Laurie Gallardo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount Theatre

Dark & Lovely: An Evening of Unsettling Narrative

Thursday 13, State Theatre

Goth never goes out of style, even around Valentine’s Day. The dark-hearted are invited to join multi-Austin Music Award-winning deejay/host Laurie Gallardo for a spooky bedtime story told with more than a tinge of the macabre. To get you in the mood, Carrie Rodriguez and David Pulkingham will offer an instrumental amuse bouche before Gallardo shows you why her voice is so renowned. Come dressed to lurk in the shadows.   – James Renovitch


Credit: Photo by Kylie Bly

Die Spitz

Friday 14, Mohawk

Valentine’s Day brings passion, sweet treats, and special dinner plans – but how about a different kind of date night this year? Austin-based boisterous bunch Die Spitz have made their way around the city’s venues, but they’re set to bring their rawness to New York City’s Governors Ball and Tennessee’s Bonnaroo later this year. Before they make their way to those faraway stages, they’ll be bringing verve – and a film crew to shoot a live video – to Mohawk. Roster counterparts Farmer’s Wife and Pussy Gillette pack a gritty punch and complement Die Spitz’s vivacity, making for a Cupid-approved night of moshing and stage diving.   – Catalina Perez


Credit: Photo by Jim Louvau

Kerry King

Friday 14, Emo’s

Slayer’s 2019 retirement from touring meant that bandleading guitarist Kerry King endured an almost five-year layoff from performing onstage before reemerging last year with his solo debut, From Hell I Rise. Commensurate with his pioneering thrash metal act, the disc shrieks and thunders behind Death Angel gnasher Mark Osegueda at the mic alongside second guitar Phil Demmell (Machinehead, Vio-lence), bassist Kyle Sanders, and Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph. “A lot of my friends and people in the biz said, ‘It’s exactly what I wanted it to be,’” King said of the project last year. “If you’ve ever been a Slayer fan, you’re going to dig this.”   – Raoul Hernandez


Credit: Courtesy of Caroline Hale

Caroline Hale

Friday 14, Continental Club Gallery

Caroline Hale is the kind of soft-spoken singer-songwriter who ropes you in with an enchanting tune like you never stood a chance. This young talent may be an old soul, judging from the way she pens and delivers country-tinged folk-pop in a rock & roll town, revealing something so compellingly natural you think it’s always been there. A tinge of Seventies sounds is comforting, but there’s something else in this San Antonio-born, Austin-based artist’s style we can’t help but come back to. Live at Stable Hall strips back excellent production from 2023 debut BFF, and what remains is just as intoxicating.   – Christina Garcia


Chat Pile

Sunday 16, Mohawk

“Hammers and grease;” “more screaming than you’d think” – Raygun Busch opened Chat Pile’s 2022 debut God’s Country with exactly the type of gnarly imagery you’d expect from a sludge metal quartet. October follow-up Cool World isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, of course, but the pseudonymed OKC rockers did infuse the LP with catchier melodies, especially on indie-leaning track two, “Shame.” As guitarist Luther Manhole explained in a press release, “I wanted it to sound like you’re at a party during the apocalypse.” Dismal current events in mind, that’s an apt description. Gouge Away and Nightosphere open this timely Mohawk get-together.   – Carys Anderson


Modernform

Modernform and TIGERS EYE

Saturday 15, The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co.

True to their name, Modernform’s sound takes on unexpected and distinctly contemporary shapes. Buzzy, shoegazey synth underlies competing race-car guitar riffs and Nineties riot grrrl-informed vocals on their latest single, “French 75,” while spacey keyboard licks and vocal reverb drape over driving drums and bass on “Tunnel Vision.” Their pending debut album, produced by emerging local experimental legend Ernesto Grey, promises the same pop-rock ear candy. Get a taste in advance at the ABGB, which pairs well with TIGERS EYE’s recently released Josephine EP.   – Caroline Drew


HONK!TX Winter Fundraiser Ball

Sunday 16, 29th Street Ballroom

The local community street band’s big, free hoopla isn’t until the end of March, but the brassy crew is looking to raise some funds to make sure it’s up to their particular (and often peculiar) standards. Dress up (not formal, just let your freak flag fly) and get treated to four bands that add a healthy dose of eccentricity to their signature sounds. Kids are free, students are $5, and everyone else is on a sliding scale, but be generous to this Austin institution that makes “weird” look effortless.   – James Renovitch


Credit: Photo via Freeman Productions

Blue Öyster Cult

Monday 17, Paramount Theatre

Prestige Camaro rockers Blue Öyster Cult are often remembered for SNL’s legendary 2000 “More Cowbell” sketch. But the Seventies’ most intellectual metal band was no joke, blending literary references, sinister mystique, and a wry sense of humor – something few of their Marshall-stack-wielding peers dared. Still led by lead vocalist/“stun guitarist” Eric Bloom and lead guitarist/vocalist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, who penned “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” the 25-million-selling rockers bring their spectral anthems to the Paramount Monday. Here’s hoping the custodians can scrub out the Boone’s Farm stains and lingering weed haze afterward.   – Tim Stegall


