Not going to Austin City Limits Music Festival? FREE/low cost parties/events for Oct 3rd - 6th

Every year I struggle with the idea that Austin gets taken over by an influx of folks who are heading out to Zilker Park for the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival.  Traffic is a headache, all of the local coffee shops and restaurants are overcrowded, Barton Springs Road is a nightmare and closed, the taxi cabs are completely inconsiderate, all of my friends coming in from out of town want to stay with me, there are a ton more people on bicycles and on foot in the heart of the city, etc etc. Don't get me wrong the festival and the festival goers add fantastic revenue to our city, local shops, restaurants, and stores - specifically last year the city pocketed $102 million dollars! Now, this year C3 decided to have TWO weekends, of the same lineup, so you can imagine how stoked the City of Austin must feel to benefit TWICE the amount of revenue and perks of having the festival in the heart of Austin. I get it! I GET IT! People love Austin and people love music.

If you are like me I try avoiding Central Austin and Zilker Park area whenever ACL comes around. In the past I used to be a part of the chaos, but since ticket pricing has gone up & the demand for everyone to squeeze into our beloved Zilker Park all for the same bands I love just seemed way too much for me. Since 2010 I have explored what other events and parties take place in the other local spots, sometimes away from the chaos near Barton Springs Rd, have fun events and things going on the same weekend everyone else is in town. Here is my list of things to get into if you are a local and not working but want to get out into the city and support the local scene and do thangs.

Thursday Oct 3rd
Holy Mountain and Red 7 (both right next to one another) will be hosting the Knuckle Rumbler Art Disaster No. 16.  This event happens every year to kick off the ACL Music Fest. They are 'unofficial' ACL fest but shit, they been doing it since I can remember (they even host SXSW shows too).

9pm - 2am

Bands slated to play include locals
The Black and White Years (they just did a set after Tegan & Sara a few weeks ago at Stubb's)
Driver Friendly (they will be opening up for Motion City Soundtrack in November at Emos)
Night Drive 
Gobi 
Totally Consensual (Dj's) (KOOP dj's mixing up on mixing tables!)
Good Field
Politics (these are cool kids, man!)
Multi-Tracker
Magna Carda
Apollo Zeigiest (I have been following this guy on Twitter for years! he's a great philanthropist)
Looshuss
$5 at the door and $3 if you RSVP here.

Queens of the Stone Age will be performing at The Moody Theater for an Austin City Limits taping!

Boy oh boy if you can get into this please let me know how it goes. I will try my luck as soon as ACL puts up a link to try for free tickets to this taping. Go here and watch for the link to be posted up sometime around 9/26-9/30.

Friday, Oct 4th
KUTX is holding a Live at the Four Seasons session - which tend to be much lower key and affordable too! 
$10 bring your blanket and/or chairs to post up at the hotel's lawn with your taco & coffee (included in admission)

9am - 1pm
Court Yard Hounds (2/3rds of Dixie Chicks) go on at 9:30am
Austin's own White Denim goes off at 10:30am
Local Natives performs an hour after at 11:30am
and Austin locals Okkervil River plays at 12:30pm
All sets are 20-30 minutes long

Quantic DJ Tour will be happening at Empire Control Room (I was a stage manager at this venue the last 2 years for SXSW). 
FREE admission before midnight ($5 after) with DJ sets from
Oro11
local Peligrosa mastermind DJ Orion
another local Peligrosa mastermind Manolo Black
RSVP here and support some bad ass la raza dj's


Also this is happening at The Scoot Inn- What Kind of Bird Are You? - a Wes Anderson costume party hosted by Foxing Quarterly (local print-only arts journal published in ATX)
6pm - 2am
$5 with costume / $10 without

 

local acts include

Grace Park & The Deers 

Old Potion
Linen Closet
Alex Napping
& Milezo & The Noize

Saturday Oct 5th
MTV, CMT, VH1 , & MTV2 are throwing a shindig (and pairing up with Pizza Hut) called Discover Great that is taking place at the American Legion Building @ 404 Atlanta Street (next to the old RunTex off of Lake Austin Blvd).

