Levitation Festival
Friday 26 – Sunday 28, Palmer Events Center
Pavement, Built to Spill, TV on the Radio, and Mastodon – Austin Psych Fest’s fall companion is sticking with longstanding headliners this year and switching up the rest of the setup. Ditching their Halloween weekend spot (don’t worry, Resound’s Halloween Freakend will take over) and moving from the streets of Downtown to the Palmer Events Center, Levitation 2025 promises the same rock-based lineup in new surroundings with highly anticipated acts like Wednesday, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, La Femme, and Model/Actriz plus a series of separately ticketed night shows featuring visits from Beach Fossils, Mdou Moctar, Teen Suicide, and more. – Caroline Drew
Levitation Night Show: Boy Harsher, Martin Rev, Kumo 99
Thursday 25, Stubb’s
Boy Harsher conjures lust and isolation through sweat-slick synth minimalism, while Kumo 99 detonates rhythm and language with jungle breaks, punk noise, and raw erotic tension. But the main event at this Levitation after-hours blowout is 77-year-old Martin Rev – alongside the late Alan Vega, half of electro-punk pioneers Suicide. Vega performed Iggy Presley histrionics while Rev punished organ and drum machine through thermonuclear fuzz. Suicide played early bills with the New York Dolls and were the first band to call themselves punk, weeks after Lester Bangs coined the term for the Stooges in Creem. This is history. Act like you know. – Tim Stegall
HAIM
Friday 26, Moody Center
Half due to great music and half due to the allure of their sweet siblinghood, HAIM has gathered a steady following since 2012. There’s something incredibly wholesome and magnetic about three sisters (Danielle, Alana, and Este) making alt-rock together. While the Haim women are well known for their Taylor Swift collaborations (“no body, no crime” and “Gasoline”), they’re also Grammy-nominated on their own (Women In Music Pt. III and “The Steps”). More important than critical success, sugary hits of funk-pop – like viral single “Relationships,” off this summer’s I quit – suggest the trio place fun at the top of their music-making formula. – Flora Belle Farr
Conspirare: To Be the Sun
Friday 26, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church
Calling Conspirare a choir feels far too restrictive, like calling Willie Nelson a country singer. Founder/director Craig Hella Johnson’s long-running chorale is too ambitious for such a designation. The Grammy-winning Austin ensemble’s latest project involves both a former Britpop keyboardist and a Nobel Prize winner. Composer Joby Talbot (formerly of Nineties Anglophile favorites the Divine Comedy) has set Mexican poet and Nobel laureate Octavio Paz’s epic work Sunstone to music, and who better to bring it to life than this multifaceted, fearless vocal collective? Conspirare is always at its best in a sanctuary, so expect a powerful experience. Marimba player Tom Burritt provides accompaniment. – Michael Toland
Levitation Night Show: La Femme DJ Set With Marie Davidson
Saturday 27, Kingdom
It’s a good day for Francophones who are ready to hit the dance floor: French sevenpiece La Femme, known for their playful blend of surf-rock and yé-yé, will bring a deep crate of pop cuts that have served as their influences to their DJ set. Montreal musician and producer Marie Davidson comes with fresh material from 2025’s City of Clowns, a Y2K freakout in club hit form that has stood out as one of the strongest electronic albums of the year. – Abby Johnston
Levitation Night Show: Unknown Mortal Orchestra DJ Set With Improvement Movement
Saturday 27, 13th Floor
Having narrowly escaped Multi-Love’s polyamory-gone-wrong fate of being buried under Uchiko, Unknown Mortal Orchestra embraces Austin with a live performance at Levitation, followed by a late-night DJ set. The once-upbeat electro-disco group released a hauntingly arranged dungeon-dance EP this spring, appropriately titled CURSE, drenching their DJ intentions in an air of mystery. What’s certain is that the funk-pop trio will be joined by Improvement Movement, who are actually not the next NXIVM but a choral-inspired indie rock outfit from Atlanta, and whether the tracks are frightening or frisky, they’ll undoubtedly be groovy. – Caroline Drew
PUP and Jeff Rosenstock
Saturday 27, Radio/East
Not content to coast on nostalgia, PUP’s most recent pop-punk offering Who Will Look After the Dogs? features crackling guitar riffs, frenetic drums, and frontman Stefan Babcock’s perfectly untidy vocals. Despite their trademark lyrical self-deprecation, friendship and warmth shine through the band’s latest songs, setting the scene for an exceptionally chummy tour with DIY powerhouse Jeff Rosenstock and punk breakouts Ekko Astral. Catch the triple-threat rock bill this Saturday at Radio/East, and with any luck, you might see them all perform the tour’s signature noisy cover of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” – Katie Hayes
Lomax Legacy American Music Concert
Saturday 27, Oakwood Cemetery Chapel
In the walkable time capsule that is East Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery lies a modest headstone for John Avery Lomax and a small monument for his son, Alan Lomax – both folk archivists who changed the future of music by dignifying its regional past. At the turn of the 20th century, John A. studied and worked at UT, where he began documenting music scholars found unworthy. Alan, born in Austin, later joined him as they drove far and wide with a portable recording rig for the Library of Congress, documenting folk music like it was Homeric poetry. Austin now celebrates their legacy with a free concert in Oakwood’s intimate chapel featuring fitting performances by blues disciples Xavier Shannon and Matthew Brodnax, singer-songwriter Jess Ledbetter, and vibey cumbia maestro Kiko Villamizar. – Kevin Curtin
