Hot Luck

Thursday 23 - Sunday 26, multiple locations

Memorial Day weekend’s hottest ticket, Hot Luck 2024 promises yet another heady blend of live music and top-shelf eats. Highlights for those coming hungry include exclusive bites from the Taco Mafia at Thursday’s Giddy Up, comfort food from fest founder Aaron Franklin and others at Friday’s Supper Club, cheffy backyard eats at Al Fuego, and a camp-themed brunch at Sunday’s Camp Sunnyside. Those looking to nourish their eardrums can enjoy the spicy sounds of Calexico, Mind Spiders, Big Business, and more. As ever, Hot Luck Fest benefits the Southern Smoke Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping connect service industry workers to health care and relief funds in times of crisis.   – Melanie Haupt

Aaron McDonnell, Croy & the Boys, Kathryn Legendre

Friday 24, The White Horse

Sure, this local White Horse lineup will keep the dance floor moving, but Friday’s bill delivers a master class in Austin’s new breed of honky-tonk heroes. Kathryn Legendre kicks off previewing her highly anticipated sophomore LP that shoots straight through classic Nineties female country with sharp narratives and a powerhouse twang. Croy & the Boys rally the working class asking What Good’s the Medicine? on their 2023 platter, while Aaron McDonnell follows up 2022’s stellar Too Many Days Like Saturday Night, injecting his smooth, low croon like a more countrified Richard Hawley across a string of recent singles.   – Doug Freeman

In Flames, Gatecreeper

Friday 24, Emo’s

Second-largest city after its country’s capital Stockholm, west coast seaport Gothenburg exported melodic death metal three-and-a-half decades ago. Adapting razor melodies off NWOBHM acts, the Swedish triumvirate of At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquility changed the course of metallurgic brutality. Operatic blast furnace Anders Fridén and axe headsman Björn Gelotte still stoke In Flames, which once torched old-school ATX metal vanguard the Back Room, on whose footprint Emo’s now stands. The former venue’s load-bearing pole in front of the stage remains in the latter hall near the smoking exit. Gatecreeper’s Arizonan death metal will require exactly such reinforcement for current cataclysm Dark Superstition. Denton’s Creeping Death opens.   – Raoul Hernandez

Big Texas Metal Fest

Friday 24 - Sunday 26, Far Out Lounge

Chaos in Tejas, Housecore Horror, and Austin Terror Fest live on in local metal lore, so Big Texas Metal Fest now stomps and snorts into the ring. Like last month’s Austin Death Fest at Mohawk, this three-day debut stirs the void of a heavy music capital historically trailing San Antonio in metallic worship yet second to none in extremity sophistication. Hatebreed headlines a metalcore tempest by marking 30 years of thrash/punk/death pits. Friday also marquees Power Trip nucleus Fugitive and excoriating ATX heroes Portrayal of Guilt. On Saturday, Californians Atreyu notch almost as many years and cap like-minded hammers including Austin’s At All Cost and Paleface all the way from Zurich.   – Raoul Hernandez

Seth James & Kelley Mickwee

Saturday 25, Continental Club

Don’t underestimate Seth James. The songwriter steps onstage like an unassuming guitar cowboy but unloads an absolutely grooving mix of Texas honky-tonk, Memphis rockin’ soul, and New Orleans funk. This year’s fourth LP Lessons aptly digs deep cuts from Delbert McClinton’s catalog, homage from the student to the master, but James’ horn-blasted, keyboard-licked romps kick swampy-rocking goodness somewhere between Little Feat and Shinyribs. “River Girl” Kelley Mickwee follows with some of the richest vocals in Central Texas and new songs from Everything Beautiful, her first album in a decade expected later this summer.   – Doug Freeman

Taking Back Sunday

Saturday 25, Stubb’s

Pop-emo pioneers Taking Back Sunday have been on the road consistently for the past five years, but October marked the first time since 2016 that they are touring behind new music. Eighth studio album 152 showcases a melange of sensibilities honed over the outfit’s quarter-decade, showing a band still finding fresh angles and sounds. But don’t worry, elder emos: The set lists behind this tour are still chock-full of the early-Aughts hits that made them mix CD mainstays.   – Abby Johnston

