LEVITATION 2025 To Feature MASTODON, Pavement, & Built To Spill

It’s that time of year when all of the music festival announcements are rolling in. Today, we get a glimpse into what Austin‘s LEVITATION has in store. Rather than gradually announcing the lineup in waves, it appears that we’re receiving the bulk of it all at once. There are also some changes regarding the overall setup, but if you’re familiar with the history of LEVITATION, you’ll likely be aware that changes aren’t anything new for them.

LEVITATION began as a one-day event called Austin Psych Fest in 2008. In 2009, it expanded to three days, paving the way for other modern-day psych fests that would emerge around the country. In 2010, the Reverberation Appreciation Society was established as both a label and an event production company. They moved APF for the third consecutive year, but this time it was to an even larger multi-stage venue. The range of psych artists expanded, as did the number of overall acts and the production. 2011 was held at a decommissioned steam power plant with bigger headliners and even larger crowds. It wasn’t until 2013 that a stable location was finally established at Carson Creek Ranch, allowing the festival to be held outdoors for the first time. Each year was consistently bigger and more impressive. 2015 was a milestone as organizers managed to book 13th Floor Elevators and changed the festival name to LEVITATION after a song by the Austin psych-rock pioneers.

2016 was set to feature the most diverse lineup yet, with such names as Brian Wilson, WEEN, Animal Collective, Lee Scratch Perry, Flying Lotus. and Oneohtrix Point Never scheduled to perform alongside King Gizzard, Boris, Sleep, Royal Trux, Ty Segall, and numerous others. Due to weather conditions, the festival was canceled, resulting in the bands who did arrive setting up impromptu shows together at various venues around the city. This multi-venue format became standard in the years that followed, with the dates shifting to the Halloween weekend starting in 2021. Two years later, a secondary festival sprouted up. Hosted in April, the new single-location event reclaims the original Austin Psych Fest name. 

So what’s the big news for LEVITATION 2025? Well… first off, it’s now going to take place at the end of September. It’s also returning to one central venue… for the most part, and it’s a 3-day event (sort of). The new location will be Palmer Event Center in downtown Austin, a switch that they state, “has been many years in the making.” Since the 2016 fiasco, organizers have worked to avoid potential weather-related cancellations from happening again. Having a large indoor space like Palmer at their disposal aids in that effort, while allowing them to host everything under a single roof again. LEVITATION 2025 promises it will “transform the Palmer Events Center with three days of music on two stages, 360° visuals in the massive indoor stage area. Plus interactive art installations, food, drinks – indoors & under the canopy.” Although it’s being labeled as a 3-Day event, the 4-day span from September 25-28 is listed on the flyer. The reason for this is that there will be additional night shows on those dates, which will take attendees back to some of these venues used by LEVITATION in recent years. To make things even more confusing, there will also be kick-off shows on Wednesday, the 24th. In other words, it’s a 5-day event… or a 4-day event… or a 3-day event, depending on how you choose to interpret it and which tickets you buy. All that I know for sure is that this year should be a heater.

Each of the three days seems to be offering a loose theme of sorts. Night one leans on the heavy side with Mastodon and newly reformed sludge metal pioneers, ACID BATH, taking the stage along with Blood Incantation, The Sword, and experimental wizards, Secret Chiefs 3. The final night boasts the powerhouse combo of ’90s indie-rock titans Pavement and Built To Spill, while the night before offers slightly more contemporary artists like TV On The Radio and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Blonde Redhead, Destroyer, Frankie & The Witch Fingers, and Swervedriver are more standouts on the bill, and that doesn’t even include the late-night acts like Sudan Archives and Boy Harsher. With The Brian Jonestown Massacre playing Palmer on Saturday and Dandy Warhols doing a late-night spot the night before, we can only hope that they somehow cross paths.

More details and tickets are available now at LEVITATION.fm

Check out a per-night breakdown of scheduled night shows after the following lineup video.

NIGHT SHOWS LINEUP

Starting with Kick Off shows on Wednesday night and after the fest at Palmer all weekend – head out for more music in Austin’s downtown clubs and venues.