Austin’s Red River Cultural District comes alive every January for Free Week, a festival where local venues join forces to host local bands with no cover charge. This event brings people out of the woodworks during a week that is historically one of the slowest of the year, driving much-needed business to Austin’s venues, while making sure the bands get paid well.
Free Week started in 2003 at Emo’s former location on 6th and Red River, and has evolved into a city-wide event in the years that followed. In 2025, the event almost wasn’t able to happen due to lack of funding, but thankfully secured a last minute aid package of $150k from the City of Austin.
This year’s Free Week took place January 3rd and 4th, with a few shows on Sunday the 5th. 12 different venues participated, and many other businesses also got involved, including Hoboken Pie offering $2.99 slices at their service window.
This was my first time experiencing Free Week, and I caught shows at Stubb’s, Cheer Up Charlies, Mohawk, and Hotel Vegas. The city was popping, with big crowds on the street and many venues with a line. Here are all the sets I saw in order of when they happened, along with a little about each band. Enjoy!
Friday, January 3rd
Leila Sunier
Leila Sunier’s three-piece band was faced with a chatty crowd to kick off Free Week at Stubb’s, but that didn’t stop them from delivering the goods. Their set was artsy and varied, with Leila herself jumping between keyboards, synth pads, and guitar, building upon minimalist and atmospheric sounds paired with thoughtful lyrics, eventually breaking into a full-blown rock arrangement.
As she sang her 2023 single, “Pink”, with it’s lyrics “Keep saying sorry, I’m not sorry”, Leila gave the crowd a diabolical smile, as if it were planned all along. Later, the band, David J. Edwards (drums) and Peter Legasy (bass) left the stage, and Leila performed a lengthy improvised section, starting slow and eventually giving the boozy crowd the club-ready beat they so desired. Then, the rest of the band returned to finish off the set.
After Leila’s set I floated around a little, stopping for a $2.99 slice at Hoboken Pie. I noticed that Chess Club had a line around the corner, and Mohawk had a line halfway down the street.
Mean Jolene
I wandered into Cheer Up Charlies during the final song of CorMae‘s set, a raucous feminist punk rock band that I wish I’d arrived in time to see.
Mean Jolene was up next, making their return to Cheer Up Charlies for the first time in 6 years. The band features four women at the front, one of whom (bassist Maud Morgan) was pregnant, playing indie rock and power-pop. The songs had a definitive groove to them, powered by driving guitars reminiscent of NYC revival bands like The Strokes, with feminist lyrics that often touched upon the challenges of being a woman, and society’s treatment of them. Mean Jolene has been around since 2015, with two albums under their belt so far and a third one set to be recorded and released in 2025.
Bee & The Hive
There was a girl near me in the crowd who was dancing and jumping around all crazy during Mean Jolene’s set, and I soon discovered that she was Bee from the next band, Bee & The Hive. Bee brought that same energy to the stage, with improvised dancing and interactions with the band as she sang with precision. The Hive was a super tight band, effortlessly moving through quick tempo changes and improvised sections that made for a really entertaining performance. I was skeptical at first, thinking that it might become gimmicky, but it turned out to be a really fun set from a well-rehearsed and talented group of musicians.
Saturday, January 4th
fawn
I arrived at Mohawk near the end of the opener Dottie’s experimental solo set, and it was already packed to the brim. Catching a little bit of the set, but not enough to really understand it (when I say experimental, I really mean it), I found myself a spot to stand where I could sort of see the stage. Dottie hopped off the stage, and right away people were rumbling about this next band, fawn. They were relatively unknown but people had looked them up and were excited to check them out.
When they stepped out on the stage I was immediately impressed. Three guitars out front created a mellow, droning wall of sound that built upon itself with layers of subtle intensity. The vocals were soft and emotional, drawing a contrast that worked with that same subtlety. This ended up being my favorite set for all of Free Week.
Enjoy some photos by Jacob Glombowski via Instagram below.
And here is a video clip that I posted on Extra Chill’s Instagram:
Ringo Death Starr
Ringo Death Starr were the final outdoor band at Mohawk this night, and they were the one act on the bill that most of the audience had heard of prior to this show. This power trio brought a strong performance, with big guitar feedback from Elliott Frazier thanks to the two huge donated Marshall amps on the stage, and all-around fun times.
It also seemed they were feeling nostalgic, as several songs were introduced with anecdotes about how long it has been since they were recorded. Frazier also mentioned their canceled album release tour from 2020, with a hint of wistfulness for things that could have been.
About halfway through the set, drummer Daniel Coborn broke his snare drum, leading to a lengthy pause as the band continued to address the crowd and talk their way through it. With everybody’s patience being tested, the snare finally arrived and Ringo Death Starr launched right back into their set.
Sunday, January 5th
Strange Bangs
While Free Week officially ended on Saturday night, Hotel Vegas also had a free show on Sunday night, and I made it there in time to catch the final act, Strange Bangs. The crowd was weary and partied out, with this set beginning after 11pm, but everybody who remained in the dive bar venue was treated to a great performance. The songwriting was impressive, with a focus on storytelling, creativity, and life’s invisible challenges. Strange Bangs pairs quirky concepts with engaging lyricism that makes for a fun listen.
I found myself reminded of Alvvays, in terms of the vocal delivery and whimsical-yet-upbeat feel of the arrangements. To my pleasant surprise, they closed with a cover of Alvvays’ most popular hit, “Marry Me, Archie,” with Strange Bangs stating that it was one of her favorite artists. It’s always cool to see an artist paying respects to the people who inspired them, and this was a solid way to close out the weekend.
Conclusion
One of the coolest things about Free Week was the pairing of these more popular acts with lesser-known locals. Everybody gets to play for a huge crowd, the lesser known bands reach new fans, and the fans get the best of both worlds: the DIY and the more popular acts, all for free.
Overall, it was an inspiring weekend in Austin, with lots of great music to be found. While I saw what I happened to see, there were shows happening at the same time at many other venues. In that regard it brought a similar concept as SXSW, except on a much smaller, more grassroots scale that is entirely focused on the local community.
As a first time attendee, I was excited to see such a vibrant scene and so many people out there supporting local artists instead of sleeping off their NYE celebrations on the couch. This is the kind of stuff that I moved across the country participate in, and I’m happy to be here.