So Much Space Junk
Some words on the Austin Psych Festival… among other things
ICYMI: So, you didn’t have a few hundred bucks to spend on tickets to the Austin Psych Festival. No worries – me neither. But those fools let me in for Free! To write whatever I want! So, if you missed the festival, you didn’t miss much, just cryptic messaging, gigantic inflatable robots, otherworldly sounds, confetti stuck in your hair, a record store in a tent, really nice, genuine people…
So Much Space Junk
When I was in Big Bend the other week, the sky was scattered with stars. It was also littered with space junk: Satellites, Starlink, airplanes, trash.
I’m at Austin Psych Festival right now and I don’t see any space junk — just white clouds and people junk. Everyone in Austin tries so hard to look unique that they all look the same. I’m sitting on the grass overhearing people talking smartly about atheism and their jobs and beer… It’s dull.
I showed up here around 6:30 p.m. or somethin. Rough morning, but I made it just in time for Momma. Talk was that they were great, and I was optimistic at first. I pushed my way to the front and nodded my head and bounced my heels. But after two songs, I was so bored. And so bored after another five. Eventually, I got to where I am now — sitting in mosquito-filled grass, listening to Amy Winehouse through my ear buds.
I’m really obsessed with Amy Winehouse right now. If you’re wondering how I’ve been, read her Wikipedia page.
Alright. I’m gonna go catch this band Boogarins on the small stage. Dumb ass name. I hope they don’t disappoint.
…
“All your efforts are coming to fruition”
I lied. I talked to this cool couple, Ash and Jeremy, who joined me on the lawn for a good long while. They talked about how much Austin has changed. How they met a lost little girl named Marley at a reggae festival on the river. How they don’t think their kid is smart enough to major in Physics. How AI is taking our jobs and how everyone should work for the state because it’s easy. Right now, Ash works for the DMV. She loves it.
I was so lonely, and they just sat and repeatedly expressed their love for what I was doing.
“What you’re doing is great,” Jeremy kept iterating.
I guess my tarot card for the day was correct – “All your efforts are coming to fruition,” it said.
Love that.
…
Music Works.
So I just saw some band called the Boogarins. They were psychedelic (derogatory) – Meaning: songs too long, songs too boring, Lauren too sober for this. There was this guy with a comically large hat, though, blocking the whole stage. That made me laugh.
…
GUYS I GOT TO SEE DIIV HAHAHA. They were fucking great.
My sister and Cy saw them when I was in Italy and have been talking about the insane experience ever since. And this was a hot, swampy outdoor festival in fucking Austin, but I don’t care!! They were amazing! They were playing music so filled to the brim with emotion that I felt like I’d explode. My arms had goosebumps even though I’m still sticky with sweat. What a thrill. Now I sit and wait. More Amy.
If you don’t know DIIV, you should. Their fantastic stage presence and sound were accompanied by insane projections. Like The Velvet Underground did, except modern and cryptic, funny and eerie.
The best messages I read were:
Alchemy is real
Music Works. (a sticker slapped on the bass)
Please come home
See God
Wow, that’s basically a poem in itself.
…
Real quick, let me recap the bands that I missed at the festival.
First, there was J’Cuuzi. Fellow photographers, Oscar and Sid’s, first words when I saw them were, “J’Cuuzi was great, but it’s all been downhill from there.”
Almost Heaven and Glare played next. I didn’t hear any remarks about them from the crowd, so I’m going to assume they were their typical, lackluster selves.
Don’t get me wrong, the music is fine, it’s just not what I care to see live. At all. I’ve tried. I fell asleep.
One guy I met showed up primarily for Holy Wave, and he was a sick guy, so I’ve gotta assume that Holy Wave put on a pretty sick set.
I’ll mention Starcleaner Reunion, who played a little set between DIIV and The Flaming Lips. It was cute.
HUGE thanks to the security at that stage. They let me chill in the photo pit for however long I wanted. Maybe there is some good in the universe.
…
“Yeah, that was cute”
At this point, I am beyond exhaustion. I have only been here for about five hours, but my knees are buckling and my head is spinning like a globe. If this is any indication, I’ve been treating my body pretty poorly. Unfortunately, it’s really fucking everything up.
But, as my girlfriend would say, “Mashallah,” because The Flaming Lips were fucking awesome. And I don’t say this mildly.
I haven’t listened to them since I was 17, sitting at the corner desk in my agriculture business class. Even then, I thought they were a bit strange and convoluted.
But no one can deny that their music is powerful. The leader of The Flaming Lips’ army, Wayne Coyne, syhoned the crowd’s energy into his jumpy, excited stage presence.
Only about six minutes into their set, there were two ginormous inflatable robots filling the entire stage. Smoke poured above the crowd, with three different types of confetti and lasers. It was otherworldly. It was magnificent.
And the guy standing next to me during this first half was fucking hilarious.
Wayne Coyne: “Everyone, Jonathan is here.”
Crowd: “WHOOO AHHHHH!!”
Wayne Coyne: “For those that are unaware, this is Jonathan’s 100th Flaming Lips show.”
Crowd: “AHHH WHOOOO!!”
Guy in the crowd: “Poor guy.”
He also expressed that, “Yeah, that was cute – I like when they chant. I don’t like when they sing.”
…
For the second half of the set, I politely made my way to the barricade. I got to see inflatable lips, eyes, rainbows, and aliens. A prism of projections and lasers artfully cut through clouds of smoke.
I just finished a 400-page book on Pink Floyd, and I’ve never compared a band to them in my life, cause that would be insane. But The Flaming Lips’ stage presence can only be compared to Pink Floyd’s. The inflatables, the LED backdrop, the projections and light show – it was all so much. But at a concert, nothing can be too much. So The Flaming Lips kept pulling out prop after prop, stunt after stunt, and I just stood there and watched – completely enamored.
