Stellar Swamp Festival: a trip into the psychedelic

For some years now, they have been springing up like magic mushrooms: festivals dedicated to the psychedelic music cult have increased and multiplied in the wake of the Austin Psych Fest, with its crazy aura and outsize chakras. Launched in 2008 by the musicians of the Black Angels, the Austin festival is rooted in the passion of music-lovers keen to pay homage to the toxic guitars of the 13th Floor Elevators and all the drugs that circulated amid Texan amps back in the 1960s. Every year, the US cradle of psychedelic rock hosts the boldest international ambassadors of the genre (the Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, White Fence, Primal Scream, A Place to Bury Strangers, and the Soft Moon, among others). A waking dream for fans of addictive riffs. The phenomenon has spread worldwide: every continent now celebrates, in its own way, the repetitive, hypnotic melodies of psychedelic rock. From Glasgow to Tokyo, from Sydney to Liverpool, the party goes on. Last July, Paris held its first ever International Festival of Psychedelic Music and this Friday and Saturday, Brussels tunes in with Stellar Swamp. The line-up offers a happy mix of all styles (Krautrock, stoner, jazz, and garage).

(Moaning Cities)

The brainchild of the Brussels rockers of Moaning Cities, Stellar Swamp takes the psychedelic as a common denominator for a variety of Belgian groups, both Dutch- and French-speaking (Double Veterans, Alpha Whale, Moaning Cities, and Yokaï). But it will also take a look at the wider European scene in these days of the single European market: the foreign contingent, led by Mars Red Sky from France and Camera from Germany, should guarantee a really good trip, with some glorious climaxes.

STELLAR SWAMP FESTIVAL 20 & 21/2, 20.00, €12/15 (2-day pass: €20), Magasin 4, Havenlaan 51B avenue du Port, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.magasin4.be & Atelier 210, Sint-Pieterssteenweg 210 chaussée Saint-Pierre, Etterbeek, www.atelier210.be