Looking for the best shows happening in Austin this week? Check out the Chronicle music team’s handpicked “Crucial Concerts” below or in the paper every Thursday. And for our complete listings of upcoming live music events around town, head to Chron Events.

Meat Joy Reunion

After a nearly four-decade hiatus, pioneering genre-fluid fivepiece Meat Joy returns to their Austin birthplace for three nights of raucous reunion shows. Formed as punk splintered into its second wave in the early Eighties, the ever-evolving ensemble (Gretchen Phillips, Mellissa Cobb, Tim Mateer, John Perkins, Jamie Spidle) drew inspiration from Austin’s already-queer punk subculture, which included openly gay bandleaders like Randy “Biscuit” Turner of the Big Boys and Gary Floyd of the Dicks. Swirling between straightforward punk, artsy folk, and experimental noise, the ensemble dissected feminist issues throughout their discography, helping birth the lezzie rock subgenre. Despite dismantling after only three years, their explicit celebration of queerness and cross-genre playfulness left an undeniable mark on the trajectory of punk, with central figures like Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and Bikini Kill’s Tobi Vail singing their praises. Catch them for free at End of an Ear and Cheer Up Charlies – the latter with an opening set by elusive folk experimenter Edith Frost, who played in an early iteration of Meat Joy alongside the late, great Texan percussionist Teresa Taylor. Art-rock songwriter Kathy McCarty (formerly of influential post-punk quartet Glass Eye) supports their Saturday night show on the spacious Museum of Human Achievement’s main stage. (Read our interview with the band.) – Genevieve Wood

Eclipse Utopia

It should never be doubted that what happens at a music festival can change lives. In 14 years of UtopiaFest, there have been multiple engagements and marriages, unforgettable performances, and innumerable friendships forged. The idealistic mini-fest now holds a season finale for its fall event in Burnet before returning to Utopia, Texas, for an eclipse-centered April retreat. Highlights from the upcoming weekend include: Trouble in the Streets and Wax Logic performing The Dark Side of the Moon at Thursday’s pre-party, Money Chicha and Tomar & the FCs performing Friday, and the Octopus Project playing during Saturday’s annular eclipse, then again at night before ultimate headliners !!! (aka Chk Chk Chk). – Kevin Curtin

Welcome Home Fest

As the annular eclipse falls over Texas Saturday morning, the Kerrville Folk Festival family gathers for a fall celebration. A sound bath from the Brother Brothers accompanies the darkening, but songwriters hold the spotlight. Friday highlights iconoclast Kinky Friedman, freak-folk pioneer Michael Hurley, and Moldy Peach Kimya Dawson’s anti-folk. Saturday glows behind Twain aptly crooning “Solar Pilgrim,” Georgia Parker’s honky-tonk, and Portland’s Anna Tivel – before Daniel Fears, Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, and Sir Woman serenade the night. Sunday revives behind the ambient wash of Laraaji, locals McMercy Family Band and Lomelda, and North Texas teenage songwriting phenom Jack Barksdale. – Doug Freeman

A Very Special Blue Monday

After Willie Nelson, Antone’s defined Austin as the live music capital. Now in her 40th year here, bassist Sarah Brown anchored the house band for decades. In 2017, upon emergency gallbladder removal, doctors diagnosed her with a rare autoimmune disease: primary sclerosing cholangitis. Today she needs a liver, so Jimmie Vaughan, Johnny Nicholas, Eve Monsees, Texas Horns, etc. turn Blue Monday into a fundraiser and organ donor search. “I’m the fan that became a player,” she wrote in a 2016 Chronicle cover story. “I’m a commoner next to the likes of Albert Collins, but I’ve earned the right to share the stage.” The club encourages those interested in learning more about living organ donation to email info@antonesnightclub.com. – Raoul Hernandez

Formula Wonderfest

Biggest. Show. EVER. Hardly ZZ Top, Bad Company, Santana, and Joe Cocker at the Texas Memorial Stadium in 1974, downtown Bastrop’s Formula Wonderfest stages the first concert by new resident Paul Oakenfold, a godfather to contemporary DJs, along with preeminent local rhyme slayer Deezie Brown, Ghostland Observatory spinoff the Midnight Stroll, and more. At Downtown eatery Neighbor’s Kitchen & Yard, this one might go all night. Oakenfold told the Chronicle of his move there during the pandemic: “I will make music, I will hang out, I will spend more time with animals than I’ve ever done in my life. That’s going to be interesting.” So will this. – Raoul Hernandez

Botch

The aggressive apotheosis of late Nineties, math-melded metalcore, Washington stalwarts Botch reunited last year for a few we-swear-these-are-one-off gigs that unexpectedly multiplied into a full-on tour. Rather than hit the road with traditional tourmates, Botch has been handpicking their openers, finding the aggressive apex of each city they visit. Chronicle connoisseurs will be familiar with the noisy, political, scatter-rock fusillade of summer cover stars Fuck Money – billed right beneath the blackened chaos of Portrayal of Guilt, easily Austin’s most prominent heavy-as-hell export. – Julian Towers

Music Notes

Avenged Sevenfold

M. Shadows and the rest of the Huntington Beach metal band headline the motorsport facility’s last non-race-associated concert of the year.

The Combine

Cali-loving local MC J. Mill highlights a rap showcase also featuring fellow South by Southwest performer DreTheGr8, Don Hawk, and DWSN WYNE.

KAZI Comedy Jam Brunch

Kydd Jones and KAZI 88.7FM collaborate for a supersized edition of his comedy series celebrating the two-year run of the event, with proceeds going to the station in honor of its 41st anniversary. The Teeta and Deezie Brown will perform musical sets in addition to the Onyx d’Or brand creator.

Sunrosa, Guma, Feeling Small

The new, second Radio Coffee & Beer location at 3504 Montopolis Dr. hosts its first show one day after officially opening.

This article appears in October 13 • 2023.