Levitation 2021 was more than just a multi-sensory five-day music festival in downtown Austin on Halloween weekend; it was a vibe. It was an energy. Above all, it was a return to some normalcies. Beautiful layers of music and complex, awe-inspiring projections intertwined into the oak and cedar trees of various music venues in the Red River District. Haunting souls of humans looking for complete immersion in the incredible experience that Levitation always provides.
Austin’s psych scene is alive and well and several of bands on local Spaceflight Records captivated festival goers at Empire Control Room on Halloween night. Billy King & The Bad Bad Bad got the costumed audience moving early in the evening. Led by the charismatic and eyeliner adorned Billy King, the rockers’ highlight was a sludgy and banging version of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla”. On the other spectrum is the quirky poppy and psych-driven grooves of Calliope Musicals. Led by tireless dance moves and vocals of Carrie Fussell, the crowd was showered with pill bottles during the middle of their set that said, “Take ten capsules by mouth pass to person next to you.”
No headliner on a Halloween is more appropriate than Golden Dawn Arkestra. This band with a cult like following capped off a great week of visual, immersive, and transcendent creativity. Austin fans reveled in classic tunes such as “Dimensions”, “Sama Chaka”, and “Stargazer”, and were treated to new song “Success” that delivered a much needed message of affirmation. The festival as a whole was a much needed success for Austin music. Red River music venues are alive again and those interested in more transcendent forms of musical expression found their tribe of hippies and headbangers at this year’s Levitation Fest.
