Carolyn Topic
En Orbito’s 9 members largely hail from Austin, however bandleader Miguel Pantoja (high left) resides in San Antonio.
A bunch comprised of members from each San Antonio and Austin will carry its mind-bending cumbias tinged with Afrobeat to Austin’s Levitation Competition this fall.
Self-described as “Fela Kúti meets psychedelic cumbia,” the band will share the Friday, Nov. 1, lineup with headliner Los Espiritus. The just-announced occasion is one among many all through the four-day, multi-venue psych-rock pageant.
En Orbito’s present will happen at The thirteenth Ground positioned in Austin’s Purple River Cultural District. The venue, a serious hub of the fest, is aptly named for iconic Austin psych band the thirteenth Ground Elevators, fashioned by Roky Erickson within the Nineteen Sixties.
Appropriately, The thirteenth Ground serves as a nexus for Texas’ present psych-rock resurgence. The rebirth is due, in no small half, to the organizers of the pageant, the Black Angels, who will take the stage at Stubbs on Thursday, Oct. 31 — Halloween evening.
En Orbito fashioned in 2020 through the early levels of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, guitarist Dustin Braden and bandleader Miguel “Ziggy” Pantoja had nothing however time on their palms after the dissolution of their prior band The Lowdown & Out. Certainly one of its members was a most cancers survivor, and it was thought-about too dangerous to play reside reveals.
“All of our reveals for Lowdown acquired cancelled,” Pantoja stated. “Dustin and I acquired caught collectively, so all we did was go to the lake, take psychedelics, and I turned him on to Fela Kúti. The remaining is historical past.”
The band attracts most of its members from Austin and performs most of its gigs in that metropolis. Nevertheless, Pantoja is from San Antonio and nonetheless resides right here. Along with being the bandleader, Pantoja performs bass for reside performances and contributes lead, rhythm, bass guitar and keys for recordings.
The band’s 9 members represent what Pantoja calls an “all-star lineup.” Members hail from different Austin teams together with Golden Daybreak Arkestra, Antibalas, Cash Chicha, Superfonicos, Continental Drift and Arduous Proof.
Different noteworthy bands on the Levitation 2024 lineup embody The Jesus Lizard, Sluggish Dive, Pentagram, The Sword, Tycho, Slift and Washed Out. As is customary, high-energy reside act The Osees may also play each evening of the pageant.
4-day passes can be found for the pageant, in addition to tickets to particular person reveals for an á la carte expertise. Tickets for the En Orbito-Los Espiritus present are on sale now for $20 and might be bought on-line. En Orbito takes the stage at 11:30 p.m.
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