The Opera EP Release
Friday 22, Empire Control Room & Garage
Dressed in art history swagger and sophisticated cinematography, sixpiece experimental group the Opera emerged fully formed – like the goddess Athena – from the brain of Tyler Dozier. Dozier’s breathless, desperate vocals on latest release “Cinderblock” stand in stark contrast to the band’s “calm, cool, and blue” attitude, self-proclaimed in the single and evident on their social media. The project’s team of multitalented local players, drawn from acts like lluvvii, Lady Dan, and modernform, have let the spotlight find them, chasing a distinct futurist punk sound that blends electronic instrumentation with villainous synth lines sure to make this debut EP stand out. – Caroline Drew
MeadowFest
Saturday 23, Far Out Lounge
As school bells convene society back to order, KUTX puts a musical pin in it for a second year. Anderson High theatre kid Meadow Goodman, 15, took her life in August 2023, with the city of Austin last year declaring Aug. 24 as Meadow Goodman Mental Health Awareness Day. The inaugural fundraiser for the SIMS Foundation and OutYouth resulted in a bonafide Latin-palooza: Grupo Fantasma, Superfónicos, Como Las Movies, Nemegata, the Point, y mas. This Saturday, 3pm to midnight and all-ages, the follow-up outpaces ACL Fest’s local roundup with all headliners: Golden Dawn Arkestra, Brownout, Mobley, Girl in a Coma, Lew Apollo, Cha’keeta B, and more. – Raoul Hernandez
Cello Noir
Saturday 23, the Cathedral
The happy compromise between the high drama of violin and the sonorous low tones of a bass, cello is a perfect medium for works that tap into a full emotional spectrum, managing to capture everything between elation and sorrow with gut-wrenching efficiency. Austin Camerata totally understands that immense power, so they’re offering it to the world with an intimate evening allowing the instrument’s intensity to shine. Quartet Cello Noir proves the cello’s mettle with a performance of classical canon works from Debussy and Piazzola. They’ll also highlight the eternal nature of those dreamy cello tones with songs from Radiohead and Fleetwood Mac, accompanied by singer Naala. Old and new combine for a timeless evening. – Cat McCarrey
Prehuman Album Release
Saturday 23, 13th Floor
Prehuman walked out of a late-Nineties time capsule and directly onto Austin stages with two classic-feeling singles just over a year ago. Dropping sparse, grunge guitar-driven tracks that snag eardrums with contrastingly sweet vocals, the alt-rock fourpiece has raced along the road to their debut album ever since. Recently, a post-punk cover of Clueless soundtrack hit “Supermodel” earned them a nod from original singer Jill Sobule and another spark of intrigue ahead of this nostalgia-toned LP. Art rockers Cast of Thousands, post-punks Variety, and lo-fi punks Penner open the band’s album release. The dream of the Nineties is alive in Austin. – Caroline Drew
Otis Wilkins
Saturday 23, C-Boy’s Heart & Soul
As Otis the Destroyer, Taylor Wilkins unloaded a barrage of rocked-out guitar, but over the past few years he’s expanded into much more nuanced sounds under the moniker Otis Wilkins. That comes to fruition with the release of an ambitious debut LP via Spaceflight Records, Power of Stuff, which feels both intimate and immense across its 12 tracks. Wilkins plays the album, out in September, like an exploration, diving through sounds from Britpop and Seventies-styled guitar jams to jabby post-punk and epic swooning ballads behind his high-stretching tenor. He previews the album with a single release show with Los Coast and Geto Gala in support. – Doug Freeman
29th Street Block Party
Sunday 24, 29th Street Ballroom
Brian Tweedy’s vision for the ever-changing venue at 2906 Fruth has finally come to fruition. Some eight months after the Tweedy’s Bar namesake tapped an Avengers-like crew of Austin bar owners and bookers, including Resound Presents, to rebrand the Ballroom, the two North Campus locales present a Sunday Funday full of preeminent Texas music and art. Shoegaze OGs Ringo Deathstarr, dance punks J’cuuzi, and Houston slowcore group Shallowater perform at 29th Street for $15; Important Group, Commercial Breaks, and DJ Hollywood Jones play for free next door at Tweedy’s, while Subculture Swap sets up vendors, tattoos, and vintage. – Carys Anderson
Abi & Alan
Sunday 24, ACL Live at the Moody theater
