Carolyn Subject
En Orbito's nine members largely hail from Austin, but bandleader Miguel Pantoja (top left) resides in San Antonio.
Self-described as "Fela Kúti meets psychedelic cumbia," the band will share the Friday, Nov. 1, lineup with headliner Los Espiritus. The just-announced event is one of many throughout the four-day, multi-venue psych-rock festival.
En Orbito's show will take place at The 13th Floor located in Austin's Red River Cultural District. The venue, a major hub of the fest, is aptly named for iconic Austin psych band the 13th Floor Elevators, formed by Roky Erickson in the 1960s.
Appropriately, The 13th Floor serves as a nexus for Texas' current psych-rock resurgence. The rebirth is due, in no small part, to the organizers of the festival, the Black Angels, who will take the stage at Stubbs on Thursday, Oct. 31 — Halloween night.
En Orbito formed in 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, guitarist Dustin Braden and bandleader Miguel "Ziggy" Pantoja had nothing but time on their hands after the dissolution of their prior band The Lowdown & Out. One of its members was a cancer survivor, and it was considered too risky to play live shows.
"All of our shows for Lowdown got cancelled," Pantoja said. "Dustin and I got stuck together, so all we did was go to the lake, take psychedelics, and I turned him on to Fela Kúti. The rest is history."
The band draws most of its members from Austin and plays most of its gigs in that city. However, Pantoja is from San Antonio and still resides here. In addition to being the bandleader, Pantoja plays bass for live performances and contributes lead, rhythm, bass guitar and keys for recordings.
The band's nine members constitute what Pantoja calls an "all-star lineup." Members hail from other Austin groups including Golden Dawn Arkestra, Antibalas, Money Chicha, Superfonicos, Continental Drift and Hard Proof.
Other noteworthy bands on the Levitation 2024 lineup include The Jesus Lizard, Slow Dive, Pentagram, The Sword, Tycho, Slift and Washed Out. As is customary, high-energy live act The Osees will also play every night of the festival.
Four-day passes are available for the festival, as well as tickets to individual shows for an á la carte experience. Tickets for the En Orbito-Los Espiritus show are on sale now for $20 and can be purchased online. En Orbito takes the stage at 11:30 p.m.
$20, 10 p.m. Friday, November 1, 13th Floor, 711 Red River St., Austin, levitation.fm.
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