Liverpool Psych Fest: Friday 23 Sep

For the fifth consecutive year, the very core of Liverpool’s creative scene brings people from all over the world for the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia.

It’s a pretty good indication that a band are going to be exciting and interesting if Ty Segall has anything to do with them. Seattle female four piece La Luz are no exception to that, and as he produced their latest album it’s not a surprise that they draw in a sizable crowd in the Furnace venue. Spanish for “the light”, La Luz certainly have at the very least a spark, as their surf-style riffs, '60s style drums and doo-wop vocals with four-way harmonies give a softer touch to the ordinarily heavier, grittier psychedelic genre.

You would be forgiven for mistaking Liverpool's 90s psych fiends The Stairs as a band that originate from California, as their sound is clearly heavily influenced by conventional West Coast 60s psychedelia. With classic rock'n'roll riffs, Doors-style keys, and the distinctive snarl of Edgar William Jones’ vocals, The Stairs storm through their back catalogue of psychedelic sounds, much to the appreciation of their hometown audience. The inevitable finale of the band’s biggest hit – Weed Bus – ignites and invigorates the crowd, creating a rawkus atmosphere in Camp.

In Furnace, Welsh-born electro-pop pioneer Gwenno showcases poppy yet trippy tracks from her re-released debut album last year. Repetitive, melodic bleeps and bloops from the synth are accompanied by her soft and dreamy vocals, which are sung in Welsh and Cornish, intensifying the psychedelic undertones. Her retro approach to the electro and trance genres creates almost an ethereal reverberation throughout the space of the renovated warehouse, and screens saturated in projections of colour that pulsed to the slow rhythm of the music add to the hypnotic vibes.  

The art and visuals of the festival enhances the whole illusion of a vivid LSD trip. Colourful, psychedelic and wonderfully weird images are projected whichever way you look. If that doesn’t do the trick, the opportunity to be truly transported to an alternate reality available through PZYK PRISM, an installation offering a multi-sensory virtual reality experience. With three new excursions curated with the help of various Psych Fest performers, each one is a curious and unique world.

Silver Apples make their debut appearance at this year’s psych fest, following the release of the most recent album Cling to a Dream. Given the notoriety of the band – as their introduction of electronic features within psychedelia changed the genre and has influenced many musicians since – the room swells as hundreds gather wanting to witness the legends.

The monotonous and distorted chant-like drone of Simeon Coxe is juxtaposed with completely alien trance-like beats from his legendary home-made synthesizer, which he is famed for pioneering. Despite Silver Apples having been founded over three decades ago, the performance proves that their music is still influential and relevant in today’s psych scene.

Friday’s headliners and experts in compounding genres, Super Furry Animals attracted such a huge crowd that the venue were forced to enforce a one-in, one-out system. Those who were lucky enough to gain entry left the venue covered head to toe in sweat after a sardine-tin experience.

Donning white boiler suits, contrast to their colourful environment, the five-piece infuse a number of genres and they’re able to switch from upbeat, Britpop-style tracks such as Golden Retriever to acoustic and ballad-like songs sung in their native tongue like Y Teimland. Particular highlights include the optimistically blissful Hello Sunshine as well as lead singer Gruff Rhys's requests of audience participation; he asks them to place their hands upon their heads as it “helps with the acoustics”.

The smallest venue of the festival, Blade Factory, holds host to Leeds pop/psych fusion Cowtown, along with a full capacity crowd. The three piece create a monstrous garage rock racket – and do so without a fuzz pedal for the first half of their set as lead singer and guitarist Jonathan Nash asks the audience for a power supply. Regardless, the dirty drones and screeches of his repetitive guitar riffs are joined by poppy synths and stand-out drums, and not a single body is motionless during their set.

Finally, mixing modern psychedelia with world music, Bahraini experimental five-piece Flamingods dominate the District stage with their peculiar noises, which are almost as eccentric as their outfits. Instruments from all over the world can be heard among guitars and the clatter and crash of two drum kits. Now deep into the witching hour, glitter clad witnesses dance to their bizarre, brilliant music.