Thursday, March 5, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

concert

SoundMass overhead shot
Greg AckermanPremiereSong

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

Greg Ackerman 83 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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.”

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atmosphere 3 acl live drew doggett
Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Atmosphere Winter Carnival at Moody Theater ACL Live was a hip hop showcase

Brian Hillsman 599 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Minneapolis legends, Atmosphere, brought a crew of hip hop elites to ACL Live at the Moody Theater on their Winter Carnival tour on February 6. The performance showcased prominent contemporaries of hip hop before the duo commanded the attention of each concertgoer in the room during their performance.

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Parker Woodland Free Week 26 Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Free Week returned in 2026 with cover free showcases

Case Cockrell 1345 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Free Week returned to the Red River Cultural District last weekend, marking another successful year of cover free showcases that benefit local businesses throughout downtown Austin. The RRCD non-profit presents Free Week to keep venues and other establishments running during the slow period in both the service and music industries for employees and musicians until the Spring. With 80+ artists across 10+ venues, Free Week 2026 proved a massive success, as thousands attended to welcome yet another year in the vibrant Austin scene. The Cosmic Clash team participated in both days of the festival and wanted to highlight what stood out to us about the extravaganza.

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Matt Pryor courtesy of Matt Pryor
Live MusicPreviewRobert Dean

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

Greg Ackerman 1159 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

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

Case Cockrell 990 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Mugger 2 mini fest Empire Garage Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Electronic duo Sextile returned to Austin with stacked local bill

Case Cockrell 473 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Weedeater 9 Lost Well Justin Clark
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Weedeater played Austin metal stronghold The Lost Well

Case Cockrell 1222 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Primative Man Empire Control Room Justin Clark
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Primitive Man played Empire in Austin for rare late-year gig

Case Cockrell 942 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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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

Robert Dean 897 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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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Big Bill BBB 8 6 Radio East Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Big Bill Ball 8 at Radio East offered accurate snapshot of Austin music scene

Case Cockrell 1268 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

The eighth annual Big Bill Ball at Radio East in the Southeast part of town, marked another celebration of the Austin scene, offering a snapshot of local music in 2025 with a six-band bill featuring some of the best active acts in the Austindie sphere. For this year’s installment, the philosophical art punk mainstays celebrated the release of their new studio LP, Sick Myth. Continuing the Big Bill way of inclusive activism through comedic lyrical punchlines and a variety of punk rock angles, the one-day event gave attendees one of the most coveted evenings of live music in 2025 during Saturday night’s (November 22) gig at the southeast Austin backyard venue. The mini-fest was co-sponsored by famed photographer and show promoter, Pooneh Ghana for the annual showcase.

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