Thursday, March 5, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

Opinion

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

Robert Dean 1114 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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?

Robert Dean 25270 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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

Robert Dean 2583 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Aerials by Rylan McCoy for ACL Fest 2025-12
Live MusicOpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: Hear me out, Austin City Limits Music Festival at COTA

Robert Dean 1740 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I know you are going to hate this. But since ACL I’ve been thinking about something: the fest itself and how Austin handles it. First, I gotta get through the fine print: I’ve been to the Austin City Limits Music Festival exactly one time – for an hour. I went to see Duran Duran and left. I also got into a car accident trying to get there on time. I am someone who’s still holding hope that we’re going to get a Fugazi reunion one of these days, so me waiting in the throngs of people to hear Chappell Roan sing “Pink Pony Club” I am not. But after seeing the photos of Sabrina Carpenter’s crowd last week, you have to wonder if the scale of the artists who play at the festival—is the park even big enough to hold the people anymore? I can’t say where I’ve heard the rumor from, but someone told me ACL should be moved to Circuit of the Americas (COTA), and I think the conversation’s at least worth having.

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Metal band logos collage
OpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: The kids are alright (they’re just getting their metal from TikTok now)

Robert Dean 2117 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

The passage of time is strange. One minute you’re crate digging for a Fugazi tape at the local record store, and years later, you’re the guy with gray in his beard, noticing a kid in a Misfits hoodie who’s never owned a CD but knows his “She Rides” because the TikTok algorithm keeps feeding them Danzig. Have no fear though. The kids are alright, they’re just getting their metal from TikTok now.

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Mark Lanegan via ML
OpinionRobert Deansongwriter

Opinion: Mark Lanegan should be in same conversation as our greatest songwriters

Robert Dean 3782 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I get that Jeff Buckley is beloved. I know people with tattoos of his lyrics. Listening to it, I was taken to a place of feeling like, it was too dated for me, that I felt like people loved this record for its mythology of Buckley dying young and tragically more than the actual musical weight of the record, that his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” made him so deep. It got me thinking about hype, legacy, and ultimately, Mark Lanegan.

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The Lost Well
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

This Party Sucks: Long Live The Lost Well

Robert Dean 5629 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

When you come up in the DIY rock and roll underground, the community that goes with the music is everything. Unlike most sub-genres of humanity, two punk rockers and a guy in a Slayer shirt will typically find something to talk about over a cheap PBR. The places that house those shared interests are important. These spots are somewhere for the weirdos to hang out, to hear their weird bands, and champion their outsider passions, are crucial for people to feel like they belong somewhere. To hoist drinks in their air in both celebration and sadness. There is often more than people drinking together in a bar. Instead, it’s the social glue that keeps people’s hearts and minds together, too. People like us, we bond over a Crass tape, or get excited about those annual Motorhead parties. Our culture of rock and roll is a brick of our identity and when you’re the kid with the Black Flag sticker on your skateboard who becomes the adult with the son in a Stooges shirt, you take shit personally when it comes to the things that helped craft your identity.

That’s why losing The Lost Well sucks so hard. 

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Steve Albini
Music NewsOpinionRobert Dean

In memoriam: Steve Albini was a punk rock icon who walked and talked the truth

Robert Dean 2298 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

When we were kids playing in rock and roll bands, we always dreamed of coming up with the cash to record at Electrical Audio. There were tiers of cost – one to get into the door, one to book either day or night sessions, some with junior engineers, and then, if you could swing it, to record with Steve Albini. For us, just the idea of being in the same room with those who’d recorded the Pixies, PJ Harvey, and Nirvana? Insane. We were in hardcore and punk bands; we weren’t trying to be the noise he was so aligned with; we just wanted to be able to say the guy who made “Scentless Apprentice” sound so raw did it on our heavy chugged nonsense. 

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