Day Two of Levitation Festival brought in a new wave of people, a noticeable increase. The crowd kept pace as the intensity of the day began to rise.
Wednesday
Wednesday’s performance stole my heart. The band released their album Bleeds, September 19th and incorporated several new songs into their set. “Pick Up That Knife” and “Wound Up Here (By Holding On)” were two personal favorites to hear live. I honestly just let the tears roll as they came. I just felt so grateful to be able to experience the performance live. Karly Hartzman fronts the band with honest inflection and electrifying earworms. The group’s blend of twang and noise is addicting. They sound the way speeding down a dark country road feels. Karly’s screams rip out your skeleton just make you gawk at it.
Swervedriver
Swervedriver’s newest EP, The World’s Fair, mirrors the 90’s pop/psych/shoegaze sound they helped innovate. It’s like the soundtrack to a movie from childhood that only exists in your memory. They played many fan favorites such as “Duel” and “Never Lose That Feeling” from their seminal 1993 album Mezcal Head. Guitarist and founding member, Jimmy Hartridge looked effortlessly cool in his iconic horizontal stripes as he broke and fixed the crowd.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Before the performance, frontman Ruban Nielson was being interviewed outdoors in the Lev Lounge and spoke affectionately about his new hobby of cassette DJing. “It’s loser shit,” he giggled when asked about the process and I laughed back. It’s truly a labor of love but he says the extra effort is worth the sensation of the sound. I completely agree, I have a small collection and he honestly inspired me to go grab a cassette from Dimetap Records, an LA-based vendor at the fest (I got the Siouxsie and the Banshees’ album “Peepshow”).
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s set began and the crowd immediately tuned in. They started with “ONE HUNDRED BATS” off their new album CURSE to lure the crowd in. They let us have ”Honeybee” as the fourth song and everyone was trapped in dance from then on out. People ran towards the stage to swing side to side, twisting and twirling each other like kids. The set ended with “Boy Witch”, one of my personal favorites, and the crowd felt lighter, ready to dig into the next performance.
TV on the Radio
Lead vocalist, Tunde Adebimpe, opened with gratitude towards the festival, saying it was an honor to return to Austin. He smiled and said that the band got to see some of their favorite performers too. They played a mix of songs across their wide discography, “Province” was especially excellent to hear live, I could feel the sound like it was coming from inside my chest. It was charming to see guitarist Jaleel Bunton barefoot on stage, it gave him a child-like glow. The band threw a calming blanket over the crowd that allowed everyone to let loose, ignore the troubles of the outside world while still acknowledging the atrocities in our country and beyond.
I am a student at Texas State studying Digital Media and Psychology. I am always carrying my camera with me, it feels like my true voice. Some of my favorite artists are Courtney Barnett, Tainy, Frank Ocean, Art Lown, Fleshwater, Turnover, SZA and Wynton Kelly. Central Texas always has talented people passing through and I try to catch as many shows I can. I really love fashion, part of the fun of going to a concert is seeing what the artists wear on stage and everyone's outfits in the crowd. I tend to use musical elements in my fashion photography, the two are so intertwined to me. I also love to read and run, but not always at the same time.
