Levitation (festival)
Levitation and Austin Psych Fest are two annual multi-day music festivals developed and produced by The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Starting out under the name Austin Psych Fest as a single-location, three-day festival, the festival was renamed Levitation in its eighth year to celebrate Austin’s psychedelic rock pioneers The 13th Floor Elevators. For many of its earlier iterations, the festival was held at Carson Creek Ranch in Austin, Texas. Under the Levitation moniker, the festival eventually transitioned to a four-day festival spread out across many traditional venues in the city of Austin. Starting in 2024, the organizers now run both festivals every year under their respective monikers, with Austin Psych Fest held in the spring at a single location and Levitation held in the fall as a multi-venue festival. Inspired by the creative explosion of the 1960s, as well as by festivals such as ATP and Primavera Sound, they set out to create their vision of a music festival. Over the years, this independent festival has grown to an internationally acclaimed, full weekend event that attracts attendees from all over the world. The Reverberation Appreciation Society is a creative collective composed of Rob Fitzpatrick, Oswald James, and Christian Bland and Alex Maas of The Black Angels. In addition to the festival in Austin, the group has branched out into other cities beginning in 2013 with Levitation France and in 2015 with Levitation Vancouver and Levitation Chicago. The group also runs The Reverberation Appreciation Society record label and has curated events at Austin's SXSW, The Netherlands' Le Guess Who?, NYC's CMJ and NRMAL in Mexico City. The inaugural Austin Psych Fest was held on Saturday 8 March 2008 at The Red Barn in north Austin, featuring performances by The Black Angels, Ringo Deathstarr Horse + Donkey among others. In 2009, the festival was extended to three days and was held from March 13–15 at the Radio Room, a short lived venue on Sixth Street. The Seeds' Sky Saxon performed with Shapes Have Fangs as his backing band and Austin psychedelic legends The Golden Dawn performed their 1968 album "Power Plant" in its entirety. The lineup included modern psychedelic heavies Dead Meadow, A Place to Bury Strangers, Wooden Shjips, The Warlocks, and The Black Angels. The third Austin Psych Fest was held April 23–25, 2010 at The Mohawk, a multi-stage venue on Red River. 41 acts performed, among them, The Raveonettes, Warpaint, The Gaslamp Killer, The Black Angels and 1960s legends Silver Apples. The 2011 festival was held on April 29-May 1 at the 1950s art deco Seaholm Power Plant, a decommissioned steam power plant on the banks of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin that had been made temporarily available for events. Due to changes in city ordinances and construction plans, the festival changed venues 3 times before landing back at its originally intended location, The Seaholm Power Plant, and the festival would be the last concert held within the plant's walls. The 63 band bill was topped by Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators, Spacemen 3 offshoot Spectrum, Omar A Rodriguez group playing as The Mars Volta lineup, Crystal Stilts, the first performance from Black Moth Super Rainbow in several years, and The Black Angels. Austin Psych Fest 2012 was held April 27–29 at the east-side location of legendary music venue Emo's in conjunction with the Beauty Ballroom. The 5th annual festival featured a 61 band lineup including The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, and the Black Lips along with Meat Puppets, The Olivia Tremor Control, Thee Oh Sees, and Bombino, among others. The 2013 and 2014 festivals were held at Carson Creek Ranch in Austin, Texas, located on the Colorado River (Texas). The 2013 festival, the 6th annual festival, held April 26–28, was the first year for the festival to be held at a completely outdoor venue, as well as the first year to have 3 stages of music, camping, and a poster series featuring US and international artists. The seventh annual festival, held May 2–4, 2014, included 1960s legends The Zombies, as well as Panda Bear, The Horrors, Loop, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, of Montreal, The Dandy Warhols, The Black Angels and many more. In late 2014 The Reverberation Appreciation Society changed the festival's name from Austin Psych Fest to Levitation, titled after a track by Austin psychedelic legends The 13th Floor Elevators. The 2015 festival was held May 8–10 at Carson Creek Ranch. The lineup included The Flaming Lips, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Tame