Cover Story
Red River Clubs Grapple With Downtown Homelessness
Beggars, hustlers, and dealers make you wonder how Downtown music keeps from going under
Straus Announces House Committees
Lots of seats but no chair positions for reps in Travis County
John Doe Moves to Austin
X’s “man of the world” contemplates life in Big Boys country
10 Minutes With Joe Ely
“It’s either being creative or I’m bored easily”
Reproductive Rights Advocates Prepare for the Fight
Groups, lawmakers relaunch “Trust. Respect. Access.” campaign
Sister of Shattering Glass
A new supernatural thriller spills out, live, through your phone
Wide Open Games and Playing the Personal
Sam Potasznik’s video game zine might just be the self-care you need
Ten Thousand Beautiful Bugs in Your Eyes
New UT entomology project provides stunning public domain images
Pitchfork Pretty Set to Open in March
New Eastside concept will focus on Hill Country cuisine
DSA Queer Coalition Organizes and Mobilizes
Democratic Socialists subgroup has the LGBTQ community’s back
SXSW Unleashes the Midnighters
Mayhem, 68 Kill, plus Behind the Mask retrospective
SXSW Adds Speakers, Films
Buzz Aldrin, Kesha, Cory Booker, Cecile Richards, and more
Angel Olsen Entrances Mohawk
Her other shoe drops tonight at the Red River favorite
Reporters Roundtable
Michael King and the Austin Monitor talk local politics
Seven Places in Austin to Eat and Drink on a Budget: Feb. 6-Feb. 12
Your day-by-day guide to the best local happy hours and deals
Ready for Solar and Recycling Too
Council approves solar roofs and textile recycling pilot
DVDanger: Death Race 2050
Plus jungle Sacrifice! and street punk Parasites
Where to Watch the Big Game in Austin
And where to go for takeout
ATX Television Festival Gets an Alias
Plus Parks and Recreation special screening
Chronicle Recommends: Animal Movies
Let these furry friends act their way into your heart
Little Junior Puts Their Queer Spin on Punk
Canadian band is making pop punk fun (and political) again
SXSW Rolls Out Sixth List
Deap Vally, Broncho, Chicano Batman, Peter Lewis and 122 more
The Comedian
De Niro plays an aging insult comic
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
The final(?) nail in this action horror franchise
The Salesman
Gripping drama from the director of A Separation
The Space Between Us
There is life on Mars
I Am Not Your Negro
A stunning doc on the civil rights era
I Am Michael
James Franco plays a gay activist who finds God
Point Austin: Driving the “Austin Bargain”
Mayor Adler’s dream of a compromise on housing supply
Texas Platters
Native Canadian Whitney Rose has really taken to Texas. The local’s full-length bow, 2015’s Heartbreaker of the Year, arrived stuffed with songs about lassos, rodeos, and boots. Now six-song rejoinder South Texas Suite, cut at Dale Watson’s Ameripolitan Studios, continues the love affair both in subject matter and music. “My Boots” scoots on James Shelton’s…
Headlines
Land Use Developments: City Council received its initial CodeNEXT briefing Tuesday morning, followed by a public rollout Wednesday afternoon at the Palmer Events Center. And FY 2018 budget development began Wednesday morning. See “Rush to Judgment: CodeNEXT 1.0 Out Now,” Feb. 2. Council meets today (Feb. 2) with a relatively light agenda, although unresolved from…
Constitutional Carry This Session? Not Likely.
Permitless carry could strip away already limited regulations
Texas Platters
Over the course of a half-century-plus career, Delbert McClinton has impacted nearly every genre he’s touched, from honky-tonk and country to the roots of rock and pop and soulful R&B. The Lubbock-born/Ft. Worth-reared belter even extends an indelible influence into the realm of blues harp. At 76, he now plies a jazzier note while retaining…
Public Notice: What Is the Sound of One Shoe Falling?
City releases CodeNEXT draft to mild reaction … so far
Lege Lines: Islamophobia Is out of Hand
In Texas and the nation, anti-refugee and anti-Muslim fervor grows
Texas Platters
Afrobeat promulgators Hard Proof began life studying Fela Kuti, but Stinger moves the homegrown 10-piece into another sphere. While the driving horns and rhythms remain central to what the decade-old group represents, nine instrumentals here platform the group’s most fully realized ideas and execution. With scorching guitar solos and swirling keyboards offsetting intense polyrhythms, Stinger…
Quote of the Week
They really said that?
