Crucial Concerts for the Coming Week

13th Annual Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta

Lost Well, Friday 7
Sagebrush, Saturday 8

In contrast to its identically acronymed counterpart, Austin Corn Lovers Fiesta prevails grassroots versus corporate (produced by a local label, not Live Nation), cheap versus expensive (costing some $130 less per day), and easy versus a hassle (attendees can park on-site and don’t need to dump the contents of their purse into a clear bag). Though conceived as an antithesis to ACL Fest, the Hickoids and friends’ mini fest has now popped off for 13 years – giving it a stand-alone legacy as one of Austin’s most fun fall affairs.

Friday goes down at Eastside doom tavern the Lost Well (8pm-2am), headlined by provocative New Zealand-to-Dallas outfit Labretta Suede & the Motel 6, who soak audiences in down & dirty, garage-a-billy punk – RIYL the Cramps – and Jeff Smith’s bulletproof Tejas punk institution the Hickoids. Also thrillin’: young, thrash-influenced hardcore punks Sodomy Cop (for the record, they’re pro-sodomy, anti-cop); 30-years-running primo punks Jesus Christ Superfly; and S.A. street rockers Marla Vee & the Natural Born Stud$.

Saturday, Southside honky-tonk Sagebrush (5pm-2am) sees the first post-plague performance of masterful, veil-of-reality-ripping blues poets Churchwood, wading into the Gulf swamps on new record 6: The Boule Oui. The two-stage shindig stacks a way-too-long-to-list mind-blower including legendary Welsh punk bard Jon Langford performing as the Return of Buck Hogarth, Shandon Sahm doing a set of his father’s iconic fare, and H-Town alt-country project Jane Woe. – Kevin Curtin

Kady Rain, Alexi 8bit

Stroll into Quack’s turquoise soundscape this Friday and odds of catching homegrown pop immediately triple. Sweet as sugar and bursting with Technicolor vibrance (both in sound and style), local self-dubbed pop royalty Kady Rain governs the genre in every form, serving everything from fierce pop punk (“Got Away”) to bubblegum bangers (“Take Me”). Bedfashion and Alexi 8bit bring the keys to the kingdom with synth-forward tracks and bubbly rhythms, like the latter’s new Dancin’ Bean EP. – Kriss Conklin

32nd Annual John Lennon Birthday Tribute

Born midweek, Oct. 9, in Liverpool, John Winston Lennon came within a hair’s breadth of moving to New Zealand at age 5. There’s a Crowded House/Neil Finn joke in there, which the late Dr. O’Boogie himself should’ve come up with on his upcoming 82nd birthday – celebrated in the pandemic afterglow of Peter Jackson’s 468-minute Get Back jawbreaker. Austonian Beatlemaniacs Stephen Doster, Darin Murphy, and Randy Miller lead the nearly dozen-strong #9 Orchestra, the former two channeling the birthday boy and touring him, respectively, while the latter All ATX producer underwrites all those fab Sixties covers and comps as a tributist himself. – Raoul Hernandez

More Eaze October Residency

Cosmic, collagist Tuesdays of experimental electronic soothsaying? That’s just the (totally ethereal) icing on the (again, not remotely tactile) cake, baby! Indeed, long before she moved into our beloved Hole in the Wall, Mari Maurice had already claimed permanent residency in our heads. It’s not just her No Limit Records-style release calendar, careening month by month from bombastic glitch skronk to sparse electroacoustic textures. There’s a legitimately diaristic, quotidian spirit behind all that manic prolificacy – Maurice’s earnest desire to share her everyday. Whether culling melody from viola, barking dogs, or her own muttering voice, the great gift of More Eaze’s sound-play is that it continues reverberating long after she’s ceded the stage, reigniting a romance with our own hidden sonic surroundings. This Tuesday, with two more to follow, also features Fibril, Ethan Billips, and I’d Really Like to See You Again. – Julian Towers

Beto O’Rourke Benefit

Early voting to put new names in the Statehouse begins October 24, so gear up for the final push. S.L. Houser headlines the fundraiser behind her stellar string of 2022 singles, packing ethereal yet poignant synth-touched songwriting balanced between Sharon Van Etten and Julia Jacklin. Bright Light Social Hour’s Curtis Roush and Mia Carruthers serenade as their new eponymous piano and guitar duo, dreaming plaintive love songs and ballads, while Harvest Thieves pare down sharp alt.country as a twosome. Andrew Aylward’s mellow vibes jump-start the $10 benefit. – Doug Freeman

Pusha T, IDK

Over two decades into his career, Pusha T defies so much of what we know about modern hip-hop, moving with an incisive potency emcees less than half his age routinely fail to match. The younger half of brotherly duo Clipse founded an entire career via conjuring ridiculous quotables centered around dealing powdered white – call him cocaine’s Dr. Seuss. Recent achievements include notching first Billboard chart-topper, April’s It’s Almost Dry, and penning McDonald’s diss tracks for Arby’s. Fellow DMV rapper IDK and former Roc-A-Fella producer Just Blaze support. – Derek Udensi

Kiko Villamizar

The leader in Austin’s cumbia scene headlines the East Austin locale with support from local Afropop outfit Bamako Airlines. – Derek Udensi

Dave East

Accomplished storyteller signed to Nas’ Mass Appeal label, the East Harlem native makes up a show previously scheduled for early February. – Derek Udensi

Bit Brigade

Playing rock covers of primarily 8-bit-based retro Nintendo Entertainment System game soundtracks, the Georgia-based band tributes Mega Man 2 and Castlevania. – Derek Udensi

El Combo Oscuro

The Latin psychedelic/cumbia band continues its “Cumbia Wednesdays” October residency with Selena Quintanilla tribute band Las Chicas en 512. – Derek Udensi

This article appears in October 7 • 2022.