There were a lot of great shows for me in 2025, and we’re now into the top half of the ones I saw last year — and all of this batch were at the Levitation Music Festvial in Austin, Texas.
#20: The Sword – September 26, 2025 – Levitation Austin – Austin, TX
Austin heroes The Sword are enjoying their return to touring and this set almost leveled the Palmer Event Center in Austin. The crowd was bonkers for this one and had been digesting a full menu of metal all day before they came out and provided another massive entrée.
Pixel Grip played one of the late night shows on the first day of the festival, and they did it a man down at that. No one minded, however, because they still sounded great and had a loving crowd packed into the Elysium nightclub who were all in the mood to dance and make out, and PG’s live sets are perfect for both.
#`18: Model / Actriz – September 27, 2025 – Levitation Austin – Austin, TX
“Come on, Austin, we’re all hot!” was the opening call by Model / Actriz’s lead singer, Cole Haden at their Levitation set. They played a hot set of post-punk that had the crowd roaring by the end and made a lot of new fans.
#17: Boy Harsher – September 25, 2025 – Levitation Austin – Austin, TX
Speaking of bands with roaring crowds, Boy Harsher packed people into the Stubb’s outdoor stage area on the opening night of the Levitation festival. It was a sexy, fun set that was a good one for the first night of headliners.
While we’re on the subject of sexy fun, Desire brought plenty of it at Elysium when they played a late-night set at Levitation. Black leather and latex, love songs, lust songs, and cat-like grace across the stage.
Who makes it into the top fifteen? Come back tomorrow!
I’m going to call the September 25, 2025 Thursday night late shows of Levitation Austin 2025 as “Day Zero” since the official festival doesn’t start until September 26th. “Day -1” would’ve been September 24th when you could’ve seen Mdou Moctar, Beach Fossils, Strange Lot, Water Damage and other good bands.
The main festival has a new home — the Palmer Event Center pretty much in the middle of the city, and only has the “pub crawl” events (shows at various venues downtown) at night. As usual, there’s always at least one good band playing the Thursday night before Levitation to entice you into coming to town early. This year, “Day Zero” had several: Warmduscher and Starjunk 95 among them, and I opted for two other shows out of six you could attend.
I first went to Stubb’s BBQ for what would be the only show I would attend there the whole weekend (which felt odd): Kumo 99, Martin Rev, and Boy Harsher.
Kumo 99 kicking off Levitation with a good start.
I’d only heard one song from Kumo 99 before coming to Austin, so I didn’t know what to expect apart from some electro music. What I got was electro plus synthwave plus Japanese vocal punk rock. I was impressed, and so were a lot of others judging by the size of the line at their merch booth after their set.
Martin Rev will hit you with a key-tar and then put you in the Sharpshooter.
Up next was the legendary Martin Rev — one half of synth / punk pioneers Suicide. He came out in ripped-up leather pants, a sleeveless shirt, and goggles suitable for alpine skiing or for Brett “Hitman” Hart cutting a professional wrestling promo. What followed was a weird, loud no wave noise set that left most of the audience (who didn’t realize who he was) baffled. Rev was hammerfisting his keyboard through most of the set, bludgeoning us with distorted din. He sampled Bon Jovi, ZZ Top, and The Trammps at various points while singing / talking with so much reverb in his microphone that one guy in front of me just yelled, “What are you saying?” during a brief break in the noise. Rev even did a bizarre cover of Sam the Sham & the Pharohs‘ “Wooly Bully” at one point. A woman next to me said, “I hope I can be that cool at (age) seventy-seven. I’m ready for bed by eight and he’s out here doing his thing.” That “thing” being not giving a damn what people think and giving them more of an experience than a performance.
Boy Harsher winning over the crowd at the first note.
The crowd (with a big goth and queer contingent. Hell yeah!) for Boy Harsher was huge by the time they took the stage. They played much the same set as when I saw them at Levitation France months earlier — packing in pulsing synthwave with great electro dance beats. I found out from the woman next to me that they’d played a DJ set from the back of a truck the previous day and had done a record signing at End of an Ear in Austin. That’s way cool.
Johnny Jewel “covering” Chromatics.
Speaking of way cool things, I walked a half-block after Boy Harsher’s set to Elysium where I caught Johnny Jewel‘s great set of his film score and other music – which included a set from Drive, a salute to David Lynch, and even a different version of Chromatics‘ “Lady.” He played various clips from Lynch films, Twin Peaks, giallo films, and other oddities throughout it.
Desire instilling that in all of us.
Up next, and closing out Day Zero, was one of Jewel’s many side projects — Desire. They played a long set of lovely synthwave and electro-dance tracks, mostly about wanting, finding, and / or losing love. The crowd loved them, and the trio work well together. They even played two New Order covers (“Bizarre Love Triangle” and “Blue Monday” – with Jewel on lead vocals for the second) and Taylor Dane‘s “Tell It to My Heart” — which was a natural fit for lead singer Megan Louise.
