Austin Psych Fest 2011

The 2011 festival was held at the massive 1950’s Art Deco Seaholm Power Plant, a de-comissioned steam power plant on the banks of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin that had been made temporarily available for events. Due to changes in city ordinances and construction plans, the festival changed venues 3 times before landing back at its originally intended location, The Seaholm Powerplant. The 63 band bill was topped by the 13th Floor Elevators’ Roky Erickson, Spacemen 3 offshoot Spectrum, Omar A Rodriguez Group (who showed up as The Mars Volta lineup and played new TMV songs for the crowd), the first performance from Black Moth Super Rainbow in several years, Crystal Stilts, and The Black Angels. Nearly 2000 attendees packed the building on April 29 – May 1, for the last concert held inside its walls.

“The sprawling, dilapidated Seaholm Power Plant on the southwestern edge of downtown Austin, Texas is an ideal venue for a haunted house or, incidentally, for the purpose it served on the weekend of April 29th; the creation of a dark, otherworldly atmosphere to celebrate the current resurgence of psychedelic music and commemorate its Southern roots.” by Annabel in Culture, Music, 2011

“Austin Psych Fest is a very special event. People were there to hang out and network as much as they were there to listen to (and play) music, and so in many ways, it seems like the fine folks at the Reverberation Appreciation Society have put together a spectacular alternative to SXSW for those most interested in music on the heady end of the spectrum.” portableshrines.com 2011