The Austin Chronicle Presents: Free Press Forever With Madam Radar

Thursday 27, the Chronpound

So it goes: Newspapers and alt-weeklies and circulars and all other types of print media continue to dwindle as big business gobbles them up, spits ’em out, and moves on to whatever new toy the other kids are playing with. We here at ye olde Austin Chronicle think this stinks! And we’re doing a li’l somethin’ somethin’ about it. Free Press Forever, kicking off this Thursday, is a mini music series/donor drive held once a month in our new offices’ courtyard. To get on the invite-only list, donate $5, $10, or any dollar amount and you’ll be entered to win passes for upcoming Free Press Forever shows – featuring hot local music acts, complimentary bevvies, rotating food options, giveaways, and more. While this Thursday’s show is full up, keep an eye on austinchronicle.com/support for future chances to help keep Austin print-positive.   – James Scott

Pershing Presents: Mélat

Friday 28, Pershing Hall

When Ethio-soul songstress Mélat released her most ethereal offering to date, last year’s Canon Metis: Wiser Than Gods and Mortal Men, there was no question that she was about to be an artist in demand. With lead single “The Now (Sweet Love No.9),” she channeled classic soprano icons such as Minnie Riperton and Amel Larrieux (for the lovers of lesser-known neo-soul out there). As with the soaring soprano whistle of the crowd favorite, Mélat has risen in notoriety, moving ever closer to the pantheon of Austin’s musical legends. With her solo show at Pershing Hall, she proudly represents her Eritrean heritage, her bold vulnerability, and proclaims that she belongs here.   – Cy White

Say Anything

Friday 28, Stubb’s

Prepare to sing your lungs out, you aging emo kids: Say Anything is a real band again. Max Bemis packed away his sardonic-romantic, Queen-loving, indie-pop-punk experimenters in 2018 after Oliver Appropriate, a quasi-sequel to 2004’s breakout ...Is a Real Boy. Out of nowhere, Bemis has got back together with founding drummer Coby Linder, filled out the roster with a lineup that includes ex-Taking Back Sunday guitarist Fred Mascherino, unleashed a whole new album (the wittily aggressive ...Is Committed) and is bringing the gang to town to wrap up a tour that celebrates 20 years of ...Is a Real Boy.   – Richard Whittaker

Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre Presents: Borderless

Friday 28 & Saturday 29, KMFA Classical 89.5

Dance doesn’t have to be stuffy or restrictive. Movement is a world language, and Borderless is here to remind us of that fact. With a scant two nights of performances, you can experience music, theatre, and dance from a multicultural crew of collaborators. Local talents Anuradha Naimpally, Luis Ordaz Gutiérrez, Jun “Sunny” Shen, and Ciceley Fullylove each created works designed to break choreography barriers. Accompanied by live music composed by members of Frederico7 y Los Primes and Son y No Son, Borderless stands as a testament to the limitless power of stories.   – Cat McCarrey

Might Be Magic Presents: Magda

Saturday 29, the Oven

Before the stars of techno’s new guard were the model-gorgeous women pummeling dance floors with testosterone-raising sets, there was tastemaking young Magda, a Polish-born Richie Hawtin protégée. After cutting her teeth on Detroit-area parties, she made her penchant for dark tracks and unusual sound design known, unspooling basslines at a (comparatively) languid stroll’s pace, always embracing electro and funk in her DJ sets. Chafed at being pegged to a sound called “minimal,” she defined the early Aughts instead through Items & Things, a label run alongside Troy Pierce and Marc Houle. As producer Blotter Trax, with T.B. Arthur, she continues.   – Christina Garcia

TOPAZ’s Cosmic Opera

Saturday 29, ROMA

Golden Dawn Arkestra mastermind Topaz McGarrigle is all about creating immersive musical experiences, so taking over the classy new downtown dance club ROMA to debut his solo EP The Gift promises a provocatively intoxicating evening. The newly released four-song set mixes a slab of suave sax, heavy beats, and sweaty dance floor grooves, anchored by the “Cosmic Opera” trilogy of music videos directed by Ben Blanchard that sets the music into a retro Eighties world of Euro high-fashion glam and Dionysian revel. Special guests include Nnedi Agbaroji, Austin Strings, DJ Juan Lo, Cirque Noir, and more.   – Doug Freeman

