Got a grip on this weekend’s ACL aftershows? Think again. Okkervil River just announced it’s playing a Friday night show at Club de Ville. For that, you’ve got San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner of all people to thank.
Bonner’s a big time indie-rock music nut. He and his brother Luke throw a benefit festival in their native New Hampshire every summer. This year, the lineup included Deer Tick and New Hampshire heroes Tan Vampires. The siblings also teamed for a fundraiser at Club de Ville this year during South by Southwest, a Wednesday afternoon show that featured Feathers, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish, and Oh No Oh My.
Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff’s a New Hampshire native himself. Last month’s The Silver Gymnasium, the Austin sextet’s seventh LP, draws heavily on nostalgia for the Granite State and its woodlands. Doesn’t take a mathematician to see how this connection came into play.
Okkervil River performs at the Red River speakeasy after an opening set from local art-rock quintet the Laughing. Tickets are $15 at the door, with money benefiting the Bonner brothers’ non-profit, the Rock On Foundation.
While you wait, Okkervil River’s just come out with the final chapter of its 8-bit online adventure game The Silver Gymnasium, which the group released in conjunction with the album of the same name. The game features a preteen, pixelated, and vaguely Will Sheff-looking character digging around his hometown of Meriden, NH., in an effort to find his beloved older sister.
Anybody who completes the game will be granted a special code to download a Sheff-produced EP featuring expanded mixes of all the 8-bit versions of The Silver Gymnasium songs used within the game, which is a cool novelty if you’re into 8-bit sounds.
Okkervil River plays Austin City Limits’ Honda stage on Friday at 5pm and again next weekend.
This article appears in September 27 • 2013.