Silverada and the Tender Things
Friday 25, Radio/East
Last year, Silverada took the cover of the Chronicle as the hard-driving country quintet shed the Mike & the Moonpies moniker they’d ridden for nearly two decades and reloaded for the next phase of the band. Their ethos remained the same, though, with a grinding mindset and crowd-winning combination of rocked-out live shows and sincere ballads that has carved their mark on the independent country scene. Newly released EP Texas 42 strips down some catalog deep cuts into an acoustic campfire feel. The Tender Things load in first with their swaggering brand of Southern-rock fried Texas honky-tonk. – Doug Freeman
Austin Psych Fest
Friday 25 – Sunday 27, Far Out Lounge
Like Levitation 2024 before it, the Black Angels’ annual celebration of psychedelic music has expanded its genre constraints to spotlight the best of all things alternative, from indie rock legends (Kim Gordon plays solo on Saturday, while Yo La Tengo and Dinosaur Jr. wrap Sunday) to post-punk contemporaries (Day 2 act Wombo) to post-rock torchbearers (Godspeed You! Black Emperor and locals Explosions in the Sky both top Friday’s bill). Of course, the festival’s hazy origins remain thanks to consciousness-raising, generation-spanning acts like Blackwater Holylight, Holy Wave, and Angels singer Alex Maas. More affordable than most fests with such stacked lineups, day tickets go for $75 while weekend passes request $200. – Carys Anderson
Rancho Alegre Conjunto Music Festival
Friday 25 – Sunday 27, Central Machine Works & Doris Miller Auditorium
Since 2015, Rancho Alegre has thrown a free, all-ages festival aimed to preserve Conjunto music, the accordion-driven Tejano creation that fuses German polka rhythms with Mexican folk songs. The event’s 10th anniversary touches down at two decidedly East Austin venues: On Friday, Belen Escobedo y Panfilo’s Güera, Conjunto Baraja de Oro, and Los Enmascarados perform at East Cesar Chavez beer hall Central Machine Works, while Rodney Rodriguez, Bobby Salinas, and more perform Saturday and Sunday at the Doris Miller Auditorium, the undervalued Rosewood event center that hosted Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and more Black icons back in the day. – Carys Anderson
Wormrot
Friday 25, Mohawk
Diamond-shaped isle between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore stacks 6 million inhabitants onto roughly 284 square miles of one of the most densely populated spots on the planet. That’s about half the size of the smallest state in our union (Rhode Island). Wormrot commandant Arif Suhaimi can incite every last one of them into the mosh. Alongside axe maniac Rasyid Juraimi since 2007 and early days drummer Fitri, back following a nine-year stint by replacement Vijesh Ghariwala, the grindcore trio erupts like a volcano across four LPs. Suhaimi departed after pandemic surprise Hiss, then returned last year to touch off more human tsunamis, including this month’s “Outburst of Annoyance” live single for audio extremists Earache. No/Mås and Bosh support. – Raoul Hernandez
Prizer Presents: “Highway Lights”
Saturday 26, Sertodo Copper
Last month, Prizer Arts & Letters announced their new nomadic model as well as a slew of neat shows highlighting the model’s perks. As Prizer director Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon put it to the Chronicle, “Instead of being tied to one space, we can now activate locations that best serve each project …. The setting itself becomes part of the story.” Such is the case with their upcoming collab with Montopolis composer Justin Sherburn: a sunset performance of his ambient chamber project “Highway Lights,” featuring accompaniment by cellist Sara Nelson (Austin Symphony Orchestra). Along with the transcendent sounds and East Austin’s evening sky will be visuals designed by Paul Baker (Vision System), which event copy says will “[envelop] the venue in shifting light and movement.” Entry is donation-based and the venue is ADA-compliant. – James Scott
Austin Blues Festival
Saturday 26 – Sunday 27, Moody Amphitheater
Presented by Antone’s Nightclub, this year’s roots music festival doubles as a 50th anniversary tribute to Austin’s premier blues venue. Antone’s regulars Jackie Venson and Sue Foley, plus soul songstress Sir Woman and funk collective Grandmaster, lead the local contingent for the 2025 event, while guitar prodigy Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and legendary R&B/soul/gospel singer Mavis Staples headline Saturday and Sunday, respectively. In honor of the tenacious club’s golden jubilee, a slew of Antone’s All-Stars – Ian Moore and Kam Franklin on Day 1, Jimmie Vaughan and Gary Clark Jr. on Day 2 – lead special jam sessions to highlight the blues’ ever-evolving, collaborative spirit. – Carys Anderson
The Hard Quartet
Saturday 26, Scoot Inn
