Credit: Courtesy of Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós with Wordless Music Orchestra

Friday 4, Bass Concert Hall

Since the Nineties, Sigur Rós has immersed audiences in their sweeping, dramatic musicality. Music that’s at once honest in raw emotion as well as theatrics. In 2022, they began to incorporate full orchestral arrangements in their live shows. Thus began their relationship with Wordless Music Orchestra, the full outfit they enlist when performing stateside. This latest tour will include selections from last year’s acclaimed ÁTTA and fan favorites from their 30-year discography. Austin is one of the few performances in the States for the rockers and their 41-piece accompaniment. The fall leg of their tour has only eight stops.   – Cy White


Silents Synced Presents Nosferatu With Radiohead

Friday 4, Eastside Cinema & Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In North Central

There’s no such thing as silent cinema. Even from the earliest days, movies were always intended to be played with a soundtrack, either performed live or with a vinyl disc or wax cylinder shipped with the print. Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-In maverick Josh Frank has taken that old wisdom for new releases of speech-free classics synced to classic alt-rock albums. He’s making these new-old chimeras available to indie cinemas around the world, and just wrapped a sold-out run in L.A. Now he brings the first of these pairings home with F.W. Murnau’s landmark expressionist vampire shocker Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror paired perfectly to two albums by Radiohead, Kid A and Amnesiac.   – Richard Whittaker


Sterling Stage Grand Opening

Saturday 5, Sterling Stage

It doesn’t get much better than free food paired with free live music. Come celebrate the grand opening of the Sterling Stage, and treat your soul to some Motown and savory Southern comforts by Hoover’s Cooking. Watch Austin musicians Roderick Sanford, Cicely Renee Jones, and Gene Walker break in this new theatre and live music venue with their tribute to Motown. If you’re feeling generous, take your chance at the auction supporting Hoover’s.   – Eden Shamy


Boys Noize Credit: Photo by Glenjamn

Boiler Room World Tour 2024: Austin

Saturday 5 – Sunday 6, The Concourse Project

The legendary Boiler Room brings its world tour to Austin, peddling in all things Jack. The Saturday lineup was so spicy (including the likes of Cowgirl Clue, Dorian Electra, and members of the Perreo Club), the show sold out in a flash, prompting organizers to add another day. Sunday’s lineup gets even tastier with Boys Noize, BAMBI, HiTech, and the House of Lepore – hosted, of course, by the Legendary Natalie Lepore. For the house heads and party monsters who nabbed a Saturday-night ticket, make your way to the Concourse Project. For those holding out for Sunday, the location is still TBD. Stick close to your inboxes.   – Cy White


Nikki Lane

Sunday 6, Sagebrush

When Nikki Lane released her sophomore album, All or Nothin’, a decade ago, it lit a fire in independent country music – rebellious and rocking behind a hard twang that could cut relentlessly raw and seductively smoky. That attitude paved the way for a rising generation of artists like Sierra Ferrell, carving out a new female-led brand of outlaw country that Lane’s continued to lead through her fourth LP, 2022’s Denim & Diamonds. Fellow fashion queen and swampy-tonk purveyor Paige Plaisance opens along with new powerhouse trio of Lili Hickman, Madison Baker, and Caelin as Next of Kin.   – Doug Freeman


Credit: Photo by Bellamy Brewster

Usher: Past Present Future

Monday 7 – Tuesday 8, Moody Center

For the past three decades, R&B has seen several transformations. From hard-hitting, New Jack Swing-inspired displays to more subdued vocals undergirding somewhat hopeless lyrics. From church-infused soul singing to begging in the rain, one name has managed to navigate it all and maintain that timeless instrument: U-S-HER RA-YM-OND. The seemingly ageless R&B superstar brings all the stage spectacle of a Vegas residency with the heady Nineties and early-to-mid-Aughts nostalgia of his loyal fan base. If his Super Bowl halftime show this year is any indication, audiences are in for one hell of a ride.   – Cy White


Anycia Credit: Courtesy of Ticketmaster


Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Anycia

Saturday 5, Moody Amphitheater

South Atlanta’s newest rap prospect rhymes with the calm breeziness of a hair flip while landing clever, braggadocious quips. Her debut full-length, PRINCESS POP THAT, features KARRAHBOOO, fellow Atlanta rapper Latto, and Luh Tyler. R&B singer Kehlani (“CRZY”) headlines a day before her ACL Fest Weekend 1 performance.

Etran de L’Aïr

Saturday 5, the Far Out

This Saharan rock band returns to the Far Out after coming to South Austin last year as part of their maiden jaunt through the United States. The Nigerien group is currently touring in support of their most recent album, 100% Sahara Guitar. Local favorites Nemegata support.

Bit Brigade

Tuesday 8, Come and Take It Live

The Athens, Georgia, group is currently enjoying year 20 of playing covers for video game soundtracks. Their latest tour spotlights 1990 SNES titles Super Mario World and F-Zero. Fellow video game aficionados Super Guitar Bros. begin proceedings.

Alessandro Cortini

Thursday 10, Central Presbyterian Church

The Nine Inch Nails touring band member performs in what marks an uncommon non-South by Southwest nighttime show for the Downtown church. He releases his latest work, Nati Infiniti, this Friday.

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 October 4 • 2024.

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.

Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.