Twenty years ago, a four-piece band from Austin, Texas, released a debut album that essentially rewrote the playbook for psychedelic rock. Passover came out on April 11, 2006, and The Black Angels have spent the two decades since building one of the most devoted cult followings in American rock. On Friday, November 6, that anniversary tour arrives at Ace of Spades in Sacramento.
For Sacramento fans who have been waiting, this is the show. Ace of Spades is a room that suits The Black Angels exactly right — loud, close, and dark enough to let their extended drone sequences land the way they were meant to.
Who Are The Black Angels?
The Black Angels take their name from a Velvet Underground song, and the influence is audible from the first track. Passover opened with “Young Men Dead” — seven minutes of motorik drums, fuzz guitar, and a vocal delivery that owed more to hypnosis than melody — and the album never let up. Rolling Stone ranked it among the best rock albums of the decade. It found a generation of listeners who were hungry for something heavy and slow and rooted in the American tradition of psychedelia.
In the years since, the band has released five more studio albums and become one of the defining acts at Austin Psych Fest, the festival they co-founded. Their Sacramento shows have historically drawn from both the Passover catalog and their broader discography, which means any setlist is likely to include deep cuts alongside the landmarks.
What to Expect on the Passover Tour
Anniversary tours are often an excuse to coast. That hasn’t been true of this one. Reports from earlier dates on the Passover 2026 Tour describe a band playing the album in sequence, with the second half of the set drawing from the wider catalog. The result is a set that runs close to two hours and covers the arc from “Young Men Dead” through the late-album closer “The First Vietnamese War.”
Sacramento sits in the middle of the California run, after dates in Los Angeles and San Francisco, which typically means the band is locked in and the setlist is refined. Fans who know the album well and those who have never heard it in full will both find something to hold onto.
Getting to Ace of Spades
Ace of Spades is at 1417 R St in Midtown Sacramento, inside the R Street Corridor between 14th and 15th Streets. The venue is all-ages for most shows unless a specific restriction is listed — confirm on the Ace of Spades website before purchasing.
Parking: Street parking along R Street and the surrounding Midtown blocks is available after 6 PM on weekdays and fills quickly on show nights. The nearby 16th Street Station area also has surface lots. For a guaranteed spot, SacPark’s garages near Capitol Mall are a short walk.
Light rail: The Sacramento RT 16th Street station is a five-minute walk. The Gold and Blue lines both service it from downtown and from East Sacramento.
Tickets
Tickets for The Black Angels Sacramento show are available through Ace of Spades’ website. Anniversary tours for this caliber of act tend to sell out in advance, particularly for California dates. Check aceofspadessac.com for availability and current pricing.
The Details
- Date: Friday, November 6, 2026
- Venue: Ace of Spades, 1417 R St, Sacramento, CA 95811
- Tour: Passover 2026 — 20th Anniversary of Passover
- Tickets: aceofspadessac.com
- Parking: Midtown street parking (free after 6 PM) or nearby SacPark garages
- Light rail: Sacramento RT Gold/Blue Line, 16th Street Station
- Neighborhood: R Street Corridor, Midtown Sacramento
Bottom Line
The Black Angels are one of the few acts in psychedelic rock that actually improved on their debut over time, which makes a proper anniversary tour worth attending even if Passover is the only album a fan knows. Ace of Spades is an ideal room for this show — compact enough to feel immersive, with a sound system that handles low-end drone the way this music requires. Buy early.
For other upcoming shows at Midtown Sacramento venues this fall, see the Buzzcocks at Ace of Spades guide (November 8) and the Houndmouth at Ace of Spades guide (November 19). For a look at what’s happening across Sacramento’s major venues this winter, Sacramento’s Christmas events guide covers the full holiday season calendar.
