13th Floor – The Cosmic Clash

Live music review: supergroup Stick Men with Oogwei at 13th Floor

September 29, 2026 Roger Stafford 285 Views 13th Floor, live music, Markus Reuter, Oogwei, Pat Mastelatto, prog rock, psych-rock, Review, rock n roll, Stick Men, supergroup, Tony Levin

What could bring out a crowd of experienced music lovers on a hot, sticky Tuesday, September 8 night? The progressive mastery of Stick Men. With Tony Levin on Chapman stick, Markus Reuter on touch guitar and Pat Mastelotto on drums, they are one of those three piece bands that somehow create a much larger sound than should be possible. The trio played a well crafted and substantial set supporting their September release of Let’s Thrak Again. This album is a direct descendant of King Crimson’s Thrak and that relationship set the musical agenda for the evening.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live Music Review: Reverb Appreciators Survived the Heat at Levitation 2026

September 16, 2026 Case Cockrell 586 Views 13th Floor, Angine de Poitrine, Automatic, Cabaret Voltaire, darkwave, DITZ, Doom Gong, Earth Tongue, Far Out Lounge, Gus Baldwin, Iguana Death Cult, indie rock, Leviation, live music, mohawk, Molchat Doma, music festival, Peter Hook, Primitive Ring, psych-rock, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Review, shoegaze, Spacemoth, Stubb's, Temples, The Well, Uncle Acid and the Dead Beats

Levitation Festival returned to Austin this past weekend (September 10-13), bringing a stacked international lineup back to a multi-venue format for its 2026 edition, with showcases scattered across the city. The bill pulled in longtime regulars, first-time festivalgoers, and a handful of acts making their first Central Texas appearance since they formed. Oppressive heat ran through all four days as the festival’s defining backdrop, but it didn’t stop Levitation from delivering for its loyal reverb appreciators once more, extending a run that’s outlasted a wave of beloved festivals in an increasingly unstable independent music scene. The Cosmic Clash team was on the ground for all four days. Here’s part one of what stuck with us.

Case Cockrell Live Music Preview

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

September 9, 2026 Case Cockrell 690 Views 13th Floor, 29th Street Ballroom, doom metal, Earth Tongue, Far Out Lounge, Gus Baldwin, hardcore, I Speak Machine, Iguana Death Cult, Levitation, live music, metal, mohawk, Monolord, music festival, Powerplant, preview, psych-rock, Radium Dolls, Spaceflight Records, stoner rock, The Well

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.

Premiere Song Troy Gonzales

Song Premiere: Austin heavy psych duo Floating Cube introduces single Canyon

July 17, 2026 Troy Gonzales 938 Views 13th Floor, album release, Billie Buck, Canyon, Corme, doom metal, Floating Cube, hard rock, Hot Summer Nights, Hotel Vegas, jazz, psych-rock, Queen Serene, Sailor Poon, single release, song premiere, stoner rock, surf rock

One of Austin‘s hottest new bands, heavy psych duo, Floating Cube, is set to release their debut self titled EP on July 25 and has asked The Cosmic Clash to preview the first single, “Canyon” ahead of the song’s official release on July 18 at their upcoming show at The 13th Floor during the annual Hot Summer Nights which offers free cover at multiple Red River venues all weekend.

annabellecharilegs4 APF 2026 Drew Doggett

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

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

July 14, 2026 Case Cockrell 1266 Views 13th Floor, Almost Heaven, Annabelle Chairlegs, Austin Music, Bat Lips, Broken Gold, Bruce, Chess Club, Commercial Breaks, Creeping Death, death metal, dream pop, Gran Moreno, hardcore, Hot Summer Nights, Jet Cemetery, Lauren Lakis, live music, metal, mohawk, Mugger, Parker Woodland, preview, psych-rock, punk rock, Queen Serene, Red River Cultural District, Redbud, rock n roll, RRCD, shoegaze, Sodomy Cop, Stubb's, Subpar Snatch, Swan Dive, vahalla, Witches Exist

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

Case Cockrell Live Music Preview

Live music preview: Six SXSW 2026 day parties music fans should show up for

March 12, 2026 Case Cockrell 3029 Views 13th Floor, Bikini Beach, Caitlin King, Club X, Cosmic Plants Clash, day parties, Fleet Coffee, Grocery Bag, J Graves, Killer Kaya, live music, Megan From Work, mohawk, music festival, Nug, Pink Fuzz, preview, Semihelix, So Many Cults, South by Southwest, Sunshine Spazz, SXSW, The Cavalier, This is Lorelei, Water From Your Eyes, Webberville Block Party

What’s South By Southwest (SXSW) without daytime shenanigans? For each year’s SXSW installment, different activations pop up all over the city to bring SX-goers daytime programming before things switch over to an all-official format. These “Day Parties” mostly feature cover-free programming, sometimes featuring official SXSW artists who give non-credentialed music fans opportunities to join in the festivities during the week. All listed events occur between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., are free for attendees, require no badge, and are subject to capacity. Make sure to RSVP for seamless entry to the events. For a larger list of SXSW day parties, head to our curated list of the best events to hit up.

