Friday, March 6, 2026

music festival

Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

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

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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Live MusicOpinionRobert Dean

Opinion: Hear me out, Austin City Limits Music Festival at COTA

I know you are going to hate this. But since ACL I’ve been thinking about something: the fest itself and how Austin handles it. First, I gotta get through the fine print: I’ve been to the Austin City Limits Music Festival exactly one time – for an hour. I went to see Duran Duran and left. I also got into a car accident trying to get there on time. I am someone who’s still holding hope that we’re going to get a Fugazi reunion one of these days, so me waiting in the throngs of people to hear Chappell Roan sing “Pink Pony Club” I am not. But after seeing the photos of Sabrina Carpenter’s crowd last week, you have to wonder if the scale of the artists who play at the festival—is the park even big enough to hold the people anymore? I can’t say where I’ve heard the rumor from, but someone told me ACL should be moved to Circuit of the Americas (COTA), and I think the conversation’s at least worth having.

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April DawneLive MusicReview

Live music review:  A Funky Levitation Full of Surprises or How April Spent the Fest

Adulting is mostly a bummer, and Levitation weekend (September 26-28) coincided with a very important work event happening all day Saturday. Thankfully, the big boss sent an email to the team instructing us to do what we needed to do for self-care, leading up to Saturday. Perfect! I consider live music to be something that can soothe the beast, and from Tuesday through Sunday, I got my fill. It was a funky Levitation that was full of surprises.

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Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Acid Bath, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol led Levitation 2025 metal day

Hats off to the folks behind the scenes at Levitation Festival. They pulled off a diverse event at a little-used location to great effect. The Palmer Events Center sounded great and showed a lot of promise for what the festival can be in the future. Keeping parking at $10 a day was a smart move that kept fans happy. The food and drink options were crazy expensive, but I understand that goes with the territory of putting a festival on – but on the real? $19 for a brisket sandwich is banana town. Just walk down the street to Whataburger next year. 

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Brian HillsmanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: upstart Remo Fest to feature reggae acts from Texas and beyond

Upstart reggae music event, Remo Fest ‘25 will take place at Hill Country Caribbean Vybez on Saturday, September 20, in Blanco, Texas.  Doors at the second-year reggae festival open at noon, with music kicking off at 2 p.m. The Caribbean music vibes continue until 11 p.m. 

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Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: MeadowFest Saturday at Far Out Lounge to benefit SIMS Foundation

This Saturday, September 23 the punk to funk, MeadowFest benefiting music mental health organization, The SIMS Foundation takes place at Far Out Lounge and Stage in South Austin. The event is the brainchild of the Meadow Goodman Foundation for Mental Health Awareness and Austin music professional and SIMS Foundation Advisory Board Member, Adrienne Lake. The festival bill is a who’s who of Austin music led by funk fusion acts, Golden Dawn Arkestra and Brownout.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Levitation drops 2025 genre spanning lineup today with new location

evitation Festival returns on September 25-28 this Fall, bringing another masterfully curated lineup by famed booker Rob Fitzpatrick and co-producers Resound Presents. This year’s setup will change from its regular format, featuring a new central home of the Palmer Events Center in downtown Austin while retaining late-night programming in the Red River Cultural District. The 2025 festival lineup is an eclectic, genre-spanning showcase of psych rock, metal, punk, electronica, indie rock, and everything in between – a celebration of independent music in the live music capital.

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Greg AckermanLive MusicReview

Live music review: New Order back in Utah after 35 years at Kilby Block Party 2025

By now, most indie rock fans have heard about Kilby Block Party, the mid-tier sized festival that has taken place in Salt Lake City over the past six years. The paean to indie rock produced by S&S Presents has grown in stature in the music festival scene each year since it was founded in 2019 with a single-day event at its namesake Kilby Court’s location in SLC’s Granary district. This year’s expansion to a fourth evening of music was largely driven by the availability of England’s New Order who hadn’t played Utah in 35 years.

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Greg AckermanLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Six bands to see at Kilby Block Party 2025

he DIY spirit of Kilby Court runs through the heart of the SLC music scene culminating each May with Kilby Block Party at the Utah State Fairpark. This year’s edition has expanded to a fourth evening on Thursday, May 15. The fest runs through Sunday, May 18 with a lineup of bands that stands out among American music festivals this year. The added day was to accommodate the schedule of New Order who haven’t played Utah in 35 years. The rest of the lineup is mind blowing with acts like Beach House, Weezer and Justice who will perform in Salt Lake for the first time. Four-day passes and single day tickets are still available here. Read on to learn more about six bands to see at Kilby Block Party in 2025. 

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April DawneLive MusicReview

Live music review: Friday at Austin Psych Fest with Explosions in the Sky, Octopus Project and Godspeed You Black Emperor

Austin has no shortage of music festivals and while most of them are amazing in some way, my favorite is Austin Psych Fest. This year, I caught Texas act, Explosions in the Sky, Austin’s The Octopus Project and Godspeed You! Black Emperor as well as some other worthwhile bands. This gem of a festival melted into Levitation (close second fave) and then split back into two different but equal festivals in 2023. APF is held at The Far Out Lounge, one of my favorite venues in Austin since the apocalypse.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Holiday Hootenanny with Danny Brown, HEALTH, Of Montreal, Water From Your Eyes set for December 14-15

Resound Presents’ annual winter formal returns this year with a two-day event set to take place on December 15 and 16 with a worthy lineup to ensure Austin music fans send off their year with a bang. The 16-band excursion dubbed the “Holiday Hootenanny,” is an enormous opportunity to see the up-and-coming and well-established talent with many acts that have torn through Austin in 2024 as show favorites as the stacked concert calendar in town has continued to unfold. The event is also co-presented by all-star concert photographer Pooneh Ghana and famed local radio station KUTX. The annual programming will take place at the multi-stage Radio/East, located in South Austin, one of the city’s most exciting new venues

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