The Best Things We Saw at Austin Psych Fest 2023

Automatic on Friday, April 28, at the Far Out Lounge (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Considering Austin’s inclement weather and the precarious state of national touring – survival of an outdoor Texas musical gathering doesn’t just take tenacity, it may actually require a few years off.

Austin Psych Fest first launched in 2008 and last took place at Carson Creek Ranch in 2014, prior to a name change to Levitation by the Black Angels’ local festival- and vinyl-presenting team. The 15th-year comeback at Far Out Lounge made waves, April 28-30, starting with evacuation due to downpour delaying the sold-out Friday afternoon. Knocking two sets and causing a mammoth reentry line, the interruption inspired crowds to boo at thunder claps before Modu Moctar and Crumb relaunched the evening.

Sunnily back on track for the remainder of the weekend, the two-stage South Austin effort enfolded further genres into the eclectic Levitation brand, especially with Sunday’s Latin focus. Enthusiastically received headliners felt momentous on the main field Willie stage, while locals and visitors alike held down the venue’s permanent Janis stage enclosure. Hear more from Chronicle writers on the most memorable sets below. And check out our photo gallery from the entire festival weekend. – Rachel Rascoe

Photo by David Brendan Hall

The Two Sides of Toro y Moi

“Thank you! We’re Toro y Moi.” That was the terse, solo-project-effacing way Chaz Bear said goodbye Friday, as he gestured back to a drumless band composed of two synth dudes and a bassist. The whole peppy, friendly set begged the same question: Just how much of a star is Bear anyway? A long-tenured staple of second-bench indie, the L.A.-by-way-of-Columbia, South Carolina, musician seems to split the difference between charismatic alt-pop celebrity and hermetic sonic tinkerer. There’s the guy with features on Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator albums, versus the guy who occasionally drops instrumental jazz funk albums. It was easy to imagine either Sides of Chaz (2010) second-billing the festival. Instead, we got a bit of both.

For the opening two songs, both culled from last year’s Mahal (easily the smeariest, psych-friendliest Toro y Moi album yet), it was tinkerer Chaz who came to jam. But just as I was starting to truly vibe with Bear’s immaculately toned, fill-happy guitar playing, a tech pulled the musician’s strap off, never to return. Then, the alt-pop celebrity took hold, with the rest of the night dominated by Toro y Moi’s goofiest synth-funk material. (Why was 1/8th of the evening devoted to the silly “New House'' interlude from Outer Peace?) Still, when Chaz electric slid across the stage during the joyous keyboard break of “Girl Like You,” it was hard to be too upset. Dude’s kinda a star! – Julian Towers

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Automatic’s Intensity Fits Psych Fest to a T

During the final tracks of Toro y Moi’s mainstage upbeat fizzle, Los Angeles outfit Automatic – loud enough to accommodate the unplanned rain-delayed overlap – were already firing on all cylinders. Triple, that is: blazered-up Izzy Glaudini seamlessly managing a motherboard of silvery synths and mostly-lead vocals, Austin-raised Halle Saxon’s song-escorting basslines, and Lola Dompé’s snappy post-punk drumming and singing. The stark crew earned their onstage detachment in managing a precisely produced early Eighties UK sound among just the trio (link lineage in their cover of Delta 5's "Mind Your Own Business" and Dompé’s dad, Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins). Icing on the intense cake, triggered sounds included a sinister feminine laugh and panting breath.

First flash of levity came in Glaudini’s stagefront maraca for “Venus Hour,” off sophomore Stones Throw effort Excess. She certainly sounded “like Venus in the surf,” the ethereal foil to Dompé’s addictively carefree, conversational responses. Their pretty-goth/sharp-punky contrast spoke volumes live, powering up artsy synthwave selects like “Automaton.” Witnessing such rock efficiency in forward-looking retroism and all-black outfits on the tree lined smaller stage, I almost felt like I was at Psych Fest’s original Carson Creek iteration. Further, Automatic’s finale, a drum machine fever entitled “Suicide in Texas,” fit the Black Angels’ curated mood to a T. – Rachel Rascoe

Photo by Isabella Martinez

Crumb’s Soothing Rock Floats in the Wind

After a thunderstorm evacuated the venue, and what felt like an excruciatingly long soundcheck, Far Out was flooded with a crowd eager to watch the indie foursome reactivate the main Willie stage on Friday. The hypnotic performance met high expectations. Lila Ramani’s soothing whispers, layered atop Jonathan Gilad’s crunchy drumbeat, opened Crumb’s anticipated set with “Part III” – where punchy dreaminess far beyond the scope of indie rock confirmed their spot at the psychedelically founded showcase. Beyond the rainbow lightshow, post-storm winds pushed green leaves behind the stage, the perfect visual for distorted vocals and reverb bass in “Balloon.”

