Sunday, October 4, 2026
The Cosmic Clash

music festival

Khemmis 3 Ripplefest Six Justin Clark
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Ripplefest Six Goes Doom for a Weekend at Far Out Lounge

Case Cockrell 292 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Ripplefest returned to South Austin’s Far Out Lounge September 17 through 20 for its sixth year of doom metal excess. The crowd came ready for all the sludgey riffs they could handle. Founded by Ryan Garney of Lick of My Spoon Productions, the festival has built a name as a family reunion for the stoner doom metal scene, pulling bands in from across the globe. The Cosmic Clash team was on the ground for all the Ripplefest action. Here’s what stuck with us.

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Bikini Kill 4 Levitation 2026 Justin Clark
Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Opening Levitation night with Bikini Kill, Die Spitz, Gibby Haynes Butthole Surfers Mania

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Levitation 2026 officially kicked off on Friday, September 11. South Austin’s Far Out Lounge hosted a doozy of an opening night, featuring a Butthole Surfers reunion show—officially deemed Gibby Haynes: Butthole Surfers Mania —that stunned, followed  by Die Spitz, and Bikini Kill. The show was completely sold out.

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Cabaret Voltaire by Pooneh Ghana for Lev 26-07988
April DawneLive MusicReview

Live music review: Peter Hook, Cabaret Voltaire thrilled at Far Out Lounge for Levitation 2026

April Dawne 677 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

I like to think of myself as a diehard rock and roll lover who does what she can to see and do all the things. Sometimes that’s easy and sometimes life gets in the way. Be it money problems, work schedules, personal issues, you name it, they come up as reasons not to leave the house, much less attend a music festival, but when it’s one of your favorite festivals, Levitation which took place last weekend in Austin, you find a way to rally.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live Music Review: Reverb Appreciators Survived the Heat at Levitation 2026

Case Cockrell 605 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Levitation Festival returned to Austin this past weekend (September 10-13), bringing a stacked international lineup back to a multi-venue format for its 2026 edition, with showcases scattered across the city. The bill pulled in longtime regulars, first-time festivalgoers, and a handful of acts making their first Central Texas appearance since they formed. Oppressive heat ran through all four days as the festival’s defining backdrop, but it didn’t stop Levitation from delivering for its loyal reverb appreciators once more, extending a run that’s outlasted a wave of beloved festivals in an increasingly unstable independent music scene. The Cosmic Clash team was on the ground for all four days. Here’s part one of what stuck with us.

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Levitation 2023 Daniel Cavazos
Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Seven more bands to see at Levitation 2026

Case Cockrell 706 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Levitation 2026 is coming up fast, and with programming scattered across Austin, a tight plan is a necessity if you want to catch everything worth catching. The festival will take place over a four day stretch on September 10 – 13, bringing a wide variety of bands to build a packed fest experience. The festival traces back to The Black Angels and founder Rob Fitzpatrick, who’s kept the lineups deep and eclectic year after year. Here’s another round of seven bands curated by The Cosmic Clash team worth building your schedule around. Set times and tickets are on the Levitation website.

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Case CockrellLive MusicPreview

Live music preview: Six bands to see as Levitation returns to multi-venue format

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Levitation returns to Austin September 10-13. Founded by members of The Black Angels and rooted in the city’s psych scene, the fest outgrew that single genre label a long time ago, with lineups running doom metal, darkwave, punk, and electronic acts alongside the psychedelic elements. After centering 2025 at Palmer Event Center, it’s back to the multi-venue format that’s anchored the fest since 2018. The Far Out Lounge & Stage on South Congress carries 2026’s main programming, with showcases scattered across downtown filling out the rest. Here’s who’s worth building your schedule around curated by The Cosmic Clash team. 

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FOV 2 2026 King Gizz Jupiter
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: King Gizzard’s Field of Vision nights two and three with no song repeats

Case Cockrell 679 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard don’t rest. The Melbourne sextet closed out the second Field of Vision Festival with two more three-hour sets on August 15 and 16, pushing deeper into the Meadow Creek grounds in Buena Vista, Colorado they’d already claimed as their own. They’d fired the first shot on day one: a surprise drop of their 28th LP, Alien Metal, with zero warning. Then came the dare. “No song repeats,” the band promised Friday night, and fans spent the rest of the weekend hunting for new-album cuts and deep tracks to see if that promise would hold. Field of Vision was three of only seven U.S. tour dates. There was no room to coast.

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FOV 1 2026 King Gizz Jupiter
April DawneLive MusicReview

Live music review: Diary of a Perimenopausal Gal at King Gizzard’s Field of Vision Festival

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It’s almost 1 a.m. and our ride is coming at 4:30 a.m. My chest is tight from not knowing if I have everything done at home and at work, but it is what it is. When I wake up from my short nap, it’ll be go time to head from Austin to Colorado for King Gizzard’s second Field of Vision Festival in Buena Vista August 14-16. The psych rock, metal, electronic and rock n roll band from Australia has become a touring phenomenon.

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MB @ Somergloom-01
Live MusicMatt BassReview

Live music review: Miracle Blood engulfs Davis Square at Somergloom, fire department called in

Matt Bass 790 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Friday (August 7) evening marked night two of four of Somerville’s annual Somergloom Festival, and the first night at Davis Square’s iconic Crystal Ballroom. Fresh off a 15-date tour spanning the U.S. and Canada, Boston noise-punk power trio Miracle Blood brought a scorching, powerful set to the chandelier-clad ballroom and an eagerly awaiting hometown crowd as the band engulfed Davis Square at Somergloom Festival.

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Stabbing Raven Mayhem Fest Justin Clark
Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: inaugural Mayhem Fest at new Crow Bar ended on blistering note

Case Cockrell 1204 Views ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , 

Austin metal venue, The Crow Bar hosted Raven Mayhem Fest 2026 ended on a blistering note on Saturday, July 25 featuring bands from all across the Austin heavy spectrum and beyond for the inaugural three-day long extreme metal music festival at the newly reopened Crow Bar in far East Austin off Highway 183 at 523 Thompson Lane. Since reopening for SXSW 2025, co-owner Aryn Jonathan Black and booker Jay McDowell have been curating some of the heaviest-hitting bills in the Austin area. After the first Crow Bar location was lost to arson, owners Black and Steve Gee are back with a vengeance, and there’s been hell to pay since getting the underground-leaning establishment back up and running.

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Hatebreed 1 The Rumble 2026 Brian Martinez
Live MusicReviewRobert Dean

Live music review: Hardcore music festival The Rumble featured Hatebreed, Turmoil and more

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On Friday, July 17 as part of the annual festival The Rumble, Turmoil made their way back to Chicago for a triumphant return, playing songs from The Process Of and giving it everything they had in the process. I felt like a kid again, bobbing to the riffs of “Let It Die” while screaming along to the opening salvo of the hardest intro of all time, yelling “what the fuck?” alongside frontman John Gula.

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