Friday, September 11, 2026

Author: Case Cockrell

ReviewTroy Gonzales

Single review: Wild Heaven’s “One To Go” Is a Slow Burn With Teeth

Who said lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place? We have once again been given the privilege of previewing

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Seven more bands to see at Levitation 2026

Levitation 2026 is coming up fast, and with programming scattered across Austin, a tight plan is a necessity if you want to catch everything worth catching. The festival will take place over a four day stretch on September 10 – 13, bringing a wide variety of bands to build a packed fest experience. The festival traces back to The Black Angels and founder Rob Fitzpatrick, who’s kept the lineups deep and eclectic year after year. Here’s another round of seven bands curated by The Cosmic Clash team worth building your schedule around. Set times and tickets are on the Levitation website.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Six bands to see as Levitation returns to multi-venue format

Levitation returns to Austin September 10-13. Founded by members of The Black Angels and rooted in the city’s psych scene, the fest outgrew that single genre label a long time ago, with lineups running doom metal, darkwave, punk, and electronic acts alongside the psychedelic elements. After centering 2025 at Palmer Event Center, it’s back to the multi-venue format that’s anchored the fest since 2018. The Far Out Lounge & Stage on South Congress carries 2026’s main programming, with showcases scattered across downtown filling out the rest. Here’s who’s worth building your schedule around curated by The Cosmic Clash team. 

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: King Gizzard’s Field of Vision nights two and three with no song repeats

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard don’t rest. The Melbourne sextet closed out the second Field of Vision Festival with two more three-hour sets on August 15 and 16, pushing deeper into the Meadow Creek grounds in Buena Vista, Colorado they’d already claimed as their own. They’d fired the first shot on day one: a surprise drop of their 28th LP, Alien Metal, with zero warning. Then came the dare. “No song repeats,” the band promised Friday night, and fans spent the rest of the weekend hunting for new-album cuts and deep tracks to see if that promise would hold. Field of Vision was three of only seven U.S. tour dates. There was no room to coast.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: inaugural Mayhem Fest at new Crow Bar ended on blistering note

Austin metal venue, The Crow Bar hosted Raven Mayhem Fest 2026 ended on a blistering note on Saturday, July 25 featuring bands from all across the Austin heavy spectrum and beyond for the inaugural three-day long extreme metal music festival at the newly reopened Crow Bar in far East Austin off Highway 183 at 523 Thompson Lane. Since reopening for SXSW 2025, co-owner Aryn Jonathan Black and booker Jay McDowell have been curating some of the heaviest-hitting bills in the Austin area. After the first Crow Bar location was lost to arson, owners Black and Steve Gee are back with a vengeance, and there’s been hell to pay since getting the underground-leaning establishment back up and running.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPhotos

Photo Gallery: Hot Summer Nights 2026 brought the heat to Austin’s Red River District

The annual sweat-fest, Hot Summer Nights returned to the Red River Cultural District last weekend, marking another successful year of cover-free showcases that benefit local businesses throughout downtown Austin. The RRCD neighborhood non-profit presents the free showcases to keep venues and other establishments busy during the summer slow period in both the service and music industries for employees and musicians until the things pick back up in the Fall.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Tomahawk and Melvins descended on a sold-out Emo’s

Mike Patton has spent three decades collecting bands like other people collect vinyl, and every one of them draws the same crowd, showing up less for the setlist than for whatever version of Patton decides to appear. This time it was Nashville’s Tomahawk, and the Monday, July 20 stop at Emo’s Austin sold out fast. After a canceled Sick New World Festival in 2025 for the band’s 25th anniversary, Tomahawk’s reunion after 12 years off took a backseat until now.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Flagman brought deep fried alt metal to Lost Well

Seattle-by-way-of-Orlando trio Flagman made their way south this summer to deliver their slap-bass mayhem to Austin metal stronghold Lost Well on July 16 – the second stop on their summer tour to spread their self-proclaimed brand of “deep-fried alt-metal.” Formed in 2015 around frontman and bass virtuoso Sam Stewart, the band has rotated through members over the years while keeping the bassist as the focal point of their roadshow. Since the dawn of the doomscroll era, artists and brands alike have been riding the algorithm to rack up streams and hopefully, enough chump change for Denny’s on the road. If you’re a Primus guy or a Mr. Bungle kind of weirdo, this band is for you.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music preview: Hot Summer Nights promises Austin music discovery this weekend

The annual Hot Summer Nights in the Red River Cultural District of Austin is a RRCD-sponsored event that features hundreds

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Metal veterans Corrosion of Conformity rocked Far Out Lounge

It’s July in Texas. means it dsis a season of hiding inside until the deadly laser we call the sun disappears before even remotely considering an outdoor venture. Outdoor shows in Austin are a tall order, but for the return of North Carolina metal veterans Corrosion of Conformity, exceptions can be made. The Raleigh heavy-hitters made their way to South Austin on July 8 at The Far Out Lounge & Stage to deliver a career-spanning set, backed by an opening bill that paved the way in furious fashion. During an usually slow season for live music, both older heads and the young ones made their way to the homegrown Austin backyard for some metal riffs on a sweaty Wednesday night.

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