Acid Bath, TV on the Radio, Pavement, and More Reviews From Levitation 2025 

ACL Fest officially has real competition. Prioritizing psych rock and other forms of alternative music, Levitation has long been a local’s preferred fall Austin music festival, but this year’s change from distinct Red River Cultural District mini-shows to centralized Palmer Events Center musical convergence brought legitimacy and community to the forefront. 

The Chronicle music team caught veterans and newcomers across all rock subgenres throughout the weekend – many of whom were spotted milling about the festival grounds when they weren’t performing themselves. Locals Being Dead even scored a shout-out from Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs onstage Sunday. 

All that built up to this sneaky weekend before ACL Fest, because a full decade later, the ’Vators-named Levitation finally rose again under a unifying umbrella: the Palmer Events Center. 

Proverbial Phoenix, Austin’s sonic temple shaker (b. 2008) re-baptized itself in the heady waters of Live Music Capital mythos. A tag-team pair of stages inside and out ran like clockwork 2:30-10:30pm, with ample vendors, food trucks, and garage parking next door. When medieval spectacle Castle Rat christened day one of this new paradigm, APF/Levitation felt whole again.

More Stevie Nicks than Donita Sparks or Doro, NYC “Rat Queen” Riley Pinkerton staged a show fit for a dark, air-conditioned, massive two-ballroom space that looks like photos of the Armadillo WHQ. Swordplay, papier mâché, and murder-most-foul theatre atop expert 1970s proto-metal won the day immediately. The Sword followed, the handsome home to the Austin Record Convention and Armadillo Christmas Bazaar suddenly sounding murky, yet the locals’ trucker metal triumphed by steamrolling like Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive. 

Of course the brand-new day belonged to headliners Mastodon, Blood Incantation, and Acid Bath (see separate review). The middle act’s vibe-killing soundcheck didn’t touch the Denver quartet’s transcendent astral marriage of death metal and Pink Floyd off Absolute Elsewhere, performed in its entirety. Closing Atlantans Mastodon, meanwhile, paid gushing tribute to decades playing Austin in an 80 minutes far leaner and meaner than any olden days OG sundering. – Raoul Hernandez 

Hidden by shades and clutching the mic with both hands, shoulders, body, Riggs struck a distinctly Jim Morrison-esque figure. Blessed with a voice provoking lower registers before  jagging up into a desperate, serrated tenor, he commanded every centimeter of bandwidth in a straining, raging, singing-every-word town hall of gloriously emotive doom and redemption. You couldn’t take your eyes off him.

“We love you,” soothed Riggs. “This is a song about mushrooms.”

Warm, witchy, spellbinding, he wrung out every emotional note as a reunited quartet led by a pre-Goatwhore Sammy Duet unleashed doomy metallic punishment. “Scream of the Butterfly” immolated especially. Acid Bath + Levitation = legendary T-shirt/poster. – Raoul Hernandez

Rock they did. With new guitarist Spider – replacing MJ Lenderman, who’s stepped away from live shows to focus on his solo career – in tow, the band focused primarily on the heaviest parts of their alt-country catalog, replicating studio sound effects and, most importantly, Karly Hartzman’s unparalleled caterwaul, to a tee. “Hot Rotten Grass Smell” and “Bath County,” from 2023’s acclaimed Rat Saw God, inspired a sea of slam dancers, while new singles “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)” and “Pick Up That Knife” ebbed and flowed between moments of delicacy and exorcism. 

Ahead of Rat Saw God epic “Bull Believer,” Hartzman said, “as a band with two Jewish members in it, we would like to say that we believe in a free Palestine. If you have the anger that we all share, there’s an opportunity at the end of this song to scream.” Chelmis added that Saturday marked the first anniversary of Hurricane Helene, which devastated Wednesday’s hometown of Asheville. With plenty of emotional ammo, Hartzman moved from a yodel register to a banshee wail throughout the eight-minute closer. Even witnessing, not participating, in the catharsis felt – as she put it – really fucking good. – Carys Anderson 

Maybe there should be an asterisk next to any music primarily described as psychedelic that says you’ll be bored watching it if you’re not high. Anton Newcombe led his famously tumultuous collective through a technically proficient career-spanning set, but I found myself paying more attention to the seven musicians’ outfits than the sounds coming out of their instruments. Never mind that we were inside, or that Levitation insisted on keeping the spacious Palmer room dark at all times. These fiftysomethings needed sunglasses – and cloaks, and Neil Young hats, and sideburns – to keep the Sixties vibe strong.

Longtime percussionist Joel Gion stood at attention next to Newcombe, casually shaking his tambourine and drinking directly from a bottle of wine in between songs. Guitarist Ricky Maymi served as further proof that some people can tolerate the curmudgeony frontman, who addressed the crowd for the first time about 25 minutes into the set to request the band start a song over. Still, calling card “Anemone” proved as bluesy, dusty, and catchy as ever. 

Newcombe spoke one last time to introduce 1997’s “Super-Sonic”: “This one’s for that beautiful girl. You know who you are.” Based on his whole thing, I doubt the frontman’s attempt at suave mystique was a joke. I laughed anyway. – Carys Anderson 

The show marked the collective’s second showing on an Austin Psych Fest-affiliate lineup. An acid trip during the first go-around inspired Mystère’s 2016 single “Sphynx,” guitarist/vocalist and co-founding member Sacha Got proclaimed, before playing the trancelike track to a shimmying crowd Saturday night. 

