Levitation Announces First Wave of 2019 Acts

Forget South by Southwest, it burst at the seams years ago. Forget Austin City Limits, too – at this point it’s not noticeably different from most other interchangeable outdoor music festivals. Nah, Levitation is the Austin, Texas music fest that should be on your to-do list. (Assuming you dig cool music, that is.) Since its inauguration in 2008 as the Austin Psych Fest, it’s grown significantly (not unmanageably so, however) and become widely known, well attended and respected, but has remained true to what made it good in the first place. Curated by a group of diehard psych-rock fans (including members of The Black Angels, pictured), the festival presents a delightfully varied array of acts – from virtual unknown young’uns to renowned geezers, and all level in between – that more or less fall under the wide (very wide) umbrella of “psychedelic rock” (not to be confused with “jam rock” or jam bands).

In past years, this has included Sky Saxon, The Raveonettes, Silver Apples, Night Beats, Indian Jewelry, Prefuse 73, Moon Duo, Cosmonauts, Dead Meadow, The Olivia Tremor Control, Warpaint, Bardo Pond, Health, Primal Scream, The Zombies, even reunited Texas psych legends The Moving Sidewalks and 13th Floor Elevators.

Which brings me to the true point of this little blurb. The 2019 edition will take place November 7 through 10 at multiple venues in Austin’s bustling Red River and East Austin live music oases, and the first phase of acts has been announced. These include John Cale, Black Mountain, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dinosaur Jr, High on Fire, Chelsea Wolfe, Death Valley Girls, Torche, Angel Olsen, A Place to Bury Strangers, Kurt Vile and, naturally, The Black Angels. Many more are to be announced, so keep it on your radar, if you’re into this sort of thing.