LEVITATION is back. And what a triumphant return, on Halloween weekend. Is that perfect, or what?
The music festival founded by The Black Angels got its start in an old barn, of all places, under the moniker Austin Psych Fest in 2008. Even the band didn’t realize how much it would blow up; it was simply an independent venture filled with music they loved. It was rechristened LEVITATION in honor of The 13th Floor Elevators, who reunited for their 50th anniversary to play the festival in 2015. LEVITATION gradually evolved into an internationally-renowned event encompassing many musical genres beyond the psych realm, and branched out to include specially-curated events in France, Chicago and Vancouver.
This year’s festival takes place this Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 28-31, and begins with a special LEVITATION kick-off show tonight, Wednesday Oct. 27, at Empire Control Room, 606 E. 7th. This evening’s performances include The Sword, Nothing (the track “Say Less” from the excellent album The Great Dismal is featured on today’s AMM), Starcrawler, Frankie Rose, Here Lies Man and a new AMM instant fave, Tacoma, WA band Enumclaw. Doors open early at 5 p.m.