Tom Gilmore covered Bathysphere in Minneapolis. Check out a featured selection of photos from the whole festival, read his recap below, and dig deeper into individual sets from each stage [links below].
Photos by Tom Gilmore
In no small part thanks to Austin Psych Fest and The Reverberation Appreciation Society (and of course to the bands & fans), the mushrooming of single to multi-day psychedelic music festivals and concert bills continues to spread throughout the globe.
A new psych fest sprouted and released its spores infecting downtown Minneapolis, MN on July 5-6, 2013. BATHYSPHERE: A PSYCHONAUTICAL VOYAGE was organized by Colin Axell of Chatham Rise and presented by 89.3 The Current and took place at First Avenue & 7th Street entry.
Headlining the 7th Street Entry stage on Friday was Lightfoils, a shoegaze / dream-pop band out of Chicago. I didn’t know about Lightfoils before but was certainly impressed with their set; they sounded like a mix between Cocteau Twins and The Pastels with an occasional dose of Bardo Pond. Lightfoils have tour plans later in the year that will bring them to the Boston area.
Headlining the main stage Friday night was Dean & Britta preforming Galaxie 500 songs. I have been a longtime fan of Galaxie 500 ever since I saw them open up for Cocteau Twins in Chicago way back in 1991. Had no idea who they were, and from what I could tell neither did the majority of Cocteau Twins’ audience, but once they started to play, holy shit, they were great! Little did I know, that would be their last tour. Well it only took ~23 years to hear Galaxie 500 songs played live again… yes, I know, it was only 1/3 of the original band, but damn, it was really, really good! Chills when they played “Ceremony” and “Don’t Let Your Youth Go To Waste”!!
Lorelle Meets the Obsolete’s music is heavy, fuzzy, drenched in reverb and plenty of feedback at one moment, dream-pop melodies the next… oscillating to perfection. A duo originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, LMTO currently calls Chicago home and has been invited to Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia this September. The band came through Boston a week or two before heading to Minneapolis for Bathysphere, and played the DIY space Barn Ows (photos from show), Their Bathysphere set was great, although I thought their Boston show was better. Perhaps it was because we were all squeezed into a tiny basement, or perhaps it was the 95+F temperature and the band couldn’t help but play with fire, or maybe because it was the first time seeing them play. Regardless, they are a great band. Check out their bandcamp page and purchase their live recording… you won’t be disappointed.
I was psyched to be able to catch the reunion tour of Highspire (though I don’t know if it’s really a reunion as the band didn’t do much touring to begin with) since I wasn’t going to be able to catch their Boston show a week later. Fans of 1980-90’s shoegaze bands like Slowdive, Ride & Chapterhouse will dig Highspire… and, of course, their other band The Morning After Girls.
Cheval Sombre, who had support from Sonic Boom and Dean & Britta, was great. It would be amazing to hear him play a concert hall… Sonic Cathedral’s live recording at St Pancras Old church in London is probably the closest I’ll get to realizing that dream.
Discovered a few more awesome Minneapolis based bands at the festival, such as Pony Trash, First Communion Afterparty and Panther Ray. One Minneapolis bands I wanted to see again was Magic Castles, yet somehow managed to miss their set. I did mention to Jason Edmonds later that night that Boston wants another visit, hopefully sooner than later.
The visuals were some of the best I have seen yet. Multiple dissolving displays by combining computer images along with the old school light projectors and oil baths. Take a look at some of the photos and you’ll see what I am talking about. A Place To Bury Strangers wins the prize for the most impressive light shows ever (this tends to be the case every time I see them)… very intense, very erratic just like their style of play!
More photos from Bathysphere:
Day 1 Featured Photography (7th Street Entry)