Besides their most popular tune “Locket,” which was cut alongside the circumstantially shortened set, the Brooklyn-based melders mostly produce tunes that stray more towards soothing lulls than sing-alongs. But live, their spacey songs and enthralling stage presence – Ramani even paid homage to the Texas crowd with a cowboy hat – excited to the point of a collective mid-set jump and cheer. Long instrumental breaks sprinkled throughout; Bri Aronow’s synths often combined with Jesse Brotter’s chill-yet-impressive guitar riffs. To wrap, Aronow’s sax solo on “Trophy” reminded of the band’s stellar musicality as Ramani sang, “leaves, watch them float.” – Katie Karp

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Yves Tumor’s Glam-Vampire Headliner Mode

After two records that churned the sweat-slicked ecstasies of psychedelia into something elemental, mysterious, and atavistic, Yves Tumor has come down to earth. Though still overrun with wild sonic tones and glitter-angst attitude, their latest, more streamlined material feels weighed down by the reference points they once mashed into gooey purple pulp. But, shtick-like obviousness is 100% a virtue in a festival headliner setting.

Like the smoky scent of petrichor after rainfall, principal and band emerged garbed in Lemmy Kilmister leather on Friday. The mosh-friendly set smartly smothered any remaining avant-impulses from the Tumor songbook with the accumulated might of flaming-tongue-style rockstar idiom. No better evidence than “Licking an Orchid,” reimagined from a spectral, spiderweb folk sing-along into a shuttling post-punk jammer.

While most of the back-bending, cock-rock stage moves came – as you’d hope – from the band guitarist, it was a pleasure watching Tumor’s somewhat stiff, glam-vampire posture loosen up over the course of the evening. The issue may have been a mix that seemed to smother their vocals early on, but by night’s end the singer was bringing their body into the ecstatic crowd with something like abandon. And for those keeping track at home, the leather came unbuttoned during “Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood.” – Julian Towers

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Vieux Farka Touré Cooly Swirls Traditions

When Malian singer/guitarist Ali Farka Touré entered the world scene in the Nineties, his distinctive brand of regional songwriting and guitar picking garnered praise for revealing the ancestor of American country blues. Musicologists argued it wasn’t as simple as that, that Touré took inspiration from John Lee Hooker. A quarter of a century later, the African music giant’s son Vieux took the stage at Psych Fest and demonstrated that connecting the Terpsichorean dots along a historical line makes no sense. Backed by stalwart drummer Mamadou Kone and an American bassist, Touré deftly swirled flavors of Western blues and psychedelia into his 21st century take on the Malian guitar tradition, making it difficult to tell where one culture ended and another began.

Touré makes a reserved guitar hero, standing coolly in his shades while almost casually ripping licks out of his axe – histrionics have no place in his music, but excitement certainly does. Of course, the Sunday crowd couldn’t have cared less about the historical place of postmodern Malian acid blues. Though they didn’t dance as much as Touré might’ve liked (credit the late afternoon CenTex heat), post-song reactions made their love clear. By the time the seven-song set ended, you’d think Touré was facing a stadium audience, and deservedly so. – Michael Toland

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Melody’s Echo Chamber’s Long-Sought Texas Debut

I’ve had a red and purple woman’s face – reading May 1, 2016, Carson Creek Ranch – on my wall for years. What started as a sale poster pick, since the announcement of Melody’s Echo Chamber at Psych Fest 2023, has felt like an unpunched ticket. Following Levitation cancellations in 2015 due to visa issues and 2016 due to weather, the long-sought French dream pop figure ideally fulfilled the festival relaunch concept. On Sunday, an arching tree provided a waving puppet theatre on the sunset backdrop – perfect match for Melody Prochet’s white brocade dress.

Her sparkly silver mary janes danced, hopped, and spun with such genuine, not-overdone onstage mastery, making clear from the first track’s sampler trigger that this would be no chained-to-the-synth performance. “Endless Shore,” off her 10-year-old self-titled debut, won over a wall of front row Cuco hats. Fan fulfillment, Prochet’s first-ever Texas set pulled prominently from the 2012 record, flip-flopping between newer selects like “Looking Backward,” after which she thanked the presenters: “I can’t believe we’re here. This is magic … It’s been 10 years we were supposed to be here.”

Center of a quintet, with bass and guitar/synth swapping stations, her forgettable bilingual track titles earned instantly recognizable first notes: just playful keys and voice before “Quand Vas Tu Rentrer,” just static crunch for heavier “Crystallized,” where Prochet dropped to the floor as maestro in a wheel of washed noodling. Pre-finale “I Follow You” launched with only guitar and wistful lines (“It's been too long since you are gone”). Last, the prophecy fulfiller blew kisses to the audience and each onstage player. – Rachel Rascoe

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Nemegata Releases Pent-Up Folklórico

Like many other bands, Austin’s Nemegata became bedeviled by pandemicus interruptus, releasing their debut album Hycha Wy just in time to not be able to play it live. So the Colombian expatriates’ presence at Psych Fest amounts to a well-deserved relaunch of sorts, another chance to remind townies what they have in their midst. That would be Nemegata’s organic blend of post-punk, rock & roll, cumbia, reggae, and Colombian folk, or what Grupo Fantasma guitarist Beto Martinez calls “the Nirvana of Colombian rock folklórico.”

