I have a deep love for The Get Up Kids. Their 1999 classic Something to Write Home About is an all-timer for me—one of those records that somehow still hits the same decades later. (I’ve been caught hoarse-singing along to “Action-Action” more than once in my life.) So when word came down that frontman Matt Pryor is dropping back into town, armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar, I was immediately in.
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Free Week in Austin’s Red River Cultural District returns this coming weekend on January 9 and 10, bringing yet another array of cover-free showcases to the downtown area to kick off 2026 with live music from the city’s fruitful scene. The event will feature a baker’s dozen venues and over 80 performing artists to showcase Austin’s nightlife. The RRCD is managed by the Red River Merchants’ Association, a coalition of over forty local small businesses found within the District, which include not only live music venues, restaurants, hotels, retail shops, and other small businesses, but also the Austin Symphony Orchestra, First Baptist Church, German-Texan Heritage Society, and Waterloo Greenway.
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Los Angeles by way of Brooklyn electronic duo Sextile returned to Austin for a third time in 2025 to end the year with a loaded bill on Saturday night at Empire Control Room and Garage. The stacked lineup included Nashville egg punk extraordinaries Snooper along with local band appearances from Gus Baldwin & The Sketch, Alma Muneca, Mugger, and The Opera who are Cosmic Clash SXSW Webberville Block Party vets.
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If you haven’t taken a trip to the new location for Austin’s legendary metal stronghold, The Lost Well, put a pilgrimage to the East Austin music venue high on your to-do list. The Lost Well returned in August this year with a vengeance, and the gig calendar has been stacking back up to a blistering, business-as-usual. According to owner Marcello Murphy, Tuesday night (December 16) for Wilmington, North Carolina doom metal act, Weedeater was the new Austin space’s biggest ticketed show yet.
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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.
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Alaska natives and Portland-based musical collective Portugal. The Man is an outfit that knows no creative bounds. Built by visionary John Gourley and rounded out by a laundry list of collaborators who have come and gone over the years, the Oregon vehicle has retained a creative streak that’s produced 10 full-length studio projects since forming in 2004. For the last stop on their run supporting new LP Shish, the Portugal company made their way to Austin’s premier venue ACL Live on Friday, December 12 for a headlining extravaganza that brought the new and old material, with a lot of new in rotation to celebrate the latest release.
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The 1990s saw many monumental alternative rock and indie releases that many music fans, new and old, hold dear. For some, it’s The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse, Slanted & Enchanted by Pavement, or Dolittle by Pixies. There are too many hidden gems that fly under the radar, however, proving that we as music lovers, need to go crate-digging at our favorite record stores a lot more often. For Rhode Island’s Belly’s second album, King, a body of work with the underrated alt-rock icons exists, featuring crossover membership with the likes of Throwing Muses, L7, and The Breeders. With this seminal rock and roll legacy in mind, Belly released the now 30-year-old record in 1995 and disbanded shortly after. In 2016, the New England-hailing quartet reunited for another record and has since embarked on an anniversary tour to commemorate the now landmark release. On Wednesday, December 11 in the Red River Cultural District at scene staple Mohawk, fans both old-school and new were treated to a two-set experience by Belly that included that penultimate sophomore effort and other offerings from their scant but worthwhile catalogue.
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It can be hard to gauge what attendance at late-year gigs in Austin will be like. There are tons of shows, festivals, and other events going on in town 365 days a year. People’s wallets can run dry around the holidays, and people are spending less discretionary income. For Denver deathdoom outfit Primitive Man’s December appearance at Empire Control Room in the Red River Cultural District on December 9, a thin, but dedicated gauntlet of fans showed up to experience the slow and low, deafening spectacle of the Colorado extreme metal band. Bringing a bill that proved eclectic and all over the place sonically, the evening on Red River didn’t disappoint for performances filled with harsh experimentation and maximum cranium-shaking riffs from the headlining event.
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So on a warm Tuesday night, a two days before Thanksgiving, Neko Case and her touring band returned to the Paramount Theatre in support of her latest album, Neon Grey Midnight Green, her eighth studio album, which also follows her recent bestselling memoir, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen the New Pornographers on a couple of occasions but have only seen Neko Case solo once at the Paper Tiger in San Antonio. While I haven’t always thought of the Paramount Theatre as my go to place to see live music, I will concede that certain musical artist do benefit from its historic ambience, which can lend a sense of intimacy and warmth that you can’t find at any other venue.
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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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The Resound-Pooneh Presents-KUTX Holiday Hootenanny returns to Radio / East on December 13, marking another year of music, vendors, and holiday-themed festivities to close out another year of Austin live music. The event will run all day, with two non-overlapping music stages running until midnight. Holiday Hootenanny is an all-ages opportunity to see local talent and touring acts alike in southeast Austin, with plenty of parking, food trucks, and ample drink selections to keep festival-goers energized throughout the day.
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