White Weddings, Rock & Roll, and More Crucial Concerts
Dungeon crawling, avant sax, and other amplified options for the week
By Carys Anderson, Derek Udensi, Catalina Perez, Doug Freeman, James Scott, Raoul Hernandez, Joe Gross, Genevieve Wood, Catalina Perez, Michael Toland, Maggie Quinlan, Abby Johnston, Cat McCarrey, and Caroline Drew, Fri., May 2, 2025
Texas Dungeon Siege
Thursday 1 - Sunday 4, Elysium and Tiny Minotaur Tavern
Hark all ye rogues and wenches, the Texas Dungeon Siege is upon us! The finest medieval musicians from across the land gather for four nights of merriment. What makes this music medieval, you ask? Take a look at these names. Oregon’s Grim Father and New York’s Earthen Shield shall join local bands Thronos, Goblet Grotto, Skullbasher, and more for an audible feast. Delight in hypnotic synths to guide you through the enchanted forest, indie pop for practicing your tavern jig, and thrashing metal to soundtrack your duels. Escape our mortal coil for one of war and whimsy at Tiny Minotaur and Elysium. – Caroline Drew
Kaleidoscope
Thursday 1 - Saturday 3, KMFA
Each turn of a kaleidoscope reveals a new world – new amalgamations of shape and color. It’s an appropriate description for Ventana Ballet and Austin Camerata’s annual spring showcase, a performance that changes in music and choreography without losing luster. The jewels of performance just shift into a new configuration: still bright, still entrancing. This electric world of dance and chamber music is made even more magnificent with free signature cocktails. Now in its third iteration, Kaleidoscope promises shifting artistic fancy, so close you can practically touch the performers (but you know, definitely don’t do that). – Cat McCarrey
Almost Famous: A Soundtrack Party
Thursday 1, Hotel Vegas
It’s movie night at Hotel Vegas! Set up for a triple feature – or, really, three 30-minute sets – of local bands’ takes on film soundtracks. Skateland’s bedroom pop sensibilities set him up to tackle the Eighties glitz of the Top Gun (think Berlin, but also Kenny Loggins). Daphne Tunes has an embarrassment of riches with Royal Tenenbaums: Nico, Elliott Smith, and the Ramones make appearances, alongside earworm film originals from the GOAT Mark Mothersbaugh that they could apply their sunny, melodic guitar work to. Important Group, featuring some friends from Being Dead, take on the Seventies rock of Guardians of the Galaxy, with the chance to interpret both Redbone and David Bowie. Get your popcorn ready. – Abby Johnston
Fiesta del Alma
Friday 2, Antone’s Nightclub
It’s not every day a preschool hosts a 21+ event at Antone’s featuring the Indigo Girls, but the seemingly impossible will be made possible this Friday. The benefit concert supports the beloved Spanish language immersion daycare Escuelita del Alma as it prepares to move locations because TxDOT’s I-35 expansion requires blowing up the existing location. Funds raised will also go toward a new scholarship fund. The night ends with music from the Indigo Girls, Alejandro Escovedo, Gina Chavez, and Donna. [Editor’s note: This event has sold out, but the silent auction & raffle is open to non-ticketholders.] – Maggie Quinlan
Colin Stetson
Friday 2, Parish
There’s genre-agnostic, and then there’s genre-defiant. Maverick saxophonist and composer Colin Stetson makes music that eschews boundaries, whether working as a sideperson to folks like Lou Reed, Bon Iver, and Arcade Fire, or reimagining Polish composer Henryk Górecki’s challenging Symphony No. 3. He advanced his own name writing haunting scores to left-of-center films and TV shows like Hereditary, The Menu, Uzumaki, and Color Out of Space – all of which feed into last year’s The love it took to leave you, a two-disc magnum opus of emotional atmosphere. God knows how it works live, but it’ll definitely be worth finding out. – Michael Toland
Keep Austin Loud Fest
Friday 2 - Saturday 3, The Far Out Lounge
Got festival fever but can’t wait months until ACL comes around? Keep Austin Loud Fest might just bring you some relief. The two-night event at the Far Out Lounge is set to showcase 10+ local acts and host a pop-up market by Austin Artisan Market. Night one headliner Mikky & the Doom exudes unabashed lyricism and a raw, chaotic essence, while Saturday’s NSFWHO? packs a punch with belting vocals and dexterous guitar riffs galore. – Catalina Perez
Ky Newman, atlgrandma, and Frost Children
Friday 2, Empire Garage
As a producer of the ultra-popular Emergency Intercom podcast, Ky Newman usually works behind the scenes, but the DJ-focused Oddly Satisfying road show puts the online darling in the spotlight. The content creator’s sets scratch the slightly brainrotted itch inside us all: a recent mash-up mixed Ice Spice’s “Deli” with the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979.” Co-produced by indie curator Cristina Mauri (aka Moonbby Presents), the bill features additional sets from left field pop favorites atlgrandma and Frost Children. – Genevieve Wood
Ministry
Friday 2, Emo’s
