Psychedelic Madness in Austin: Levitation’s Halloween Freakend
Photo by Oscar Moreno
With fans feeling slightly betrayed that Levitation wasn’t held in late October like it typically is, the psychedelic festival resurrected itself once more at The Far Out Lounge. Across two nights, the stage lit up with warped visuals, creative costumes, and glorious chaos.
With the exception of Stereolab, Black Moth Super Rainbow and Bitchin’ Bajas, most of the lineup leaned into Levitation’s harsher, heavier edge of its multi-faceted psychedelic persona. Regardless, it was fitting for its Halloween Festivities.
Friday
I landed on the tail end of J’cuzzi, a band that’s been making waves since forming early last year, and it really shows why. I felt I was welcomed at Halloween Freakend without a warm-up; I stepped past the gates of Far Out and plunged straight into mayhem. The crowd held a woman aloft while J’cuzzi’s vocalist paced frantically beneath her, weaving amongst costumed attendees. I couldn’t tell if the band was dressed up too, or if that’s their general getup; either way, it ruled.
Stereolab followed with a dreamy, hypnotic set. I’ve always experienced Stereolab from afar, playing on vinyl during hang-out sessions with friends, or hearing The Flower Called Nowhere in posh coffee shops around town. Having experienced them in concert, up close, and taking in all the instrumentation, the process it takes to make each meticulously woven melody into every track blew me away. Lætitia’s rhythmic vocal melodies put a smile on everyone’s face. The Groop primarily pulled tracks from their new Instant Holograms On Metal Film album, released earlier this year, but they also peppered in some of the classics.
Concluding the night were the Swedish wonders, Viagra Boys. Onstage appeared a devilish ghoul, Po from Teletubbies, a king, and a Cheerleader, together delivering a debaucherous set. Feral crowdsurfers flew overhead to “Punk Rock Loser,” “Uno II,” “Sports,” and more before ending with “Worms.” It was intense, incredible, and easily one of the best endings to a Halloween festival Austin has seen in years.
Saturday
Day 2 started in a rainy mood. Light showers discouraged some of the still costumed crowd, but encouraged the brave few who gathered early. I heard Porcelain ruled, and that Jordan was dressed as a big bird, Steve as an inflatable dinosaur, Ryan as some sort of gambler, and Eli as a Lamp. I wish I had seen them, but I got there in time to witness Haha Laughing. The duo fired everyone up. Jay and Aby paced around the stage, with Jay occasionally leaping into the pit to command the mob below. This was only the beginning of the night, and already people were crowdsurfing.
Black Moth Super Rainbow took the main stage next. Their dark, psychedelic-synth-laden set, pulled from their new album Soft New Magic Dream, along with tracks from Dandelion Gum and Cobra Juicy. It was a mellow, sunset-drenched performance that primed us for what was next.
Lip Critic hit the side stage with a fuckin’ bang. The Brooklyn quartet, known for having dual drummers and dual synths, got the party going with hypnotic rhythms drenched in distortion. Darkness overcame the crowd and the dimly lit floor, the band lit in solid colors, chaos erupted.
The main stage was packed in anticipation of Clown Core’s mysterious set. An AI voice introduced DJ Driver, a man with a boombox and a cigarette, playing a cassette tape as he took exaggerated drags. The crowd cheered with each inhale he took, his cigarette growing dimmer as he was reaching his end, until it eventually burned out, and he walked away, just in time for the clowns to make their entrance. Landscapes flashed on the giant screen while the clowns stood still for what felt like an eternity. The cheers faded into confusion, faces looked perplexed… and then they began. The immense talent these clowns possessed, juxtaposed against the most deranged NSFW visuals in the background, was a form of performance art. Their sheer virtuosity was only a single brushstroke in a much larger abstract. The crowd oscillated between silence, loud cheers, and bouts of laughter whenever a random clown horn honked. Attendees’ minds were as malleable as the ever-morphing visuals behind them. Analog cameras panned across the crowd, revealing faces with different levels of fascination, perplexity, and joy. Ultimately, the message was abundantly clear. “Thank you for your money. Please leave”.
Next was Lightning Bolt. Composed of Brian Gibson and Brian Chippendale, they had their rigs set up all day, with a wall of sound as big as the small stage could handle, and enough room to leave the amp head in, unleashing the loudest set of the festival. Chippendale’s screeching vocals through his trademark weary mask pummeled hard as fuck on his Vistalite drums, while Gibson donned an Ernie from Sesame Street mask. “We both used to wear masks,” Chippendale reminisced, “then Brian said, 'What the fuck am I doing? ' and took it off, but I kept mine. Tonight we’re bringing back old Lightning Bolt”. The duo took absolutely no prisoners squeezing in as much noise in their relatively short 40 minute set, the loudness was disorienting, the Far Out staff intervened in crowd control for the crowdsurfers, Brian lost his mask, people lost their shoes, Halloween Freakend was in full effect.
Machine Girl closed out the festival. A masked Matt Stephenson inconspicuously wandered into the photo pit when their set began, before launching himself into the crowd, sending everyone into a frenzy as he started with “Psychic Attack.” Once the mask came off, he stayed in the crowd for nearly the entire track. The set was heavy on Psycho Warrior, which was released just a few days prior, but also included material from Wlfgrl and MG Ultra.
Halloween Freakend filled the void left by Levitation’s typical Halloween weekend, keeping the psychedelic spirit alive. The weekend left no holds barred in delivering some of the best lineups I've seen all year. Hopefully, the spirit lives on next year. My only regret was not wearing a costume.
