MONDAY
ABGB’s Third Anniversary Party. Labor Day 2013 heralded the arrival of the coolest new South Austin hangout in years when Austin Beer Garden Brewing — ABGB for short — opened its doors to serve up in-house beer and pizza. The spacious room soon became a hot spot for local bands as well, so of course there will be live music for this all-day birthday bash. Come early for brewery tours, or arrive at 4 p.m. to see exactly what Leslie Sisson’s Olivia Newton John Project is all about. (If it’s the Moving Panoramas leader singing the likes of “Xanadu” and “Have You Never Been Mellow,” we’re intrigued.) Hear more covers from the Motts (playing Willie Nelson), Draft Punk and We Are Not Men. Free. 1305 W. Oltorf St. theabgb.com. — P.B.
Also: Songwriting great Gary Nicholson brings his Whitey Johnson band to the early Blue Monday show at Antone’s, with Nakia & the Blues Grifters extending their residency into September for the late show. … Other top residencies include the Church on Monday jazz band at the Continental Gallery and Motown Monday with the Nightowls and Matchmaker Band at the Highball.
TUESDAY
Watsky at Emo’s. George Virden Watsky honed his verbal chops in San Francisco’s slam poetry scene and was once featured on Russell Simmons’ HBO poetry showcase, but over the years his style has outgrown the confines of the coffeehouse. His poetic cadence still creeps in occasionally, but on his latest release, “X Infinity,” he shifts just as easily through sing song pop hooks and mind-boggling syllabic blizzards spit with furious intensity. Witt Lowry and Daye Jack open. $16-$18. 7 p.m. doors. 2015 E. Riverside Drive. emosaustin.com. — D.S.S.
Also: Catch Denny Freeman’s expanded Antone’s Big Trio for free in the early slot at Antone’s. … Gary Nicholson joins the weekly Durawa show at 6 p.m. at Strange Brew. … “This Ain’t No Armadillo” rolls on at Barracuda with Bobby Marlar and Ricky Espinoza at Barracuda. … Scoot boots to the sounds of Chaparral at the White Horse.
WEDNESDAY
Austin Music Video Festival kickoff at Alamo Ritz. The four-day event explores the connections between Austin’s music and film scenes and celebrates music videos as short form film features. Consequently, it makes perfect sense to launch with the first full Texas screening of “Lemonade,” Beyonce’s epic presentation of music video as high art. The evening’s entertainment also includes videos from local art punk project Sailor Poon and Lauren Bruno’s electro groove project Slooom. The festival continues with a Thursday night video skate party at the Millennium Youth Complex and a Friday night dance party at Empire before capping off with a full day of activities on Saturday including a curated selection of “Austin City Limits” performances, a “videoactive” lounge with screenings and virtual reality demos and the Austin Video Awards show. $35 (four-day pass). 7 p.m. 320 E. Sixth St. austinmusicvideofestival.com. — D.S.S.
Joanna Newsom plays ACL Live on Wednesday. Photo by Annabel Mehran
Also: Avant-folk artist Joanna Newsom plays ACL Live with Alela Diane. … Grammy-winning choral group Conspirare has a 5 p.m. in-store appearance for its new record “Considering Matthew Shepard.” … Chaos in Tejas presents Demdike Stare, Dylan Cameron and more at North Door. … Sun Radio’s “Texas Radio Live” broadcast at Guero’s Oak Garden features local pop acts the Wild Now and MCG. … Get the blues at Antone’s with Eve & the Exiles late plus Bill Carter and the Tommy Shannon Blues Band early. … Acoustic guitarist David Pulkingham plays a 7:30 p.m. show up north at the New World Deli. … One of the best records to come out this summer was the debut of pedal steel guitarist Bob Hoffnar’s Mood Illusion, which wraps up a long-running Wednesday residency at Stay Gold with one last show.
THURSDAY
Cotton Mather at Waterloo Records. There are concept albums, and there is Robert Harrison’s latest endeavor. The band’s new 11-song disc “Death of the Cool” is actually just a small fraction of Harrison’s “Songs of the I Ching” mega-project, a collection of 64 songs from Harrison’s bands Cotton Mather and Future Clouds & Radar that are “reactions in song to illuminations from the I Ching about life unfolding,” to use Harrison’s own words about the ancient Chinese writings. He’s releasing them bit-by-bit on his ichingsongs.com website, along with extended ruminations about each track. He’ll scratch the surface of that deep dive at this in-store performance. (Also coming this fall is a vinyl reissue of Cotton Mather’s influential 1997 album “Kontiki.”) Free. 5 p.m. 600 N. Lamar Blvd. waterloorecords.com. — P.B.
Also: U.K./U.S. indie duo the Kills bring the tour for their new album “Ash & Ice” to ACL Live with Kim & the Created. … Local singer-songwriter Sara Hickman surprised her fans a few weeks ago when she announced she’s retiring from music, but she’s not quite done yet, given her show at the Long Center’s Rollins Studio Theatre. … Country-roots flavored rock ’n’ roll rules the roost at Antone’s with Arizona’s Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, the White Horse with Los Angeles troubadour Brian Whelan, and the Belmont with north Texas outfit Whiskey Myers. … Project ATX6 holds a “Dress Rehearsal” for its mid-September trip to the “Austin Week” event in Angers, France, with an ABGB show featuring this year’s participants Elijah Ford, Grace Park, Andy Bianculli, Beth Chrisman and Tate Mayeux.
