They Watch Us From The Moon is one of the best local heavy bands playing today.

Before Bongzilla performed, I saw bassist/vocalist Muleboy wandering through the audience to see bits of both Stoney-Doom‘s and They Watch Us From The Moon‘s performances. After Bongzilla took the stage, Muleboy took out a giant blue pipe that he smoked from before passing it to drummer Magma. Muleboy and Magma would continue to smoke between every song throughout the entire set. Spanky, the guitarist, didn’t smoke at all during the set (maybe he was already stoned enough before taking the stage?) but was drinking some crispy Post Rock Pilsner from our very own beloved Free State Brewery.

Even before the band went on, I was ever so slightly anxious anticipating how quickly Bongzilla would fuck up on a song as a result of being too fucked up. The answer, if memory serves, is four songs into their set – or about 20 or 25 minutes into their set. Spanky noticeably fucked up some key change or transition so badly that the band stopped performing and then restarted a song. At that point, I wondered how often tour-headlining bands who have been playing for more than 20 years fuck a song up that badly. I wondered if I’D seen a tour-headlining band fuck up that badly.

Despite the SNAFU, the band played a bong-ripping set. Since Muleboy had to switch from guitar to bass when the band was reduced to a trio, I thought that some of the thicc tones that the band is known for might be lost in the live setting, but the band’s channels of fuzz wove through and danced upon my brain like The French Tickler or Tickler Kush weed strains.

In the middle of their set, Muleboy announced the winner of the raffle for the homemade bong, “I’m going to say this reaaaaal slow. The numbers are 7…………2………..9………”

At first, no one came up. I’m pretty sure Muleboy made a joke about the winner perhaps being too high to realize that they were the winner.

After a minute or two, someone finally came up to the stage to claim their highest prize.

At the end of Bongzilla’s set, Muleboy announced that they were going back upstairs to smoke more. I’m paraphrasing here, but he said something like, “You can clap and holler all you want, we’re not coming back down to play another song!”

After reading this, I imagine that you are absolutely green with envy for having missed what very well might be the stoner rock/metal show of the year in NE Kansas.

Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.