On the 2025 album unfortunately called The Squirrely Years Revisited, Ministry main man Al Jourgensen has gone back to the synth-duo New Wave of the band’s earliest records, With Sympathy and Twitch, and pulled a Taylor Swift: He’s remade some of the tracks in the industrial-metal style that made the band famous. The result is a very odd mix of that to which you danced with angular hair in 1985 and that to which you moshed in 1995. Apparently, goths of a certain age WILL dance to anything. With fellow old-school EBM purveyors Nitzer Ebb and Die Krupps. – Joe Gross
Austin Record Convention
Friday 2 - Sunday 4, Palmer Events Center
“It’s insane. It’s blown away our biggest show record by like 40%. So many vendors I’ve filled most of Hall 2, as well as Hall 1 as usual.” That’s Nathan Hanners, Austin Record Convention scion. Imagine all the record stores of your life in one giant expanse, and that approaches this four-decade wellspring of records, tapes, CDs, shirts, posters, books – everything. And for the first time in decades, live music accompanies Saturday/Sunday via ATX nonprofit Spaceflight Records: Sword bassist Bryan Richie’s solo project Galactic Protector, MC extraordinaire Anastasia Hera, indie pop phenom S.L. Houser, Antone’s Records owners Eve Monsees and Mike Buck, and more. Exclusive early shopping Friday. – Raoul Hernandez
Austin Beerworks 14th Anniversary Party
Saturday 3, ABW CAN-tina
Ever gone to an event’s open bar and immediately forgotten a cool suave drink to order? Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap was there for you: a memorable name with a taste that never disappoints. Return the favor by hitting up the brewery on its 14th birthday, where bands like Full Phonetic, the Regulars, and Kev Bev & the Woodland Creatures play while ABW releases new beer, offers tattoos by Sad Foo, and serves foodie fun by Zee Weiner System and the CAN-tina. – James Scott
Momma
Sunday 4, Mohawk
With a soaring guitar hook, sweetly sung dual vocals, and a cheeky lyrical Pavement reference, 2022 single “Speeding 72” successfully made Momma a Household Name – in indie rock circles, at least. Using the Nineties alt-rock boom as both a sonic influence and a career mantra, core duo Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten successfully willed themselves into rock stars, the kind who both headline their own tours and play support for big names like Weezer. Last month’s Welcome to My Blue Sky follows it up with more hooks and distortion, but also new electronic textures and more vulnerable lyrics. Alt-country artist Brennan Wedl and local power poppers On Being an Angel open. Read our interview with Momma online. – Carys Anderson
Billy Idol and Joan Jett
Sunday 4, Moody Center
Got your rebel yell ready? While Billy Idol may be eligible for a senior discount, that doesn’t mean the former Generation X frontman’s fiery spirit isn’t still burning strong. With the Godmother of Punk Joan Jett in tow, Idol’s “It’s a Nice Day to ... Tour Again” expedition is making a stop in Austin. Having last performed in ATX at Zilker Park for ACL in 2015, the “Eyes Without a Face” singer is opting for a smaller – er, kinda – performance at the Moody Center. – Catalina Perez
Bartees Strange
Monday 5, Parish
Since his 2020 debut LP Live Forever, Bartees Strange has defied genre and expectations, and his new third platter Horror follows form in refusing to be boxed in. The Oklahoma native moves convincingly through a palette ranging from indie rock and funk to R&B and grandiose banger anthems, stylistically torquing a tension as he mines a bedrock of insecurities and traumas. Yet with production from Jack Antonoff, Strange allays the risks of his versatility with an undeniable ability to craft instantly earworming hooks and melodies. Tré Burt’s smooth grooves set the stage to open. – Doug Freeman
Music Notes
by Derek UdensiMIKE
Friday 2, Mohawk
This Brooklyn rapper’s latest album, January’s Showbiz!, contains 24 songs totaling 47 minutes. Tracks come quickly, with MIKE’s heartfelt lyricism shining through in one-verse sprints. Attendees may get a preview of unreleased music; the 27-year-old is set to release Pinball II next Wednesday.
KUTX & Mueller Rock the Park
Friday 2, Mueller Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater
According to KUTX, last month’s Rock the Park marked a new attendance record for the event after roughly 2,000 people jammed out to LP Giobbi. Austin-based rap duo Tribe Mafia punctuates the free event’s spring series.
Murs
Tuesday 6, Antone’s
After a career spanning four different decades, Los Angeles native Murs claims he’s retiring from rap this year. His upcoming collaborative finale with producer Jesse Shatkin, Love & Rockets 3:16 (The Emancipation), is set for a summer release. Local rapper-producer Wiardon produced an EP (speak n spell) for the 47-year-old underground veteran a couple years ago. Minneapolis-cultured rapper Brother Ali headlines.
Matthew Payne
Wednesday 7, Batch Craft Beer + Kolaches
Payne, who taught in Austin high schools for years, uses his Hill Country roots as inspiration for his folky new single “Coyote Howlin Blues.”
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.