Mary J. Blige

Monday 17, Moody Center

It’s tough to describe to you 21st century youngsters how astoundingly cool Mary J. Blige was when she dropped What’s the 411? in 1992. Instantly, she was the idol of millions of church girls who could sing – and their pals, who wanted to be church girls who sang. And “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By,” her Grammy-winning duet with Method Man, was played at more turn-of-the-century weddings than you could count. 2017’s Strength of a Woman is a damn fine divorce album, if you’re in need of such. It’s the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, people – if she decides to tour, you go.   – Joe Gross


Voces Unidas: A Benefit Concert for Immigrant and Refugee Legal Services

Wednesday 19, Empire Control Room & Garage

As Trump sics ICE on undocumented immigrants across the country, beloved Austin live music bookers Howdy Gals have thrown together an impressive benefit concert meant to protect our neighbors. Post-punk favorites Font and Sad Cell, Latin jammers Lluvii, sixpiece experimentalists the Opera, indie-pop singer-songwriter Catterina, alt-country crooners Gilded Lows, indie rockers Other Vessels, and Serbian pop girly Arya all play for RAICES, a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Texas. A vendor village, featuring live screenprinting from Goody Bag, rounds out the event, while Howdy Gals also plot an online auction for further fundraising.   – Carys Anderson


Credit: Image via Us / Them Group

Gus Baldwin and the Sketch

Thursday 20, 29th Street Ballroom

Austin’s own Gus Baldwin and the Sketch celebrate the release of their debut album with a stacked lineup at 29th Street Ballroom this Thursday. The LP, The Sketch, captures the band’s explosive live shows, preserving their kinetic energy straight to tape. Joining them are the darkwave-techno-noise of Blank Hellscape, the punky charm of Grocery Bag, and the post-punk textures of Guiding Light. With all ages welcome, it’s a prime chance to catch genre-spanning local acts and a milestone moment for Baldwin and company.   – Kyra Bruce


Credit: Courtesy of Animal Arcade

Animal Arcade

Thursday 20, Empire Control Room

Discos of all kinds delight at Empire Thursday night. Animal Arcade chases the groove through funk, soul, and electric influences. Their songs overflow with multi-instrumental experimentation and singer Gigi Hess’ blues-infused vocals, creating a rhythm you can’t help but follow. They’re determined to never repeat a set and to keep the crowd moving, so you can be sure you’ll leave sweaty and smiling. If your dancing feet need some warming up, Rococo Disco will get you there with smooth vocal trills and playfully warped keys, and Montclair’s earnest compositions and ever-visible joy will have you working your smile muscles.   – Caroline Drew


Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Block Party ATX

Saturday 15, Abe’s Smoke Shop & Hookah Lounge

Wacotron headlines a showcase featuring an abundance of rappers from all over Central Texas. Some locals on the bill: BabyRosae, frequent CHHK collaborator CasinoATX, J Rich Tha Don, OBM Bleeda, and rap collective Winner Circle.

Real Boston Richey

Saturday 15, Empire Garage

Signed to Future’s Freebandz Global label, Tallahassee-born rapper Real Boston Richey first started gaining steam in 2022 after dropping songs like “Certified Dripper” and “Everybody.” His latest album, Richey Rich, sports the Billboard-charting single “Help Me.”

Ryosuke Kiyasu

Monday 17, HowMuch?! Studios

Hailing from Tokyo, Kiyasu’s unorthodox snare drum solo shows take on the form of polarizing performance art. Clips from recent years show him doing everything – and anything – from tapping a shoe on his drum to blowing hot air into his percussive instrument. I’m going to borrow Chazz Michael Michaels’ famous quote from Blades of Glory: “No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative.”

Winona Fighter Credit: Photo via Big Picture Media

Winona Fighter

Tuesday 18, 3ten ACL Live

This aggressive punk trio from Nashville releases their debut album, My Apologies to the Chef, on Feb. 14. Austin post-hardcore band Die Mart opens.

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 February 14 • 2025.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

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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.

As the Chronicle's Club Listings Editor, Derek compiles a weekly list of music events occurring across town. The University of Texas alum also writes about hip-hop as a contributor to the Music section.

James graduated from Columbia University in 2000 and moved to Austin a year later. Ever since, he has followed the arts and video game scene in ATX, editing and writing stories for the Chronicle along the way. Over his more than 20 years with the paper he has climbed the "corporate" ladder from lowly intern to managing editor.

San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.

Caroline is the Music and Culture staff writer and reporter, covering, well, music, books, and visual art for the Chronicle. She came to Austin by way of Portland, Oregon, drawn by the music scene and the warm weather.

Tim Stegall contributed to The Austin Chronicle 1991-1995, and was a staff writer 1995-1997. He returned as a contributor in 2013. He has also freelanced for publications ranging from Flipside to Alternative Press to Guitar World. He plays punk rock guitar and sings in the Hormones.

Kyra Bruce is a freelance writer and videographer from Tulsa, Oklahoma—bringing her love for fringe music scenes and her docu-concert series People To Wave To with her to Texas.