Live music review: Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band Nightmare Before Xmas party represents best of DIY Austin

The past few years, Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band has thrown a holiday party featuring some of their favorite bands in Austin to commemorate another year in the vibrant city music scene. For the 2023 edition of Nightmare Before Xmas, Potter and his backing musicians, guitarist Raze Regal, drummer Cole Koenning, bassist Dillon Fernandez, and keyboardist Sam Blomgren, threw a show that turned out to be a glorious train of local talent that stretched across both Mohawk stages in the Red River Cultural District.

To open the night, Big Wy’s Brass Band warmed up the main stage with an ensemble of horns and big-band, dance hall energy. Formed in Austin out of Westlake High School, the Big Wy ensemble embodies the New Orleans Jazz sound, making their set sound like a rager in the French Quarter. Being the evening’s outdoor stage opening act, Big Wy’s Brass Band paved the way for the dynamic nature of each act on the bill, which seemed to get more eccentric as the night progressed.

After Big Wy left the stage,  it was a footrace to get to Mohawk’s indoor space for the debut performance of new Austin local band, Commercial Breaks. The group featured many familiar faces, including David Rawlinson from Luxury Television and Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, as well as Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band’s former drummer, Doran Rawlinson, the latter having a major hand in booking the stacked bill on Saturday night. The identical last names aren’t a coincidence; the two are indeed brothers. It makes sense because both musicians kick ass in their respective projects to which they’ve lent their prowess.

Commercial Breaks dabbles in the more straightforward, stripped-back side of garage psychedelia with a cymbal-less, minimalist drum kit that gives vibes of JEFF The Brotherhood or Bass Drum Of Death. After the set’s conclusion, the audience was told by members that Commercial Breaks is merely a placeholder name, and the project’s permanent moniker is yet to be determined.

Next, it was time for the masked prog rock crusaders, Grandmaster. Formed in 2023 with members of local staples such as Acid Carousel, Hey Cowboy, Billy Glitter, and Sexpop, Grandmaster brings captivating theatrics that hook audiences in with their methodical means of storytelling, ceremonial practices, and anonymity that feels like a nod to that of San Francisco avant garde act, The Residents. 

The Grandmaster ensemble came down the Mohawk balcony stairs from the venue’s greenroom on the top level – all decked out with their signature costumes, red hats, and a black strip of film that concealed each member’s identity. After a brief greeting, Grandmaster plunged into a raging whirlpool of guitar-keyboard intricacy, making for bursts of technical, progressive, musical expertise that showed with every cut. Armed with dueling keyboards, synths, and other instrumentalists stretching out of a drums-guitar-and-bass normality, Grandmaster came locked and loaded, performing their ninth show since the group’s conception.

A highlight came from the appearance of the masked Grandmaster himself, appearing in a black robe, glowing red eyes, a crown, and wielding a Gibson Explorer-look-alike guitar that resulted in a shredding guitar solo section performed in the center of the crowd while the rest of the Austin masterminds held things down onstage. Grandmaster mentioned a record is on the horizon, produced by the evening’s headlining frontman, Nolan Potter.

After pacing back inside, Gus Baldwin & The Sketch delivered a sweaty, liquor-soaked set that was wall-to-wall mayhem for the entirety of the performance. Baldwin has been a Texas psych rock mainstay for over a decade. Since Baldwin’s name has likely appeared on what feels like dozens of records, the Dallas to Austin musician has been pushing the reverb madness envelope further with each release. Since the conception of The Sketch after the dissolution of Acid Carousel in 2022, Baldwin and his trusted league of musicians have taken his mission to heart, smashing and thrashing through every song that seems to get faster and louder with each live show. The set also featured “Gelmo,” a person in an Elmo suit, who also appeared at The Sketch’s opening performance for Black Lips at Parish last month. 

Next on the big stage came Andrew Cashen. A legend in the current era of the Austin music sphere, Cashen is a chief songwriter and member of the beloved, A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit (RIP), and Tear Dungeon. Known for stage antics that push the highest limits, Cashen rules over every crowd with a commanding presence that demands attention and never lets up until the show’s conclusion. From climbing the highest point in a venue, entering the crowd with a microphone, and crowd surfing from the stage to the back of the crowd, Cashen’s performances are always a wild spectacle.

This incarnation of Cashen’s show included “The Disciples of Creation,” featuring horns, backup singers, and a rhythm section that tied it together. The harmonies that accompany Cashen give the band a symphonic flair, which goes seamlessly with the homages to the years of rock n roll fronted by the electrfying Cashen’s leadership.

Nolan Potter’s Nightmare Band (NPNB) is a project that’s been through the wringer in their tenure as a scene staple. With numerous tours, a Castle Face Records signing with Osees’ John Dwyer, and a complete lineup change in the books, Potter and his progressive orchestra have been on a warpath with a current lineup that brings things to life. Following the Christmas theme of the gig, NPNB teased holiday tunes like “The Home Alone Theme” and “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” While a festive addition to the set, this didn’t stop the bangers “Stubborn Bubble” and “Seahorse Retreat” from appearing to the moshing, stage-diving responses from the crowd.

For the show’s closer, Grandmaster and Andrew Cashen’s Disciples Of Creation members joined the stage for a cover of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon. The cover tune reached harmonious heights, with the backup singers lending their voices to make the song come to life in its whole, realized fashion. The performance showed a spectral presentation of what makes the scene in Austin a coveted endeavor that shows itself any night that fans find themselves looking to enjoy live music.

Across all eight performing bands at Mohawk on Saturday night, local music fans were given a crash course of some of the scene’s heavy hitters that excite every time they appear on a live music lineup. If 2023 in Austin was any indication, we’ve got one hell of a musical year coming up in 2024. No city does it like Austin, and that’s all there is to it.

All photos and video by Case Cockrell