Austin Psych Fest 2014

[hippityhip]

Getbetter, guedita; it was awesome meeting you two. Fourthisto thanks for the whiskey, man. Pleasure speaking to you. Psychic Friend you're rad

Gribbz & Nathan, always a good time with you guys.

Anyone reading this I strongly recommend this festival. Great vibe. Dandy Warhols were the best set of they weekend for me with a bunch tied for second.

[TonyWonder]

We had an outstanding day at Austin Psych Fest on Saturday and really enjoyed meeting a few boardies! I had no real expectations and bought tickets mostly to see Medicine, Mono, and the Horrors (and because it’s fifteen minutes from home), but by the end of the day I was completely enamored with entire fest, the setting, relaxed vibe, the respectful and smallish crowd, and the unique collection of artists.

This fest is very well organized: Lines were short, fast, or non-existent for entrance, food, water refills, and restrooms (which were somehow pristine all day long), and the sets were perfectly staggered and generally started on time. Food selection was excellent and all was tasty, especially the sweet potato quesadillas. It would be very cool if they could get a local brewery like Austin Beerworks in there next year, but whatever.

Highlights were Yamantaka //Sonic Titan’s theatrical early set, Mono’s thunderous crescendos, Medicine shredding my eardrums in the best possible way with the best crowd of the day, chilling at the idyllic river amphitheater listening to whatever happened to be playing (or being hypnotized in the case of Barn Owl), and relaxing under the huge tree with the swings. It was very close to a perfect festival experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who is even remotely interested.




it got a little dusty

[Headphase]

From the updates I have been reading on Facebook, it sounds like the festival has been fantastic so far this year. I hope to attend this one year in the future.

Im looking forward to hearing back about Bo Ningen's set. I am hoping they are well received.

Great, great time. Very nice to meet up with some of the folks on here and hope to contribute more in the future. Bo Ningen's set was very well-received, not easy to explain, but seemed to get a solid response--only downside was they were up against Panda Bear (and though I am not a fan of PB) many people there were, so I think a lot of people headed to BN's set late.

Temples sounded fantastic, Dandy's were a hair better than BJM and War on Drugs/Earthless/Cadaver/Loop all are tied for 1st place for me. That said--there wasn't a bad set--Unknown Mortal really brought it as did Woods and Sleepy Sun.

So overall--awesome weekend. Yes, the beer situation did suck. Crowds were friendly and manageable. Fest was well-organized, and even when it wasn't they pulled it off to smooth out the bumps. The only real complaint I have is the Tent was purposefully running 15 minutes early which limited you on catching certain sets--terrible curfew issues.

Cheer and hope to meet some you friendly folks again!

[MrAmeche]

For me, Bo Ningen was a top-3 set (Earthless, Mono), and the front half of the tent was super into it. Not exactly sure how full it was behind me, but it looked/felt like the band was super appreciative of the response.

The tent earliness was annoying - not only did they start moving things up 15 minutes on Saturday, throughout Sunday they basically were getting acts going as soon as they were ready, so even the "revised" schedule posted at the soundboard couldn't be trusted. They did it because Liars got cut off by the cops at 145 on Friday, but I'm surprised the fest hadn't worked out a hard curfew with the neighbors/police/whoever beforehand.

Otherwise I thought it was great. A few more bathrooms, especially near the river stage, would have been nice, but overall it was very well run, staff were very friendly/helpful and sound was generally really strong. I'll definitely consider going back.

[Gribbz]

Another amazing year on the ranch. Great meeting you, Fourthisto and TonyWonder!

[Ardentbiscuit]

Wow, that was a great festival! So much fun and everyone was so nice!

I'm sad I missed the meet up but my friends just couldn't wake up.

Plus, I loved seeing Austin finally.

[Fourthisto]

Man, what a kickass weekend, complete with kickass people enjoying kickass bands. I agree that there were small issues here and there (15 minute early tent deal, curfew cut-offs with BJM being the worst hit, lack of craft beer selections, lack of print-out schedules) but overall I think things ran pretty smoothly. Out of the four years I've gone, I'm pretty sure this was my favorite year.

The Dandys were my favorite (They played "Ride" and I went CRAAAZY) overall, with Bo Ningen (So much better than at Coachella!!), Horrors, Zombie Zombie and Fresh and Onlys rounding out my top five. The War on Drugs were fantastic as well, never having seen them before and finding you guys in the crowd added to the experience.

