Live music review: Holiday Hootenanny at Radio East featured Tune-Yards, Shannon and the Clams
The second annual Resound and Pooneh Presents Holiday Hootenanny on December 13 at southeast Austin venue Radio/East marked another musical holiday celebration, bringing national talent and local acts alike to mark the end of another pivotal year for the Austin music scene. For the occasion, promoters filled the backyard venue with holiday decor, themed mechanical bull rides, a holiday gift vendor market and booked a national lineup that brought the holiday cheer for another successful installment.
Radio/East is rising to be one of Austin’s best independent venues. With plenty of drink and food options, spending the better part of your day at the space is less daunting when nourishment and refreshment are readily available for a nine-hour stint. The Cosmic Clash team was in attendance this year. Here’s what stood out to us for the festivities.
Local acts Club Coma, Variety, J’Cuuzi, and Almost Heaven delivered an eclectic angle of the city music scene, with J’Cuuzi accomplishing the highlight of the first slew of performing bands. With thumping beats, off-kilter stage outfits, and thunderous crowd participation, this felt like one of the things that’s keeping Austin weird in 2025. With bizarre onstage antics and an aesthetic that’s proven difficult to identify, the energy is there, and it reaches its peak in raucous crowd participation.
Atlanta’s Improvement Movement delivered a set of new-age indie rock, a welcome appearance in Austin, given their numerous SXSW appearances and periodic local shows. This also includes endorsement from the likes of Being Dead, a strong recommendation around these parts. The IM players are superb at sculpting an inclusive aura that’s a joyous opportunity for all. It was at this point in the day that the venue started to fill up for the evening hours, sending things into the party zone for the rest of the jam-packed evening.
New York City’s Rubblebucket feels like an Austin mainstay in this day and age. With numerous sounds, instrumentation, and stage performers being present for their ever-changing sets, the Brooklyn musicians have been quietly making a name for themselves on the touring circuit for years. With soaring choruses and interactive stage banter, the vibes are perfect for any show setting, especially that of a holiday musical, mini-fest celebration.
A highlight of the set came when the band invited audience members dressed in banana suits, in the spirit of their latest record, Year of the Banana. If you didn’t have a banana suit, the Rubblebucket touring crew joyously provided the wardrobe so that as many who wanted could join in on the fun. A spectacle of love and silliness, everyone loved that.
Oakland duo Tune-Yards took the reins as the co-headliner, a wise choice for an activist outlet that justifies its words with creative genre-blending that makes for an all-around good time. An appropriate cover of “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine also appeared, a moment that brought a sense of inclusive social activism, with everyone fist-pumping in catharsis. If you haven’t given their latest EP, Tell The Future With Your Body a spin, you should.
On top of all the booked talent, the food trucks at Radio are worth your dollars. Try the tacos from Veracruz and the smashburgers from Shortwave. The first is considered a gourmet food truck amid an Austin culinary scene that has blossomed over the past several years with locations around the city including a brick and mortar in North Austin.
The medieval antics of cellist Rushadicus proved to be a stageshow highlight, bringing his utmost eccentricity to the festival grounds by hiding in porta-potties and bushes to startle passerby’s and tease what was to come for his official fest slot. I was met with one of these surprises and fell for his savvy forest jester tricks. A suggestion could be made that Rushadicus is now a part of the Austin experience. He’s also a Berklee College of Music alumni, go figure.
Oakland psych-surf-garage legends Shannon and the Clams closed out the Hootenanny, marking yet another successful Austin appearance after repeated stopovers in clubs all over town and at Levitation Festival over the years as a roving indie rock phenomenon. Last year’s release, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place is an exceptional listen.
The Holiday Hootenanny will return to Radio / East in 2026, with details yet to be announced. Information can be found via the Resound Presents website.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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