Austin has always been a home for the weird, and this year's Levitation Festival shattered any notion that the Texas state capital lost its freak juice. Where else can you watch Spanish psychedelic rock, Japanese noise-punk, Australian goth, feminist punk legends, a surf-rock band dressed like astronauts and Gibby Haynes doing whatever the hell he does within the span of 48 hours?

Levitation returned Sept. 10-13 for another four-day exercise in sensory overload, spreading its psychedelic tentacles across Austin with shows at the Far Out Lounge, Stubb’s, Mohawk, Empire, Hotel Vegas, Elysium and 13th Floor.

Founded in 2008 as Austin Psych Fest, the festival has long since outgrown any reasonable definition of "psychedelic," with its interpretation of psychedelia seeming to be more of a guiding principle than genre.

Arlo Parks + Baird @ Mohawk

English singer-songwriter Arlo Parks turned Austin's chief music venue Mohawk into a dance floor as she and Baltimore multi-instrumentalist Baird kicked things off with energetic yet intimate sets of indie, R&B, house and bedroom pop.

For Baird, the appearance was a cornerstone of his late-summer tour, sandwiched between a September 4 show in Toronto and an upcoming September 26 show in Englewood, Colorado. The singer-songwriter's tidy collection of songs showcased a laid-back confidence in the art of being charmingly weird.

Not far from the release of her third album, Ambiguous Desire, Parks maintained a similar confidence as she shimmered and swayed to the groove beneath her bedroom-pop, soulful sound. Parks remained the center of gravity, occasionally bouncing across the stage to songs like "2SIDED," "Softly" and "Heaven." Standout moments of the show included moments when Parks and her band began twisting and turning knobs on various synthesizers and mixers, briefly turning Mohawk into a sweaty rave.

Kontravoid, Buzz Kull + Max Fry @ Elysium

Down the road from Mohawk, Levitation's other Red River Cultural District venues were alive and well, including Elysium, a staple of Austin's goth and industrial scene. Canadian-born and LA-based, masked musician Kontravoid continued the festivities with a post-punk set before Australian darkwave force Buzz Kull showed how subversive rhythms can reverberate in the sunken dance floor.

For those who had to choose between dance music and the rock show at 13th Floor, Orlando artist Max Fry closed out Levitation's first night with a lively performance that ventured into shoegaze, alt rock and emo rap. While stylistically different from the previous acts, Fry showed no hesitation in delivering the first show of his 2026 world tour despite a dwindling crowd.

With Day 1 in the books, the festival could only get weirder, and, boy, did it ever.

Grocery Bag, Powerplant, Gibby Haynes: Butthole Surfers Mania, Melt Banana, Die Spitz, Sweeping Season + Bikini Kill @ The Far Out Lounge

Austin psych rockers Grocery Bag and London synth punkers Powerplant kicked off Day 2 at the Far Out Lounge, which became the hub of this year's Levitation after Austin officials opted not to approve a final permit for shows at Radio/East and a neighboring property.

Legendary San Antonio experimentalists Butthole Surfers made a return of sorts through frontman Gibby Haynes' enigmatic solo project, with Surfers bandmate Paul Leary watching from the VIP section before bum-rushing the stage to give Austin the raucous partial reunion the crowd hoped for.

Rain sprinkled from the heavens, giving attendees a brief reprieve from the triple-digit temperature as Haynes and company revisited the Surfers' catalog, including favorites like "Who Was In My Room Last Night?," "Hey," and a reworking of "Pepper." Megaphone and synthesizer in tow, Haynes commanded the stage before Leary joined for two final songs of psych-punk delirium, "Lady Sniff" and the all-time classic "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave."

"There’s a time for shit, and a time for God; the last shit I took was pretty fucking odd!"

Amplifying the sonic mania brought forth from Haynes's main stage solo set, Japanese noise rockers Melt-Banana brought speed and joyous, kinetic frenzy with their brand of grindcore, hardcore, noise and unexpectedly catchy pop hooks. Vocalist Yasuko "Yako" Onuki fired off piercing, rapid-fire vocals while wielding a handheld MIDI controller as guitarist Ichirou Agata mangled his instrument through an effects setup that sounded like corrupted electronics.

While following a band like Melt-Banana can be a formidable task, Austin darlings Die Spitz erupted on the main stage with their own brash feminine energy, fit for the band's rightful homecoming after an intensive, globetrotting tour featuring festival appearances and opening for Olivia Rodrigo.

The band hit the stage to Ke$ha's "Blow," with bassist Kate Halter walking out on her hands, before charging into "Red40," their ripping parable about addiction. At one point during the set, guitarist/vocalist/occasional drummer Ava Schrobilgen told those in the crowd who weren't registered voters to "suck shit."

Despite barriers and a photo pit separating the 22-year-olds from the audience, Die Spitz barreled through their 13-song set like they were at a basement punk show. The girls traded instruments and microphones and flung themselves around the stage as if standing still was an admission of defeat.

Having released their debut full-length Something to Consume last year via Jack White's Third Man Records, it was an arrival home, albeit long overdue.

Boston duo Sweeping Promises closed out the Far Out's side stage with nervous energy and minimalist post-punk tension. Frontwoman Lira Mondal sounded coolly detached one moment and suddenly sharp and primal the next, while the band stayed deliberately lean. At a festival overflowing with distortion and spectacle, the band kept austerity feeling just as confrontational.

Closing out the night were one of punk's most consequential bands: Bikini Kill. Not because they invented feminist punk, but because they helped turn the riot grrrl movement into something the broader underground could not ignore.

While previous bands commanded the stage, Bikini Kill commanded the audience.

More than three decades after their formation, frontwoman Kathleen Hanna remained as magnetic as ever, bouncing, dancing and barking lyrics with the mischievous energy of a punk rock lifer.

"If you are femme or non-binary or trans or not a straight white cis man, please come to the front," Hanna directed before winning back the male audience with the proclamation that Gwar fans counted as freaks.

Continuing the rowdy sassiness that Die Spitz left on stage, Bikini Kill tore into a 22-song set that saw a crowd spanning generations screaming along to songs like "Outta Me," "Suck My Left One," and the timeless "Rebel Girl."

While some might consider Bikini Kill a legacy act, their live show isn't quite ready for a museum. The band didn't shy away from confronting their own influence, instead embracing their status as Elder Emos.

Overall, Levitation's second day of shows carried the torch of women's empowerment. Bikini Kill's decades-old message of carving out space in unwelcoming scenes suddenly existed alongside a younger band like Die Spitz doing exactly that, without asking anyone's permission.

What could have felt like a history lesson on legacy acts instead felt like a continuum: loud, joyful and defiantly positive.