Warpaint

Sunday 26, Mohawk

On 2022’s Radiate Like This, their first album in six years, Los Angeles indie rockers Warpaint pick up like no time has passed. Though the LP’s less upbeat than poppy predecessor Heads Up, in between airy keys and Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, and Jenny Lee Lindberg’s cooing harmonies, the quartet’s art rock still grooves. Stella Mozgawa’s disco beats drive opener “Champion,” “Hips” snarls with heavy tremolo, and “Stevie” conjures one of many sing-along choruses. Pretty and introspective – but by no means easy listening – for two decades now, the artists’ party trick prevails. Sego opens with fuzzier, though still delicate, slacker rock.   – Carys Anderson

Goblin Live: Dawn of the Dead

Monday 27, Paramount Theatre

Austin is the reason that the mighty Goblin started touring the U.S. It was the late Corey Mitchell, founder of the Housecore Horror Film Festival, who first lured the band who scored so many Italian horror classics to cross the Atlantic. Now multitudinous iterations of the masters of gore are fixtures in theatres and cinemas. This time, founding keyboardist Claudio Simonetti brings his version of the soundtrack sorcerers to perform one of their greatest works at a special 45th anniversary screening of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.   – Richard Whittaker

Paul Glasse/Mitch Watkins Quartet

Wednesday 29, Monks Jazz Club

The musical partnership between mandolinist Paul Glasse and guitarist Mitch Watkins has lasted more than 30 years and weathered a ton of extracurricular activity, from tours with Leonard Cohen and Lyle Lovett (Watkins) to appearances with jazz bass hero Gene Razey and shows at the Kennedy Center (Glasse). But the pair’s uncanny chemistry holds true no matter how much time apart they spend, deftly putting a Lone Star twist on the expert blend of jazz and bluegrass known as “newgrass.” Accompanied by versatile bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Mike Gordon, the duo brings the heat. Sponsored by the Austin Jazz Society.   – Michael Toland

Theo Lawrence, Hill Country Two Step, Stereo Hum

Wednesday 29, Sagebrush

Whether you’re a seasoned two-stepper or a twirl-curious novice, the twinkling West Texas-inspired lights of Sagebrush serve as the perfect backdrop to sharpen your dance-floor skills. Wednesday night’s Hill Country Two Step lesson is tailored toward intermediate dancers, but the group accommodates all skill levels. Spin and twirl to the dreamy honky-tonk stylings of Theo Lawrence, the Paris-born country crooner now residing in Austin. The show serves as a send-off for the pedal-steel expatriate, who embarks on a five-month American tour (including an ACL Fest appearance) in June.   – Genevieve Wood

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Concert for Democracy

Friday 24, Radio/East

Los Super Seven headlines a benefit for Texas Turnout’s non-partisan efforts toward increasing youth voter participation in the Rio Grande Valley.

Feid

Saturday 25, Moody Center

The Medellín, Colombia reggaeton star returns to Austin a year after blazing Billboard’s THE STAGE South by Southwest 2023 showcase at Moody Amphitheater. Feid released a collaborative EP with Yandel last month titled MANIFESTING 20-05.

Latinapalooza

Sunday 26, Rosewood Park

Patricia Vonne, founder of Latinapalooza, puts together another edition of her all-woman showcase highlighting Texas-based Latina/Hispanic artists after hosting two versions of the event during this year’s South by Southwest. As a result of support from the city of Austin’s Cultural Arts Division and Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, this marks a rare instance in which Latinapalooza will be hosted outside SXSW. Performers include sisterly trio the Tiarras, Selena tribute act Bidi Bidi Banda, and Vonne herself. Admission to the Eastside bash on Memorial Day Weekend is free.

Madison Beer

Tuesday 28, Stubb’s

Beer first achieved virality at a young age by posting covers to YouTube, with a rendition of Etta James’ “At Last” notably catching Justin Bieber’s attention in 2012. She tours in support of 2023 pop album Silence Between Songs.

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