Gribbz, Guedita, Getbetter, Hippityhip, TonyWonder, Headphase, Psychic friend - awesome to meet all of you. Can't wait to hang out again!

I came home last night to a busted up computer where I usually do my photo editing but will be uploading pictures from my laptop either tonight or tomorrow. I have a bunch on Facebook already, for those interested. I took a ton!

[guedita]

Man, I had such an incredible time at this festival. The small hiccups (shuttle being 1.5 hours late on Friday, schedules not printed, stage moved forward 15 minutes early) that others have mentioned were slightly irksome but didn't really get in the way of how awesome the weekend was. Everyone I met was chill as fuck and knowledgeable about the music, we easily made friends in the campsite, there was plenty of space at every stage, I loved how you could be chilling in the food truck area and still hear everything on the main stage. The light shows against the tree backing across the river were gorgeous and seeing the greenery and the river during the day sets was lovely. There was RARELY a moment of music that I didn't enjoy. Being able to walk to my tent and back into the festival within 4 minutes was a delight. Next year we definitely want to have someone with a car park in the camping car lot so that we can have a cooler of craft beer at the ready. It was great meeting all of you, and gigantic thanks to Gribbz for the airport ride, to hippityhip for taking us to Jester King, to Fourthisto for the whiskey pulls, to psychicfriend for the VIP moscow mules, and to nathanfairchild for making in home in time to feed Lucy every night!

My favorite sets of each day:

Friday
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard was an absolute blast. Quilt into Terkraft on the river stage was gorgeous. The Dandy Warhol's headlining set made me a fan.

Saturday
Zombie Zombie, who I'd never listened to before - Mono and Medicine with incredible sets in the tent, and catching of Montreal's last track "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" replete with some zany stage diving from weirdly costumed band members.

Sunday
Kikaguyu Moyo was recommended by a friend in the campground and I'm glad I checked them out. The War on Drugs were my favorite of the day. The silly satan of Panda Bear that I couldn't stop laughing at....Freaking out with everyone at Bo Ningen....and LOOP, though I can't believe I missed the Can cover. Why did they turn on the house lights? Gah!

[stinkbutt]

"The Past is a Grotesque Animal" is one of my favorite songs ever! I'm bummed I missed that. How were The Zombies? It doesn't seem like anyone is mentioning them.

[hurryupmode]

Was my first time going, and I had a great time. Acts that are obviously enjoying themselves, a mellow atmosphere, lack of obnoxious security guards, and not crowded at all! It reminds me a lot of what Coachella used to be like, if on a much smaller scale. I really loved the beauty of the river stage, especially at night with the projections on the trees. The only negatives I noticed were the lack of lighting at the river stage after dark, and allowing photographers to stay in the photopit for a band's entire set.

Highlights: The Zombies' Odyssey and Oracle mini-set, the surfing guy during La Femme, hearing songs that have never been played live before, all the Japanese bands that played.

Also, did anyone else see that weird dancing guy in the gray shorts on Sunday? He was at Mind Over Mirrors doing some kind of slow motion sun worshipping thing and looked incredibly high. I saw a bunch of photographers walk by him, do a double-take, then go back and get a picture of him.

[nathanfairchild]

I had a great time this year. It was my first time going to the festival but I will definitely be back next year. I can't think of a single act I didn't enjoy (Tobacco's try-to-be-edgy visuals not included). Every single thing about this festival was just great. Lines for food and drinks were small. Security was almost nonexistent, they just made sure that people with bags didn't have any weapons. Merch was reasonably priced and there were a ton of good posters from this year and previous years. The river stage was great and it was nice to be able to sit on the hill and just take in the scenery while listening to good music.

Hard to say what my top 5 for the weekend would be but in no specific order I'd say Bo Ningen, Earthless, Dandy Warhols, Mono, and Loop were my top acts for the weekend. I was also surprised at how much good music I discovered over the course of the weekend as I was unfamiliar with a lot of the lower lines on the poster. Crowds were never packed too tight and everyone seemed to be there for the music which was a nice change of pace when compared to some of the major festivals I've been to.

I also had a lot of fun hanging out with Gribbz, Guedita, Getbetter, Psychic Friend, and HippityHip all weekend and catching different sets with them. I'm really glad to hear that the boardies that flew out here for this really enjoyed our city and this festival.