As nimble as they are powerful, bassist César Valencia and drummer Fabian Rincón strike up a mighty rhythm, staying danceable no matter how hard the attack. His Telecaster draped in reverb, guitarist/singer Victor-Andres Cruz ranges all over the map with a Spaghetti western lick here, a jazz chord there – tied together with his dramatic baritone and some outside synthesizer solos for spice. Performed as a release of pent-up energy, the songs didn’t so much emanate from the stage as explode off it. Though battling the blazing sun, the crowd responded to the energy surge in kind, dancing, rocking out, and simply being impressed in between. If there was any flaw, it’s that six songs of live Nemegata just ain’t enough. – Michael Toland

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Post-Coachella, Bratty Finds Bedroom Pop Clarity

Jenny Juárez hit the Janis stage with a red electric guitar to match her hair streaks. Opening with fresh and upbeat latest single, “Radio,” her Mexican indie group embraced youthful fun from the onset. What Juárez started as a musical project from her Culiacán, Sinaloa childhood bedroom in 2016 has blossomed into a bedroom pop troupe, arriving at Psych Fest’s Sunday a week after their Coachella debut. The 22-year-old lead singer solidified her ability to set a high-vibrational festival performance. Singing purely in Spanish throughout, Juarez struck both native and non-speakers alike with soft, enchanting vocals.

She played alongside four other sunglass-wearing musicians and triggered pre-recorded features of Nsqk and Méne on the romantic and beachy “Continental.” Melodic surf rock chords did not overpower the other instruments, rather, they guided warm drums on “Quiero Estar” and blended with sparkly keys on their most popular tune, “Honey, No Estás.” Long guitar solos and onstage dancing coupled with Juárez’s airy vocals – “Por fin verlo todo bien/ Por que no es el fin del mundo,” during “tdbn” – left the audience with a sense of wholesome clarity for Bratty’s rising star. – Katie Karp

Greg Casar introduced Cuco at Austin Psych Fest on Sunday, April 30. (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Divino Niño, Cuco, and Greg Casar Crown Sunday’s Pachanga

“Really listen to Cuco’s music,” directed ATX U.S. Representative Greg Casar, introducing the final set of Psych Fest. “Because this music is about love. It’s about community. It’s about sticking up for each other no matter what, and that’s what Austin is all about. That’s what Texas should be all about no matter what coward and corporate politicians say. That’s what this land is all about, am I right?

“Cuco and I were talking in Washington D.C. the other day about immigrants rights and about the attacks on immigrants in this state. He’s an immigrant kid, I’m an immigrant kid. Any immigrant kids out there in the crowd tonight? [Cheers] And our message to you is clear: No matter what this governor does to try to separate families, to try to attack our community, we stand strong. These are the same folks that have gone out trying to ban abortion, to try to line their corporate backers’ pockets. These are the same folks that are trying to blame working people for the power grid they let fall apart. The same folks in the pockets of the gun lobby.

“They’re out there trying to peddle the lie that we should blame this on LBGTQ folks and immigrants. But our presence here tonight and Cuco’s music says we’re not buying that lie and we’re here to stay, y’all. So I just have one message for you, which is don’t ever let anybody say that your voice doesn’t matter. Individually, our voices may be weak, but together they echo so loud – up to the halls of congress. People know that things are going to change here in Texas.”

They certainly changed at the reboot of Psych Fest this weekend and Sunday in particular. The steel spine of Latin music throughout the afternoon began at local power Colombians Nemegata, arced through the muscled cumbia of homegrown El Combo Oscuro and all-gal London counterparts Los Bitchos, chirped Mexico’s Bratty, and closed the afternoon in a manner befitting Austins old, new, and yes, weird. Chicago quintet Divino Niño and L.A. wunderkind Cuco reminded the couple thousand present just which voting bloc grows the quickest in these United States.

Bogotá bros Camilo Medina and Javier Forero led the former South by Southwest 2023 buzz act through a liquid lightshow-induced pop pulsation. Indie-encased by guitars and synths, the bilingual gang subtly tweaks its rhythms into the progressive avant-garde like a Vampire Weekend. Their psychedelia twitched inherently Latin America as Medina strutted a Pachuco look and Divino Niño induced collective hip bumps and thick grinds on the second stage.

Casar led after-dark Austin in a call-and-response at the mainstage before Omar Bano, 24, strode onstage in a cowboy hat and plugged in tres vaqueros led by guitarist Gabriel Baltazar. Also under the influence of lysergic lights, the weekend’s victory lap took ethereal bedroom pop cosmic. Cuco’s androgynous vocals – light, airy, rising to a goose-bumpy falsetto – met a spray of skittering, glistening riffs, choppy dance beats, and disco bass.

Upticking a new tune into banger mode, Cuco crowned a genuine ATX LTN-X pachanga. – Raoul Hernandez

Cuco (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Check out more photos from Austin Psych Fest in our photo gallery.