Two Days of Far Out During Levitation
Since its inception in 2008 as ‘Austin Psych Fest,’ this Austin-based music festival has built a strong reputation. It offers a diverse lineup of underground, punk, electronic, and shoegaze acts, standing in stark contrast to the larger, more mainstream Austin festival that takes place earlier in the month. The festival features a wide range of underground, punk, electronic, hardcore, shoegaze, and psych-rock acts. It blends established genre titans with progressive newcomers, offering high-quality performances across 11 venues over four days in Austin, TX. The flexible programming allows fans to choose between a single day built around an established headliner or a full weekend exploring diverse genre options across several downtown venues. The one exception is the Far Out Lounge, a short trek south of the city’s center. A venue with two stages makes the location ideal for a day packed with constant action on stage.
Two of the festival’s lineups featured at The Far Out Lounge were The Jesus Lizard headlined Friday lineup and the shoegaze-centric Sunday collection featuring Slowdive as the top-billed act. Two separate days could be billed as small festivals themselves while hosting lineups that appealed to a core fanbase, both young and old. “Each, thematically distinct, yet both a testament to the quality of programming by festival organizers.”
Friday 11.1.24
Fridays lineup featured The Jesus Lizard as headliners, a band that formed in Austin back in the late 80s and whose style straddles multiple genres of cathartic, guitar-driven, chaos, complimented that diversity with a blend of progressive modern takes on the sounds while holding close those who honor the more traditional styles.
Early purveyors of post-punk, Gang Of Four impressed with a set that highlighted the band’s lengthy career with original member John Gill wasting little time bringing the original energy and musical examination of political and social themes, which hold relevance decades later. A well-curated band of newer players, with reputable pedigrees along with original drummer Hugo Burnham, Gang Of Four proved that as the world progresses, and the names are changed, some things never change.
The smaller stage featured two acts stylistically carrying the torch of subgenres tied closely to the theme of heavy, punk, post-punk, stoner rock, and metal. Each delivered thunderous, high-energy sets, to a healthy collection of dedicated fans.
Dry Cleaning, which on paper felt a bit of an outlier amongst the previously mentioned, wasted little time proving that live, they share more in common with their post-punk predecessors than their newfound popularity might suggest. Vocalist Florence Shaws passive, spoken-word vocal delivery in stark contrast to the bands music, works fantastically live with the bands high-energy delivery as the backdrop to her stoic stance.
If you’ve never experienced a performance by The Jesus Lizard, you may not have experienced the true sense of chaos, insanity, and musical precision executed by a hard rock band. Backed by a trio of fine-tuned players, all original members of the band, frontman David Yow wastes no time informing us of why the bands performances have become legendary. As if channeling the dark, raw honesty of Charles Bukowski’s uncomfortable accounts of the human experience, David Yow brings his unsettling view of the world to life, physically. Wasting no time shedding clothing and plunging directly into the crowd the 64-year-old frontman has lost little over the years while slipping into his chaotic, madman delivery of a performance. Generously covering the bands decades of recorded material, tracks from their most recent release Rack fit seamlessly into a lengthy selection of fan favorites like Puss, Nub, Seasick, Then Comes Dudley, and more. A non-stop punch and grind through the set with Yow making several visits into the crowd, surfing the sea of fans with traditional well-worn cowboy boots kicking the night sky on occasion as the crowd reciprocated the boundless enthusiasm. Eager to assist Yow in his crowd exploration, fans lifted the weathered frontman with a unified connection to the experience. On stage, Yows energy was non-stop, and lyrics spewed, backed by the band in a well-synchronized dance of precision bedlam perfected over decades of touring. Those in attendance who may or may not have been experienced with the band’s material or shows found themselves quickly acquiring a peak in interest beyond just observing a spectacle. A short mention by Yow that the band released new material recently, and that it was the best thing since records were invented (something to that effect) went slightly unnoticed, and quite honestly, the record is quite good but thats not why we are here, one might have thought.
Sunday 11.3.24
If shoegaze seemed a passing ship in the 90s, appealing to a small sector of music fans, and possibly bypassing your gaze, 2023 proved that the genre has more staying power than many critics care to have admitted in the early days. A resurgence in the genre with an audience young enough to not have even been physically present for its inception was richly evident on the last day of Levitation 2024. A newly minted treat for the younger generation and a newfound possibility of what seasoned fans may have thought to be just a treasured relic of a memory.
Flexing in the resurgence were two of the early players in the genre, Chicagos Airiel and Bostons Drop Nineteens. Both bands were founded in that shoegaze-rich decade of the 90s and both bands now feeling a new sense of appreciation for their work. Airiel riding the admiration of devoted fans with no new material currently being produced, while Drop Nineteens fresh return to the stage earlier this year after 30 years of absence, bringing newly(ish) recorded material along to the newfound audience.
Local shoegaze, noise-rock staples Ringo Deathstarr, placed kindly in the day lineup, are enjoying the recent surge in the genres resurgence as their almost 20-year existence has seen them ride the ebb and flow of the music style.
Sunday headliners Slowdive had made an earlier return to activity after a lengthy break-up in 2014 in response to renewed interest in the bands work. Two new recordings, the 2017 self-titled release followed by the 2023 Everything Is Alive have proven that the band is more than capable of drawing from their early work and creating new, beautifully crafted material only cementing their place as pioneers in the genre as well as established masters of their craft. The lush, dreamy, shimmering guitar sounds drifted in the night wind as the band worked through a set of both old favorites and newly claimed hits. The selections from the 93 classic Souvlaki pleased the crowd, spanning multiple generations just as much as newer offerings shanty, Chained To A Cloud, and Kisses while the band effortlessly executed their sound drawing from members Rachel Goswell and Neil Halsteads lengthy songwriting relationship, dating back to single digit age of youth. Once pioneers of a sleepy sound overlooked by many, Slowdive proved that they are not only benefiting from the newfound interest but leading the way decades later.
Once again, the powers that be, have managed to program a local music festival that ignores the hype, strays from the mainstream, yet constantly delivers an experience for the true music fan, young or old, just trying to find their place in the world while sharing their love for the craft amongst like-minded peers.
