As Austin psych rock festival LEVITATION rolled into day two of the venue-based event, more fans, bigger acts and more cold weather contributed to an impressive array of performances on Friday, November 8th. The Flaming Lips were one of those marquee artists who appeared on the Stubb’s BBQ stage following sets by Mercury Rev and Austin’s Holy Wave in front of a mostly full house in spite of the biting cold that finally moves out today. That means fair, pleasant conditions going forward for fans.
As is their custom, the Flaming Lips opened the show with confetti cannons, oversize balloons, stage smoke, fanfare and “Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30” by Richard Strauss. The song is more familiarly known as the 2001: A Space Odyssey introduction. “Race for the Prize” followed with blasts of confetti, setting a carnivalesque tone to the proceedings. The lighthearted, playful mood of band leader and vocalist Wayne Coyne nicely counterbalanced any damper the weather might have put on the evening. In fact, we largely forgot about being chilled and leaned into the spectacle as Coyne took us on his wacky adventure.
“Felt Good to Burn” made its first set list appearance since 1995. Next, Coyne picked up an acoustic for a cover of recently deceased lo-fi cassette pioneer and Austin songwriter Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End.” Coyne’s rendition was heartfelt and genuine. Someone remarked that Coyne seemed like someone who is authentic, and that sentiment couldn’t be truer, particularly during the Johnston cover. He might be whimsical, but no one has ever accused Wayne Coyne of being fake or an impostor. The man makes art simply for art’s sake.
Other high points in the show included “She Don’t Use Jelly,” the breakout song that put Flaming Lips on the map and crowd favorite, “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)” during which Coyne urged fans to sing along, throwing up their hands at the chorus. The “Church of Wayne Coyne” was in full effect, complete with a trip into the audience as evidenced by the clip above.
We headed over to Empire Control Room as the Lips’ set wound down with a three-song encore of “Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots (parts 1 & 2) followed by the band’s trademark set closer, “Do You Realize.” The frivolity was much appreciated as we hustled over to see Russian Circles’ progressive, doom rock unfold at Empire.
Russian Circles is an experimental, heavy, progressive, and kickass instrumental rock band from Chicago. Founding members Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz met in St. Louis before the pair reconvened in the Windy City to form the band whose music has been hailed by fans and critics alike. Their music, while guitar-driven and loud, exhibits nuances not often explored by similar acts. Indeed, Russian Circles bring a certain sophistication to an art form that is often dismissed for merely being “angry young man” music. Inside the garage at Empire, the sold-out venue was paying rapt attention to this talented act.
Before they could wrap up their set for the evening, we caught the later half of Black Mountain’s set at The Mohawk. The stoner rock act from Vancouver has been making music since 2004 with their eponymous debut album dropping the following year. Since then, the five-piece act featuring Stephen McBean, Jeremy Schmidt, Adam Bulgasem, Rachel Fannan, Arjan Miranda has released four more full-length records on the Jagjaguwar imprint.
The band featured several songs from this year’s impressively stony release, Destroyer. All were accompanied by visuals projected on the walls and stage that are reminiscent of old-school gel and oil forms using overhead projectors like they did in the 1960s. The cool visuals enhanced an already heady performance.
We ended the evening at Elysium with David J (Bauhaus / Love and Rockets) performing beautiful, informal songs with an acoustic guitar and keyboard accompaniment. The delicate songs and arrangements were the perfect way to wind down a busy night of shows halfway through the four-day bender they call LEVITATION.
Photos by April Riggs.
