Live music preview: Special Free Week show at Velveeta Room takes place January 2
The Cosmic Clash has successfully produced Free Week events in the past, but this year we wanted to try something
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concert
Live music review: Kris Kristofferson and The Strangers at the Golden Nugget
The show was four minutes late, house lights still on and I was waiting outside the door marked with the section I’d secured seats. To my right, on the other side of the hall, were five places to buy beer, wine, or something harder if the spirit took you. My bride and I had crossed the Louisiana border with two of our best friends, who share the same interest in music, politics and nearly everything else.
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Live music review and photos: Bob Moses played Emo’s with Mansionair
Vancouver-via-Brooklyn-based electronic group Bob Moses brought their Battle Lines tour through Austin at Emo’s last Friday, October 19 supported by Mansionair. Bob Moses is actually a duo comprised of Jimmy Vallance and Tom Howie, their pop-electronic work was filled out with a lineup of live drums, bass, keys, guitar and vocals for a set list that drew heavily from their latest album, “Battle Lines.”
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Live music review: Ghostland Observatory swooped into Bat Fest with new show
It’s been eight years since Austin electronic duo, Ghostland Observatory put out an album. Let that sink in… EIGHT YEARS. That’s a lifetime in today’s music environment of countless streaming services, instant singles and surprise albums. The pair comprised of Thomas Ross Turner (keys, drums and weird sounds) and Aaron Behrens (guitar/vocals) hit the proverbial creative wall after non-stop touring and hype wore them out following the success of their aptly named second album Paparazzi Lightning and two more records on the heels of that impressive sophomore effort.
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Live music review and photos: Walker Lukens at Antone’s Nightclub
All photos: Brandon Sandler
Following a week-long taping of his Song Confessional series, Walker Lukens spearheaded with a variety of local acts including Hard Proof and Croy and the Boys at Native Hostel, the upstart indie musician played to a nearly full house at the legendary blues emporium, Antone’s Nightclub in downtown Austin.
Lukens dropped his sophomore record, “Tell It To the Judge” to wide acclaim, getting name-checked at NPR and ABC News among other places. The singer collaborated with Spoon drummer and acclaimed producer Jim Eno at his Public Hi-Fi Studios. The album was also listed by our own editor as one of the best local albums of the year. Walker Lukens has got some serious momentum going.
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Live music review: Austin rockers Graveltooth introduced new album at Continental Club
Story: Reed Brownlow & Greg Ackerman
Last month Austin rock and roll outfit Graveltooth, featuring former members of The Wheeler Brothers, The Madisons and Moving Matter took the stage at South Congress Avenue live music mainstay, Continental Club to a good-sized crowd for a mid-week, midnight set time. Right out of the gate, the group proved whether it be two or two hundred fans, that they were going to deliver a good time for fans. Brothers Evan and Dustin Bozarth are capable musicians joined by Curtis Pierce, Cameron Cummings and Keith Laudieri to form a rock and roll act with a hint of psychedelia thrown in.
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Live music review: Jawbreaker returned to Austin over 20 years later
On Friday at the Long Center’s Skyline Theater, Jawbreaker played their only Texas show on the seminal Emo-punk band’s current tour and first performance in Austin in over 20 years. The venue which holds over 7,000 fans came close to selling out which says a lot about how this fringe but influential punk band from California garnered so much attention when they reformed last year.
Jawbreaker is often cited as a precursor to more popular Emo bands Dashboard Confessional, Fallout Boy and Face to Face. The latter two often cite Jawbreaker as an influence. The group is perhaps the most influential band most people haven’t heard of. Yet, the Blake Schwartzenbach-led act is much more than just an Emo punk originator.
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Live music review: Jared Leto’s Thirty Seconds To Mars landed at COTA Saturday
Saturday actor and musician Jared Leto’s band Thirty Seconds To Mars landed at the Circuit of the Americas’ Austin 360 Amphitheater (COTA) with Walk The Moon. K. Flay and Welshly Arms opened the performance. One might be skeptical about an Academy-award winning actor making popular music but Leto has been at it 16 years selling over 15 million records in the process.
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Live music review: Brit Floyd exceeded expectations at ACL Live last week
Tribute bands are a strange phenomena. Of course we love Pink Floyd. Their pioneering psych-rock musical style pairs well with our own home-bred original Cosmic Cowboy, Roxy Erickson. But a group of talented musicians recreating Floyd’s Division Bell tour like Brit Floyd? Despite the success of the group which tours worldwide, we had our doubts about how the show would play out. In retrospect, our hesitation was unwarranted. The show was a smashing success. The music, lights and visuals were spectacular. As were the musicians who performed. If you have the chance to catch this production when it rolls through your town, you should. It’s worth the ticket price.
Read MoreLive music review: Nada Surf’s 3TEN at ACL Live two-night run was special
A group with the kind of musical chops Nada Surf displays on stage is the perfect band for a room
Read MoreLive music review: The Darkness and Diarrhea Planet thrilled fans at Emo’s – The Cosmic Clash
It may not have been a sold-out crowd but Emo’s fans were enthusiastic in their response to the UK neo-metal act, The Darkness and opener, Diarrhea Planet last week. It was hard not to match the energy of DP’s opening set. The Nashville-based garage punks look like they’re having a better time than the drunk fans in the front row as they rocked their way through a brief half-hour set.
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