Levitating at Levitation Fest
I have never been to a festival before that was split up across downtown and other parts of the city like Levitation Fest. It had a different vibe than most, but that did not mean it was missing its allure. From venue to venue, crowd to crowd, and stage to stage, each of the acts and areas of Levitation Fest put on their own unique charm to make for a festival I had never seen the like of before. Halloween weekend was certainly an extra special time for this festival to take place and really added to the whimsy of this Austin festival, almost making it seem like the whole city was out for the fest. Unlike the other festivals I had recently attended, there was no central hub or space where people congregated. The food of the festival was whatever food trucks and restaurants the city had to offer, and there were not many different options to do besides walk the town and enjoy the music. I was excited to experience a change of pace with this psychedelic rock-focused festival, and the acts of the weekend did not disappoint in that regard.
Our journey started at Stubbs on Day 1 and stayed there the whole night. The first act I was able to witness was the Boogarins and they set the tone for the night very nicely with their electric jams and tunes that set the groove and made the crowd move. The crowd was pretty thick right from the very start of the show and only became tighter as the night progressed. The next up was Mdou Moctar, a highly skilled artist coming to us all the way from Niger. His band was decked out in their own fun costumes, one even dressed as Prince. His native singing mixed with modern rock music was a spectacle to behold and really had the crowd enthralled. He stepped out on the speakers a few times and shredded his guitar directly above the heads of all the media members in the photo pit. The last act at Stubbs was The Black Angels, who took their name inspiration from the band The Velvet Underground. Their energy and stage presence were incredible to see, even if they kept the stage as black as their name for a lot of the set. Few photos were gained, but many songs were enjoyed. As the Black Angels carried the energy of the day to the end of their set, I headed home to get some sleep as I still had three more days ahead of me in this festival.
Day 2 started a bit earlier than the first, and I made sure to get downtown early and experience more stages and more artists than I did on day 1. On this day, I started at the venue Tomahawk, just down the street from Stubbs. I had initially planned to get there in time for The Drums but after looking up the act prior, Yungatita, I realized I had to get in to see them as well. Coming out of LA, Yungatita’s lead singer was a fun loving bundle of joy with a vocal range that could put many others to shame. Her bouncy energy and ripping vocals were an exciting new twist to the sounds of the festival. I hadn’t heard a good war cry in a long time, and towards the end of their heavy set, she dropped to her knees and let out a scream to finish off a song that had my arm hair standing straight up. After Yungatita came The Drums, who brought the energy levels back down to a soft and soothing serenade for all. The lead singer took a moment partway through their set to talk about how he had to take a period of 3-4 years off to really center and find himself. At the end of his speech, he encouraged all crowd members to do the same.
The Drums would have probably been my favorite new act of the weekend if it wasn’t for who directly followed at a new venue. I moved my gear from Tomahawk to Empire, which was conveniently also just down the street. As I arrived, Arc De Soleil kicked off and brought the real psychedelic vibe that I feel hadn’t quite been met from a psych-related festival. The first 2-3 songs from Arc De Soleil were just a continuous jam session complete with a driving bass line, some funky overtones, and some really trippy visuals and color palettes. Empire had two stages within the venue and once I discovered that, I ducked into the side room to see a quick showing of Fcukers. Fcukers were a lot more poppy and bouncy than what I had heard so far but the energy of the lead singer was incredibly infectious. She had me jumping up and down and bouncing along with her. However, before too long, I felt the urge to return to the stage outside and see the remaining act of Arc De Soliel. As they finished up, there was a long break before the final act, Midlife. When Midlife finally did come out, they opened with a soft flute-centric energy that really felt like a warm blanket on my shoulders. I only made it through the first half of Midlife before that audio blanket had me yearning for a physical one, and I bowed out once again a tad bit early for rest. I really wish I could’ve stayed longer but I still had two more days to go and I decided to conserve my energy.
Day 3 came along and that meant another new venue to attend and explore. This time, I navigated my way to Far Out Lounge, which was conveniently just down the street from my new house in South Austin. The venue was a sprawling field encircled by a few structures and booths, which made up the side stage and a few vendor stations. Kicking off the main stage was a pianist named Hania Rani. Hania was absolutely incredible and had a very interesting approach as she layered her vocals and multiple differing pianos with each other to culminate in a very expansive and enveloping sound. Without warning, rain began to pelt the crowd members, and while many ran for cover, the sounds of Hania Rani kept most solid in place, where they simply took the warm rain in stride so they could experience her music. Next up on the side stage was Arushi Jain, a modular-focused artist who had a colorful collection of wires that she would adjust throughout her set to change the sounds and effects of her performance. Rain continued to come down, and all the crowd began to huddle close to her stage and under the large tree nearby that covered the stage area and really brought people together to experience her energy.
After the rain had washed away, coincidentally, came Washed Out. Performing with a screen in front of two of the band members that had continuously moving screens and visuals projected on it, Washed Out provided a very nice and enjoyable vibe as darkness took over the venue. I took some time to enjoy some of the local food trucks and just watch the show for a little bit before I got back to shooting media for the next side stage act, Brijean. This female/male duo brought a lot of the funk back to the stage and had a lot of enticing beats as they played multiple instruments around the stage. At one point in time, the duo played side by side on what seemed like overlapping keyboard set-ups. This was a very exciting change of pace for the whole day, but when they finished off, it was time for the band I was most looking forward to seeing in Tycho. Tycho was exactly what I was waiting for, and after only about 20 minutes of capturing photos of their set, I decided to take the rest of the night off and actually take in a full set as a fan. Their sounds kept me both relaxed and energized, and I truly enjoyed this break from the action as I sat in a lawn chair and just let the music take me.
Day 4 was a short endeavor for me, as I was only able to catch a couple acts, including Glare, Airiel, and the beginning of Drop Nineteens before it became apparent that I could push on no further and had to head home before Slowdive made their appearance. I did hear from some friends at the show that I missed out on a great performance. Overall, Levitation Fest was a very interesting change of pace for me and my live music experience in my first month living in Austin. It was very nice to get to know my new city a little bit more and take in a bunch of new music that I had not been exposed to before attending this festival. I can’t wait for the next year, and I hope by then I will have a lot more psychedelic rock experience under my belt. Here are my photos from the weekend.