Heaven Is Brought To Earth For 3 Days At Austin Psych Fest 2014 (Day 3)

The third and final day of APF brings us to an end of an incredible festival, one I would recommend to anyone.

[caption id="attachment_59968" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Charlie Megira - APF 2014[/caption]

Day 3 – Sunday 4^th May 2014

 So, here we are, it’s the last day, and I’m sad to be saying so. On the other hand this was another day of incredible music, so I will shush. First act to see were avant-garde collective
The
Golden Dawn Arkestra. Not only did this lot put on a fantastic cinematic show filled with dancing girls, painted faces and rather awesome attire, but they played great music; deep grooves of psychedelia mixed with downright funk and soul influences. After catching a little bit of
Doug Tuttle by the river it was time for...Oh hey there
Charlie Megira you rockabilly scallywag you! Another highlight for myself was the dazzling performance by possibly one of APF’s most eccentric characters to grace the stage. Bringing out both the beast and the lovable beast in you, the three-piece Rockabilly outfit led by main man Charlie Megira, were an obscenely nostalgic romantic affair on The Reverberation Stage. All that could complete the moment would be a warm breeze gliding through the sun-kissed sky as the sauciest old Rock ‘n Roll numbers were pulled out the bag, and yeah... that happened. Charlie Megira is as groovy as you can get without out-groovy-ing yourself...if that’s possible. [caption id="attachment_59970" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Golden Dawn Arkestra - APF 2014[/caption] Tokyo’s psych rock group
Kikagaku Moyo were a delight to see on my favourite stage by the river with the hot sun beaming down and the perfect bluest of skies, not a cloud in sight. Carrying the flag along with other international bands, Kikagaku Moyo brought their own definition of psych rock to APF. The drum beats were contagious, a sitar was the perfect accompaniment and the guitar solos were a little inch of cosmic heaven.
Secret Colours impressed the crowd in the Levitation Tent, conjuring up BritPop influenced sounds whilst still embodying a modern take on psychedelia. The Chicago based group lifted the happy vibes for all, as did Mr
Mikal Cronin over on the main stage a little later. Giving everyone a good dose of indie punk/garage rock, this provided all the open ears with yet more variation on the word ‘psych’. Time to be hypnotized into a ceremonial haze, we have stoner psychedelic rock band
Sleepy Sun from San Francisco to help out with that. This group from San Francisco are hero’s in the department of dirty and (as their name says) ‘sleepy’ psychedelia. Never short of a sexy guitar riff or solo, driving bass lines and sumptuous passionate vocals, Sleepy Sun go down as another highlight. [caption id="attachment_59971" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Sleepy Sun - APF 2014[/caption] Amongst all the trippy ambiance of some psychedelic rock, don’t we all just love it when a band comes onstage and pulls out a little more ‘fire’! Gimme some
Hendrix string bending, some relentlessly fantastic Bonham-esque  powerhouse drumming, and full-bodied sexy bass. San Diego’s gift to man comes in the form of
Earthless. Earthless play long instrumental tracks with extreme energy, perfected timing and a boundary pushing style in which they combine krautrock, psychedelia and the rawest sound trinkets that seem related to blues-rock, albeit in a heavy shredding form. I’d die happily after seeing this set, but thankfully I’m still alive to catch them many more times in the future. [caption id="attachment_59972" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Earthless - APF 2014[/caption] From one end of the spectrum to another in terms of ‘psychedelic’, we visit the more electronic side of things through
Panda Bear’s music. Equip with a synthesiser, keyboard and all the electronic tweaks and gadgets you could need, Noah Lennox took us all on a trippy ambient journey with dreamlike soaring vocals throughout. Playing new material to the wide eyed audience, Noah made a potion of magical sounds whilst smoke melded with crazy visuals behind him. Closing our night with alternative modern day indescribable heavy rock, Japanese UK based band
Bo Ningen played out a mad set with the usual lashings of long hair, screams and brilliant musicianship. [caption id="attachment_59973" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Bo Ningen - APF 2014[/caption]

~

One of the questions that cropped up many times when speaking with the bands and festival goers here, was ‘
what is psychedelic music’? I can safely say that through all the incredible music, arts, people and way of life that was Austin Psych Fest; we can probably all unite over thinking, ‘psychedelic music’ is more an indescribable quality that leaks from the most genuine flows of certain music, be it in rock ‘n roll, rockabilly, world music, punk or folk, it’s more of an attitude thing and an unspoken magical essence that ebbs through the airwaves. Call me a hippie, but there’s no pigeon-holing anything about this amazing festival, because it has got to be the most natural, real and free thing I’ve ever experienced. I think we all left a little bit of our hearts at Austin Psych Fest, and we’ll all keep going back to pour over our elixir of life.
CLICK HERE to read our review of the second day.
CLICK HERE to read our review of the first day.

Keep an eye out for an extensive photo galley coming soon!

Photos by Jo Wells

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