Yesterday, I posted about Time Conflicts in the Austin Psych Festline-up. Today, I'm going to post some of my daily, highlight artists. There are lots of great bands playing APF, and as I said yesterday, you could just stay at the main stage every day of the festival and see really great sets. If you'd like to dabble in a little bit of curated listening allow me to guide you on this psychic journey.
If you already bought tickets or you would like to buy tickets to Austin Psych Fest, you may do so starting tonight at 6:00pm. Just head on over toward the Mohawk and you'll figure it out from there. That's actually my advice in any given situation. Add Whiskey as needed.
For what it's worth, I'll be going to APF for the full weekend but I understand that you might be short on personal time and cash assets. If you're only heading out to Carson Creek Ranch one day of the festival, I'd go Sunday. That's my opinion and I know the day before Monday isn't ideal for some people. However, Goat is my number one band in the APF draft this year and they play Sunday night. My 2nd round draft pick goes to Elephant Stone, who also perform Sunday. So for me, Sunday has the best single-day-ticket line-up.
The time is upon us that we must really stare at the Austin Psych Fest Line-Up and find the places where the tough decions have to be made. For festivals there are two basic approaches. There is the super music fan approach in which you see a different band at a different stage every 30 minutes or so. This always seems like a good idea on paper but in my experience it rarely works out. Since this is the first time Austin Psych Fest has been at Carson Creek Ranch I'm not really sure if it will be easy to move between stages or not. Sometimes even if it is easy to move between stages you just won't feel like making the trek. You should also consider that you're going to want food, beverages and time to use porta-potties. I guess what I'm saying is, don't forget real life when you're staring at the line-up planning to see as many bands as humanly possible.
What I like to do is see which single stage (or venue) has the best line-up from start to finish. I probably won't stay at that stage watching every band all day and night but it becomes my homebase. At Austin Psych Fest they make it pretty easy for you. The Reverberation Stage (RS) will be the main stage. You could post up at this stage all day, everyday of APF and you'd like at least 2/3rds of the bands you see. If you want to get a little more adventurous and wander to the other stages there are a lot of great acts over there too.
This post is about those moments when there are two bands you want to see whose sets overlap. You're going to have to make some tough decisions. These are the conflict points I like to plan my days around. If you need to eat, drink, wander, or whatever don't do it at these times. Go see at least one of these two bands everyday.
As I said, these are the points in which there are at least two bands I want to see performing at once. I'll post a full highlights preview later.
Oh, you may have read my post earlier in which I was nervous about parking, transportation and all of that. Here's some info to clear all of that up officially:
HEADING SE ON 71 / BASTROP HIGHWAY:
Once you pass 183, please make a safe and legal U-turn at the Spirit of Texas Drive intersection. Please do not attempt to do it prior to that as it is an illegal U-turn, is very dangerous, and we want you to arrive safe and sound to the ranch. You will pass Mr. Gatti’s on your right and then please take a right on Dalton Lane. As you proceed straight down Dalton Lane, after approximately 1 mile, you will see Giraffe Pen Road, immediately following Jimmy Evans Company, on your right. Please take a right and proceed down Giraffe Pen Road and you will arrive at Carson Creek Ranch’s parking.
HEADING NW ON 71 / BASTROP HIGHWAY:
Before highway 183, take a right on Dalton Lane, which is located right after Mr. Gatti’s. As you proceed straight down Dalton Lane, after approximately 1 mile, you will see Giraffe Pen Road, immediately following Jimmy Evans Company, on your right. Please take a right and proceed down Giraffe Pen Road and you will arrive at Carson Creek Ranch’s parking.
PARKING AT THE VENUE:
As you proceed down Dalton Lane, approximately 1 mile, you will see Giraffe Pen Road., immediately following Jimmy Evans Company, on your right. Please take a right and proceed down Giraffe Pen Road and you will arrive at Carson Creek Ranch’s parking. Parking is $7/day per vehicle, with an additional charge for trailers, RV’s, buses and other over sized vehicles. There will be parking staff available to assist you and answer any questions. There are no in and out privileges, so once you’ve parked your vehicle, if you decide to leave you will be charged another $7 for re-entry.
Parking in other areas and along the roads in adjacent areas will not be allowed – this is private property and you run the risk of being towed. Please do not put yourself in that position.
Austin Psych Fest starts this Friday but you can get a head-start on all of the reverb-soaked bliss by hitting one or both of Thursday night's kick-off shows. If you already purchased a weekend pass for the festival you can pick it up outside of the Mohawk starting at 6pm tomorrow night. Once you pick up your pass you can access the pre-shows at both Mohawk and Red 7 for free. However, if you do a bit of mental math there are WAY more weekend passes for APF 2013 than there is space available inside these two venues so arrive early.
If you haven't bought tickets for APF 2013 you can still buy individual tickets, weekend passes and shuttle passes outside the Mohawk tomorrow. For that matter, you can also buy individual tickets to the pre-shows at both Mohawk and Red 7 respectively. If you don't think you can handle a full weekend of psychedelic music performed on a ranch on the edge of Austin, these shows are a good opportunity to get a taste of what you're missing.
A Place to Bury Strangers - You Are The One video via YouTube
As far as the festival itself goes, I'm a bit nervous. I drove out to the festival site a week or two ago and it's really out there. I'm worried that parking and getting in and out of the festival grounds is going to be a nightmare. There is a shuttle but that costs $10 for a weekend pass or $3 a ride and it gets you from the fest to the Hampton Inn that's at Ben White and Riverside. There are CapMetro busses that pick up and drop off there but they stop running around 10:30pm. If you drive all the way to the festival parking is $7/day, which isn't that big of a deal BUT since I've been out there I can assure you that it's going to take a long ass time to drive out of there at the end of the night.
If you use Car2Go, there is a drop-off spot at The Parking Spot but that's quite a walk and that walk would involve jaywalking across highway 71. Not to mention, it's the most expensive option yet. Ideally Car2Go would have a drop-off point at or near the festival OR near the APF shuttle but at this point in the game, I don't think that's going to happen.
The smartest thing to do is team up with other festival go-ers and carpool. Or, if you're so inclined rent a party bus and charge people to get on. OR if you're corporately-connected sponsor a party bus and reserve my boyfriend and I a seat. Thanks.
Oh, and if you don't want to worry about driving in and out of the festival everyday, you can always choose the camping option. Personally, I abhor camping and camping at a music festival is a status update I hope to never make.
Sorry, I got so distracted thinking about transport to and from the festival that I forgot to tell you who is playing Thursday night's kick-off parties. Now most of you have already stopped reading because there's simply too many words so I'll just get to the point.
