Twelve months have wrought a few changes to the Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia. The Camp & Furnace venue now has a usable upstairs area, meaning there was a larger merch space and all food sales are now in the (fully cordoned off) exterior area, making for more audience space in the Furnace area. At least one more bar had been added inside as well as interior toilets, the Gents of which even had functioning sinks by day two. A lack of available tap water in the Blade Factory & the impossibility of bringing water bought on site back in whether opened or not were the only niggles across the weekend, other than those moans crowds always express about portaloos.

Most importantly the sound in the Furnace was vastly improved (i.e. clear & bright) from what was on offer last year. This made for thoroughly enjoyable sets in here on the Friday from Amen Dunes, the Allah-Las and the extremely youthful Pow! Amen Dunes’ expansive though Mogadon-strength sound benefited greatly from the space afforded them whilst the Allah-Las kind of went the other way, given that their sound is far more pop than psych and much lighter because of it. Pow! though were a riveting, short sharp punk blast to the system. Band names seldom come more apt.  

Our experience began though with catching the final couple of numbers in Spectres’ set in the Camp – a fitting introduction to proceedings given how fuzz-drenched their efforts were. Attendance was clearly up on last year (especially on Day Two) & this was nowhere more evident than in the Blade Factory. Whereas in 2013 you could more often than not wander in there at anytime during a performance and at least manage to see those on stage, let alone worm your way to the front of the crowd with not too much effort, this time around you were left craning your neck from back at the bar within less than a song’s length for practically every act.

As a result we heard far more of the filmic sounds of local act Barberos and the extended stoner wig-outs of Black Bombaim (like Spectres another perfect exemplar of the event’s core element) than we were able to catch sight of. Porto-based Jiboia, with their ethereal vocals allied to a Casio-&-kitchen-sink approach to their musical element, Proved very popular later on. Klaus Johan Grobe was the final act of the night in here, enjoying a dedicated crowd & a more intimate space than he was afforded last year which allowed for a greater appreciation of his work this time around.

As expected the light shows in all three performance spaces were of the high quality in evidence in the past. Whilst the oil employing effects seemed to have been handed over to machines in the Camp the projections at the rear of the stage were as retina defying as could be hoped for and the Furnace stage lights relied on far fewer eye level strobes, making for a less confrontational and more inclusive atmosphere. The Vacant Lots, The Early Years, Young Husband and The Besnard Lakes therefore all benefited from backdrops ranging from the sinister to the insane via the spaced out.

The Vacant Lots’ electronica-meets-original-rock ‘n’ roll sound was a big hit whilst London’s Early Years continued their return to live performance with as intense and motorik a set as you’d expect from these original pioneers of the capital’s resurgent krautrock scene an almost unbelievable eight years ago. Young Husband are more than just a pair of good sideburns – classic shoegaze influences were artfully melded with their own melodic leanings provided the perfect jumping off point for The Besnard Lakes to carry the crowd over from Friday to Saturday. What, after all, is there not to like about a band whose bass player sports an Iron Maiden guitar strap? Jace Lasek was clearly eager to get into it as the soundchecking compelled him to ball "quit fuckin' around an' let's do this!" Harshly described later as sounding like "late-Simple Minds with more bombast" theirs was a set of power & melody that left the lighter elements of their sound on the shelf for the duration. An uplifting climax to the opening day.

Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia have announced more bands to the immense line-up for this year's fest. Californian beatniks Allah-Las and Montreal celestialists The Besnard Lakes are set to make the trip across the pond and join Goat, Woods and Suuns at Camp and Furnace this September.

We can also expect the likes of the Christian Bland & The Revelators, Grumbling Fur, Quilt, Nueva Costa, September Girls, Spectres, Spindrift, The Vacant Lots and Traams.

Among these great artists it has also been confirmed that Sonic Cathedral and Heretic are joining Psych Fest in launching Psych For 2 Sore Eyes, their second instalment of pioneering psych with an exclusive festival 'happening'. As well as that, Manchester's Piccadilly Records will be bringing the store to Liverpool for a one-off Psych 'Pop Up' in the form of Piccadilly Records' World of Psychedlic Wax Wonders. This will feature racks of modern psych releases, re-issues, collectables, one-offs, cuts from our favourite labels and wax from bands on the Psych Fest bill.

There will also be the Adventures At The Outer Reaches, a symposia and cinema programme with the key global psych scene players and PZYK SKREEN PRINT WRKSHP, an exhibition of psych art, and a chance for festival goers to have a go at their own unique prints. 

The Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia takes place on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September at Camp and Furnace. For more information, head on over to the Psych Fest website.