Bat City Black Metal Fest

Saturday 29, Far Out Lounge

Austin racks 10 black metal projects? Triple that, but this corrosive sampling seethes top to bottom. Nocturnal Onslaught dropped malevolent incantation EP Invoking Legion this month, while blackened speed metallers Sadistic Force hammered out April cassette Iron Rite. Rabid scene vets Vacha torch mind palaces and Orodrim majestically taps a similar OG polar freeze. Brüka flays, Throat Piss burns, and Varenth’s hypothermic Valentine’s Day EP The Unsilent Winterdark opens on a seven-minute withering whose title once passed through Jacqueline Bisset’s lips in summertime Jaws sequel The Deep, “Ora Pro Nobis” – pray for us!   – Raoul Hernandez

SEC Celebration

Sunday 30, University of Texas campus

UT-Austin celebrates the Longhorns’ highly anticipated move to the Southeastern Conference with an exciting all-day slate of free festivities across the Forty Acres. Entertainment includes a Ferris wheel, activities at select university establishments such as the Blanton Museum of Art, a first chance to purchase SEC co-branded UT-Austin merchandise, and live music. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey spearheads a welcoming ceremony for UT at the UT Tower followed by fireworks and a closing performance from Pitbull. And in a true sign of the forthcoming times, SEC Network broadcasts live coverage from the Main Mall. Longhorn Network relaunches as a free streaming service on July 1.   – Derek Udensi

Sunday Punk Matinee: Dropped Out, Nothing Lost, Hoaxxers, Charlie Dog

Sunday 30, Kick Butt Coffee

Sunday-afternoon punk-rock matinees are a clubland tradition since CBGB instituted their Hardcore Matinee series in the early Eighties. The late, lamented Parlor did ’em one better, throwing daylight-hours punk shows Saturday and Sunday on the edge of Hyde Park. Kick Butt Coffee – now Austin’s firmly established home of all things aggressively guitared, attitude-drenched, and hypercaffeinated – picks up the mantle with this siesta-time pop-punk showcase headlined by local heroes Dropped Out, similarly minded San Antonio threepiece Nothing Lost, and locals the Hoaxxers and Charlie Dog.   – Tim Stegall

Jerry Espinoza’s Sunnyside Trio

Tuesday 2, Monks Jazz

The classic jazz quintet – sax, trumpet, piano, bass, drums – remains cemented in the mind of the wider world, and for good reason. But there’s nothing like a good chordless jazz trio. As pioneered by the peerless Sonny Rollins, the setup of a lone instrument incapable of chords over a traditional rhythm section features its arbiters working without a net, the lead player solely responsible for melodic development and unconstrained by harmonic structure. Veteran CenTex saxophonist Jerry Espinoza, joined by bassist Liam Odell and drummer Joshua Berry, builds on the foundation Rollins planted, folding modern noise into the sound of freedom.   – Michael Toland

Let Freedom Sing

Thursday 4, Volstead Lounge

Are you looking for an excuse – and we mean any excuse – to climb onstage and sing your heart out for a crowd of strangers? Look no further. This Independence Day, Volstead Lounge invites you to celebrate the freedom to sing whatever you want, whenever you want (as long as it’s between the hours of 9pm and 1am). Let the grand ol’ flag handle the stripes while you and your personal Rat Pack provide the stars.   – Jasmine Lane

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Music Notes

by Derek Udensi

Songs in the Key of Lyricism

Friday 28, Antone’s

This month’s Songs in the Key of Us series wraps up with performances from top-tier local MCs Mike Melinoe and Mama Duke. San Antonio rapper Naalah also stops by.

Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Festival

Saturday 29 - Sunday 30, Circuit of the Americas

The omnipresent soda brand’s summertime music festival relocates from the Moody Amphitheater and expands to two days for its second edition. This year’s event is a ticketed affair, which marks a notable change from last year’s free offering for those who wisely reserved admission via Coke Studio. Country artists Kelsea Ballerini (day one) and Jon Pardi (day two) headline. Other performers include Devon Gilfillian and Maren Morris on days one and two, respectively. General admission tickets start at $25 for a one-day pass and $45 for a two-day package.

Destroyer of Light

Saturday 29, the Lost Well

Local metal staple plays its farewell show. Vinyls of the band’s final LP, Degradation Years, will be available for concertgoers. Eagle Claw and Duel support.

Hailey Orion

Wednesday 3, Austin Proper Hotel

Thoughtful, unabashedly open pop singer returns home on the heels of her latest single, “Liar.”

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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.