It was a late night, but worth it. There’s a lot of good synthwave at Levitation this year, and Day One will end with more…but first there will be a lot of metal.
Keep your mind open.
All right, all right! I’ll get on it…And you spelled my name wrong again, David!
Desire announces new album Games People Play, an eclectic labyrinth of love, power, & deception where every move counts, out March 21st via Italians Do It Better and today is sharing new single “The Judge” alongside a video directed by Kirill Nong.
Games People Play unfolds like a game of chess—Desire as the queen, fate as the dealer, & love as the ultimate wager. Set against Johnny Jewel’s signature cinematic curtain, the record guides players through a shadowy dance floor where strategy & surrender blur. In this world of passion, the line between predator & prey is razor-thin, & every lover is a contender on heartbreak’s edge. Checkmate is inevitable—but who will make the final move?
“In the age of omnipresent surveillance…Machines track our every move while friends stalk our every groove. Take matters into your own hands…be the judge & jury of your own timeline. Life is too short, so forget the lurkers & love the jerkers. Time is running out & court is now adjourned.” – Desire on “The Judge”
Today Desire is sharing new single “Darkside” alongside the announcement of new album Games People Play, which will come out later this year via Italians Do It Better. This will be Desire’s third studio album following Escape (2022) & self titled Desire (2009).
“Darkside” is the new slow burning single from Desire. It’s nocturnal synthwave in their classic cinema sound. Megan Louise’s voice levitates over heavy 808 drums pivoting between sultry Dream Pop & spoken word. Our heroine serenades us while the impressionistic haze of Johnny Jewel’s production casts it’s spell. It feels like the opening titles to a Neo-noire film…Games People Play.
“The song is about the invisible line we draw between our outer reality & our inner world. The darkside is a meatphor for the unmasked internal space that we rarely share with strangers. A secret realm that never sees the light of day. On the endless hunt for love, we crave a deeper connection that can only come with truth. The mirror sees you…on the darkside. Crash into the starlight.” – Desire
Desire are embarking on a co-healine tour with Johnny Jewel with upcoming shows in San Francisco, Dublin, Paris, Manchester & Vancouver. In addition to this, Desire will also play Primavera Festival on May 29th and NYC Knowdown Centre on May 31st for a special performance, which will also see Johnny Jewel, Black Marble, Orion, Farah, Joon, Mothermary take the stage.
Tour dates:
Mar 22 – SAN FRANCISCO DNA Lounge (Tickets) May 21 – DUBLIN The Button Factory (Tickets) May 23 – PARIS Le Trabendo (Tickets) May 24 – MANCHESTER YES (The Pink Room) (Tickets) May 29 – BARCELONA Primavera In The City May 31 – NYC Knockdown Center (w/ Johnny Jewel, Black Marble, Orion, Farah, Joon & Mothermary) (Tickets) Jun 28 – VANCOUVER Rickshaw Theater
After recently announcing new album Holly (OST) is out Oct 13th via Italians Do It Better,Johnny Jewel is sharing the second track from the score with Desire’s new single “The Power Of Love“, a beautiful Frankie Goes To Hollywood cover. Johnny Jewel created the the original motion picture soundtrack for the highly anticipated Fien Troch-directed new film Holly, his tenth solo album of experimental film music, following on from critically acclaimed works Windswept, Digital Rain, Home (OST), & Lost River (OST). Johnny Jewel is also set to embark on a special live tour throughout Europe in October and November, performing 60 minutes of cinematic bliss from his music for films.
Nominated for the Venice Film Festival and opening the Ghent Film Festival, Holly follows the story of a 15-year-old girl who calls her school to say she is staying home for the day. Soon after, a fire breaks out at the school, killing several students. With everyone touched by the tragedy, the community comes together, trying to heal. Anna, a teacher, intrigued by Holly and her strange premonition, invites her to join the volunteering group she runs. Holly’s presence seems to bring peace of mind, warmth, and hope to those she encounters. But soon, people begin to seek out Holly and her cathartic energy, demanding more and more from the young girl.
On the new single, Holly film director Fien Troch offered “I knew ‘The Power Of Love’ had to become part of Holly’s universe. We just needed to unlock the right door to enter the same space as the rest of Johnny’s music. While discussing the film, it became so clear to me that the voice had to be female. A strong & tender one, full of love. Desire is all of that to me. Desire became Holly’s voice.”
Johnny Jewel added “In the first version of the film I watched, Fien presented this idea to close with a Frankie Goes To Hollywood song. There is no other pop music in the entire film, so going out over end credits with a baroque ballad is a daring tonal shift. All the musical tension that precedes this moment makes the release all the more effective. While we were brainstorming on the texture of the score, Fien wondered what it would sound like to have Megan sing it. We worked on it privately in our studio, then I brought a rough version with me to show Fien in Amsterdam where we were mixing the film. The moment she finally saw it on screen for the first time was pure magic. It’s a true testament to her vision as a director to be able to merge those two very different worlds in her imagination.”
