hard rock – Page 2 – The Cosmic Clash

Live music review: Nuclear Daisies make a splash at Hotel Vegas

November 3, 2025 Robert Dean 1521 Views album release, Brit rock, dance party, First Taste of Heaven, hard rock, heavy rock, indie rock, live music, My Bloody Valentine, new music, Nuclear Daisies, Orbital, Review, rock n roll, Stereo MCs, uplifting music

Every once in a while, you’ll be at a show and wag your finger because you just know. That familiar light pops on that a music nerd can recognize when the band onstage isn’t just another local band; they’ve got the sound that moves beyond “this is good” to “this is international.” I’ve been to easily over a thousand shows in my life. I have seen many a band. Sometimes, you catch a Spiritual Cramp and can see from a million miles away, “these guys are gonna blow up,” and slowly but surely, those tours keep getting bigger. I said the same thing about Fontaines D.C., and after catching Austin’s Nuclear Daisies onOctober 28 at Hotel Vegas, I think it’s pretty obvious they have all the correct DNA to make a splash. Some of us can remember when Die Spitz was playing Chess Club. Now, they’re headlining Stubbs.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Die Spitz sold-out Stubb’s for debut album release

October 28, 2025 Case Cockrell 2036 Views art rock, Die Spitz, Fuck Money, hard rock, hardcore, live music, punk rock, Review, rock n roll, shoegaze, Stubb's, Stubb's BBQ, The Opera, Third Man Records

A sold-out show at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin can be one of the most treacherous live music experiences in the downtown area. For the occasion of hometown heroes Die Spitz, exceptions had to be made to celebrate their debut album release Something To Consume via Jack White’s Third Man Records on Friday, October 24. The Austin hard rock quartet has been busy the last couple of years, racking up multiple headlining tours, opening slots for the likes of Amyl & The Sniffers, Viagra Boys, and Sleater-Kinney, and dropping new tracks ahead of their recent full-length studio release. For their homecoming after multiple stints worldwide, Die Spitz brought fellow Austin acts The Opera and Fuck Money to help them celebrate this monumental occasion.

Live Music Review Robert Dean

Live music review: Coalesce Invented Your Favorite Band and You’ve Probably Never Heard of Them

August 9, 2025 Robert Dean 8080 Views Chicago, Coalesce, hard rock, hardcore, live music, metalcore, Pelican, Porcelain, post metal, post rock, Review, Thalia Hall

One of the joys of the chaotic internet is that legendary bands never truly die—they just slumber beneath the surface, waiting to drag themselves from the muck like Godzilla and roar back into the stratosphere. Coalesce, the Kansas City hardcore pioneers who helped birth metalcore in the ’90s, has been one of those beasts. During my annual hometown pilgrimage to Chicago this July, I discovered Coalesce was playing with local post-metal heavies Pelican at the gorgeous Thalia Hall in Pilsen. Having not seen them since probably 2000 or 2001, I had to witness whether middle age had dulled their legendary violence.

Semihelix HSN 2025 13th Floor Troy Gonzales

Greg Ackerman Live Music Photos

Live music photos: Hot Summer Nights featured Andrew Cashen, Semihelix, Portrayal of Guilt and more

July 31, 2025 Greg Ackerman 4082 Views Andrew Cashen, Austin, Bruce, Como Las Movies, glam rock, gospel, hard rock, Hot Summer Nights, HSN, live music, metal, Mujeres Podridas, Pearl Z, photos, pop rock, Portrayal of Guilt, prog rock, psych-rock, Queen Serene, Red River Cultural District, rock n roll, Semihelix, Sexpop, shoegaze, Stop Motion Orchestra, Team Trust, The Bottomless, Troy Gonzales

The Red River Cultural District’s cover-free Hot Summer Nights event took place last weekend in venues all over the downtown neighborhood July 24-26. Nearly 150 primarily Austin-area artists took to the stage at Mohawk, 13th Floor, Elysium, Chess Club and a dozen other RRCD venues. This is the eighth year the neighborhood organization has organized the event which spawned from its original sister event, Free Week which takes place the first week of January each year. Resound Presents founder, Graham Williams is credited with originating that event while he was working as a talent booker at the original Emo’s on Red River and Sixth Street. featured in this photo story is Andrew Cashen and Disciples of Creation, shoegaze/psych rockers, Queen Serene, Pearl Z, Sexpop, Mujeres Podridas, Stop Motion Orchestra, Portrayal of Guilt, Semihelix and lots more.

