Preview - Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia 2013

After last year’s hugely successful debut outing, the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia makes its return on September 27th & 28th.

With a line up to rival that of the legendary Austin Psych Fest, the LIFP returns to the vast spaces of converted warehouse Camp & Furnace located in the burgeoning Baltic Triangle district on the edge of the city centre.

The largest gathering of lysergic sounds held in these Isles gathered under one roof for 2013, the event has been expanded from its original all-day Saturday line up to include Friday night.

Lauded in the national music press and the blogosphere, 2012s event was a resounding hit on its first time out, the shindig bringing patrons from across the UK to see sets by Time & Space Machine, Wolf People and headliners Icelandic psych-prog alchemists Dead Skeletons.

2013 sees proceedings run til 4am on both nights across three stages, (Camp & Furnace and The Blade Factory) showcasing the cutting edge of psychedelia from the UK and further afield.

The ‘International’ part of the festival’s name is no idle boast, the acts from headliners on down are drawn from across the globe, immediately apparent from the triple bill of US psych doyens Moon Duo, Dead Meadow and Fuzz.

Friday sees Moon Duo, piloted by Wooden Shjips mainman Erik ‘Ripley’ Johnson headline proceedings, the drone rock/prog duo circling the world in support of last year’s lauded Circles LP.

DC stoner rock/psych trio Dead Meadow co-headline, the band making their first UK appearance in five years, in support of their hugely anticipated new album Warble Womb, due in October.

Two superlative Sacred Bones’ signings, NYC electronic/psych pop trio Psychic Ills and Santiago, Chile classic sixties psychedelicists The Holydrug Couple make the trip across the Atlantic to the shores of the Mersey.

Austin Psych Fest stalwarts, Seattle guitar slingers Night Beats, along with ultra-heavy Californian drone rockers Carlton Melton and French ambient/psych pop outfit Yeti Lane broaden the scope of psychedelia as do a score of acts in thrall to Kosmische grooves.

Klaus Johann Grobe, Portland, OR resident Dewey Mahood, aka Plankton Wat and special guests Trans all highlight the thread of Krautrock influenced bands on the bill.

With Saturday’s programme running from 4pm into the small hours, the all-day fixture sees the number of acts increase and the festival’s non music programme come into play.

Headlined by storied Merseyside psych/garage titans Clinic, the Domino signed quintet continue their lengthy live schedule that saw them journey Stateside earlier this year spreading word of recent album Free Reign II.

Fuzz, the new project of ultra-prolific Chicago scuzz rock linchpin Ty Segall represent a considerable coup as the duo make their Liverpool debut. A cult figure in the US, Segall’s new group have critics salivating for their urgent, ragged garage rock.

Bringing it all back home, two UK bands responsible for a double hit of excellent debut LPs this year, Leeds’ psych adherents Hookworms and Carlisle garage rockers The Lucid Dream feature.

Representing the capital, Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs currently generating a huge amount of buzz down in The Smoke appear, along with Liverpool’s very own prog rock big hitters Mugstar.

A score of bands from the roster of excellent Chicago psych/garage label Trouble in Mind Records are showcased, including psych pop architect Jacco Gardner, chamber pop artist Maston, French noir soundtrack experts The Limiñanas, 1960s British Invasion obsesssives The Resonars and Tennessee trio The Paperhead.

On the subject of record labels, Brighton indie outfit label Faux Discx have a sizeable presence with acts The Soft Walls, Cold Pumas and Sauna Youth all treading the boards.

Alongside the live activity, expect DJ sets from BBC Radio 6 Music’s Marc Riley, Time and Space Machine linchpin Richard Norris, labels Sonic Cathedral and The Great Pop Supplement and blog Drowned in Sound across the two days.

In addition to the wondrous music, the festival also features a newly minted non-music programme for this year.

Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember) co-founder of groundbreaking 1980s drone rock/shoegazers Spaceman 3 pairs up with acclaimed visual artists Heretic (sleeve designers for acclaimed psych label Sonic Cathedral) to showcase Sonic Boom x Heretic.

A true one-off, the project sees the musician/sound designer working with the screen-print collective to create an immersive audio-visual installation, held within a bespoke gallery space at C&F.

Curated by Shindig! magazine, Psych Shorts meanwhile will showcase a collection of the trippiest mind-expanding short films from the furthest reaches of the cosmos, along with a psychedelic lightshow utilising classic liquid and op-art projections created by Innerstrings.

Tying up the whole shebang there will be a record store with a vast selection of second hand vinyl and releases by acts featured on this year’s bill, in addition to a wealth of exclusive screen prints and other trinkets for sale.

A matchless assemblage of psychedelia, prog, Kosmische, space rock and cosmically inclined pop, The Baltic Triangle, L1 will be the destination for all willing psychonauts next week. Set the controls for the heart of the sun.

For more information visit the festival website here for Tickets visit here