Thursday, March 5, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

Author: Robert Dean

Chadwick Rachelle Adam landscape
Live MusicOpinionRobert Dean

In memoriam: We lost Adam Morehead of The Cavalier so we’re having a block party

Robert Dean 142 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I think when a person passes, how those in their wake tell their stories is an important, but telling way to show how much that person impacted their lives. Recently, Adam Morehead, one of the owners of The Cavalier, moved onto the next dimension and that’s one that stings. The Cavalier has served as the unofficial headquarters of The Cosmic Clash and anyone who’s snapped a photo, written a word, or had a quick meeting likely did so sitting out on the Webberville patio.

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Frontera Fest actors Brett Brookshire
CultureOpinionRobert Dean

Essay: I would rather swim through raw sewage than go to the theater

Robert Dean 821 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Theater is my hell. Musical theater? I would rather swim through raw sewage, hitting sawed-off corpse dicks to the face. Honorable mentions include karaoke and improv. Back to the theater… it’s not fun for me. I enjoy reading plays by the greats; August Wilson, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller. But when it comes to sitting in an audience, it just ain’t for me. There was the time I was taken to see Monty Python’s “Spam-a-Lot,” and while I wanted to see it, once I saw it, I hated it.

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Dave Mustaine meme
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: Why Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine cannot stop talking about Metallica

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Every time Dave Mustaine has something to say about Metallica, it’s like Al Bundy talking about his big game for Polk High. Not because he brings it up once in a while, but because he never stops. How does someone who hasn’t been in a band for forty years keep talking about a band he hasn’t been in for forty years?

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Bob Weir Memorial courtesy of Bob Weir
OpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: Bob Weir is irreplaceable so why not ask Sturgill Simpson to step in?

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Just for clarification, as I write this, my girlfriend, who is a massive Deadhead, is appalled.
With the announcement of the passing of Bob Weir on January 10, the future of The Grateful Dead Empire is now in question. Whereas most bands stop when one of the OG’s pass on, the Dead are a different animal. It’s part of their credo to celebrate the music, to cherish the culture created not only by the band and the fans but also with people in general. The Dead became an integral part of our musical culture a long time ago. There’s nothing like it, an ongoing celebration in different forms that’s been going since Jerry Garcia passed back in 1995.

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Hispter prognosticator
CultureOpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: Eight predictions for Austin music and culture in 2026

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Because it’s the beginning of the year, I wanted to try something new. I’m going to make some predictions about things I think will happen over the next twelve months. I’m not a swami. This is just my best shot as someone who’s stood next to enough sweaty, drunk guys with bad opinions at countless shows for over thirty years. I can’t do worse than them. Jesus. I feel old just typing that

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Dick Chalmers Delaney Gibson Moon
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

Eulogy to those we lost: It was a rough year for the Austin music scene

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It was a rough year for the service industry and the Austin music scene. We lost plenty of global legends, but also some of the folks who make this city special — the ones who make Austin… Austin. On the bigger stage, we lost Joe Ely and Garth Hudson, Roberta Flack, Sly Stone, and the eternally cool Ozzy Osbourne. We also lost Kiss member, Ace Frehley and Brian Wilson. The Mavericks singer Raul Malo passed on to the next plane, which hit hard. 

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Bouncing Souls 6 Empire Garage Justin Clark
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Old school punks The Bouncing Souls and H2O played Empire last Sunday

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As an official Old Head, it’s an experiment in time for me: I got into punk in the early ’90s, and now that it’s 2025, I’m somehow in my fourth decade of this thing. The people we looked up to — and the kids I was crammed shoulder-to-shoulder with at basement shows — are now comparing cholesterol scores and scheduling their first colonoscopy. So when The Bouncing Souls and H2O rolled into town on Sunday, I got off my Rascal scooter and made my way down to enjoy the cool sounds of bands who’ve been around for thirty years, joining the rest of the AARPunks at Empire Control Room.

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Charlie Brown Christmas 2 Parker Jazz Club Robert Dean
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: A Charlie Brown Christmas at Parker Jazz Club evokes deep nostalgia

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Recently, I had the pleasure of attending The Parker Jazz Club’s tribute to A Charlie Brown Christmas, and it’s now on my must-do tradition list. Hosted every Monday in December, The Ryan Davis Trio puts on an hour-and-a-half show with a little history of the special, a few jokes, and plenty of timeless music. The experience was cozy and pleasant, full of smiles and wistful audience members diving deep into their pasts as the music played. Even Snoopy had his place on top of the doghouse—Charlie’s little tree was there, too.

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Murder City Devils 4 Mohawk Troy Gonzales
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Murder City Devils brought rock and roll fury to Mohawk

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I love a show where the band is not there to fuck around. No small talk, no rare material, no rambling monologues about the world. Just pure rock and roll fury. At the Mohawk on Sunday, November 23, The Murder City Devils crashed into Planet Austin and left no survivors. The band barely tours anymore—just fly-in one-offs where they show up, sell the same three merch designs they’ve had for twenty years, and play the hits.

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Dave Attell by Jim McCambridbge
ComedyReviewRobert Dean

Live comedy review: Dave Attell at the Mothership – A masterclass in controlled chaos

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Few times in life do we get to see a true master at work. Watching someone carve stone for a temple or fling paint across a canvas gives a glimpse into creation itself — that raw place art comes from before it’s polished and displayed. Recently, I caught Dave Attell’s final show of his six-night run at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership, and it was one of those rare moments when a comic takes you to a different universe

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QOTSA 3 ACL TV Nov 20
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: The seance will be televised – Queens of the Stone Age ACL TV taping

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Marcel Proust was a dark-minded poet-philosopher, once musing: “Our vanity, our passions, our spirit of imitation, our abstract intelligence, our habits have long been at work, and it is the task of art to undo this work of theirs, making us travel back in the direction from which we have come to the depths where what has really existed lies unknown within us.” Imagine him at a Parisian café with Queens of the Stone Age mastermind Josh Homme, trading cigarettes and wine. Would they challenge death or toast to it? These thought and more came as QOTSA’s Austin City Limits TV taping took place on November 18 at ACL Live. 

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