Lukas Nelson
Sunday 28 – Tuesday 30, Paramount Theatre
In many ways, this year’s American Romance feels like Lukas Nelson’s proper introduction. As his first real solo effort away from his longtime band Promise of the Real, Nelson and producer Shooter Jennings tone down the guitar jams in deference to a soulful country songwriting that leans into quieter moments of self-realization behind his gentle high twang and easy picking. The album pulls across a roadside vision of America and reaches for personal peace. East Texas native and American Idol finalist Laci Kaye Booth provides support with 2024 debut The Loneliest Girl in the World. – Doug Freeman
Wolf Alice
Tuesday 30, Emo’s
If fairy pop-rock was an official genre, Wolf Alice are its fearless sleeper-leader. Casting spellbinding tunes since their 2013 debut single “Fluffy,” the English group has slowly gained more traction in the U.S. over the last decade, particularly with the ethereal 2017 single “Don’t Delete the Kisses.” Emo’s presents the perfect spot to see Wolf Alice before they’ve totally exploded. The quartet’s August album, The Clearing, may be their key to locking down international stardom; tracks like “Bloom Baby Bloom” and “Just Two Girls” are already some of their most popular ever. – Flora Belle Farr
Alex G
Tuesday 30 – Wednesday 1, Stubb’s
The indie rock American Dream is alive in Alex Giannascoli. From his DIY Bandcamp offerings to his Domino days, the Philly songwriter issued eight albums in eight years in the 2010s and inspired an entire generation of pitch-shifting artists in his image – and plenty of TikToks featuring “Sarah” and “Mary,” too. This summer’s RCA-released Headlights marks Alex G’s 10th LP and first on a major label; though it trades his foundational lo-fi aesthetic for fuller, more mature Americana, Giannascoli’s stamp is unmistakable. Equally inimitable songwriter Nilüfer Yanya opens. – Carys Anderson
Music on the Trail Series: PAACK
Wednesday 1, Rainey Street Trailhead Lawn
Over the last decade, Austin has really upped its parks game and added almost 100 new parks and 1,500 acres of parkland, including lots of new trailways. But at the heart of Austin will always be the Butler Trail, the 10-mile path along Lady Bird Lake, lovingly preserved with the help of the Trail Foundation. Bringing together music fans and outdoor enthusiasts, their Music on the Trail series offers a new artist each Wednesday in October to turn this lovely spot into a concert, starting with supergroup PAACK, a sisterhood started at C-Boy’s featuring Paige DeChausse, Andrea Magee, Violet Lea, Cari Hutson, and Kelly Green. Future editions include Me Nd Adam, N.O.A., Peterson Brothers, and Julie Nolen. – Kat McNevins
ACL Fest Nights: Clover County
Thursday 2, Stubb’s
As the first leaves turn gold and swirl into the (90-degree) breeze, the season for fall yearning officially arrives. Clover County’s indie-folk carries a Southern drawl that feels dreamy and nostalgic, perfect for pining after a long-lost love. Cigarette smoke, cowgirl boots, candlelight – the turmoil of early-20s romance visualized in sound. With songwriter A.G. Schiano’s debut album Finer Things out Sept. 26, Austin gets one of her first live spins. – Gianna Ivy
Zack Fox DJ Set
Thursday 2, the Concourse Project
Zack Fox does all the things, including stand-up comedy and, notably, acting on the sitcom Abbott Elementary. The Atlanta-born artist was also once a comedy rapper, known for tracks like “sipping my tea.” His spectacular kitchen-sink DJ sets are no joke. You’re going to get baile funk, house, ghettotech, juke, Miami bass, Jersey club, Nineties R&B, and other screwballs. His chaotic Elevator Music and Boiler Room sets, which are on YouTube, feature exceptional taste and shocking eclecticism – including a gospel praise break in the middle of his Boiler Room performance. – Kahron Spearman
Music Notes
by Derek Udensi
sriyam, Audrey Price
Friday 26, Amity’s
Hole in the Wall’s new coffee shop and late-night karaoke bar begins its all-ages Live @ Amity’s series with performances from bedroom pop singer-songwriter sriyam and Audrey Price. The music series will run on Fridays going forward.
Rock the Park
Friday 26, Mueller Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater
KUTX starts the fall season of its free, family-friendly series with performances from sisterly band the Tiarras and Joe McDermott.
Batch Craft Beer + Kolaches Eighth Anniversary
Saturday 27, Batch Craft Beer + Kolaches
Head on over to Batch as the Eastside locale celebrates eight years of dishing out fresh kolaches, Texas-Czech pastries, and craft beer. The 2017 Best of Austin Critics Pick earner will also serve an all-day helping of live music, with Holly Frost and Violet Crown Affair among the scheduled performers.
Aminé
Tuesday 30, ACL Live at Moody Theater
Portland rapper Aminé – I still listen to hometown ode “Woodlawn” off 2020 album Limbo – has tackled more dance floor-ready grooves these past few years. His new full-length 13 Months of Sunshine contains lyrics about interning at Def Jam Recordings (“New Flower!”), an unexpected Waxahatchee feature (“History”), and a strong title track (“13MOS”).
Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what’s happening now or in the coming week.
This article appears in September 26 • 2025.