As for improvements for next year, the only real improvement I'd like is if they had an extra set of speakers angled towards the right side of the river stage. Unless you were directly in front of the speakers the sound was low and kind of muddy. I was to the right of the stage on the hill during Acid Mother's Temple and the sound was so bad that I ended up just leaving and watching The Horrors. Other than that though I wouldn't change anything although if they could wait and have that terrible EDM festival the week after Psych Fest that would be great as there was a pretty bad dust problem this year.

[Gribbz]

How were The Zombies? It doesn't seem like anyone is mentioning them.

They were easily one of my favorite sets. I can't believe how great they still sound.

and to nathanfairchild for making in home in time to feed Lucy every night!

lololol

[getbetter]

I'll write up a review soon but from the last 5 minutes I saw of Kikagayu Moyo was my favorite .They are playing long beach tommorrow If anyone from that area is reading this .

[Spooks]

Gotta love Angus...please tell me they were selling that beanie! Can't wait for tonight

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...d_au.html#more

[getbetter]

That reminds me to say that the Liars fired and have a new drummer according to Rhys from the Horrors.

[Spooks]

That reminds me to say that the Liars fired and have a new drummer according to Rhys from the Horrors.

I hope they didn't fire Julian....Pit Er Pat's Butchy Fuego on drums? How was he?

[MrAmeche]

> “Dear people of the world, it is with great sadness that we must report some painful news about our fearless drummer Julian. He recently has been afflicted by a crippling back injury that has prevented him from [amongst other things] drumming, dancing and traveling. As such we’ve had to come to grips with the fact that Julian will not be able to perform with us on our upcoming string of shows. For his health and his future it’s best that Julian stays in Los Angeles to rehab and take care. Please make an effort to send him all the get well wishes you can muster. Love, Liars”

[Spooks]

^ Thank god he's not fired. Wishing him a speedy recovery!

[Headphase]

As for improvements for next year, the only real improvement I'd like is if they had an extra set of speakers angled towards the right side of the river stage. Unless you were directly in front of the speakers the sound was low and kind of muddy. I was to the right of the stage on the hill during Acid Mother's Temple and the sound was so bad that I ended up just leaving and watching The Horrors.

I did the same exact thing! Much agreed.

[Gribbz]

Gotta love Angus...please tell me they were selling that beanie! Can't wait for tonight

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archive...d_au.html#more

I saw an adorable couple wearing those wigs (they threw one at Julian at the beginning of their set as you can see). No masks, though.

[getbetter]

I keep wanting to write a full review but I've decided I'm not going sit down long enough to type it out.So this is as much as my attention spans allows me


The whole adventure/festival for us started to me when we walked to the shuttle pick-up stop with meeting others waiting for the shuttle with beer,pot,and smokes. The shuttle was ninety minutes late with the last half hour a few of us saying, "In five minutes, lets just spilt a cab" and never doing so with the belief that it be here any moment. After the shuttle we were dropped off we in a gravel parking lot where we got searched which took about 40 minutes.The camp ground were decent, there was yellow grass and we got to pick out where we wanted to camp as long as it wasn't in the fire lane.There was a tent stage in the campgrounds which had movies and bands play throughout the day and night and was on a far end close to the festival entrance along with a awfully plain craft hot dog, a general store, and a place that sold beer, $20 for a Dos Equis 12-pack or $40 for a cold 24 pack.They sold singles 32oz can as well but i forgot the price.Either way the rules were you were not allow to bring it into the festival. We got a nice spot by the Bathrooms and showers which were clean for most of the festival.Not till Saturday or Sunday did they allow for people to use some of the 110 v sockets to festival goers for charging their cellphones from the portable showers and bathrooms from what one of the fellow campers told me.
The stages themselves were great.I didn't see what I would rate a one on a scale from terrible to LEGENDARY but I don't think i saw a set that would be a ten either. The festival had a bunch of sound issues.By Saturday they moved one of the stages 15 minutes EARLIER than normal.This may have also be due to whatever late the Liars ended and fines. I was also tired of my foods selections by Sunday and not enough shade.The festival has it's growing pains.There were people who know their stuff and people who didn't know anything about Loop or a lot of the bands and mainly there for the guys in Animal Collective,Black Angels,Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Temples.A lot of people wanted to see Acid Mother Temples again due their performance from last year. I had a great time and would go again.

[psychic friend]

i had a fabulous time and will write more when i have time.

[Gribbz]

Great hanging out with you, Dani!