One thing I love about metalheads is their undying love for the music and its culture. They wear old band T-shirts from twenty years ago like a talisman against the world, they tattoo band logos on themselves to show devotion, rock patch-covered battle vests, and will stand in the middle of a rainstorm without considering moving because the band is about to go on. That’s serious commitment.
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The 2026 edition of Austin Psych Fest returns on May 8 – May 10 to the Far Out Lounge & Stage, their fourth consecutive Spring edition since reviving the original brand to a one-location format. With an all-star lineup from all over the psychedelic and indie rock spectrum, acts from all over the world will make their way to South Austin at Far Out’s massive backyard for a two-stage, no-overlap, three-day, rock and roll shindig designed with the true music fan in mind. Stage visuals will include projections from Mad Alchemy, Slim Reaper, TV Eye, Attic Space, and more. The fest will also feature satellite events to kick off the weekend and late-night shows in downtown Austin after Far Out programming concludes.
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One of the greatest joys of live music is when you can tell the band is having a blast. There’s an explosive connection when the music and the people collide. And for Touché Amoré, they came out swinging at the Mohawk, celebrating their masterpiece Stage Four turning ten.
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The band, Baroness came into Texas on the circumstances of opening for Louisiana sludge legends Acid Bath in Dallas, but the great folks at Resound Presents couldn’t let them leave Texas without an Austin appearance. With longtime drummer Sebastian Thomson having to opt out days before travel, the band had to find a fill-in drummer to stand in for the run. Despite this, the veteran Georgia born, Philly-based quartet arrived at Southeast Austin’s Radio East and delivered a jam-packed show.
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After a week of SXSW, time starts acting strange. Days blur. Nights stretch. Everything feels loud, urgent, and time is slightly out of reach. Luck Reunion on March 19 at the tail end of Sx (a day after closing night) somehow felt like the opposite of that while still being every bit as packed and overstimulating. It was dusty, crowded, sunbaked, and full of movement, but it moved at a different speed. Less like a comedown and more like an oasis. A long exhale at the end of a marathon
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One of the first Salt Lake City acts we saw after dipping into the SLC underground music scene was The Groanies who played Urban Lounge a couple years back. The garage punks impressed with a hard hitting set that had us coming back for more the next time the group played at International Bar. Then we caught ’em again at Urban’s Psych Lake City event. We were hooked. This up and coming band, hit us right in our garage-psych sweet spot. Naturally we were thrilled when The Groanies dropped a new EP this week and announced an album release show with Musor and Skrude on Friday, April 10 at Church and State. Advance tickets are available in the link or click the poster to grab your $10 ticket to what promises to be a fun night. The band let us know they organized a taco truck along with ice cream and coffee vendors.
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The 2025 reunion of Louisiana hardcore metal legends Acid Bath has been triumphant, as it heads into its second year of gigs featuring stacked lineups and fans showing up by the thousands to experience it. At White Oak Music Hall near the Houston Heights area, a diehard crowd showed up ready to experience the short-lived yet massively influential out-of-the-swamp sludge kings. Acid Bath’s reunion tour is going on a year strong. Each show features extreme metal legacy acts and rising underground metal hardliners. For the March 28 stop, Acid Bath brought Houston brutal death metal outfit Stabbing, H-Town black metal institutions Necrofier, legendary Oakland power trio High on Fire, and Tampa death metal legends Obituary. A bone-crushing lineup of all proportions, this gig didn’t lose its hell-raising spark until the last note.
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On March 27, longtime L.A. indie rockers, Redd Kross brought their “Rock ‘n’ Roll Party” to the 29th St Ballroom on a somewhat chilly Austin night. During a run Steve McDonald has dubbed their “Victory Lap” tour, the band is continuing the momentum they achieved in renewed adoration for their latest self-titled album (sometimes referred to as the “Red Album), recent documentary, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, and their memoir, Now You’re One of Us. We were lucky to have gotten member Jeff McDonald back for this show as he had been sidelined by a contagious virus for a couple of dates, forcing the band to become a power trio. While fans might have been disappointed to not get McDonald for their show, I’m sure Redd Kross would have won us over easily had gifted player not made it to Austin.
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The industrial hardcore underground thundered into Austin on Sunday March 8, bringing a stacked bill to South Austin’s The Far Out Lounge and Stage showcasing some of the genre’s heaviest and strangest acts. Author & Punisher, the project of San Diego’s Tristan Shone, employs custom “drone” and “dub” machines. Formerly a solo act, Shone now collaborates with guitarist Doug Sabolick (A Life Once Lost, Ecstatic Vision). With a table of unique contraptions, Author & Punisher delivered a relentless spectacle to a Sunday night crowd.
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Maynard James Keenan is 61 years old and still works with three bands, releases music at a steady rate, and still tours the globe like he’s 31. From fronting the progressive metal behemoths Tool, hard rock supergroup A Perfect Circle, and on Tuesday, March 24, at Bass Concert Hall with experimental rock stage spectacle-makers Puscifer, Keenan and his meticulously chosen associates take on his utmost creative oddities with undeniable passion. Like his outsized arena outfit Tool, Puscifer has maintained consistent membership throughout their history that sculpts a well-oiled machine that showcases Keenan, English co-vocalist Carina Round, and multi-instrumentalist Mat Mitchell, feeding the loyalists once again with their latest studio record Normal Isn’t for their 2026 tour that demonstrated no creative burnout – and a statement on the current concert industry itself.
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This SXSW was the year of the Lime scooter for me. I also took a driverless Waymo and saw a robot bartender at Faregrounds on Congress Avenue. Kicking off SXSW this year, I was not optimistic about what the festival had become in its ever-quaking need to feed the techno-masses. I did not enjoy being waved at by a clanker. Nor did I love taking a driverless car. Seeing so many robots delivering food, taking people to and from, it was not for me. Big no.
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