Looking for the best shows happening in Austin this week? Check out the Chronicle music team’s handpicked “Crucial Concerts” below or in the paper every Thursday. And for our complete listings of upcoming live music events around town, head to Chron Events.

Meanwhile Turns 3

Meanwhile Brewing Co., Thursday 2 – Sunday 5

At 3, toddling businesses boast significant strides: They're walking, out of nappies, and vehicular (tricycle Uber). In those same 36 months, Meanwhile Brewing built an electric car. Missing only from the South Austin brewery's award-winning setup are hammocks to stay over following an afternoon with fam and friends in their forestry backyard.

Tilted past underage bedtimes, four nights of free concerts realize the promise of their sweet stage. Thursday, Hard Proof (8:30pm) connects vintage scene brass and R&B to its current Latin explosion. Friday, the live music capital's premier soul knockouts Tomar & the FCs (8:30) deliver like Otis Redding at Monterey Pop. Saturday, Black Angels guitarist Christian Bland & the Revelators (8) blow off any residual Levitation steam, Otis the Destroyer (9:15) clears the woods with bar raucousness, and Night Beats (10:30) rides Western psych into the clearing. Sunday, melancholy cowpoke Lady Dan (7:30) and glam country Pelvis Wrestley (8:45) serve hair of the pooch.

"They brew one of the best Pilsners in town," reminds the Chronicle's 2022 Best of Austin Critics Pick!  – Raoul Hernandez

Jonathan Richman feat. Tommy Larkins

Continental Club, Friday 3 – Saturday 4

Jonathan Richman prefigured punk with the snotty, streetwise rock of the Modern Lovers. But by the mid-Seventies, he had abandoned the scuzzy guitars and rebellious lyrics for childlike acoustic ditties like "Here Come the Martian Martians" and "Hey There Little Insect." That's the popular line on Richman, anyway, who Austinites last saw playing the Mohawk with drummer Tommy Larkins in March. But check out the 1978 live version of "Ice Cream Man" sometime. He sings the goofy chorus on repeat for 8 minutes while hecklers demand his old tunes. They breathe an audible sigh of relief when Richman finally announces "the next song" ... psych! "One more time! Ice cream mannnnnn." Nobody has ever been more punk.  – Julian Towers

Stolen Base Records Release

Wishing Well Field, Saturday 4

North Texas may have the World Series this year, but in Central Texas, sandlot's at the plate. Lockhart players celebrate their new field at Two Wishes Ranch, designed in partnership with the Long Time's Jack Sanders. The Austin-neighboring city's two DIY teams (Meat City Smoke and the Lockhart Hawks) enlist their lineup of creatives and musicians to launch Stolen Base Records and the 10-track album Sandlot Season One: Lockhart. The release show loads the bases with RF Shannon's atmospheric Texas songwriting, and slides in performances from Jonathan Ray Case, Kelly Dugan, Taylor Mowrey Burge, and a Swayzeyi DJ set. – Doug Freeman

AFROTECH feat. Rick Ross, Saweetie

Republic Square Park & ACL Live at the Moody Theater, Saturday 4

Blavity, Inc.'s gathering of Black tech innovators descends upon Austin for a second consecutive year. During a star-studded Saturday, from noon to 8pm at Republic Square, Maybach Music Group founder Rick Ross headlines a daytime lineup also sporting flossy MC Saweetie ("Best Friend"), DJ Spinderella, and Riders Against the Storm. Later that night at ACL Live, Jadakiss of the LOX punctuates the proceedings. Conference attendees must either purchase an all-access ticket ($2,450) or purchase a music pass in addition to general admission ($775) to access the conference's three official concerts.  – Derek Udensi

Mudhoney, Hooveriii

Antone's Nightclub, Sunday 5

If you know Nirvana and Soundgarden as poster groups for early Nineties grunge rock, count neck-breaking sludge quartet Mudhoney as the movement's less-well-known founding member. Early signees of influential Seattle-born label Sub Pop, the garage punk pioneers land in Austin to celebrate the 35th anniversary of debut Superfuzz Bigmuff. Boasting primal growls on "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" and slacker sing-alongs like "Touch Me I'm Sick," the 1988 collection writhes with pure thrashing angst – or, as their Bandcamp brags, "Anthems that fucked up a generation." L.A.-based psych-kraut experimenters Hooveriii, of Levitation fest's auxiliary label the Reverberation Appreciation Society, add additional fuzz.  – Genevieve Wood

Diego Rivera Presents Indigenous

Parker Jazz Club, Tuesday 7

Director of Jazz Studies and the UT Jazz Orchestra, Diego Rivera had a long-running solo career and a growing reputation prior to his arrival. His most recent album before settling in Austin, 2021's Indigenous is more than just another bop record – it's considered his masterpiece. Taking a musical trip around the world, Rivera explores what it means to be indigenous in this multicultural, interconnected universe with freewheeling joy, rather than scholarly intent. Though he recorded the album with other young guns like pianist Helen Sung, Rivera taps members of the local scene to bring the album to life at Parker.  – Michael Toland

Terence Blanchard

McCullough Theater, Thursday 9

Based on a memoir by journalist Charles M. Blow, jazz trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones became the first opera by a Black composer to debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Though its themes of African American empowerment and some raw language ruffled the usual conservative feathers, the cast recording also won the Grammy for Best Opera Recording this year. For this Austin show, Blanchard, his band the E-Collective, the Turtle Island String Quartet, and singers Nicholas Newton and Adrienne Danrich present excerpts and re-worked pieces from this much-acclaimed show in a streamlined format to spread the word.  – Michael Toland

Bee Cave BuzzFest

Hill Country Galleria, Thursday 9 – Saturday 11

No coincidence this music, tech, and art installation drives ravers to the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave. Consider the site: where famed Hill Country venue the Backyard once reigned supreme. That's like festing Downtown at Threadgill's old lot. Free, all ages, and 6–10pm on Thu.–Sat., local electro scholars Soundfounder and Butcher Bear curated three days of live digitalism headlined by the Octopus Project's New Wave elan. Thursday: OctoProj, Brainwavve, Choose Hellth. Friday: Ninja Tune signee Machinedrum, drummer/DJ Emski, Blend_Mode. Saturday: Lealani, Graham Reynolds, Alex Dl. Rave on.  – Raoul Hernandez

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Pretty Girls That Rock the Mic

Huston-Tillotson University, Saturday 4

Nubia Emmon's father conceptualized the breast cancer awareness event's first edition in 2012 after his wife's own battle with the disease. Artists at this year's show include Emmon, Cha'keeta B, Nagavalli, and a guest performance from Salih "Dirty Water" Williams.

Fight for Our Future Fest

Parish, Saturday 4

U.S. Rep Greg Casar hosts a matinee raising funds to organize voters across Texas. Local stars A Giant Dog, Gina Chavez, Trouble in the Streets, and DJ Chorizo Funk will perform.

Lil Uzi Vert

Moody Center, Thursday 9

Despite summer chart-topper Pink Tape failing to live up to over two years of hype, there's still plenty in the chamber as the dance-happy Philadelphia rapper embarks on their first post-pandemic tour.