I hadn’t been to Austin Psych Fest in several years. Mind you, I’d been to Levitation festivals multiple times, and on two continents, but I hadn’t been to APF since the Reverberation Appreciation Society brought it back after “APF” had been changed to “Levitation” and moved to the fall. APF returned to the Far Out Lounge in Austin a few years ago for the RAS’ spring festival, and this was the first chance I had to make the trip.
Austin’s own J’cuuzi were the first band on the bill and the first I wanted to see. They set a high bar to meet for everyone to follow, complete with dancers, t-shirt tosses, a somewhat famous spinning chair, a Capri Sun costume, bubble guns, and so much dance-punk / art-punk / glam-punk / drag-punk / I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-is-happening-punk that you could barely take all of it in during their set and left you feeling a bit post-orgasmic and somewhat baffled afterwards.
Next up were another local group, Almost Heaven. The electro-duo were celebrating the release of their first EP, Raw Cranium, and immediately commanded the stage upon the first note. The whole set was bumping, with solid, wicked beats from Jaelyn Valero and vocals from Stefan Barazza that reminded me of everything from The Cramps to Roxy Music.
Within moments of their set ending, you heard this loud wall of sound coming from the other direction. That turned out to be shoegaze rockers Glare blasting us with multiple guitars and echoing vocals. It was a change in tone for the festival up to this point, and not a bad one at all. Sometimes you need a ton of reverb and fuzz to keep you going for the coming hours.
Not long after that, we dove into psychedelic waters (It is a psych fest, after all.) with Holy Wave. I’ve been a fan for a while, so it was good to see them again after a few years. As usual, they put on a good set of psych-rock that ranged from dreamy to heavy. I bumped into The Black Angels’ Alex Maas later and he described their sound as “like opening a scroll.” Accurate.
I needed a break by this point, so it was off to Torchy’s Tacos across the street for some much-needed grilled chicken nachos. They were delicious, as was the Cubs working their way to a win over the Rangers at the time. I got back in time to see a big crowd had gathered for Diiv and their trippy set of shoegaze rock that mixed in weird short films of corporate presentations and public domain footage. It reminded me of Devo’s corporate anthem stuff.
The night ended with a fun set from The Flaming Lips. The crowd was happy to have them back and they seemed delighted to be there. Confetti and balloons rained down on us for several songs, with “Turn It On” and “The Golden Path” being big highlights for me, as well as their encore of “War Pigs.” Everyone was exhausted but elated by the end.
The festival is off to a fun, sweaty start. Up next, more local talent, a guy I haven’t seen live for many years, Italian shoegaze, a twentieth anniversary show, and more!
Keep your mind open.
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