If you love early Pink Floyd, you’ll love Christian Bland and the Revelators. Mr. Bland is one of the co-founders of the Black Angels and one of the curators of Levitation Austin. He’s also a cool joe. I’ve met him four times. His work with the Revelators is a must-hear if you’re a fan of his other work. They’re playing April 26th at Barracuda at midnight, so come embrace the witching hour with them.
Keep your mind open.
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One of my favorite parts of Levitation Austin is discovering new bands, especially ones in genres I wasn’t exposed to much before I started attending the festival. One of those genres is stoner metal, and Virginia’s Windhand is my new favorite bands of that ilk playing at this year’s festival. They’re playing a sold-out show on April 26th at Barracuda with Ruby the Hatchet and Dead Meadow. The place will be shaking.
Keep your mind open.
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Perennial rock workhorse Ty Segall is playing two shows at Levitation Austin this year. The first is at the Stubb’s BBQ kick-off party on April 26th at 9:45pm and the second is the next night at Barracuda at 7pm. Both shows are sure to be loud and fun, as Mr. Segall is an energetic performer who can bounce around rock genres as easily as a kangaroo across the Australian outback. His new album, Freedom’s Goblin, is a great example of this as he blends fuzzed disco with songs about his dog.
Keep your mind open.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvPXLIJYWo
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Art punk Ron Gallo will be playing one of the first time slot at Levitation Austin this year – 6pm at Stubb’s on April 26th. He’s also playing the next day at 5:30pm on Barracuda, both times in support of Ty Segall. I caught Mr. Gallo and his crew in Fort Wayne a couple years ago and was immediately impressed with his chops on guitar and witty lyrics wrapped in punk attitude. His debut album, Heavy Meta, was one of my top picks of 2017. Check him out while tickets for him are still reasonably priced.
Keep your mind open.
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The latest additions to the lineup for Levitation Austin have been announced, and (no surprise) they’ve added more great acts. Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees adding second shows is great news for fans who couldn’t make one or the other. Count me in for Segall’s Friday show, especially since Ron Gallo will also be playing the same night and location. Other additions that caught my eye are No Joy, True Widow, Pow!, L.A. Witch, Jjuujjuu, and Holy Wave.
It’s quickly getting to the point where set times will be announced and sacrifices will have to be made to determine which shows we can make. Plus, tickets will go even faster once set times are determined. Don’t wait much longer to get your tickets.
Keep your mind open.
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File this under: Best News You’ve Heard Today. Austin, Texas’ annual Levitation Festival returns April 26-29, 2018.
The flagship Levitation festival (the others are in Chicago, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Angers, France) was cancelled this year after the organizers, the Reverb Appreciation Society, took a heavy loss due to the 2016 Austin festival being cancelled due to storms and flooding. Make up shows were quickly scheduled, but many attendees got shut out of those thanks to ruthless ticket scalpers. The RAS bounced back a bit this year with their Angers festival, but fans hoped the Chicago, Austin, and Vancouver shows would return soon.
There’s no word on the Chicago festival (which is usually the first of the four and held in early spring), but the announcement of the Austin festival’s return is great news and a good omen for the other Levitation shows.
Tickets for Austin aren’t on sale yet, but don’t wait too long to score them. The demand will be greater than normal. See you there.
Keep your mind open.
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While Levitation Austin didn’t happen this year, Levitation France is a go on September 15-16th! This bodes well for the Levitation shows (a small one is being held in Austin the first weekend of May) making a full return next year.
The first wave of band announcements includes the Black Angels, Slowdive, Acid Mothers Temple, and Kikagu Moyo. As usual, the Levitation festivals always have a great lineup, and this will be no exception. Get to Angers, France if you can.
Keep your mind open.
British psych-rock four-piece Temples have a new album, Volcano, and are currently taking the U.S. by storm on their latest tour. Their last album, Sun Structures, is a lovely piece of psychedelia. I caught them at Levitation Austin a few years ago and was surprised by how heavy their set was. Seeing them at VIVA PHX will be my first time seeing them in a small venue, so I’m keen on hearing that surprising sound up close and personal.
Keep your mind open.
Hailing from Los Angeles, psychedelic rock duo Jjuujjuu create massive desert soundscapes through Phil Pirrone’s guitar work and Ryan Knights’ drumming. Their new single, “Bleck,” is a wallop of distortion, reverb, and mind-altering chord progressions. I missed these guys a couple years back at Levitation Austin. I got there just as their set ended and the crowd went wild for them, so I’m keen on starting out my VIVA PHX festival by getting my face melted.
Keep your mind open.