Hawt Dawg Fest 3 2025 contestants Troy Gonzales

Greg Ackerman Live Music Photos

Live music photos: Hawk Dawg 3 with Tear Dungeon, Queen Serene and Dregs

July 17, 2025 Greg Ackerman 4242 Views Andrew Cashen, Dregs, garage punk, hard rock, Hawk Dawg 3, hot dog eating contest, live music, mohawk, photos, psych-rock, Queen Serene, shoegaze, Tear Dungeon

An ignominious event, Hawk Dawg 3 took place on a rainy July 4 at Red River Cultural District favorite Mohawk with a hot dog eating contest that left no wiener untouched. The Cosmic Clash even had staff photographer and writer Drew Doggett joining the fun with our man trying to stuff as many dogs into his face as possible (evidence below) but the main event of the day party which got going at 4 p.m. was headliners, Tear Dungeon, fronted by Andrew Cashen (A Giant Dog, Andrew Cashen and the Disciples of Creation) with a bevy of well-known local players did their best ATX approximation of shock rock acts like Gwar complete with masks, spewing blood, mosh pits and stage dives. Fellow local acts, Queen Serene and Dregs joined the party.

Greg Ackerman Live Music Photos

Live music photos: Third annual Big Dumb Fest by Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol at Mohawk

June 23, 2025 Greg Ackerman 3872 Views Bat Lips, doom metal, garage rock, Glime, Gran Moreno, Gus Baldwin, hard rock, heavy metal, live music, mohawk, photos, psych-rock, punk rock, Rickshaw Billie's, Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol, stoner rock, Subpar Snatch, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Austin hard rock band, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol hosted their third annual Big Dumb Fest June 14 at legendary Red River Cultural District venue, Mohawk. The self-styled Doom Wop band curates the lineup themselves, hand-picking each local act invited. This year’s roster included Bat Lips, Gus Baldwin and the Sketch, Glime, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Subpar Snatch and Gran Moreno for an all night affair. BDF included food pop-ups from Bad Larry’s Burgers, Grandpa’s Glizzy’s and Sucio Boy Burgers to feed the hungry hard rock fans attending.

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 3796 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: Metal madness with GWAR at Radio East

May 27, 2025 Case Cockrell 4593 Views David Brockie, GWAR, hard rock, heavy metal, live music, metal, Oderus Urungus, Radio East, Review, rock n roll, shock rock

It’s Halloween every day in GWAR land. The Richmond shock metal outfit has been at it with their comically serious hustle since 1984. Despite numerous lineup changes and the untimely passing of David “Oderus Urungus” Brockie, the chaos, vibe, feel, spew, and unhinged madness at their shows remain intact. At Austin’s Radio/East on Thursday night, the long-running spectacle ensured nothing was safe in their mesmerizing presentation.

Tear Dungeon 2 HV SXSW 2025 Troy Gonzales

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: SXSW 2025 finished with Space Agency Booking, Webberville Block Party

March 24, 2025 Case Cockrell 4415 Views electronic musc, experimental rock, Gus Baldwin, hard rock, High On Fire, La Sécurité, live music, Matador Sphere, Play to the Plants, psych-rock, Review, Riverboat Gamblers, sludge metal, South by Southwest, Space Agency Booking, SXSW, SXSW 2025, Tear Dungeon, The Opera, The Thing, Webberville Block Party, YHWH Nailgun

Austin’s South by Southwest finished things up with countless showcases that made the last two days of the music festival a pick-and-choose affair that didn’t let up until the crack of 2 a.m. on Saturday night. For most festival goers, energy can run slim on these last two days, and seeing what you can before the festival’s end is essential to closing the book on yet another March festival edition. Here’s who we closed out our SXSW with on the final two days of our festival experience at Hotel Vegas for Space Agency Booking’s annual showcase along with a closing festival celebration at the Webberville Block Party followed by a return to Hotel Vegas to close out SXSW 2025.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: 50 years of Blue Oyster Cult at Paramount Theatre

February 20, 2025 Case Cockrell 3834 Views Blue Oyster Cult, classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, live music, Paramount Theater, Paramount Theatre, Review, rock and roll

For Long Island’s Blue Oyster Cult, the heavy metal and hard rock foundations still burn through as an enormous source of inspiration for artists both past and present. At the historic Paramount Theatre, in a rapidly gentrifying Austin, fans of all different backgrounds made their way to Congress Avenue to witness a legacy over 50 years in the making.

Case Cockrell Live Music Review

Live music review: Sludge metal act Chat Pile pummeled Mohawk fans Sunday

February 18, 2025 Case Cockrell 3855 Views Chat Pile, Gouge Away, hard rock, hardcore, live music, metal, mohawk, new music, Nightospere, Portrayal of Guilt, post-punk, Review, sludge

A lot of Austin residents consider Interstate 35 to be an existential crisis. If you drive far enough north, you might eventually hit the cursed town of Oklahoma City. Even though most of us would never make such a wretched trek, the Oklahoma noise rock quartet Chat Pile emerges from the depths, delivering their socially aware brand of sludge metal for fans that have been indoctrinated into the music blogosphere from their spotty at best college dorm WiFi. On yet another frigid Sunday night in Austin, fans of the outspoken loud rock act packed out the Red River Cultural District stronghold Mohawk for a thought-provoking excursion that pummeled attendees’ eardrums as well as giving a powerful message of social reform