The dust from the farm has been kicked up – everywhere folks have sun-kissed skin, hazy eyes, are dripping with sweat and wear crescent moon smiles. They are gabbing with new friends, drinking heavily, engaging in activities to no end with any sense of time. Sunday appeared to be the day everyone had waited for – musicians and festivalgoers alike gather in expanding crowds at Psych Fests three stages.

Earlier in the week we sat down with Montreal’s Elephant Stone in high anticipation of their 4:00 set on the Reverberation Stage. As the time finally came, we were transported. Nothing could prepare the audience for the explosive set that was to come. Rishi Dhir, Gab Lambert, Le Venk and Miles Duprie have taken psychedelic rock to a spiritual horizon. The composition they construct blends traditional Indian music with pop-consciousness to form a lucid kaleidoscope of prolific musicianship. The young band is powerful and evocative – riveting to the ear and metal capacities. As the set closed Matthew Correia, drummer of L.A.’s Allah-Las, stepped on stage contributing his talent to two tracks with vocals and percussions. Elephant Stone recently finished U.S. tour with the aforementioned Allah-Las and The Black Angels – their music equally as liberating, equally prolific as their tour headliners, we are favorably anticipatory of the career ahead of the Canadians. And with tracks like “Heavy Moon” and “Setting Sun” there is sure to be an effulgent future ahead for Elephant Stone.

Los Angeles-based White Fence created serious psychedelic haze on at 5:00 just after Elephant Stone’s set. The gripping sounds ofCyclops Reap sounded as good live as it did recorded when the group plugged in and turned up the glory. With intimate lyrics, stunning guitar riffs and rhythm sections, the psych freak-outs unfolding on stage were to hold and to behold. There’s nothing like acid-burnt fuzz in the evening, in the middle of a farm amidst some of the best psych performers around.

The King Khan & BBQ Show seized the stage in a mist of hyped buzz. They did not disappoint. The Montreal doo-wop garage rock duo is incandescent. The raw power of Mark Sultan (aka BBQ) and Blacksnake (aka King Khan) ignited a crazed sensation of a visceral performance. From color coordinated green and gold costumes and headpieces to revealing the subversive of the music industry via relentless idiocy lyrics, the reunited control of King Khan & BBQ is one audience have been yearning for.

As the sun disappeared, The Black Angels took stage to the largest crowd Psych Fest had seen. It appeared to be a proper homecoming for the Austinites. For an hour, flower power was put on a sonic plate – and what a banquet we feasted on. The entire set, complete with meandering jams, crystal vocals and steadfast groove rhythms, was one of proper proportions. The Angles never disappoint and we soaked in the vibes with the crowd of young and old alike.

Throughout the three-day festival I’ve repeatedly heard one band name at non-tallying levels – it is that of one word… Goat. This Swedish experimental fusion outfit is an anomaly. The highly contagious band released 2012’s Goatman to international praises. When live, it appears the group doesn’t play songs but instead play music – lucid dreamscape sensations of mystique and troupe psych rock. While performing members brave masks, not to hide, but to release a new sort of mythic energy. An authentic sensibility emerges as the two female members done primal dance attire and gypsy exchanges while relentlessly beating out precisions. It’s an enterprise to see Goat in all their grandeur.

As the evening set, The Growlers took stage in a miasma of revelry. Debauchery at its finest, Matt Taylor, Brooks Nielsen, Scott Montoya, Anthony Perry and Kyle Straka are the elite. Out pour of the bands heavy reverb and drug wave misted over the congested crowd. Favorites “One Millions Lovers,” “Pet Shop Eyes” and “Naked Kids” from new release Hung at Heart had the audience off on a cryptic ride through soundscape and time. Classic Wandering Eyes took highest prize – with so many lanky limbs movin’ and groovin’ in the crowd, it was a sight. The mystical landscape of stage props and Nielsen’s ring master outfit and vocals created a carnival-like sensibility. One that was dosed once or twice, then surfaced for air, only to go back under and wade through the musical waters again.

Day three brought no rain, no storm, no pushed back sets. Only the best psychedelic music on earth could be heard over the past 12 hours. As the smoke cleared, it was apparent you didn’t have to go home, and you didn’t have to get the hell out of here. You could stay and reflect, enjoy the late evening and bask in the fire that had been put to rest. And so we say to you, carry on all you psych-rockers – until next year.

Crowd Photo – Jake Clifford (c) ASF, All others (c) Kristen Blanton