Levitation Uncorks 2015 Lineup

Three-dozen acts offloaded from the Levitation mothership just now, the re-branded Austin Psych Fest. While South by Southwest has revealed 400 names for March madness, and last week Rodeo Austin shot out of the gate with its lineup, Levitation now kicks in with a hefty dose of its May 8-10, 2015, freak flag at the idyllic Carson Creek Ranch once again.

Relatively speaking, all that’s missing from the eighth iteration of the festival is a 13th Floor Elevators 50th anniversary reunion. All three headliners – Primal Scream, Spiritualized, and the Jesus & Mary Chain – remain draws locally, whether its the rarely-touring UK screamadelics or the latter Scots, who celebrate 30 years of sibling rivalry by performing 1985 debut Psychocandy. As for the English space rockers in the middle, they put on a levitating twilight set at ACL Fest in 2008 – another anchor in their decades-long bond to Austin.

Mac Demarco and Aussie guitar heroes Tame Impala are also coming off big ACL Fest weekends, the latter debuting at Carson Creek Ranch in May. Internationals steer away from north African acts in favor of Japan (ZZZs), Israel (Vaadat Charigim), and China (Chui Wan). Heavyosity: Austin’s the Sword, plus Lightning Bolt, Earth, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Philly shoegazers Nothing.

The Soft Moon gives off strong indie buzz, while team Music here is still high on last year’s eponymous, In the Red Records bow from Ty Segall’s detonation trio of fellow Bay Areans, Fuzz. Stack on top of that some ubiquitous ATX guest lodgers from the same scene, Thee Oh Sees, and the thick, rich Northern California vein in Levitation remains golden.

Plenty of of psych rock staples both homegrown (Black Angels, Holy Wave) and not (White Fence, Night Beats) flesh out this main blast of names. That’s all crowned, of course, by Okie oddballs the Flaming Lips, last witnessed here a month after APF for the X Games. Their new Beatles skew, With a Little Help from My Fwends, trips hard.

Transmission Events (Fun Fun Fun Fest), now partnered with Levitation’s sponsoring Reverberation Appreciation Society, produces the party. Your spring calendar just filled in further. Tickets here.

Wayne Coyne leading the Flaming Lips at the Circuit of the Americas in June. (Photo by Gary Miller)

A Place to Bury Strangers

Black Angels

The Black Ryder

The Blank Tapes

Chui Wan

Earth

Eternal Tapestry

Fat White Family

The Flaming Lips

Fuzz

Heathers

Holy Wave

Indian Jewelry

The Jesus & Mary Chain

Krakatau

L.A. Witch

Lightning Bolt

Mac Demarco

Melody’s Echo Chamber

Metz

The Myrrors

Mystic Braves

Night Beats

Nothing

Primal Scream

Rose Windows

The Soft Moon

Spinthrift

Spiritualized

The Sword

Tame Impala

Thee Oh Sees

Vaadat Charigim

White Fence

White Manna

ZZZs