At a Glance
- Free Week 2026 drew crowds to Red River, recalling SXSW’s local heyday
- Stop Motion Orchestra, Jet Cemetery, Team Trust among 30-plus acts
- Surprise cold snap didn’t stop all-ages fans club-hopping for no-cost shows
Why it matters: The annual mini-festival proves Austin can still pack venues without badge prices or touring headliners.
Free Week returned to the Red River Cultural District last weekend, turning clubs into walk-up-only destinations for the first time since pre-pandemic years. Brianna Q. Lockwood reported lines outside the 13th Floor, Elysium, Stubb’s, and Mohawk as more than thirty local bands played thirty-minute sets for zero dollars.
Crowds Brave Cold for Homegrown Sets
Temperatures dipped into the upper 30s, but fans layered up or risked the chill in nightclub attire, moving between venues to catch as many acts as possible. Parents with teenagers stood next to scene veterans, all juggling paper schedules printed by News Of Austin and ink-stamped at each door.
Stop Motion Orchestra filled the 13th Floor with hypnotic guitar loops, while Little Mazarn’s banjo-and-saw duet drew a silent, swaying audience. KindKeith followed with a funk breakdown that emptied the patio, and Felt Out’s modular synth set bled into je’Texas’ steel-guitar freak-out to close the night.
Darkwave, Lo-Fi, and Sound Collage Across Four Stages
Jet Cemetery’s smoke-drenched Elysium set revived turn-of-the-century darkwave; dancers in fishnets and trench coats formed a shadow-pit under the club’s signature red chandeliers. Across the street, Sweet Limb streamed live beats from Stubb’s indoor stage, captioning the screen “lo-fi beats to study to” and racking impromptu TikTok clips.
Team Trust launched the festival early Thursday at Mohawk with a 45-minute improvised sound collage, mixing found audio from City Council meetings with distorted krautrock riffs. The performance ended with the band inviting the audience onstage to unplug cables one by one.
A Throwback to Locals-Only SXSW Nights
Longtime attendees compared the energy to South by Southwest before brand houses and ticket tiers took over. “It’s like the mid-2000s,” one fan told News Of Austin. “No wristbands, no RSVPs, just show up and discover your new favorite band.”
Venue staff reported record drink sales despite the free entry, and several clubs scheduled encore showcases for the following weekend after spotting fresh faces on mailing-list sign-up sheets.
Photos from every set are available via News Of Austin‘s online gallery.
