Credit: Photo by Steve Souza / Courtesy of Concourse Project

Seismic Dance Event

The Concourse Project, Friday 12-Sunday 14

It’s the fourth annual Seismic Dance Event and, for the Austin dance community, it’s a coup.

Friday, head to the Frequency stage for bouncy, upbeat bass house. On stage Volcano, New York synesthete Öona Dahl is an exciting early wildcard followed by Anjunadeep labelmates bringing trance before a live set from German experimentalist Stephan Bodzin, perfectly segueing to slamming techno from Belgium’s Amelie Lens. House and tech house fans head to stage Tsunami for British superstar Jamie Jones and shiny plague-masked producer from Germany, Claptone.

Saturday, techno fans stick to the Volcano stage for essential eruptions from Detroit icon (seriously) Carl Craig, Sweden’s Ida Engberg, and Brazil’s Anna. Stage Tsunami becomes the bass house home for the day (think garage and funky house love child), with the Frequency lineup featuring darker, brooding sets to culminate in Brooklyn-based duo Bedouin’s Middle Eastern inspired sounds and a DJ set from Bonobo.

Sunday’s Tsunami stage is arguably the best of the fest. Detroit’s Seth Troxler hails to a live set from Booka Shade, capped with a two-hour appearance from South Africa’s Black Coffee. Stage Volcano gives more trance, wrapping with a live set from Berlin’s business techno duo Pan-Pot and then anyone’s guess (ghetto? trance? hardcore?) from unpredictable Russian jockey/producer Nina Kraviz.– Christina Garcia

Jazz at St. James’

St. James’ Episcopal Church, Friday 12 – Sunday 14

Headlined by Church on Monday leader Elias Haslanger, St. James’ 27th annual jazz shindig pays tribute to a pair of beloved ATX swingers. On Friday, the saxist leads guitarist Mitch Watkins, trombonist Andre Hayward, and Austin legend Dr. James Polk to honor recently passed CoM drummer Scott Laningham, while Saturday Haslanger, Hayward, ivory tickler Eddy Hozibal and others nod to late pianist/composer Rich Harney. That night also sees Monks Jazz founder Collin Shook receive the A.D. Mannion award for keeping local jazz healthy throughout the pandemic with his club’s livestreams. Haslanger sits in on Sunday’s Jazz Mass. – Michael Toland


Afterglow Sessions w/ Madison Baker, Tiarra Girls

Mohawk, Saturday 13

Latin grooves, singer-songwriter acoustics, soul meditations, and electronic pop beats all take shelter from the cold in the warmth of Mohawk’s inside stage. Tiffany, Tori, and Sophia Baltierra weld reggae grooves and girl group harmonies into bilingual feminist anthems as the Tiarra Girls, while Dan Petra offers quiet introspection with their guitar. As a solo artist, Blumoon singer Kendra Sells ups the ante on her band’s neo-soul sound with experimentations in drum loops, synthesizers, and fuzz guitar. Madison Baker, meanwhile, relishes in the slow, beat-heavy atmospherics of modern pop. A lineup as eclectic as the music magazine organizing it. – Carys Anderson


Feels So Good Fest

Fine Southern Gentlemen, Saturday 13

A dozen artists and over 20 vendors assemble at the headquarters of culture-twisting screenprinting extraordinaires Fine Southern Gentlemen, also behind Feels So Good Records. Deemed “The Freestyle King” by DJ Screw, Houston hip-hop pillar Lil’ Flip brings “Sunshine” alongside homegrown rappers the Teeta, fresh off a dynamic ACL Fest debut with DJ Joaqu.n, and the decadent delights of Ladi Earth, Sailor Poon, and Big Bill promise winking punk excellence, not to mention the psych-sided sounds of Sheverb, Crypt Trip, White Dog, and more. The fest launches a new volume of Pozer Magazine, centered on women who ride their own motorcycles, vans, and classic cars. – Rachel Rascoe


Susannah Joffe, the Irons

Antone’s, Sunday 14

Young blood doth come to the bluesy crooner corral. Sad girl pop dream Susannah Joffe spits melancholy in late-September song “My California,” plucking at heart strings with every acoustic guitar strum. Budding fourpiece the Irons flux bedroom-pop distortions in a spooning of the soul through one-week-old single “Get Real Tough” spouting youth struggles over a beat of bounce and optimism. Soft rock fivepiece Photokem come crashing in with their 2021 EP Like Riding a Bike Through Mud, a 13-minute serenade that spills rich vocals like sipping Cognac through the ears. Straight from the adolescent hearts of Lone Star, easy riders. – Mars Salazar


Amigo the Devil

Scoot Inn, Tuesday 16

Behold the sensitive gravedigger. The macabre folk shovel of Florida-raised Austin resident Amigo the Devil pierced new soil in April with stellar sophomore platter Born Against, featuring multiple moving musings on death: the banjo-led, can’t-take-it-with-you anthem “24K Casket” and the reflective “Another Man’s Grave” in which the titular Danny Kiranos compares life to a sewer: “We get what we put in” – though the acoustic musician’s most visceral moment comes with “Different Anymore,” where his sweet, emotive voice emanates. Openers include IV & the Strange Band, led by Hank3’s son Coleman Williams. – Kevin Curtin

This article appears in November 12 • 2021.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.

Carys Anderson moved from Nowhere, DFW to Austin in 2017 to study journalism at the University of Texas. She began writing for The Austin Chronicle in 2021 and joined its full-time staff in 2023, where she covers music and culture.