Levitation’s Austin Psych Fest returned to outdoor venue Far Out Austin last weekend for three days of psychedelic euphoria.
The stacked lineup, as always, was a feast of trippy, memorable performances by artists on the precipice of the unknown — and they were received with adoration by a close-knit community of fellow voyagers.
Day One
Friday kicked off the festival strong with sets by perpetual party animals J’Cuuzi, Momma, Boogarins, Holy Wave, Almost Heaven, DIIV and headliners The Flaming Lips.
Post-punk, shoegaze and grunge-flecked band DIIV delivered one of the best performances of the day. The set featured several tracks from its well-received 2024 album Frog in Boiling Water, a meditation on late-stage capitalism. Behind the band, video interludes mirrored that theme by introducing each song with dystopian AI slopaganda videos proclaiming, “Capitalism is not the root cause of your issues. Resistance is not an answer.”
Despite recent controversy, the Flaming Lips proved the show can — and must — go on. Friday’s show was a cathartic release after a few months of grappling with the sudden ouster of multi-instrumentalist Steve Drozd, a chief architect of its sound.
In December, the band endured a very public falling out, stemming from a deleted Threads comment by Drozd, stating, “They’re done with me — but we’re not talking about it. So yes, I’m moving on. Just keep it to yourself for now. Ok?”
Since then, the fandom has largely been divided into two camps.
There are those that support Drozd going to rehab and maintain they’re done forever with the Flaming Lips for discarding him so unceremoniously. Then there are those who could see frontman Wayne Coyne’s perspective of continuing on with the tour, despite being short one member — even one as instrumental as Drozd.
After months of watching this unfold, I wanted to see if things would feel different. I also dreaded the thought of replacing my image of the childlike, whimsical Coyne with some cynic I didn’t quite recognize. As we all contain multitudes, it’s totally possible that both reside in the same human, something the polarity of the internet simply won’t allow for.
However, Friday provided an inter-dimensional escape hatch from what New Age types would call the low-vibrational noise. All one had to do is tap into the cosmic source lingering in the air at a Flaming Lips show, like the confetti cascading in slow motion.
I went looking for that feeling, wondering if it would still be there — that of total oneness, of good will toward all men.
Not every band has the ability to generate such a feeling. Some make you feel cool for being there, some impress you with their ability. But at a Flaming Lips show, it’s not uncommon for total strangers to hug and tell each other they love each other, that they wish nothing but good things for each other.
Sure, there could be more than a little chemical assistance involved. But that explanation also cheapens a very real feeling that still exists. I, for one, was sadly stone cold sober and I felt it intensely.
Despite a tumultuous few months for the band, that feeling was still there. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t even belong to them anymore, but the crowd itself. From the stage, Coyne announced that it was one attendee’s 100th show; another had attended 90-something.
The Flaming Lips following, almost as ardent as Deadheads, isn’t to be forgotten in this cosmic equation, and might be the most important part. As such, it barely needs Coyne’s constant encouragement of “Come on! Come on! Keep it up! Keep it up!”
Though some clown on Coyne for the neverending hype man shtick, we all knew what “it” is without requiring explanation, and why it’s supremely important to keep stoking the fire to keep “it” alive.
The band played some of its most beloved tunes, such as “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” parts 1 and 2, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power),” “She Don’t Use Jelly,” “Do You Realize??” and more.
Fittingly, the band also did its cover of Austin folk hero Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End” from the album The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered. The Flaming Lips track was the standout among those on the tribute, and demonstrates the sense of childlike wonder they shared with Johnston.
But as the euphoric set came to a close, a slice of reality did peek through with a memorable cover of “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath during the encore, as if it was acclimating us to return to earth — and all its strife — once again.
Day Two
The party continued on Saturday with a lineup that included Annabelle Chairlegs, Ty Segall, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Al Qasar and more. Though briefly put on pause by a lightning storm with threats of funnel clouds, the festival resumed its evening programming with minimal disruption.
The highlight of the night was the Black Angels, performing their debut album Passover in its entirety to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The Flaming Lips might be tinged with sadness and a recognition of mortality to demonstrate that life and love are precious, but the Black Angels have an existential doom about them. This is evidenced by their name, which is taken from the Velvet Underground’s “Black Angels’ Death Song,” a desolate soundscape of harsh viola and bleak fatalism.
Liner notes on the back cover of Passover included a quote from Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, stating “Illness, insanity, and death are the black angels that kept watch over my cradle and accompanied me all my life.”
In the 20 years since that breakout album, the Black Angels have created nothing short of a movement in Texas — one centered around a psychedelic renaissance. This, after all, is the band who founded Austin Psych Fest in 2008, an institution that’s since expanded to include Levitation in the fall and various one-off shows throughout the year. The crowd in attendance was further proof of the group’s reverberation renaissance, rivaling that of the Flaming Lips the night before.
Ty Segall, who had also played a daytime set at the festival, also treated a crowd at the sold-out 13th Floor to an intimate performance as the aftershow. The small club could barely contain the bombastic energy of the group’s heavy, fuzz-drenched riffage and tight, four-part vocal harmonies.
Though Ty had already performed that day, it was clear that the night show was the hot ticket. Scores of people were turned away from the venue after showing up hoping to get lucky.
Between Ty’s day and night performances, only the small aftershow had crowd surfing — which was really the sound guy using the path of least resistance to get back to the booth.
“We’re so lucky” I overheard more than one audience member say, and indeed, we were.
Day Three
The final day of the festival is usually when everyone is running on fumes after 48 hours of nonstop partying. Nonetheless, the lineup was alluring enough to bring the bedraggled masses back for more, in the form of endless Latin grooves from La Lom and a romantic revival by Thee Sacred Souls. Many of the other Sunday acts had a cumbia flair to them, including Money Chicha and Como Las Movies.
If this Psych Fest were like a movie, it would have to be something by Chilean and French avant garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, landing somewhere between mirth and decay.
This lingering existential question — combined with its deep sense of community — gets to the heart of why Psych Fest remains the best festival in Austin. I don’t recall being challenged by such profound questions at ACL, now essentially a Coachella-lite.
To put it simply, Psych Fest is defending unreality from reality itself.
Photos by Jaime Monzon.
