Live music preview: Blockbuster October shows in store for Austin music fans

It’s going to be a blockbuster October shows for Austin music fans with Austin City Limits Music Festival and LEVITATION Festival bracketing the beginning and end of the month. Besides two very Austin music festivals, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement, The Black Keys with TCC alumni, The Velveteers, Indigo Girls and Interpol are all on tap this month. If you’re not going to see live music in Austin this month, you might be doing it wrong.

• October 5 – Bonobo @ Emo’s – Nominated three times for Grammy Awards, catch the DJ at Emo’s. Bonobo is known for his relaxing beats, which have an air of nostalgia as instruments are injected a la the 90s acid jazz sound. Bonobo aka Simon Green takes elements from other cultures and fuses them into his works. Check out “Kiara”. Tickets

• October 5 – Smashing Pumpkins w/ Jane’s Addiction – Moody Center – The 90’s era flourished with album titles that captured its angst with album titles utilizing word play (likely paradoxes). Smashing Pumpkins stayed on par releasing “Mellon Collie”, a combination of dream pop and prop rock. Tickets

  

• October 7-9 – Austin City Limits Weekend One – Do you think Red Hot Chili Peppers can do a song about Austin now? If you’re going, doin’t miss Austin acts, Adrian Quesada, Darkbird, Mama Duke and Primo the Alien. This is the granddaddy of October Austin shows.  Tickets

• October 8 – Titus Andronicus @ Far Out Lounge – Formed in 2005 in New Jersey, the band took its name from one of the more gruesome of Shakespeare’s plays. The group does not quite hit that level of gore, but their track “A More Perfect Union” ebbs and flows through a compelling story with a beginning, middle, and end. Tickets

• October 9 – Club X @ 13th Floor – DJ Nolan Potter, Pearl Z, and Lord Friday the 13th kick off the first Club X party, happening every second Sunday of the month at the new 13th Floor location on Red River. Tickets at the door.

• October 10 & 11 – Pavement @ ACL Live – Somehow, there is an element of laziness in the vocals of Pavement that makes them seem effortless. In “Harness Your Hopes – B Side”, the post punk track does not care to rhyme; instead it uses a writing style called anadiplosis (using the last word of a line to start the next one). The influential 90’s band used lo-fi production to pave the way (roll your eyes) for indie rock in this day and age. Tickets

  

• October 11 – Sweet Spirit, SUSU, Kind Keith @ Hotel Vegas – Check out these local artists. Headliners Sweet Spirit are always fun. This is the way locals do October Austin shows. Tickets at the door.

• October 12 – Party for the Parks w/ Spoon @ Zilker – Rumor has it Spoon is giving an award for Perfect Attendance during AC Festival at Austin Parks Foundation’s annual fundraiser. Tickets

• October 13 – We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Mohawk – Scottish rockers bring the volume. Hailing from Edinburgh, the three band members have been playing since the late 00’s. These Scots have catchy lyrics with loud guitars. Join in with their seething vocals. Tickets

• October 14-16 – Austin City Limits Weekend Two – If I had a pick between weekends, Phoenix would be my deal breaker. Also, improving on weekend one are Wet Leg, Death Cab for Cutie, Boy George (Culture Club) and James Blake. Tickets

• October 15 – Yellow Ostrich @ Swan Dive – “WHALE” surprised me and has made my mornings brighter. Maybe it’s the harmonizing, maybe it’s the minimalism or the drum beats? It’s unusual for a show of this caliber to come to the cozy confines at Swan Dive. I look forward to an intimate show. Tickets 

  

• October 17 – The Black Keys w/ Band of Horses & the Velveteers @ Moody Center – The Black Keys made a major mark on the 00’s indie rock era, influenced by blues and rock. Catch them at the Moody Center with Cosmic Clash SXSW party alumni, The Velveteers and local heroes, Band of Horses for the most eclectic lineup of our October Austin shows list. Tickets

• October 18 – BFF w/ Palefade & The Answers @ The Volstead Lounge – BFF claims residency at Hotel Vegas furthering the (now common) phrase “Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. Tickets at the door.

• October 19 – Guerilla Toss w/ Frank Hurricane @ Far Out Lounge – Art Rock for those that miss Le Tigre. Tickets

• October 19 – Man Man w/ Adam Halferty @ The Parish – Catch Man Man at The Parish. Tickets 

• October 20 – Dayeater w/ Transit Method & Mugdog @ Mohawk – Another local bill worth checking out. Dayeater features a lead guitarist with one hand who rocks out. Transit Method are just as intriguing but for their choice of instrumentation and sonic palettes. Tickets

• October 21 – SG Lewis w/ Flora and Fawna & TC Superstar @ Emo’s – Look, can I be excited for the openers? Both Austin originators, TC Superstar brings color blocking and dance routines front and center while Flora and Fauna celebrate the release of their fourth EP with indie dance tunes. Tickets 

  

• October 22 – Four Tet w/ Ben UFO @ Concourse Project – My biggest beef with Pitchfork may have been proliferating the naming of IDM (intelligent dance music), but I have enjoyed the genre itself. Four Tet and Ben UFO deliver ambient vibes with bouncing beats. Check out “She Just Likes To Fight” by Four Tet. I promise; it’s relaxing. Tickets

• October 22 – They are Gutting a Body of Water w/ Alexalone, Teethe, Frosty Palms @ Hotel Vegas – This one is bound to get rowdy, folks. Headliner wins our award for longest band name of the month too. Tickets

• October 23 – Indigo Girls – Stubb’s – Founding member, Emily Saliers best described the group: “hailing from the Joni Mitchell school, boasted a gentler sound but was a more complex composition with lyrics that revealed the abstract and spiritual.” Tickets

• October 23 – Interpol @ Circuit of the Americas – Formula 1 – Beginning in 1997, the band signed to Matador Records. In 2002, their album Turn on the Lights was released and was awarded Pitchfork’s Album of the Year. 

• October 25 – Otoboke Beaver w/ Peelander Yellow @ Mohawk – Japanese garage rock quartet visits Austin to kick ass and take names. The guitar alone in “S’il Vous Plaît” is for anyone who will argue Arctic Monkeys’ best album was “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.” If you agree, check out Otoboke Beaver. (I will throw down on this argument). Tickets

• October 26 – Alex G w/ Hatchie @ Emo’s Tickets 

  

• October 27 – 30 – LEVITATION – venues near RRCD – A festival dedicated to psych rock and garage rock. This is The Cosmic Clash’s idea of the perfect October Austin shows music festival. Headliners include The Jesus and Mary Chain, Superorganism, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and The Black Angels. If you can still hear your inner dialogue after the September show, Osees headline all four days of Levitation at Hotel Vegas. Don’t sleep on The Cosmic Clash Presents lineups at Hotel Vegas (OFF!, Trail of Dead, Fuck Money) and Antone’s (Meatbodies, The Well) October 29.  Located at various venues around Austin’s Red River Cultural District. Tickets

• October 28 – Nov 6 – Lucktober Fest – Luck Ranch – Can we talk about the fact that Orville Peck headlines the Outlaw Masquerade Ball? Or electro-clash artist Peaches will perform at a queer, southern fashion and variety show? This is an expansion of Luck Ranch 10th Anniversary series like last week’s Flaming Lips show but every event is themed in a clever way Tickets

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