Levitation 2022 – 7th Level Music

Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day Four

The last night of Levitation 2022 took us back to Stubb’s for more psychedelic freak-outs. It was the night before Halloween, so plenty of people were still in costume – including some rather elaborate ones such as an astronaut and multiple witches decked out in exotic costumes and makeup.

Those witches probably appreciated the wild set by Frankie and the Witch Fingers, who only get better every time I see them live. They had painted their faces like ghouls for the occasion and ripped through a lot of roaring fuzz.

Up next, and all the way from France, were La Femme. They played a fiery set of electro-psych mixed with a lot of sex appeal and vocals in French. The crowd wasn’t sure what to make of them at first, but they gained many fans by the end of their set.

Closing out the Stubb’s show were The Black Angels – hometown heroes and curators of the festival. They never disappoint, and they played some extended versions of classic tracks and heavy stuff from their newest album, Wilderness of Mirrors.

The end of their set wasn’t the end of the festival, however. We made the ten-minute drive to Feels So Good Records to catch Moon Duo perform a set in their “lightship” – a cube of screens that had projections coming through the back of it toward the crowd instead of the other way around with the images going onto the stage and band. Moon Duo would sometimes melt into the images. It was a hypnotizing effect and a beautiful blend of light and sound.

After their set ended, a guy near us said, “Levitation’s over.” with a bit of sadness in his voice. It was for him and for us. It had been a fun weekend, as always, with good vibes all around and a lot of excellent music. It remains one of the best festivals for music lovers.

See you next year.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day Three

We had enough time for a long disco nap before heading back to Stubb’s for a night of Australian psych-rock: The Murlocs, Tropical Fuck Storm, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard were all on the same bill. The line to get in was almost two blocks long and went around the corner. The Murlocs were playing an energetic set by the time we got into the outdoor stage area.

Tropical Fuck Storm came afterwards with their strange blend of psychedelia, garage rock, post-punk, and stuff you can’t quite define.

The headliners, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, came out with a set packed full of musical styles (from thrash metal to electro) and riffs. They opened with an extended version of “Rattlesnake” that blew everyone’s minds and then only let up to swap guitars for the rest of their set. The crowd was fired up and singing every track.

We split at the end of their set so we could make a power walk to Antone’s to see local doom metal trio The Well. It was our first time at Antone’s, which is odd considering all the years I’ve been attending the festival. It’s a nice venue, mostly known for hosting blues acts, but they stepped up to help the festival after Parish caught on fire (no injuries, thank heavens). We wandered through hundreds of people on the street our for various Halloween parties at the bars on 6th Street. Sexy cowgirls, Jesus, Hunter S. Thompson, witches, devils, and vampires were the most popular costumes we saw. The Well weren’t in costumes, but they did deliver a loud, heavy set of spooky doom that was a great way to cap the night.

We had one more night to go in Austin, and it would bring some of the trippiest stuff we’d see and hear all weekend.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day Two

The second night of Levitation Austin 2022 started at Hotel Vegas. I hadn’t been to a show there since 2013 and was delighted to see the place hadn’t changed much. If anything, the outdoor stage area seemed a bit bigger.

Warm Drag were the first act we saw that night, putting on the sexiest show of the weekend with their blend of electro, fuzz, and spooky rock. Lead singer Vashti Windish owned the stage in her biker leather while percussionist / beat master Paul Quattrone got to work in his tank top. The crowd was hypnotized by them both by their set’s end.

Quattrone took a water break and then was back on stage with the rest of his Osees bandmates for the second night of their four-night residency at Hotel Vegas. They came out swinging, blasting through a lot of tracks in just an hour. Their raging punk set of material from their new album, A Foul Form, left the audience breathless multiple times.

We left Hotel Vegas for Elysium to catch the rare performance by The UFO Club – a sort of supergroup consisting of members of Night Beats and The Black Angels, who performed their (so far) only album from beginning to end. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear those songs live, so this set was one of the highlights of the festival for me.

The night ended with Mexican psych-rock legends Los Dug Dug’s. They played a fun blend of psych, surf, and border rock.

Up next would be a trio of Australian bands and doom metal in a blues bar.

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2022 recap: Day One

This year’s lineup for Levitation was stacked. Osees playing all four nights, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard playing twice, Slift coming in from France, The Jesus and Mary Chain coming in from the UK? Sign me up.

Day One (Thursday) started, as usual with a stop at Pelon’s for some Tex-Mex and then over to Stubb’s for the first three-band set we’d see over the weekend. Opening the festival for us were the post-punk trio Automatic, who had only improved since we’d seen them at Levitation France four months earlier. They also had some of the best sound mixing of the entire weekend.

A lot of people loved Automatic’s set. We saw plenty of people carrying new Automatic tote bags and wearing new band shirts afterwards. Up next was Detroit’s Protomartyr delivering a powerful set of urgent post-punk. Afterwards, they announced a surprise show at the 13th Floor bar down the street the following night.

The Stubb’s show ended with shoegaze giants The Jesus and Mary Chain, who, despite having problems with a distortion pedal, put on a good set of classics and new material to a loving crowd who thought they sounded great without the faulty pedal.

That didn’t end our night, however. We walked over to Elysium for the sold-out show featuring Slift – the cosmic metal band from Toulouse, France. Anticipation was high for the set, and they did not disappoint. The raw power coming from them in the small venue was almost overpowering at some points. They were drenched with sweat by the end of the first song, as was most of the audience. It was the end of their U.S. tour and their first time in Austin, so they poured out all the gas in the tank they had left for the crowd. Theirs was the best set of the night.

It was a great way to open what would be a fun four days. Up next would be a return to Hotel Vegas for the first time in years, the sexiest set of the weekend, and a band I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see live.

Keep your mind open.

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