Live music review: Friday at Austin Psych Fest with Explosions in the Sky, Octopus Project and Godspeed You Black Emperor

Living in Austin, Texas as a music lover is incredible. Living in Austin, Texas as a music lover that’s lived in town long enough to get hooked up by their community makes all of the bullshit living in an ever-changing rad-ass city worth its weight in gold. Seriously. The amount of complaining I hear/read daily is disheartening, annoying, and honestly unwelcome because even with all of the political bullshit at the state and national levels, this town is one of the best in the world. Period. Go talk shit to someone else about how much you hate it here and out of my fucking face about it. (Or move.)

Austin has no shortage of music festivals and while most of them are amazing in some way, my favorite is Austin Psych Fest. This year, I caught Texas act, Explosions in the Sky, Austin’s The Octopus Project and Godspeed You! Black Emperor as well as some other worthwhile bands. This gem of a festival melted into Levitation (close second fave) and then split back into two different but equal festivals in 2023. APF is held at The Far Out Lounge, one of my favorite venues in Austin since the apocalypse. Far Out was there for people during a very bleak time and offered people live music in a giant, safe, outdoor space when there was no other place. (I rhyme all the time!) This location keeps the festival small, intimate, and with only two stages to bounce between, easy. Which is awesome when you’re old and lazy like me!

I had to plan wisely as Friday was the only day I’d be able to attend the fest as I had previous plans with all my friends. [Side note: I’m so fucking bummed I had to miss Kim Gordon on Saturday!] I arrived as early as possible, only missing the first band, Jesse Sykes, which was clearly a mistake as her haunting voice and bluesy guitar riffs would have been perfect for the weird, windy, warm weather that was swirling around before the rain came through. Federale took the stage with a twangy, psychedelic, Mexicali, spaghetti western sound that I didn’t particularly dig recorded, but enjoyed them live.Perfect set to ease into the APF vibe before getting thrust into the evening performances.

Blackwater Holy Light’s synth-heavy post rock was melodic and dark, and Black Mountain was the perfect band to usher in the night as we moved into my not-to-miss sets.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

I love Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, and the San Marcos band This Will Destroy You, so an ex of mine was surprised when I didn’t know Godspeed You! Black Emperor. That musical mistake was fixed long ago and I’ve now seen that band in a few different countries. 

A nice dude named Adrian shared a table with me and told me how he’d just been introduced to them and that they were who he was most pumped to see. He later described the show as a sound bath of perfect music flowing over him, and even better than expected. I love how they command an audience to be silent, all 7-9 band members positioned in a semi-circle and making a tsunami-sized sound that crescendoed everyone straight into an emotional trance. When the set ended my psyche was glad to be changing musical gears for a little while.

The Octopus Project

There are three Austin bands I have to see annually or I feel off, including The Black Angels, Spoon, and The Octopus Project. If you’ve somehow missed them over the past 26 years, there’s no time like the present to right that extremely large wrong! You missed their APF set this past Friday, but follow their webpage and socials to learn about their upcoming shows. The Octopus Project aren’t afraid of being a little silly and their music and live shows are chock-full of vibrant color, pep, and a whole lot of fun. 

Explosions in the Sky

After The Octopus Project, the pendulum swung back to emotionally tough music as the last band of the night took the main stage. Explosions in the Sky walked on stage and spoke to the crowd about being from Austin and how much APF meant to them before launching into an epic one-hour and twenty-minute set that gently shoved the crowd into a vulnerable space. I’ve been a fan for years and still laughed out loud hearing “The Fight” from the band’s most recent album, End because I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a song that was so clearly inspired by The Cure.

Explosions in the Sky make me feel in ways that most music can barely touch and I found myself with goosebumps several times throughout the show. They’re an instrumental band, which might not be your jam, but give them a listen and see if they make you feel something pretty deep down. 

Be sure to check out Austin Psych Fest in 2026, and plan on attending Levitation this fall! 

*Special thanks to the folks putting on Levitation/APF including Cheyenne and Aaron on the marketing team. Thank you for sharing the opportunity to cover one of my favorite festivals.

Featured photo by Travis Trautt courtesy of Austin Psych Fest