Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Austin Psych Fest

Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Austin Psych Fest brought eclectic talent from across the psych spectrum

The Spring installment of Austin Psych Fest returned last weekend to The Far Out Lounge & Stage for a three-day, two-stage, no-overlap experience that brought over 30 acts to Austin for an eclectic weekend of music from all across the trippy psychedelic spectrum. For 2025, the billed talent stretched its boundaries by bringing a diverse array of artists that catered to fans of Psych Fest past and present. Here’s what stood out to us over the weekend-long stand in South Austin. 

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April DawneLive MusicReview

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

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.

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Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Geordie Greep delivered memorable set at Austin Psych Fest

Accompanied with an ensemble band of instrumentalists, London’s Geordie Greep delivered a memorable set orbiting his solo LP debut The New Sound —released in October 2024— at South Austin’s Far Out Lounge on April 26 as part of Levitation and Resound’s Austin Psych Fest 2025. 

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Six bands to watch at Austin Psych Fest 2025

Levitation’s Austin Psych Fest will return to Far Out Lounge and Stage in 2025, coming with a stacked lineup that features acts from all over the world to commemorate its third Spring edition since the return to an annual Springtime, one-location, two-stages, no-overlap festival experience. The three-day festival will feature legacy acts and underground picks that showcase yet another year of reverberation appreciation from the homegrown Austin festival. To help audiences prepare for the event, the team at The Cosmic Clash has curated six bands to watch for the festival during the last weekend of April (25-27), including the kickoff and late-night shows after each day of music

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Austin Psych Fest announced masterfully curated lineup today

Levitation’s Austin Psych Fest will return to The Far Out Lounge & Stage in South Austin on April 25 – April 27 for yet another year of a masterfully curated lineup by famed booker Rob Fitzpatrick and Resound Presents. Since returning to a Spring edition on top of the regular Levitation Fall Edition, Austin Psych Fest has both stayed in touch with the current world of independent music at large and the roots of what made the festival the coveted phenomenon it is in the present day.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music preview: Six bands to see at LEVITATION 2024

World-renowned psychedelic Austin musician Roky Erickson once said, “At one time, I had it notarised that I was from another planet. By a lawyer.” Regardless of whether that makes sense or not, Erickson’s legacy still holds true in the city of Austin, Texas. We’re decades removed from the 60s, but folks like Austin’s The Black Angels and their proxies have kept his legacy alive by delivering endless programming of neo-psych rock utopia.  Festival founders Rob Fitzpatrick and The Black Angels’ Levitation is back this Halloween weekend for yet another multi-venue installment, and the booked talent continues to deliver a factor of “Wow.” The Cosmic Clash team will join the festivities yet again and is here to prescribe another list of bands you need to see for the end-of-October festivities. All set times can be found on the Levitation website.

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April RiggsLive MusicReview

Live music review: Mikaela Davis was angelic at Austin Psych Fest at Far Out Lounge

My first time seeing Mikaela Davis was on the BMI stage at the Austin City Limits Festival in 2015, and I expected her sound to be folkie, singer-songwriter music that I’m not typically into. When she took the stage with her harp, I heard an angelic, neo-psychedelic country sound that pleased my ears and I have followed her career via social media since. 

Fast forward nine years to Day Three at Austin Psych Fest (2024), when festival-goers almost lost a mellow day of music due to the weather. The rain moved on and Van Mary eased us into a swampy day at the Janice Stage with a super-chill set. The afternoon continued to heat up as Mikaela Davis & Southern Star took to the Willie Stage for the final day of APF.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Eclectic Austin Psych Fest returned to Far Out Lounge last weekend

The Spring installment of Austin Psych Fest returned last weekend to the Far Out Lounge & Stage for a three-day, two-stage, no-overlap experience that brought over 30 acts to Texas for an eclectic weekend of music from all across the trippy psychedelic spectrum. Event organizers, Levitation was, in part founded by local psych rock revivalists, The Black Angels, but the local organization has become much more over the years.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Seven more acts to see at Austin Psych Fest this weekend

The second edition of the revived Austin Psych Fest is coming up fast. With an all-star lineup from all over the psychedelic and indie rock spectrum, different acts from all over the world will make their way to South Austin at Far Out Lounge & Stage’s massive backyard for a two-stage, no-overlap, three-day rock and roll shindig. With more than 25 artists performing over the weekend of April 26-l28, there will be no shortage of music to discover while including Levitation mainstays such as festival founders, The Black Angels, West Coast psych punk berserkers Frankie & The Witch Fingers, Aussie shredders Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and more. Here are seven more acts The Cosmic Clash team has handpicked as must-sees for the end-of-April festivities. Tickets and set times can be found via the Levitation website here. 

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Case CockrellPremiere

Video premiere: Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band released great new single and clip Dig Me As I Am

Since restructuring his live ensemble in 2022, Potter and his trusted associates have been performing at a frantic pace, but no signs of new material with the second version of his band have appeared until the release of their new single and self-produced video “Dig Me As I Am.” The single comes as the first offering from the band’s forthcoming new record, The Perils Of Being Trapped Inside A Head, due out April 26.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Six acts to see at Austin Psych Fest as it gears up for 2024 with special events and late night shows

LEVITATION’s Austin Psych Fest will return to Far Out Lounge & Stage in 2024, coming with a stacked lineup April

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