Greg Ackerman Premiere Song

Video premiere: SoundMass releases new single, prepares for SXSW 2026 shows

March 3, 2026 Greg Ackerman 2128 Views 13th Floor, art rock, concert, Cosmic Plants Clash, day party, live music, My Education, new music, Play to the Plants, post rock, preview, progressive rock, song premiere, SoundMass, SXSW, Theta Naught, video premiere

On March 14, SoundMass will gather at The 13th Floor for Cosmic Plants Clash IV, the SXSW day party our publication and Play to the Plants has produced at the venue the past four years. We’ve invited the group, which is really two awesome post-rock bands, Austin’s my education and Salt Lake City’s Theta Naught combined. The merging of the two acts produces a powerful, orchestral style performance with rock instrumentation. With two of every instrument, the stage becomes crammed with talented musicians which is basically our ideal scenario. Today we’re premiering SoundMass’ latest single, “Last Gasp.”

Live Music Preview Robert Dean

Live music preview: Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids is coming to 13th Floor

January 8, 2026 Greg Ackerman 2143 Views 13th Floor, concert, Emo, Emo rock, indie rock, live music, Matt Pryor, new music, preview, rock n roll, Semihelix, singer songwriter, The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams, The Salton Sea

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.

Case Cockrell Live Music Preview

Live music preview: Free Week starts January 9 with over 80 bands

January 6, 2026 Case Cockrell 1899 Views 13th Floor, Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad, concert, Cormae, Elysium, Free Week, Grocery Bag, live music, Mineral, mohawk, Mountain Time, music festival, Parker Woodland, preview, Red River Cultural District, RRCD, Stubb's, The Bright Light Social Hour, The Oxys, Valhalla

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.

Greg Ackerman Live Music Preview

Live music preview: Mexico City rockers Los Blenders set to play 13th Floor on Saturday with Hidden Ritual

November 18, 2025 Greg Ackerman 2077 Views 13th Floor, Christian Bland, concert, garage rock, Hidden Ritual, latin rock, live music, Los Blenders, preview, psych-rock, rock en espagnol, rock n roll

You may be too young to remember the first wave of Rock en Espagnol that spread across North America in the 90s. Bands like Caifanes, Mana, Maldita Vecindad and countless others were heard across airwaves in the U.S. and across Latin America. For this writer, it was the first time we’d heard Spanish language music that rocked like the bands we loved to discover on college radio and cool stations like L.A.’s KROQ. We even attended a concert where Spanish and English-speaking rock bands shared a bill at Universal Amphitheater the oddly indoor venue at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. The possibilities seemed endless. Fast forward to 2025 and Rock en Espagnol seems to have returned en force. Latin music is one of the fastest growing sectors in American music sales. Bad Bunny is slated to play the Super Bowl and killer garage-psych band, Los Blenders are coming to the 13th Floor in downtown Austin on Saturday. Tickets are still available for this underplay at the intimate Red River District venue.

Case Cockrell Live Music Preview

Live music preview: Six showcases to see at Hot Summer Nights in Austin this weekend

July 23, 2025 Case Cockrell 4702 Views 13th Floor, Cheer Up Charlie's, Chess Club, Como Las Movies, Elysium, Empire Garage, Farmer's Wife, Font, Foxtales, Genuine Leather, Hot Summer Nights, HSN, live music, mohawk, Mugger, Mujeres Podridas, Nolan Potter, Nuclear Daisies, Palefade, Portrayal of Guilt, preview, Pussy Gillette, Queen Serene, Red River Cultural District, Redbud, Sexpop, So Many Cults, Stop Motion Orchestra, The Opera

Hot Summer Nights (HSN) in the Red River Cultural District of Austin is an annual RRCD-sponsored event that features hundreds of local artists performing across the downtown area. Each showcase will not charge a cover at the door, meaning dozens of free showcases akin to the annual Free Week, which takes place the first week of every January. HSN runs July 24 – July 26 and will feature talent from all over Austin and surrounding areas. Venues participating in the event include Mohawk, Chess Club, Cheer Up Charlie’s, Empire Control Room & Garage, and The 13th Floor among several others. For the three days of packed, free live music programming, The Cosmic Clash team has curated a list of showcases we think attendees will want to catch while wandering the streets of Red River during the free festival. Hot Summer Nights will also feature participating food vendors to keep you full and energized throughout the event.

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