10pm - 2am
Promised performances and appearances will include
Walk the Moon

Nabiha (Danish Music Award's new Female Artist of the Year)

Striking Matches (has 3 songs on CMT's "Nashville"show)
DJ Set by Penguin Prison too!

RSVP here before everyone and their momma RSVP and crashes the link. (You can also RSVP for one other so you ain't going alone.)

ALSO
DITCH THE FEST is back again with Ditch the Fest # 4 AND 5!
October 5th is Ditch The Fest #4 / October 12th is Ditch the Fest #5 @ The Scoot Inn

Local bands and local art for $5!

More events and shows to come as we round out the end of September.  I will post and update this post as I hear about those events and things happening around ACL time.

Free music this weekend in Austin: Summer Solstice 6/21 & 6/22

Here are some shows/artists I will be catching this coming week in Austin.  (most of them are free or cheap).  Get your ass out there and support.

Friday, June 21st
-  Local Austinites Warren Hood will be performing at 5pm at Waterloo Records.  FREE SHINER, YA'LL! As soon as you walk in go get in line, bring some cash to tip the fella who will be pouring your beer, and grab your drink and head to the front of the G-K area of music (near the stage).

-  There are always in-stores at Trailer Space Records.  Tonight's include pan pan and Rigid beginning at 7pm. Grab a beer from the convienence store down the street and even a slice from Eastside Pies and go back to Trailer Space for local music.

-  Today is one of the longest days in the year which means Summer Solstice is upon us.  Minor Mishap Marching Band will be leading a parade up and down Lady Bird Lake. Make a lantern on site and take it along with you!  Take a look at the map of the route.Get there by 8:00pm.  Step-off for parade begins at 8:30pm right off of Robert E. Lee Road and Barton Springs Rd.  There will be 3 performance stops for you to shake, dance, and celebrate that summer has arrived. 

-  The Blackheart has free music tonight with Chris Catalena & The Native Americans, The Sour Notes, Leah Nobel.  Park on the eastside of IH35 (its free there and no hassling on Rainey Street) and walk down to The Blackheart.

Chris Catalena & The Native Americans:

 

The Sour Notes:
(these guys are slated to play the RedBull Sound Select show with The Dandy Warhols & Theophilus London on July 27th)

 Saturday, June 22nd

-  Head back to Trailer Space Records to see White Broncho & Kevin Fitzsimmons beginning at 7pm.  Take your own beer and, again, hit up Eastside Pies.

-  Scoot Inn is hosting The Austin Chronicle's Cookout bbq and backyard style hip-hop show.  Check out some local hip-hop artists and groups that will be performing all day beginning at 4pm and going until midnight.  This is free and expect a huge crowd and lines right around night fall. Doors are at 4pm. 

Line up includes:
Magna Carda @ 5-6PM

KB the Boo Bonic @ 6-7PM

Krypol Haze @ 7-8PM

Phranchyze @ 8-9PM

10YR @ 9-10PM

Kydd @10-11PM

The League of Extraordinary G'z @11PM

Sunday, June 23rd

-  Shivery Shakes want to make a record and BUTTAH you up with kiddie pools, drinks, and compliments (no, seriously, they want you there).  Bring cash and come support their Kickstarter Kickoff Party to be able to fund their efforts in finding monies to make an album!   Starts at 7pm. Cash bar donations for beer and cocktails will be provided. Hey, it's a fund-their-album party - drink for a local band and make your drunkenness on a Sunday night well worth it.  Shivery Shakes will play at 8pm. 

See you out there!

