Empire Garage – The Cosmic Clash

Mugger 2 mini fest Empire Garage Troy Gonzales

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

December 30, 2025 Case Cockrell 473 Views Austin Music, concert, electronic rock, Empire Garage, garage rock, Gus Baldwin, hardcore, J'Cuuzi, live music, Mugger, punk rock, Review, rock n roll, Sextile, Snooper, The Opera

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.

Bouncing Souls 6 Empire Garage Justin Clark

Live Music Review Robert Dean

Live music review: Old school punks The Bouncing Souls and H2O played Empire last Sunday

December 10, 2025 Robert Dean 897 Views 90s punk, concert, Empire Garage, H2O, live music, old school punk, punk rock, Review, rock n roll, The Bouncing Souls, Toby Morse, Warped Tour

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.

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 4143 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.

Live Mike Cosmic Review

Live music review: Death from Above You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine tour stop at Empire

June 17, 2025 Mike Cosmic Cota 3594 Views Archer Oh, dance punk, Death From Above, Death From Above 1979, DFA, Empire Garage, garage rock, hard rock, live music, post hardcore, punk rock, Review

Canadian rockers Death From Above (also known as Death from Above 1979 or DFA) delivered an electrifying performance to an enthusiastic crowd last Friday at Austin’s Empire Garage. The duo, comprised of bassist and synth player Jesse F. Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger, played their critically acclaimed album, You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, in its entirety. It has become a sort of tradition for bands to tour and play albums in entirety, to celebrate the albums anniversary. Indeed DFA are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album. The tour began last Summer in UK

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Day one and two of Levitation brought world’s best independent acts to Austin

November 3, 2024 Case Cockrell 2668 Views A Place to Bury Strangers, Boris, Empire Garage, Far Out Lounge, hard rock, Leviation, live music, Mdou Moctar, Meatbodies, neo-psych, Pissed Jeans, post-punk, psych-rock, punk rock, Review, rock n roll, Slift, Stubb's, The Black Angels, The Jesus Lizard

The first two days of Levitation Festival 2024 featured multiple stacked bills for a plethora of packed venues in the downtown Austin area and beyond. The Cosmic Clash team was in attendance to capture the action and highlighted some of our favorite acts that made their way to Austin for the action-packed Halloween weekend. From the Red River Cultural District to South Austin, the carefully curated talent brought their best for the masses that flock to the local music joints to watch the coveted Black Angels produced weekend with some of the independent music world’s best acts.

Brian Hillsman Live Music Review

Live music review: Hot Summer Nights Thursday lineup with Moody Banks, David Shabani and Daniel Fears at Empire Garage

July 23, 2024 Brian Hillsman 2690 Views Daniel Fears, David Shabani, Empire Garage, Hip Hop, Hot Summer Nights, jazz, live music, Moody Banks, R&B, Red River Cultural District, Review, soul

Empire Garage is one of the many participating venues, and their opening-night Hip Hop, R&B, and Soul showcase Austin Chronicle party on Thursday evening did not disappoint with performances by Moody Banks, Daniel Fears and hip-hop artist, David Shabani.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Danny Brown threw down a rager at Empire Garage

April 16, 2024 Case Cockrell 3144 Views Alice Longyu Gao, Bruiser Wolf, Danny Brown, Empire Garage, experimental, Hip Hop, hyperpop, live music, rap, Review

Sometimes, live music crowds can be major downers. Austin, Texas’ vibrant music scene has a massive influx of live shows that draw a variety of different crowds, some good, some bad. For Detroit-turned-Austin oddball rapper Danny Brown, an unforgettable live spectacle made sure to cancel out the entitled personalities that attempted to harsh the triumphant vibes of Danny’s homecoming for yet another Austin appearance, this time at Empire Garage on Thursday, April 11.

Red River Cultural District time to rally

Case Cockrell Live Music Music News

Music news: Red River Cultural District needs our help. Here’s how you can defend your favorite music venues

January 29, 2024 Case Cockrell 2148 Views Cheer Up Charlie's, Chess Club, city of Austin, Empire Garage, Free Week, Hot Summer Nights, mohawk, music news, Red River Cultural District, Stubb's

Austin’s downtown Red River Cultural District (RRCD) is pushing for immediate aid to support growth and sustainability in its operations and events. RRCD is asking residents of Austin to assist in financial supplementation for the local entertainment district by contacting their city council representatives to support the initiative to provide funding relief for the organization.

Greg Ackerman Preview

Live music preview: Moondance Festival to raise funds for SIMS Foundation at Empire August 12

June 26, 2023 Greg Ackerman 3170 Views BENefit, Empire Garage, live music, Moondance Festival, Nolan Potter's Nightmare Band, preview, SIMS Foundation, Superfonicos

One of the more pleasant aspects of partnering with music mental health organization, SIMS Foundation is learning about folks who make the decision to support the NPO with their own events because they recognize the value to the local music community. In that vein, Community Partners created Moondance Festival with a killer lineup of bands to perform at Empire Garage and Control Room August 12.

Case Cockrell Review

Live music review: Against odds Lil Ugly Mane performs in Austin at Oblivion Access Festival

June 20, 2023 Case Cockrell 3782 Views Empire Garage, Hip Hop, Lil Ugly Mane, live music, Oblivion Access Fest, rap, Review, RXK Nephew, Travis Miller

Lil Ugly Mane, aka Travis Miller, has always been an elusive figure. The underground hip-hop world that Ugly Mane spawned out of might call the Virginia native an enigma, so much so that Lil Ugly Mane’s many pseudonyms meant to take the prolific music creator outside of the SoundCloud rap box that he was painted into with his breakout 2012 debut album Mista Thug Isolation.

Christina DeStefano Review

Live music review: Bass Drum of Death shredded Empire

February 16, 2023 Christina DeStefano 2689 Views Bass Drum of Death, BDD, Death Party, Empire Garage, live music, punk rock, Review, rock n roll

February 11 marked the third night of the Say I Won’t Tour for Bass Drum of Death at Empire Control Room and Garage. While February may be an unusual time for bands to tour through Austin, too cold for larger crowds and too early for SXSW, fans hungry for a show to tide them over until the Sx avalanche of bands

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