Psychedelic Porn Crumpets + Witches Exist at Wonder Ballroom 11/4/2025

Wow! where do I even start with this night? From the moment I stepped into the Wonder Ballroom on a drizzly Portland evening, I knew I was in for something special — but it blew my wildest expectations.

Portland’s dark rainy weather set the perfect tone for the evening. The kind of damp, misty night you imagine when you think of shoegaze and psych-rock coming alive in a city that likes its moody backdrops. And when Witches Exist hit the stage, it felt like the weather whispered “yes, this is the right time.”

First up was Witches Exist, and their vibe immediately matched the night: hazy, distant, immersive. This Austin-based band blends noise-gaze, dream-pop, and shoegaze textures into something that lives in that liminal space — and it hypnotised the crowd. Their guitars jangled, the synths hovered, and the room dropped into a trance before the main event. The crowd, still building, got caught up in the swirling soundscape as rain fell outside and the interior filled with soft echoes and feedback.

It was the perfect opening: subtle yet intense, atmospheric yet moving. Witches Exist set the stage (literally and figuratively) for all the wild energy to come.

Then: boom. The lights shift, the crowd tightens, and the Aussie psych-rock machine that is Psychedelic Porn Crumpets walks on. Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, they formed in 2014 and built themselves out of great riffs and a DIY mentality that refuses to sit still.

What’s not to love about this band? Their music is fun, energetic, and it makes your brain feel nice and fuzzy. From the moment they kicked in, the crowd went wild — shoulder-to-shoulder tight in the pit, bodies moving, energy bouncing. Crowd surfers? I’ve never seen so many in one show.

They played with ferocious joy, mixing fuzzed-out psych riffs, turbo-charged drums, and weirdly happy melodies that got lodged in my head. At one point I looked around and saw people hoisted high, screaming, laughing, swaying. The Wonder Ballroom felt like it had turned inside out.

If you were there, you know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t — well, put this on your “must-see live bands” list. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets have a live show that’s brim-full of joy, fuzz, and relentless drive.