Saturday, March 7, 2026

Review

Case CockrellLive MusicReview

SXSW live review: Austin acts welcome festival goers with amazing performances

The first weekend of South By Southwest 2024 showed some of Austin’s finest local talent, warmly welcoming out-of-town visitors, local music fans, and touring bands alike. Austin is still a global music hub in 2024, and SXSW amplifies that fact for a couple weeks each March to show that music is still a hot commodity in the city, no matter what time of year it is. With opening, all-day showcases such as Hotel Vegas’ Anniversary Party, SX Soundcheck, Do512 Smokeout, and others, there’s plenty to keep music attendees busy before official music week begins today (March 11). Here’s what stood out to us in the opening days of SXSW, most of which will perform again before the festival concludes.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Austin Music Awards performances featured the best in local music at Antone’s

Every musical calendar year in Austin is special. The countless live gigs, new albums released, and fresh talent that emerges every year make Austin one of the most significant music stops in the world. For local publication Austin Chronicle, the alt-weekly curates an evening that captures each respective year in the scene’s prolific, often positively saturated body of work. For 2024, The Austin Chronicle showcased an event that covered essential bases to magnify the widespread musical range of the city and pay homage to Austin legends along the way. For this year’s event, the Chronicle took to the world-famous Austin music staple, Antone’s Nightclub for a 3-hour event that benefited Austin non-profit, SIMS Foundation to support mental health and substance use recovery services and programs for musicians, music industry professionals, and their dependent family members.

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: White Denim played triumphant homecoming with Nolan Potter at Mohawk

White Denim returned to their hometown of Austin, for a special homecoming Saturday, February 17. Founding singer, songwriter and guitarist James Petralli is something of a local legend. With over ten records, countless tours, and a now-defunct Austin studio all in his prolific body of work, White Denim has since relocated to Los Angeles, taking his rock vehicle with him and rendering the White Denim name synonymous with his own creative musings. For Saturday night’s gig at Red River Cultural District’s Mohawk, Petralli and company proved that their ties with Austin are indispensable, no matter how far away they go from their once hometown sanctuary. The venue was packed with fans.

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AlbumCase CockrellReview

Album review: DIY act Mulch Cult released their eclectic new EP Bulch

Austin uutlaw punk rock outfit Mulch Cult has released their new EP Bulch. The latest release comes after their 2023 LP Gulch, released to amid the underground Austin DIY scene’s acclaim last year. For this new release, Mulch Cult takes a step forward, delivering three new tracks that turn the page for what’s next for the band.

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Brian HillsmanLive MusicReview

Live music review: Mick Jenkins and TOBi delivered stellar hip hop shows at Come and Take It Live

Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, hip hop artist Mick Jenkins took the stage at Come and Take It Live. The Chicago native opened his set with what is possibly the strongest opening track of any album, in any genre, of 2023.  

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Adam WoodLive MusicReview

Live music review: Free Week in Austin provides fans endless music discovery opportunities

Red River Cultural District’s Free Week is an absolute blessing, one of the many (though, according to some, rapidly diminishing) monuments to the weird and wonderful Austin of lore. Over the course of two bustling nights, this year’s edition (and the 21st since the festivities began in 2003) saw 80+ bands flaunt their talents on stages throughout Red River and beyond

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Case CockrellLive MusicReview

Live music review: Hotel Vegas NYE gave attendees a fun ride through the musical decades

New Year’s Eve 2023 at Hotel Vegas was something of a time machine. At the Austin East Side haunt, many chosen Austin acts came together to masquerade as bands of multiple genres across the eclectic periods of music’s past. This included but was not limited to covers of Judas Priest, Motorhead, Black Flag, Devo, and Bruce Springsteen by some of the best young musicians in the city

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