“I remember, back in 2014, we came for the first time and everybody was grooving around, tripping around, shagging around like in the Sixties, like the spirit of ’69,” Got said earlier in the set, with all the chic sleaze of French-accented English. As the turtlenecked musician went on to promise, the disco-blending surf-rockers kept the crowd, and the band themselves, ecstatically on their feet with a predominant blend of English tracks from their 2024 release, Rock Machine, and French hits like “La femme ressort” and “Sur la planche 2013” from their debut Psycho Tropical Berlin. A cowboy hat was twirled and tapped like a tambourine, co-founding keyboardist Marlon Magnée wielded his synthetic ivories as an impromptu keytar, and visions of club couture and countercultural affectation commingled. – Caroline Drew 

Reunited last year to promote an anniversary reissue of 2004 debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, TV on the Radio could’ve easily phoned in a cash-grabbing greatest hits set at Levitation. Indeed, Saturday’s headlining performance did include a lot of hits – but only because the Brooklyn post-punks boast a bangers-only catalog. 

“We are going to vibrate the room,” singer Tunde Adebimpe declared, before the band launched cinematic opener “Young Liars,” from their very first EP. The training wheels were off. 

Bolstered by touring drummer Jahphet Landis, bassist Jesske Hume, and multi-instrumentalist Dave Smoota Smith, Adebimpe and guitarists Jaleel Bunton and Kyp Malone – founding member Dave Sitek sat out this recent run – rejected slacker minimalism for rock & roll showmanship. Adebimpe stalked all corners of the stage, dancing with his hands, jumping in the air, encouraging audience members to clap along. The sixpiece paid equal attention to each of TVOTR’s five albums, from the disco beat of the Malone-led “Golden Age” to the New Wave blast of later-day highlight “Happy Idiot” to, of course, indelible hit “Wolf Like Me,” which the band was confident enough to play six songs in – no encore-reserved delayed gratification here. 

Despite the old tracks, repeated thanks, praise of their fellow artists, and nods to Palestine and recently deceased Black Liberation Party activist Assata Shakur placed the set firmly in the present moment. Talk about a light that never goes out. – Carys Anderson 

Cody Dosier and Falcon Bitch’s guitar/drum-switching axis trades leads and harmonies like birds on a wire – fast, insistent, chirping. Hard to find a single head in the crowd not bobbing and weaving as they followed rising and falling minor chords and major choruses. A timelessness courts Being Dead’s skittering melodicism, a hopped-up and electric folk doubling as alt-pop.

Well-timed ooo-ooo-ooo’s, indulgent la-la-la’s, surfing lyrical lopes and metallic breakdowns equaled one giant lump-in-the-throat, melancholic joy recoiling true catharsis. Sixties lace vox, New Wave rhythms, and 21st century tempos jumped across history – is that Dusty Springfield, or a dash of Raincoats, a smidge from Yo La Tengo? The summer days from 2023 LP bow When Horses Would Run and VU tattoo of “Rock n’ Roll Hurts,” from last year’s perfect follow-up EELS, felt fleeting against the backdrop of our new Metropolis.

Ascension entreaties, monastic entwinings, breathy fuzzbusters – Lesley Gore, Shocking Blue, Australia’s Go-Betweens. Anything and everything you want to imprint on them, let’s say. “Why won’t you let me go to sleep,” wonders Dosier on EELS’ “Goodnight,” which helped close out a 45-minute set Sunday. We’ll sleep when we’re Being Dead. – Raoul Hernandez

Martsch and current bandmates Melanie Radford (bass/vocals) and Teresa Esguerra (drums) cut a simple, stark silhouette onstage, genuine and uncomplicated against an expansive backdrop of shifting ink-spill projections as they stretched Built to Spill’s already incongruous tracks with solos. The trio’s masterful playing took turns accentuating Martsch’s melody-driven compositions, well-received by an enthusiastic crowd, eager to sing along to beloved guitar riffs and drum fills as readily as their favorite lyrics. 

With an unplaceable breeze in his tufted hair and striped beard, and an eyes-closed emotiveness in his articulation, Martsch held an endearing yet authoritative figure, a Dr. Seuss-drawn rock star – but a sincere, bona fide rock star nonetheless – perhaps more than expected from Built to Spill’s association with sleepier and more sardonic acts. He offered few words to the audience, letting the timelessly angst-fueled energy of his lyrics tell the story. An act most adored by niche-loving individualists, no song fell uncelebrated. Martsch let the hits stack up with millennial-era favorites “The Plan” and “Trimmed and Burning” before closing the set with crowd pleasers “Big Dipper” and “Carry the Zero.” – Caroline Drew 

Performing fan favorites from both collections, the most famous lineup, plus touring member Rebecca Cole, gelled with mischievous glee, leaning into their slower songs and older tracks. The still-recently-reunited band seemed to actually be having fun maintaining a loose-but-tight, idiosyncratic jam feeling on stage, without a hint of the frustrated tensions that have dampened previous performances. 

Stephen Malkmus delivered the biggest hits – “Gold Soundz,” “Cut Your Hair” – with signature chagrin, made playful by Bob Nastanovich’s tireless percussive performance and Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg’s earnest playing and endearing shout-outs – Levitation staff, local trio Being Dead – and dedications: “Kennel District” to his wife, “Date w/ IKEA” to Built to Spill. Stubborn at heart, this staunchly fame-averse outfit inserted quick, raucous renditions of deeper cuts throughout the set, including “Debris Slide,” “Texas Never Whispers,” and, with a wink to early fans, the fittingly contrarian instrumental “Heckler Spray.” – Caroline Drew

This article appears in October 3 • 2025.

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