Forming a Nineties alumni supergroup in your mid-50s is either exactly what Stephen Malkmus had in mind for his “Range Life” or proof that he can’t settle down – I can’t decide. The Hard Quartet is Malkmus, multi-instrumental collaborators Matt Sweeney and Emmett Kelly, and drummer Jim White. Though all four have careers that stretch back decades, the Hard Quartet is no mere nostalgia pander. Their self-titled debut album ties together each member’s experience with playfully distorted guitar solos and easygoing melodic structures to create a sound that feels distinctly fresh – yet could’ve been a part of the Nineties indie art rock canon all along. – Caroline Drew
Concerts in the Park
Through June 29, The Long Center Lawn
’Tis the season when Austin’s two biggest attractions – beautiful nature and live music – are often found at the same event. One such blissful union is found in the 23rd annual return of Austin Symphony Orchestra Hartman Foundation concerts on the lawn of the Long Center. All ages, species, pets, and children are welcome at this truly communitywide event, where locals can be found on Sunday evenings bringing a picnic and friends to lay out and listen to a world-class orchestra as they watch another day come to a close. The 2025 concert schedule includes brass, wind, and string ensembles playing a range of tunes from jazz to pop to film scores to classical. This is one of the magical things about Austin – and completely free. Locals and visitors alike should not miss, as it will continue every Sunday through June 29. – Lina Fisher
Enjoy and Puzzle
Tuesday 29, Mohawk
Twins Wyatt and Fletcher Shears step outside of their shared project the Garden to bring their solo acts, Enjoy and Puzzle, to Mohawk’s outdoor stage. Each brother has released a new album this year – Wyatt’s Enjoy leaning into warped, groovy synth-pop, and Fletcher’s Puzzle offering disorienting jazzy dreamscapes with a cartoonish edge. Fans of outsider pop and lo-fi indie won’t want to miss this one: It’s weird, it’s catchy, and it’ll get you dancing. – Kyra Bruce
Cosmic Intuition Tribute to Bilal Sunni-Ali
Tuesday 29, Monks Jazz
Formed in 1991 for a Miles Davis tribute show, percussionist Rashah Amen’s Cosmic Intuition continues to lead a free-floating assemblage of Austin’s finest jazz musicians through stylistically fluid, thematically expansive performances across a multitude of venues. The first in a series of “Improvisation Soundscapes,” this Concert for Human Harmony pays tribute to saxophonist/flautist Bilal Sunni-Ali, the legendary player for the Song of Life Ensemble and Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s landmark 1975 LP The First Minute of a New Day, and a longtime friend of Amen’s. Featuring veteran woodwind virtuoso Alex Coke, this promises to be a singular performance. – Michael Toland
Buzzcocks
Wednesday 30, Mohawk
First-generation Manchester punk outfit Buzzcocks wed perfect pop tunes to sawtooth-wave guitars and Gatling gun rhythms in their late-Seventies heyday. Singer/guitarist Pete Shelley’s songs – like the immortal “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” – reinvented the love song with bruised romanticism and a lack of gender specificity. Co-guitarist and sole original member Steve Diggle, who penned more prototypical Britpunk anthems like “Harmony in My Head,” continues stewarding the band following Shelley’s 2018 death. Expect a set packed with classics, plus highlights from 2022’s exceptional Sonics in the Soul. Venice Beach surf-punks Strawberry Fuzz open. – Tim Stegall
May Day: A Punk Show and Zine Reading
Thursday 1, Alienated Majesty Books
Specializing in small, smaller, and teeny tiny presses, Alienated Majesty has proven itself to be one of Austin’s most vital bookstores. For May Day, look for 30% off in the Politics and History section and an evening of loud, fast music via Leche’s no-fi hardcore, Molly Ringworm’s throat-ripping d-beat, and Tank Division’s straight-edge rage, along with zine readings between sets. Doors at 6pm. A $10 suggested donation goes to the bands. – Joe Gross
Music Notes
by Derek Udensi
Wes Denzel
Thursday 24, Hotel San José
Though he splits time in San Antonio, rapper Wes Denzel’s Austin ties have only deepened in recent months. He recently crafted a fresh tune for Austin FC and laid down on Congress Avenue Bridge – in the midst of live traffic – to capture his “Dream About Me” music video. His latest release, April EP Sorry About Last Night, employs slickly upbeat backdrops for him to pine toward an unrequited love. Catch Denzel for free at the first Lounge Session celebrating Hotel San José’s 25th anniversary.
La Mujer: A Celebration of Women
Saturday 26, Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center
Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center presents this free event spotlighting artists in the local Latina/o/x/e community. The party offers entertainment for people of all ages, including an art market, wellness workshops, and live music. Performers include former Chronicle cover-gracers the Tiarras and Houston transplant Andrea Daniela.
Soul Pachanga Festival
Sunday 27, Radio/East
Austin Live Music Fund presents this free event celebrating Black Texan and Tejano culture and music. Magna Carda, Los Juanos, and Superfónicos highlight the mix of genres represented at this inaugural affair.
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 April 25 • 2025.
