Big Freedia
Thursday 13, 10:05pm, Stubb’s
Big Freedia will almost certainly make you want to dance. A pioneer of New Orleans bounce music, Freedia combines looping bass beats and energetic chants that get listeners moving. The rapper’s music often features marching band brass and percussion, creating an abrasive yet addictive sound. Tracks like “Bigfoot” and “$100 Bill,” featuring Ciara, showcase this high-energy style, making Freedia a key figure in bounce music and an undeniable force in the dance scene. – Angelina Liu
Immersion
Friday 14, 9:30pm, The 13th Floor
This band might not have name recognition, but the artists who compose it do. Post-punk royalty Malka Spigel (Minimal Compact) and Colin Newman (Wire) have been collaborating as Immersion since the Nineties, fusing sound and art into an experimental electronic project that has enlisted artists ranging from Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab to Austin’s own Thor Harris to get in on the fun. Last summer, the artists remixed local psych rockers DAIISTAR’s “Parallel,” while Nanocluster, Vol. 3, the latest installment in a series of collaborative albums, arrived last month featuring co-writing NYC ambient-country trio SUSS. – Carys Anderson
Jad Fair and the Placebos
Saturday 15, 10pm, Valhalla
Jad Fair brings a playful energy to tracks like “Put Some Sugar on It” and “Charmed Life,” blending keyboards, fast-paced drums, and electric guitar for a uniquely engaging sound. His distinctive spoken-word delivery and twangy strings bring lyrics to life on songs like “I Did Acid With Caroline” and “Ostrich,” showcasing his eclectic strumming and offbeat phrasing. With a massive discography of over 180 albums – including his Half Japanese output, solo work, and a 2001 collaboration with Daniel Johnston, It’s Spooky – Fair remains a prolific, unconventional, and influential artist. – Angelina Liu
Steve Wynn
Thursday 13, 10pm, St. David’s Historic Sanctuary
Not straying too far from his roots as frontman of Eighties rock band the Dream Syndicate, Wynn’s music combines sharp electric guitar and heavy drums in albums like My Midnight and Sketches in Spain to showcase his capabilities as a guitarist. Simultaneously, songs like “All the Squares Go Home” and “The Ship Song” are where his vocal talents take the lead. A wide-ranging discography, with its stylizations of folk and alternative rock, arrived at 2024’s Make It Right, Wynn’s first new solo album in more than a decade. – Angelina Liu
This article appears in March 14 • 2025.
