Returning to Austin's Red River Cultural District for a second year, Oblivion Access kicks off June 15 and concludes June 18.
Austin's fully independent Oblivion Access Festival will reveal their arts programming that will run concurrently with the forthcoming music festival. Returning to Austin's Red River Cultural District for a second year, Oblivion Access kicks off June 15 and concludes June 18. Multi-venue passes and single-show tickets are on-sale now here.
With a focus on local Austin Artists, and a nod towards keeping "Austin Weird'' festival producers have confirmed Studio OVNI, a performance and research group from Austin, on Friday, June 16 from 8 PM to 9 PM at Chess Club for an electrifying installation. Their build, called Oscilloscopy, is a rigged system to generate output from a midi keyboard which are correlated to sight, sound and sensation. The signal routes to an electrical stimulation box that creates a body-safe pulsation based on the input of the keyboard. The audience can see the body seizing and releasing, pulsating along with the audio visual rig through which it connects.
On Saturday, June 17 from 2 PM - 6 PM, Chess Club will feature a four hour presentation of short films created by local and state-based filmmakers. The showcase features works from: Erica Nix, Corinthia Mallo and more, plus fans can enjoy some free popcorn! Afterwards, these shorts will run on TVs in the windows of Chess Club for the remainder of Oblivion Access Festival. At 6 PM and 8 PM, the venue will also screen Erica Nix's First Holy S**t, an odyssey into the life of Austin's favorite workout guru as she navigates the city's new normal.
Come Sunday, June 18 from 11 AM to 4 PM, Chess Club will revitalize and re-energize attendees with their Recovery Zone. The venue will be transformed into a space of relaxation, bodily recovery and comfort on the final day of the festival featuring a durational sound bathing zone, hosted by local modular synth artist Reina and also free yoga. TryHard Coffee and a juice station will help keep the energy up on the last day. That evening from 6 PM to 9 PM Beth Schindler and Co will transform the space into an immersive reckoning of the primitive basics of Fatherhood and what it entails. Guided by performance artists, the audience of the walkthrough installation titled, Father's Day Journey, will be ushered through a durational performance art piece resembling the interior of a massive Phallus!
Oblivion Access Festival is also pleased to announce a one-night-only drag performance at 13th Floor from local favorite, Louisianna Purchase with a DJ set from SRSQ. The Season 3 contestant of The Boulet Brothers' DRAGULA and Austin Chronicle's "Best Drag Performer '' winner, years 2016-2018, has confirmed a one-hour showcase to kick-off Saturday evening activities. Louisianna is also co-creator of the award winning drag horror revue, Die Felicia and Sad Girls Only.
Additionally, producers are also pleased to announce the late-night programming for fans who wish to keep the energy going into the wee hours of the morning. These showcases will kick off around midnight and run June 15-17 at Club Eternal. Thursday's lineup will see Nedarb and Yawns, members of LA-based, emo rap collective Gothboiclique with Austin-based rapper Seraphim, plus Lil Grace and Fembotz. Friday's show is a Deathbysheep Showcase featuring Chicago-based Teklife artist and producer, DJ Manny plus Casper McFadden, Akafae, Lifeblood and Austin-local Alptrack. Saturday will be headlined by JK Flesh, the side project of Justin Broadrick of Godflesh & Final plus Justice Yeldham, a side project of Lucas Abela and collaborator in Death Grips. They will be joined by Deep Cross, JT Whitfield and M. Shogi. Sunday will close out the festival's late night programming featuring industrial metal band Burnt Skull with Blissful Myth, World is Hell and Tears of Eros.
Touted as a festival not-to-miss by the likes of Nylon, Flood, Brooklyn Vegan, and more, the full Oblivion Access Festival lineup once again highlights Brooks and Domi's commitment to offering music fans a highly curated bill that consists of the best in experimental, metal and hip-hop artists from around the world. The Dallas Observer raves "...believe us when we say that the Oblivion Access festival in Austin boasts one of the best lineups of the decade thus far. Not since Chaos in Tejas has a festival in Austin - even in the U.S. - nailed the intricate art of curation so well."
The headliners for 2023 are Faust, who are celebrating 50+ years as a band, Duster, who will perform for the first time ever in Texas, TR/ST, Clipping. and Earth, who will perform the entire album Earth 2 with special surprise guests and whose set will feature a quadraphonic sound system. Also topping the bill this year are Godflesh who will be playing their first performance in the U.S in 4 years and Tim Hecker who will be performing a special show in the Austin Central Presbyterian Church with Justin Broadrick of Godflesh's ambient project Final, opening. Additional notable performances for the festival's second year include the newly reunited Yellow Swans playing together for the first time in 15 years, plus Clams Casino playing in Texas for the first time in 8 years and also a very rare performance from Giles Corey who has never before played in Texas.
Oblivion Access Festival (formerly Austin Terror Fest) is an annual celebration of underground music and culture, which will take place across a four-day, extended weekend from Thursday, June 15 to Sunday, June 18, 2023. Oblivion Access will take over some of the most popular music venues in the renowned Red River Cultural District of downtown Austin-including returning venues, Empire Control Room & Garage, Mohawk, Elysium, Valhalla and Central Presbyterian Church, as well as, new in 2023, Chess Club and 13th Floor, to offer attendees performances from some of the most in-demand experimental, metal and hip-hop acts from across the globe.
Oblivion Access Festival put itself on the map in 2022 drawing over 5,000 fans from around the world who converged on Austin venues such as Empire Control Room & Garage, Mohawk, Elysium, Chess Club, Valhalla, 13th Floor, and the Austin Central Presbyterian Church to see artists such as Danny Brown, Blonde Redhead, Carcass, Andy Morin of Death Grips, Youth of Today, The Microphones, Grouper, and more.
Oblivion Access is us. Named after the contemporary classic of Lil Ugly Mane, our goal is to create an experience that goes beyond music. Carefully curated with the highest level of quality in mind, we strive to promote honest music and provide an audience with an inviting safe space to be yourself. In a dissociative world, we must power through with art and self expression to channel our frustrations, pain, and confusion into a beautiful representation of what it means to be alive. To be alive is to experience. Oblivion Access is a platform for progression, self expression, and catharsis.
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