Heaven Is Brought To Earth For 3 Days At Austin Psych Fest 2014 (Day 2)
Published
We return for the second day, into the land of the masters of music, dusted off with a little...dust.
Bardo Pond - APF 2014[/caption]
Day 2 – Saturday 3rd May 2014
Entering back into the dusty oasis of beauty, we were welcomed by rather more hot weather on day 2, although a slightly cooling breeze brushed past your face every now and then which was a gift from the heavens. After picking up a damn good freshly made juice from one of the food and drink vans, the first indulgence for the ears was Dahga Bloom. Consisting of three bass players, a drummer and a vocalist although the third bass player switched sometimes to the violin, Dahga Bloom were an intriguing blend of psychedelic ethnicity, of course delivered through a heavily bass prominent backdrop. Bands to follow such as the dark and powerful performers Yamantaka Sonic Titan, Pure X and an alt-psych set from Brazillian newcomers Boogarins, were all part of the mushroom cloud of diverse music to gather that day.
Jacco Gardner. Jacco is quite the unique performer, binding enchantingly whimsical baroque pop sounds with melancholy psychedelic reverbs, all fed through a yellow tinted lens of mystique. He and his band are always a delight to see, and I praise them hugely for what unique sound waves they bring to people; their music is in no way comparable to any other and this a beautiful thing.
Morgan Delt brought out another unique soundscape amid the Austin sunshine, with his evident musical influences of
The Byrds,
Captain Beefheart and
Pink Floyd coming through hauntingly pretty yet eerie vocals. His creations of ballsy bass lines and clever melodies were catchy and like no other that I’ve heard. In Morgan’s own words he comments on the festivals line up: “
It all fits together and yet is extremely eclectic at the same time”. [caption id="attachment_59879" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - APF 2014[/caption]
Moon Duo and
Bardo Pond were other acts to impress, setting the scene for hypnotic spacey psych with a heavier feel; closely followed by modern day psych stars from the UK
Temples, who played a very tight and groovin’ set infront of gorgeous lightshow visuals.
Dead Meadow created the deep indulgence of guitar solo heaven down by the river before it was time to head to the Reverberation Stage to see one of my favourite bands around today,
Unknown Mortal Orchestra. UMO have been knocking people’s brains into a psyched out haven for a while now, each show just as thrilling and energetic as the last. They remain tight through every inch of every song with a huge amount of sound from three human beings being conjured up in armfuls. Big love for UMO; a credit to Ruban Nielson’s innovative melody structures, guitar pedal combinations, singing talents and great performance crescendos. The mysterious and unearthly “
Boy Witch” was a perfect last song for them to play out with. Japanese psych rock group
Acid Mothers Temple performed with excellence, taking the crowd with them into a trance of ceremonial qualities. The core of the band first formed almost eighteen years ago now, and they are still pretty damn good. The Horrors impressed a big crowd a little later on before our next port of call came around in the form of
Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks. Stunning drumming, epic unique melodies and jammy guitar licks. Comprising of band members affiliated with the likes of
Animal Collective,
Boredoms and
Dirty Projectors, this group are bound to amaze. We dig.
Last notable group of the night was the mighty
Brian Jonestown Massacre; although glamorously late onstage, the crowd was quick to forgive, because... well it’s The Brian Jonestown Massacre maynnn... we wanna see this. They played a fault free set and the dreamlike perfect Summer song “
Anemone” got pulled out the bag much to everyone’s delight. Day two is over, and everyone seems almost overwhelmed by the sheer quality of all bands they’ve seen. If ever you are close to an overdose of something good (in a good way), it was now. But you couldn’t fucking wait to go back the next day. Review of the final and third day coming soon!
CLICK HERE to read the review for the first day.
CLICK HERE to read the review for the third day.
Photos By Jo Wells & Charles Prest
