📍Palmer Events Center / Red River District

Written by Krysta Ayers

Austin gets a multi-day festival as often as new high-rises appear on Rainey Street…all the fucking time. Trying to figure out where to host a festival that involves an extensive roster of artists can be tricky when you can’t shut down Zilker Park every other weekend, but Levitation, now in its 15th year, took a different approach this year.

With two stages, one indoor and one outdoor, the festival was held at the Palmer Events Center, and it was perfectly structured so that no bands overlapped (*prayer hands*). Though the space was relatively small, it still held plenty of space for sitting around and enjoying food trucks; lounging in some artsy, crescent-moon-type, glow-in-the-dark chairs; visiting an aisle of local vendors; checking out merch; and getting some drinks.

From September 25–28, festival goers could see Mastodon, La Femme, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, TV on the Radio, Pavement, Built to Spill, The Black Angels, and more. It also stretched into pre-festival days with shows around Red River District to kick things off. At Palmer, the energy was high, if not a little exhausting: the performance times meant the crowds were ping-ponging back and forth between the stages like a herd of cows.

TV on the Radio’s performance was electrifying. The Brooklyn-based band played through their hits (like “Wolf Like Me”) and, before finishing their set, used their stage to tell the crowd that love songs are anti-genocide songs and unapologetically shout for a free Palestine. From the crowd, a Palestinian flag waved above our heads.

Another great thing about the festival, similar to the format of ACL, is that there were after shows, or late-night shows, at various venues along Red River District, and since the festival ended at 10:30 each night, people could make the short trek to catch some of the bands again.

For me, the stand out was The Dandy Warhols. They played an after-show at Mohawk, which is a great venue if you get there early enough or if you happen to be over 5’9 (I am not), and delivered a nostalgic set tinged with distorted guitars and the indie-sleaze vibe of the early aughts. They played “Bohemian Like You” and “We Used to Be Friends,” songs I never thought I’d hear live, and it was hard for the crowd to stay still. And with hardly any phones in the air to record the set, we might have been transported to 2003, after all.

As the city officials, or powers that be, welcome more tech-bro money with their stale high-rises and lack of culture, the ways in which this once-weird city operates its live-music scene will change. But, as those of us who attend the weekend festivals or local small-venue shows can tell you, the music is here to stay…it’ll just be staged in innovative ways.

Levitation seems ready to keep the music lovers satiated.