Council Wrap: State of the City
Austin maintains its relative sanity
Texas Platters
No such thing as a sure thing, but 20-year-old Brian Baptiste has pitched his trajectory upward as Malik on these well-purposed chronicles of a young soul teetering in the balance. Continuing the Austin rapper/producer’s existentialist series, The Awakening (II) follows his ultimately hopeful The Principium with a sonically dense spiritual reverie turned burner. Oozing confidence,…
Sparks: Fetal Burial Rule “Pretext” for Restricting Abortion
Federal judge says rule would allow “arbitrary and potentially discriminatory enforcement”
Texas Platters
Eight seconds into the bass/drum combo opening of “Fall Back,” Singles Going Nowhere cements its aesthetic by careening into iridescent pop territory. Five songs clocking in at 17 minutes, the debut EP from Austin fivepiece Très Oui comes across as lyrically abstract aside from “Prince of Pop,” a love song for Prefab Sprout courtesy of…
Death Watch: “An Intentional Smothering”
Tilon Carter says he never meant to kill James Tomlin
Texas Platters
While she grew up in Georgia and began making her musical mark in California, Barbara Nesbitt became a known entity locally and beyond as half of country rockin’ Whiskey Sisters. Nesbitt released her third solo album Almost Home in 2013, a subdued singer-songwriter reflection of where she was before the Sisters started their Austin rumble.…
The Hightower Report: Really and Truly, Who Needs Facts?
Donald Trump swears to God he’s right
Cheap Eats: Whip In
Austin classic remains one of the best dining bargains in town
Texas Platters
There are no bigger showmen in Texas country than Ray Benson and Dale Watson, the ringleader of Western swing’s pre-eminent outfit Asleep at the Wheel and the Lone Star-pluggin’, Chicken Shit Bingo balladeer, respectively. The challenge of their combining forces for a duet album is a risk of sheer personality – that each will be…
Abbott Cuts County Funding
Governor ices county for $1.8 million payout over immigration reforms
The Common Law
Need to talk to a good lawyer about your specific situation? Contact Austin Lawyer Referral Service.
DNA Case Review Is On
County pledges $1 million toward reviewing potentially affected cases
Zach Theatre’s The Great Society
Robert Schenkkan’s smart script and remarkable ensemble work make this a powerful look at LBJ’s White House years
Benz2Go
Car2Go to offer short-term Mercedes rentals
Austin Opera’s The Daughter of the Regiment
Just as the young woman of the title is deemed “charming,” so too is Donizetti’s work in this company’s staging
New Dem Caucus Leader
Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, is best known for almost saving Wendy Davis’ campaign
“Jim Roche: Some Americans Feel Like This” at Bale Creek Allen Gallery
The show’s hand-stenciled, colorful re-creations of political signs are a timely vessel for America’s honesty
Abbott Touts Less Spending and More Tax Cuts
The governor releases his draft budget
Gay Place
The largest transgender survey ever conducted is out, and the results reflect many hardships
Day Trips: Bolner’s Meat Company, San Antonio
Century-old market carries wide choice of meats and Fiesta Brand spices
Farewell, Sue Edwards
The assistant city manager retires after four decades serving Austin
Review: Red Ash Italia
Downtown hot spot brings back the basics
Soccer Watch
The U.S. soccer community has come out vocally in opposition to President Donald Trump’s travel ban, in strong statements from U.S. men’s national team captain Michael Bradley, the MLS Players Union, and, notably, from a number of individual national team players, including Sacha Kljestan. His own father fled Yugoslavia, he told FourFourTwo, and “came to…
Congressional Fun With Guns
Bill(s) of the Week: HCR 51 & SCR 8
Drum Legend Jack DeJohnette Returns to Austin
We talk to the jazz titan about Coltrane, his latest album, and more
Dear Glutton: The Best Patio Dining
Where to take out-of-towners to enjoy the warm weather
Playback: Shorter Hours Could Be Coming for Venues During SXSW
Another clubs ordinance change drops right before the Festival
Rush to Judgment: CodeNEXT 1.0 out Now
Draft now out, it’s time for some hot opinions
Fast, Cheap, and in Control
Cost-of-living increases are making local artists do more with less
Macon Blair Wins Sundance 2017
Grand Jury prize-winner tops the list of locals done good – and bad – at Park City
The Luv Doc: Hot for Teacher
It’s not easy to steal your daughter’s boyfriend
Texas Platters
Modern rock’s flaccid riffs haven’t gentrified Leopold & His Fiction. Not given the genuine excitement of fourth album Darling Destroyer. Aided by local super producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith, the Austin outfit fleshes out its sonic palette without sacrificing brash, guitar-driven fury. Singer/guitarist and namesake Daniel Leopold understands that rock & roll remains a dish best…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Emus have been known to go for weeks without eating. Sarah Silverman thought her first comedy performance at age 17 in Boston was awful. According to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, densifying cities could cut emissions more than doing energy retrofits on buildings. Researchers found that people living…
