Levitation 2021 was more than just a multi-sensory five-day music festival in downtown Austin on Halloween weekend; it was a vibe. It was an energy. Above all, it was a return to some normalcies. Beautiful layers of music and complex, awe-inspiring projections intertwined into the oak and cedar trees of various music venues in the Red River District. Haunting souls of humans looking for complete immersion in the incredible experience that Levitation always provides.
Reverberation Appreciation Society changed Austin Psych Fest’s name to Levitation Fest in 2015 as a tribute to Austin’s own psych-rock pioneers, The 13 Floor Elevators. The name change also served to signal a shift in programming to include adjacent music stylings that didn’t quite fit the psych-rock mold. This shift has widened the audience for the festival over the years giving it almost a mini-South-by-Southwest feel, especially as fans darted from Stubb’s to Empire Control Room and over to the Mohawk – venue stalwarts that survived the pandemic.
On Thursday night, Crumb provided Stubb’s a Mild High liftoff as they focused their hypnotic psychedelic set around 2021 LP Ice Melt (showcasing eight of its ten songs). The audience was doused in hazy trip-hop melancholia that recalled fellow Levitation alum Dungen and the invitee but last-minute canceled act, Melody’s Echo Chamber from 2015. Crumb flexes a strong sense of dynamism in their compositions, and their live set regularly guided the Stubb’s audience from lounge-y coziness to propulsive psychedelia and back, often within the same song. Syrupy effects, ethereal textures, jazzy drums, and shapeshifting vocal, guitar, and keyboard tones that sounded like steel drums being played under water kept everyone on their toes.
While some chose the soothing sounds of Crumb, many packed the Mohawk across the street for a heavier dose. Austin’s heavy metal band The Well held court to a head-nodding throng at Mohawk with their Sabbath-inspired chunky psych-metal. Dual vocal incantations from Ian Graham and Lisa Alley at times seemed to emanate from the depths of a distant well (pun not intended) that lent their sludgy blues a haunted feel. The Well’s dark tunes were brought into the light by a fantastic light show across the Mohawk’s outdoor stage – the entire stage, band, and even the trees above the stage were bathed in swirling psychedelic light– making a sharp contrast to the aural heaviness.
Closing out the night at the Mohawk was Levitation alum, Fuzz, featuring Ty Segall on drums, Charles Moothart on guitar, and bassist Chad Ubovich. Fuzz pummeled its audience through a set of heavy acid rock, delighting listeners with spastic precision. Segall’s rhythmic bashes and Moothart’s in-the-red shredding recall Jimi Hendrix’s roaring power trio psychedelia. The crowd stomped along in revelry to the smoldering blend of punk, rock, blues, and ethereal psych, proving (yet again) why Fuzz is a must-see. For anyone who missed out, be sure to check out Fuzz’s new (September 2021) live Levitation Sessions LP!
