Jeff McCord // Host What’s Next
The Third Mind, the Troubadour, 10/3/25
The Third Mind is essentially a 60s era jam band made up of mid-level rockers all with eminently respectable day jobs: singer/songwriters Jesse Sykes and Dave Alvin, Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker bassist Victor Krummenacher, Richard Thompson drummer Michael Jerome, and Counting Crows/Camper guitar slinger David Immerglück. Their insistence on jumping into rock songs without rehearsal and little more than an agreed-upon key make every show of theirs unique.
Sitting through a rather tedious opener at LA’s Troubadour, the Third Mind burst on stage with an instant rush of musical intoxication. I found myself wondering, just like when I saw them previously in Austin, why I liked their show so much. And it hit me. Even a job as wonderful as playing music is still a job. Playing the same shows night after night can become stale. The whole without-a-net approach of the Third Mind, a band that only assembles sporadically for short tours, is a radically different concept. There’s no apparent band leader, no particular agenda. They are playing music purely for the joy of playing music, excited as you are to see what’s coming next. They form a tight circle on stage while watching each other’s hands for cues, and the smiles on their faces as they build each song to ridiculous heights are utterly contagious.
Laurie Gallardo // Host
Hosting Jeff Tweedy in Studio 1A
I was not expecting the opportunity to host a performance by Jeff Tweedy. At all. I knew he was coming to town to perform at The Paramount Theatre, I knew about the phenomenal listening experience that is the triple LP Twilight Override, but that was it. So, because I’m that person in our organization who checks messages far too late, I found out mere days beforehand. And it was sensational. I also knew that Tweedy has a great sense of humor, so even as I nervously stumbled over my words in Studio 1A, live on the air, he took it and ran. Awesome on so many levels.
When he played two songs live, and it was time for me to step out to go back to doing my show, I thanked the entire lovely band and made my way to the door. But as I slipped out, I heard Tweedy say, “Where’s she going?” Could not stop laughing. Jeff Tweedy is a treasure.
Adrian Healy // Host
KUTX Live at Scholz Garten SXSW 2025
Had never been to a Scholz Garten SXSW morning show until this year, and I’m now afraid I’ve missed out on a ton of similar moments. Saturday morning, the last day of the festival, Frankie and the Witch Fingers delivered an absolutely blistering, head-spinning set of psychedelic freak rock, jaw-droppingly on it – at 10 am! Remarkable. And then Anthony Szmierek somehow managed to follow them at 11am with a completely magnetic display of Mancunian gritty MC’ing over a brilliantly tuneful electronic backbeat. A genuine showman and amazing talent. And all of it live on our airwaves.
Jack Anderson // Senior Producer
Starjunk 95 at Levitation
I’m proud of myself for catching Starjunk 95 at a sold-out Levitation Fest night show as part of his inaugural U.S. tour – which has already been superseded by an opening slot ahead of Skrillex, the announcement of his first-ever European tour, and the release of a debut full-length next year. Yeah, this dude is blowing up right now at an insane pace. So even if Kingdom’s 600-person capacity didn’t feel all that intimate, I doubt I’ll have the opportunity to see Starjunk in that “small” of a venue moving forward.
Jake Perlman // Senior Audio Production Engineer
Epiphany: Streaming Audio
I still can have a hard time listening to lossy digital audio, but to my surprise I’ve fully embraced streaming audio at home. I’m not getting ready to ditch my records, or anything, but high-res streaming on the home hi-fi can scratch the same itch as vinyl for me now.
Jay Trachtenberg // Host Sunday Morning Jazz
Attending the Sauti za Busara Music Festival in Zanibar featuring a cross-section of artists from all over the African continent.
Ghanaian superstar Ebo Taylor at Radio East………jazz that grooved upon African rhythms.
Maile Carballo // Graphics Producer
Scoring Oliver Ackermann’s personal business card
Have you ever felt the gravitas of being handed a really nice business card? Like… really nice? Now add in the usual “cool factors”– heavy, psychedelic, and custom to look like a futuristic operating board of sorts. Bet you’re thinking of the World’s Most Badass Business Card now.
Well my friends, it’s real, it is badass, and it’s now one of my prized possessions thanks to meeting Oliver Ackermann (frontman of A Place to Bury Strangers & creator of Death By Audio). God bless those psych rock entrepreneurs!
Marc Fort // Host
TV on the Radio at Levitation
Having seen TV on the Radio’s soulful, art rock live show three times prior (ACL Fest, Theatre at Madison Square Garden, Stubb’s), as soon as the LEVITATION line-up was announced, I knew exactly where I’d be on Sept 27 … as close as I could get to the stage!
The LEVITATION performance of the band’s 2025 “reunion” tour was their first Austin show in 7 years. And the headlining festival set on the band’s hiatus-ending tour (seemingly improbable only months ago) yielded their most rapturous Austin show to-date: ascendant, political, hope-inducing, and dope af.
The audience was hype with die-hard Gen X testifiers — and many new younger converts — who communed in joy as TVOTR blasted through a career-spanning 15-song set. Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe had his vocal chops and charisma knobs set to 11. The band played with tour-mode tightness. And 90 minutes later, apex rock ’n’ roll bliss was achieved by TVOTR. Their music cauldron-bubbled from the myriad influences of their fellow Black American musical trailblazers: from Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Prince, from Little Richard to Arthur Lee. Musical lineage fist-bumped TVOTR’s future legacy. Indisputably, the ancestors were smiling that evening.
Rene Chavez // Engineer
Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol at Levitation
A lot of friends told me about Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol and I finally got to see them at Levitation Fest’s small outdoor stage. I went in not having heard them prior, and I was blown away. The sound is groove-metal with occasional challenging technical timing, Perry Farrell-like head voice vocals, and low-tuned 7 (or 8?) string guitar played aggressively but articulate. Super tight drums and bass. They sound menacing but have quirk, like if Meshuggah gnawed the bones of CKY and wiped its mouth with a Numetal shirt.
The energy was feral, and their insane fans were too; moshing in lock step with the band, pretending to dig a big grave in unison during “Body Bag” with choreographic execution. I was so proud this sound was originating from my city and was reminded that metal lives on, here and everywhere. I couldn’t recommend an RBBP live show more.
Susan Castle // Host
David Byrne @ Bass Concert Hall
Taylor Wallace // Host
Seeing LCD Soundsystem at Red Rocks: as perfect of a night lived as is it on paper
Trina Quinn // Host | Social Media Coordinator
Day One Levitation 2025
Super loud heavy music is so healing right now! Palmer Events Center made for an awesome fest location too — easy and cheap parking, plenty of bathrooms in the A/C, good food trucks, and excellent vibes.