This is a new project by Dallas’ own neo-soul savant Erykah Badu and Beverly Hills’ own hitmaking hip-hop producer the Alchemist, whose government names are Abi Wright and Alan Maman. Produced entirely by Alchemist, it’s also Badu’s first album since the But You Caint Use My Phone mixtape in 2015, which is exciting news for fans of her trippy R&B. While the album drops on Aug. 29, the two have been rolling it out live with help from her production collective the Cannabinoids. Expect a very hazy evening. – Joe Gross
Ethel Cain
Tuesday 26, Moody Amphitheater
Ethel Cain may not be a real person, but she does want to be loved. The music alter ego of songstress Hayden Anhedönia, and fictional protagonist of her grizzly, sun-bleached debut Preacher’s Daughter, Cain’s barefoot Bible Belt persona is soundtracked by textured Southern goth rock and a palpable naivete when it comes to love. In latest project Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You, the singer picks wilting flower petals. Set to slowcore with splashes of synth-pop (“Fuck Me Eyes”) and folk (“Nettles”), the singer’s tale of adolescent romance and loss drones like suburban streetlights on a humid summer night. – Miranda Garza
Marky Ramone Plays the Ramones
Wednesday 27, Mohawk
So, the man who sat longest on the drumstool for the band who reinvented raw rock & roll as punk rock back in the Seventies comes through town, playing “I Wanna Be Sedated” and all the other Johnny-Joey-DeeDee-Tommy-Marky hits? So what? The Ramones haven’t existed in years. Someone’s gotta keep the legacy alive, other than every band daring to call themselves “punk.” Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg features the artist born Marc Bell and three young players. It might be the closest thing to a Ramones reunion, short of pulling out the Ouija board. Austin’s all-woman Pinky Rings open with their angry/nasty/hooky noise-punk. – Tim Stegall
Cactus Lee, Little Mazarn, and Cody Dosier
Wednesday 27, Hole in the Wall
Once upon a time in Austin, immortals-to-be Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Nanci Griffith played this Drag-bound dive regularly. Behold the modern equivalent. “Cactus Lee’s hippie folk sound: more Gene Clark than Gene Autry, more Jackson C. Frank than Alan Jackson,” opined the Chronicle. Alt-ego Kevin Dehan strums a Lone Star timelessness in his quartet’s mid-week Hole in the Wall residency. That pairs divinely with the spare-n-sparse naturalness of Lindsey Verrill leading root whisperers Little Mazarn. Both local acts boast caressing, contemplative 2025 LPs. Now throw in Being Dead godhead Cody Dosier. Old gods, news gods, same ol’ Austin. – Raoul Hernandez
Celebrating the Sun: A Tribute to Sun Ra
Thursday 28, Monks Jazz
Taking on the catalog of Sun Ra is no easy task. Steeped in free jazz mania, proto-electronic space sounds, early Afrofuturism, and old school big band swing, the Saturn native (via Alabama, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and the Bay Area) indulged in controlled chaos and sublime beauty in equal measure. That’s a tricky balance, but luckily expansive jazz collective Cosmic Intuition has a secret weapon: drummer/leader Rashah Amen, who served under the artist born Herman Blount as part of the Arkestra. Special guests Jeff Lofton (trumpet), Dan Thomas (sax and flute), and Makale Edwards (sax) visit this planet in solidarity. – Michael Toland
Music Notes
by Derek Udensi
Duelo
Saturday 23, ACL Live at Moody Theater
This norteño band, led by vocalist Oscar Ivan Treviño, tours in celebration of its near three-decade run. Some of Duelo’s most popular hits include “Puño De Diamentes,” “Malabares,” and “Sentimientos de Cartón.” The group released an acoustic compilation earlier this year titled Colección Acústica, Vol.1.
Mean Mistreater, Leather Church, TINY
Saturday 23, the Lost Well
After a self-titled “rough opening” last weekend, the punk/metal destination – closed for almost a year since shuttering its old Webberville location – hosts its first proper show since relocating to Airport. Admission is $10.
DJ Berlin’s Network Pool Party
Saturday 23, Metropolis Apartments
There’s your bulk standard community event at an apartment complex, and then there’s the free shows hosted at the Metropolis’ poolside stage. DJ Berlin’s party features College of Hip Hop Knowledge & the Dropouts as its headliner, with support including rap group SpaceGoonz and singer-songwriter Isis Destiny.
Texas Strong
Sunday 24, Poodie’s Roadhouse
This all-day event in Spicewood fundraises for flood relief for families in the Big Sandy Creek area. Performers include Brandon Alan, Guy Forsyth, Kevin Russell of Shinyribs, and West Texas Exiles.
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 August 22 • 2025.