Wednesday, May 13, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

concert

Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

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

Case Cockrell 1359 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.​

Read More
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 761 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.

Read More
Weedeater 9 Lost Well Justin Clark
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

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

Case Cockrell 1606 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.

Read More
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 1290 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.

Read More
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 1238 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.

Read More
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 1522 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.

Read More
Murder City Devils 4 Mohawk Troy Gonzales
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Murder City Devils brought rock and roll fury to Mohawk

Robert Dean 1502 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I love a show where the band is not there to fuck around. No small talk, no rare material, no rambling monologues about the world. Just pure rock and roll fury. At the Mohawk on Sunday, November 23, The Murder City Devils crashed into Planet Austin and left no survivors. The band barely tours anymore—just fly-in one-offs where they show up, sell the same three merch designs they’ve had for twenty years, and play the hits.

Read More
Los Blenders 2025 foto PR
Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

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

Greg Ackerman 1555 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

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.

Read More
Osees 2 Hotel Vegas Troy Gonzales
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: garage rock behemoths Osees played Hotel Vegas residency

Case Cockrell 1662 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Los Angeles garage rock behemoths Osees returned to Austin for their annual, (sometimes bi-annual) residency at Eastside live music stronghold Hotel Vegas over the last weekend. Continuing their regular Austin tour stop tradition with a discography that gets bigger with every calendar rotation. With a solidified lineup defining the current iteration of esteemed bandleader John Dwyer’s everlasting rein, the Osees delivered another weekend of the eclectic paradigm that set the standard for the dozens of psych punk groups that make the Dwyer-led company a source of everlasting influence. Despite being on the road to promote their latest release Abomination Revealed At Last, the West Coast berserkers only performed one song from the new release and ventured into a rare, deep cuts, setlist territory. 

Read More
Halloween Freakend 2025 Levitation banner image
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Halloween Freakend by Levitation is coming to Far Out Lounge

Case Cockrell 1758 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Levitation and Resound Presents have teamed up again for a Halloween weekend two-day festival in South Austin. The mini-fest will take place at The Far Out Lounge & Stage on October 31 and November 1, the current site of the Spring edition of Austin Psych Fest. The Freakend lineup kicks off on Halloween night with Bitchin Bajas, J’Cuuzi, Stereolab, Black Lips, and Viagra Boys arriving for their first Austin headlining excursion.

Read More
2025 Evermore Life Poster - Banner
Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Love is for Evermore benefit with Shinyribs, Sara Hickman at Radio East

Greg Ackerman 2385 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Saturday, October 25 marks the third annual Love is for Evermore benefit at Radio East. The event supports Evermore, a national bereavement non-profit that advocates for benefits, education and resources for all Americans coping with the death of a loved one. One example is the group has gotten paid bereavment leave for military members. This year’s concert features Shinyribs, a rare live appearance by songwriter, Sara Hickman and special guests, Carruthers & Roush (members of The Bright Light Social Hour). There may even be some surprise guests onstage stage. Tickets for the event are currently on sale. There are VIP options which include a meet and greet with artists before the show.

Read More