Live music review: The Dandy Warhols assert legacy at Levitation Night Show
Portland, Oregon indie rock socialites The Dandy Warhols aren’t just surviving the volatile world of music, but thriving for the generations of vinyl collectors that hold them dear as a formative force that sparked a love of music and acting as a harbinger of an industry revolution. With countless tours under their belt, a relentless and boundary-breaking creative output, The Dandy Warhols have gone independent, away from the clutches of major label business and built their own studio for all Dandy endeavors since the turn of the millennium. For Austin’s 2025 Levitation Festival, the Pacific Northwest hardliners went to work to further assert their legacy with a Friday (September 26) late-night performance at Mohawk in the downtown, Red River Cultural District. For fans new and old, what the Dandys brought to the table made for a career-spanning set of favorites and deep cuts alike.
The tenured Oregon rockers took the stage at 10:30 p.m. sharp, a moment that required festival goers to depart the main event at Palmer Events Center early (before Mastodon’s set ended) to see the entirety of the 90-minute excursion The Dandys planned for the evening. The Courtney Taylor-Taylor-led group performs in a horizontal line when taking their places onstage, making communication and in-syncness a defining factor in their live performances. Whether it’s the explosive guitar band goodness on The Dandy Warhols Come Down and Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia or the forays into new wave with Welcome To The Monkey House, the stage setup for the Dandys ensures every crafted sound is in the mix for their genre-bending discography that’s been over 30 years in the making.
The reputation of The Dandy Warhols in Austin is that of a household name. With appearances across multiple local festivals, heaps of club shows, and friendships with repeat touring mates The Black Angels, the vibrations of the Portland outfit have been rustling across the city for decades, with no signs of letting their everlasting prolific streak subside.
Dandys Rule OK fuzzed-out crowd favorite “Ride” showcased dual vocal abilities from Taylor-Taylor and drummer Brent “Fat Head” DeBoer, providing a washed-out delivery that could be classified as having all the “Good Vibes.” The grooves rolled out of the Mohawk speakers in a satisfying, reverberated manner, much to the diehards’ spaced-out satisfaction. The Levitation aftershow drifted between the bangers and the meditators, demonstrating zero issues between the vintage guitars and Zia McCabe-led synth-driven theater.
By the time the smoldering shoegaze of “I Love You” reached a cathartic close, the arena-ready side of the Dandys showed its head with a head-banging thrill in the form of 2024’s Rockmaker single “I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem.” The throbbing bass guitar from McCabe as she stepped away from the keyboard across the track makes it a standout on their latest studio effort. The record is a further testament to the formidable passion to continue creating after fighting it out in the weeds as a struggling artist.
The iconic yet humorous battle cry of “Not If You Were The Last Junkie on Earth” made for a sensible offering, possibly serving as a nod to the fact that longtime contemporaries The Brian Jonestown Massacre would perform at the festival the next day. The lead guitarist knowhow of Peter Holmstrom cranked to full effect at this point, another piece of rock-hard evidence that the Portlanders have still “Got it.” The following anthemic “We Used To Be Friends,” felt like a confirmation of the friendly rivalry that introduced the masses of all tastes to delve into their massive concussion of rock and roll, which smashes through the norm and makes a statement for itself. Despite being vibrant personalities offstage, the power quartet remained in place and didn’t break up the action with extended banter or chitchat; it was all about the tunes.
A Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia triple threat appeared with “Get Off,” “Godless,” and “Bohemian Like You,” with the superhit spearheading a singalong that included aging weirdo rock enthusiasts and kids that looked like they were recently able to buy their first records and turntables long after the Dandys figurehead declared “I sneeze and hits come out!” A glorious mash-up of “Pete International Airport” and “Boys Better” served as a triumphant finale, leaving the audience to expend the last of their energy before Zia treated the attendees to an entrancing synth outro before an eventual cutoff after a heartwarming night that was about one thing: the music. Even if the glory days of cheap apartments and other affordable consumables are long gone, The Dandys are still living the highlife and having a damn good time doing it.
The Dandy Warhols have a half-dozen tour dates listed in October. All the dates are West Coast locations culminating in San Francisco on October 8. The Dandys play with the Oregon Symphony in Portland on November 13.
All photos by Daniel Cavazos courtesy of Levitation
You must be logged in to post a comment.