Impala as well as a reunion performance by The 13th Floor Elevators, the band's first performance in 45 years. The dates for the 2016 festival were April 29 - May 1, 2016, and the lineup featured Brian Wilson performing Pet Sounds, Ween, Animal Collective, Caribou, Flying Lotus, Slowdive, Courtney Barnett, Sleep, The Arcs, Brian Jonestown Massacre and many more. The 2016 festival at Carson Creek Ranch was cancelled due to severe weather which caused significant damage to the festival grounds and infrastructure. In response over 20 concerts were organized in downtown Austin hosting the lineup and attendees. In November 2016, festival organizers announced that the festival would not be held in 2017, but would return in 2018. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival went on hiatus in 2020. The next year saw the hiatus extended by a year. Levitation resumed with its anticipated 2022 lineup. [1] Levitation hosted Kikagaku Moyo for their last tour in the USA. Created in 2013, Levitation France is held annually at Le Chabada in Angers, France. The first Levitation France was held on September 20–21, 2013, hosting a 17-band lineup including The Black Angels, Dead Meadow, Night Beats, Wall of Death, and The UFO Club. The second Levitation France festival was held September 19–20, 2014 and included Loop, Moon Duo, Woods, Allah-Las, La Femme, and Al Lover. Levitation France 2015 took place September 18–19, 2015. The Reverberation Appreciation Society has released a number of concert films. I've Got Levitation documents the 50th anniversary reunion of The 13th Floor Elevators at the Levitation 2015 music festival, the band's first performance in 45 years. The documentary, directed by James Oswald and Jack Henry Robbins, offers an immersive glimpse into the festival with interviews and performances by The 13th Floor Elevators, The Flaming Lips, The Black Angels, Jesus And Mary Chain, The GOASTT (Sean Lennon), Thee Oh Sees, Fuzz (Ty Segall), Mac Demarco, Lightning Bolt, Night Beats, and others. The film premiered at Alamo Drafthouse on April 25, 2018. Austin Psych Fest: Beyond the Third Sound features footage from Austin Psych Fest 2013 and includes performances and interviews with The Black Angels, Roky Erickson, Clinic, White Fence, Acid Mothers Temple, and Tinariwen, among others. Other concert films released include APF 2012, APF 2011 "Live at the Power Plant," and APF 3, which features footage from Austin Psych Fest 2010. = = = The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Dandy Warhols The Zombies The Black Angels Black Lips Acid Mothers Temple Graveyard Shannon and the Clams King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard The Fresh & Onlys Quilt Liars La Femme White Hills Kadavar The Horrors Unknown Mortal Orchestra Temples Bombino Dead Meadow The Golden Dawn Bardo Pond Boogarins Of Montreal Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks Medicine The Octopus Project Zombie Zombie Yamantaka // Sonic Titan Loop Panda Bear The War on Drugs Mikal Cronin The Young Pink Mountaintops Sleepy Sun Joel Gion & The Primary Colours Tobacco Bo Ningen Earthless Toy Guardian Alien Steve Gunn Woods Gap Dream Hollis Brown Brown Sabbath Terakaft Bone Fur & Feathers Peaking Lights Aqua Nebula Oscillator Roger Sellers The Eagle's Gift Morgan Delt Pure X Residuels Mirror Travel Jacco Gardner Barn Owl Mark McGuire Circuit Des Yeux Mono Moon Duo Destruction Unit Dahga Bloom Perhaps Cosmonauts Christian Bland & The Revelators Charlie Magira Chris Catalena & The Native Americans Kikagaku Moyo Doug Tuttle Greg Ashley Fantasmes Mind over Mirrors Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band Secret Colours Lorelle Meets the Obsolete Arrington De Dionyso Golden Dawn Arkestra Think No Think = The Black Angels Roky Erickson The Moving Sidewalks Silver Apples Goat Acid Mothers Temple Kaleidoscope Bass Drum of Death The King Khan and BBQ Show White Fence Om The Raveonettes Warpaint Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Tinariwen Clinic The Growlers Deerhunter Os Mutantes Boris The Soft Moon The Warlocks Wall of Death Man or Astro-man? Dead Skeletons Masaki Batoh's Brain Pulse Music Tamaryn Gary War Suuns VietNam Black Mountain Vinyl Williams Indian Jewelry Night Beats Elephant Stone Deap Vally Quintron and Miss Pussycat The Black Ryder Young Magic The Laurels The Besnard Lakes Lumerians Spectrum The Holydrug Couple Holy Wave Golden Animals The Cult of Dom Keller No Joy Ride Into the Sun The Wolf Hollow Trees Kay Leotard Tjutjuna The Shivas Capsula Black Bananas Woodsman TTotals Jackson Scott JJUUJJUU St. James Society Hearts in Space Dreamtime LSD and the Search for God = The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Black Angels Black Lips Dead Meadow The Golden Dawn Bombino Meat Puppets The Telescopes Dead Confederate Night Beats Thee Oh Sees Black Lips Pink Mountaintops Spindrift The Entrance Band Disappears Allah-Las Wooden Shjips Ringo Deathstarr Singapore Sling Sun Araw Prince Rama Quilt Psychic Ills The Olivia Tremor Control Wall of Death Woods The Stepkids Federale The Vacant Lots Quest for Fire Feathers Moon Duo MMoss Acid Baby Jesus The UFO Club Holy Wave The Meek Strangers Family Band Cosmonauts The Orange Revival Al Lover Feeding People Peaking Lights Sleep Over Lotus Plaza Mind Spiders The Astroid #4 Smoke and Feathers Paperhead High Wolf Amen Dunes Pure X The Ripe The Blue Angel Lounge Ancient River Secret Colours The Cush New Fumes Brooklyn Raga Association Headdress The Band in Heaven = The Black Angels Roky Erickson Black Moth Super Rainbow Tobacco Crystal Stilts A Place to Bury Strangers The Growlers This Will Destroy You Atlas Sound The Fresh & Onlys Dirty Beaches Pontiak The Quarter After The Soft Moon Bass Drum of Death The Black Ryder Sleepy Sun Prefuse 73 ST37 Night Beats Indian Jewelry Beach Fossils The Vacant Lots Lumerians White Hills ZAZA Radio Moscow Pete International Airport – Members of The Dandy Warhols and The Upsidedown Crocodiles Wall of Death Cloudland Cayon Christian Bland Shapes Have Fangs Omar A Rodriguez playing as The Mars Volta lineup The Shine Brothers Spectrum Holy Wave Daughters of the Sun Chris Catalena The Meek The Cult of Dom Keller Lower Heaven No Joy The Blue Angel Lounge Zechs Marquis Hellfire Social Sky Drops Beaches Woodsman Ghost Box Orchestra Tjutjuna Young Prisms Weird Owl Diamond Center Black Hollies Sound Mass Cold Sun = The Black Angels Silver Apples The Raveonettes Warpaint Spindrift The Gaslamp Killer The Warlocks Ringo Deathstarr Pink Mountaintops Indian Jewelry Night Beats Daughters of the Sun Christian Bland & The Revelators Golden Animals Shapes Have Fangs The Tunnels Smoke and Feathers Headdress Von Haze PJ and the Bear Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor The Vandelles Greg Ashley The Meek The Frequency Screen Vinyl Image Cry Blood Apache City Center Telepathik Friend Tia Carrera Ancient River Sky Parade Mondo Drag Voices Voices Yellow Fever Pure Ecstasy Rayon Beach Strangers Family Band Ghost Songs All in the Golden Afternoon = The Black Angels Sky "Sunlight" Saxon of The Seeds Dead Meadow The Warlocks The Golden Dawn Indian Jewelry Wooden Shjips A Place to Bury Strangers The Strange Boys The Upsidedown Miranda Lee Richards Shapes Have Fangs Christian Bland & The Revelators Daughters of the Sun Cavedweller Woven Bones Lower Heaven Golden Animals Smoke and Feathers Cartright Astronaut Suit The Astroid #4 The Tunnels PJ and the Bear The Shine Brothers The Vandelles Forever Changes = The Black Angels Spindrift The Strange Boys Acid Tomb The Quarter After Ringo Deathstarr The Upsidedown Horse + Donkey The Tunnels Astronaut Suit Cavedweller = Joel Gion Woods Loop Quilt Kadavar The GOASTT Zombie Zombie Allah-Las The Soft Moon Spindrift White Hills La Femme Ben Frost Christian Bland & The Revelators Moon Duo Amen Dunes J.C. Satan Aqua Nebula Oscillator Orval Carlos Sibelius The Astroid #4 Holy Wave POW! High Wolf Al Lover The Eagle's Gift = The Black Angels Dead Meadow Wall of Death The Telescopes Dead Skeletons Tamikrest Temples Elephant Stone Night Beats Damo Suzuki Beak> Strangers Family Band Lonely Walk Camera Lola Colt Blondi's Salvation Mars Red Sky = Lightning Bolt (band) Chelsea Wolfe Health (band) Oneohtrix Point Never Earthless Royal Trux Faust (band) Gary Wilson Ryley Walker Night Beats Blanck Mass Rangda Eartheater Vaadat Charigim Circuit Des Yeux Bitchin Bajas Night Fields Methyl Ethel = Swervedriver Viet Cong Atlas Sound Oren Ambarchi Lumerians Destruction Unit Mind over Mirrors Jeff Zeigler & Mary Lattimore Heaters The Pop Group Noveller Camera Heat Leisure Vision Fortune Christines Gateway Drugs = The Black Angels Dead Moon A Place to Bury Strangers Dead Meadow The Warlocks Joel Gion Black Mountain Black Lips Witch Drenge Night Beats Elephant Stone Tobacco Atlas Sound Ryley Walker King Tuff Willie Thrasher & Linda Saddlebeck Jonathan Toubin's Soul Clap Shigeto Mystic Braves Al Lover Peregrine Falls Circuit Des Yeux Waingro JJUUJJUU The Shivas Sun Ra Star System Mr. Elevator & The Brain Hotel Amen Dunes LA Witch Cosmonauts Tacocat La Luz Dead Ghosts Dead Quiet Curtis Harding Mamiffer The Backhomes Twin River Ancients Biblical White Poppy Dada Plan Black Wizard Gateway Drugs Blackbird Blackbird Three Wolf Moon The Shrine All Them Witches Music of Austin, Texas Official Website Levitation on Facebook Levitation on Twitter