SXSW 2013 - FREE SHOWS - The Flaming Lips, Jim James, & the Divine Fits

As soon as this flyer came out around December and was posted on the Dwelling Space twitter page, I KNEW that The Flaming Lips would be here for SXSW this year. SXSW made it official today via their website: 

"We are excited to announce that the one and only Flaming Lips will mark their return to SXSW by playing the Town Lake Stage at Auditorium Shores on Friday, March 15. The band has delivered some of the most notable performances in SXSW history, including 1997's Parking Lot Experiment and 2006's secret shows. The Flaming Lips 13th studio album entitled The Terror, will be released on April 2nd through Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by the band's long-time collaborator Dave Fridmann and The Flaming Lips at Tarbox Road Studios. It's comprised of nine original compositions that reflect a darker-hued spectrum than previous works.
Also on the bill are Jim James and Divine Fits. Jim is the lead singer and guitarist of Louisville's My Morning Jacket, and recently released his first solo record Regions of Light and Sound of God on ATO Records. Divine Fits released their debut record A Thing Called Divine Fits on Merge Records last year and will be playing the Coachella, Sasquatch and Governors Ball festivals in the coming months.
Shows at Auditorium Shores are FREE and open to the public. Gates open at 3:30 pm. See you there!"

Picture of The Flaming Lips show in San Antonio in 2007.

SXSW 2013 / 3 weeks out & a look at the Texas acts/bands chosen for official SXSW showcases

SXSW is 3 weeks away folks! Are you ready?  Have you taken a look at the list of bands coming into town?  I have and I have been keeping a ridiculous long list of what bands sound like, where they are from, where they are performing, and who I can manage to see on my days off.  It's quite extensive and I will share it with you soon.

I have also been congratulating bands on being selected to play this years official SXSW showcases in person at their shows, on Facebook, Twitter, through blogs, etc.  A total of 87 local bands/acts were chosen this year to represent Texas music.  Here is a list of them all ---

Agent Ribbons (Austin, Tx)
Alpha Rev
American Sharks
Big Sid
Scott H. Biram
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Brazos
Catright
Christeene
John Wesley Coleman
Complete
Crew 54
DeLorean
Dignan
DJ Grip
Dubb Sicks
Dustin-Prestige
The Eastern Sea
Carrie Elkin
Dana Falconberry
Fat Tony
Feathers
Felo
Guy Forsyth
Frontier Live
Gashcat
The Golden Boys
Good Field
The Gourds
Grooveline Horns
GT Garza
Halaska
Danny B. Harvey
Hello Caller
Dante Higgins
Erin Ivey
Ruby Jane
Karma Jonze
Kab
Cory Kendrix
K.O. Boyz
Kool and Together
La Migra
Los Coronelas
Kay Leotard
Les RAV
Jeff Lofton
Los Lonely Boys
Midlake
Missions
Mobbin No Sobbin
Hudson Moore
Mother Falcon
The Nice Guys
nosaprise
Not In The Face
OMG & Shockwave
Onehunndit
Propain
Rai P
(RAS) Riders Against the Storm
The Rite Flyers
Salesman
The Seaside Swifts
Sertified
Sick/Sea
Sleep Good
Frank Smith
Snow Tha Product
Sore Losers
Speak
SubKulture Patriots
S U R V I V E
T Bird and The Breaks
Travi$ Scott
24-7
Ume
UZOY
The Wealthy West
The Wheeler Brothers
Wild Child
Roosh Williams
Worldwide
Young Nick
Yung Quis
Zeale
Zorch


This year official SXSW showcases begin with a soft opening (industry term for 'preview' or a kick-off) on Tuesday, March 12th.  Many venues are kicking off music a night early like The Blackheart, Valhalla, Friends, Barcelona, The Main (old Emos), The Belmont, Metal & Lace (old Headhunters), The Saxon, The Parish, etc etc.  These venues are hosting official SXSW showcases a day early for folks who are in town already for the SXSW Film & Interactive portion of the festival.

The full schedule of bands and set times/venues are live now but will be completely rolled out come the end of this week.  Take a looksee here.