Tag: Austin Psych Fest
Levitation 2023: The Catharsis of Heavy Music
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 11, 2024
Halloween weekend. Thickness in the air. Darkness in the world. I’m committed to a music festival far from home and it’s supposed to rain. Austin, Texas: despite having been there only 5 months prior for Austin Psych Fest, one of the most special community-based music experiences of my life, I felt anxiety leading up to Levitation 2023. So when I left LAX and landed at AUS Airport on Thursday afternoon before the music began, I begged the weight of the world to lighten, with hopes for a familiar outcome of levity, connection, and reclaimed freedom. I believe all of us lost festival goers are in search of an escape from our daily lives. We’re looking for something to feel, something to connect to, and to be amongst similarly yearning souls that are open to the ebb and flow of this world. An ebb and flow that gets the best of us sometimes, for better or for worse… But this weekend, we tried to make it for the better, in the live music capital of the world, together. Words: Michelle Schuman Photos: Grace Dunn related: Austin Shines On: Levitation 2022 Community, that’s what Levitation has to offer. Psychedelia, in all its
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Austin Psych Fest 2023: Authenticity in a Far Out Place
Grace Dunn
May 29, 2023
As a Black Angels fan, I followed Levitation (Austin Psych Fest)for years from afar, watching snippets of the festival on social media, because traveling to Austin from Los Angeles is a TREK that’s difficult for any overworked and underpaid artist, including myself. Through those glimpses, I recognized Levitation as a home to what I live for: diverse jams and trippy visuals. I could feel that I belonged there, but I had no idea how strong that connection was until the stars aligned and I finally made it out to The Far Out, the venue where the fest was held for the first time this year. related: My First SXSW- Confessions of a Fanboy Posing as Music Critic I’ve been to a fuck ton of gigs and festivals, but this one hit different. The people. All of them. Musicians, Organizers, and Festival Goers alike (groups that generally stay in their respective lanes during live show experiences) all blended into a vibrational tapestry, a collective, sewn together by their love of music. The connectivity and the community made this experience special. I will cherish it forever; “It’s All Happening”. Grace and I arrive in Austin, Texas: Ground zero for psychedelia, past, present,
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