October 17 @ 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
$35
Kishi Bashi plays Mohawk’s outdoor stage on Saturday, October 17, bringing his looped-violin indie pop to Red River with support from Geographer. Doors are at 7 PM, with tickets starting around $35.
Born Kaoru Ishibashi, Kishi Bashi first made his name as a touring violinist and multi-instrumentalist with the art-pop collective of Montreal before launching his solo career with 2012’s 151a, an album built around his signature technique of looping live violin and vocal lines into dense, orchestral soundscapes. His 2019 album Omoiyari marked a turn toward more personal, historically grounded songwriting, exploring the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II through both the record and an accompanying documentary film — a project that reframed his whimsical, maximalist pop sensibility around real family and national history, and introduced him to audiences well beyond the indie-pop circles that first embraced his earlier records.
Mohawk’s outdoor stage, tucked just off Red River with downtown Austin’s skyline visible over the crowd, is one of the city’s best settings for a show built on texture and atmosphere the way Kishi Bashi’s is. The venue has long made room for genre-crossing artists whose music doesn’t fit neatly into a single rock, pop, or classical box, and the open sightlines suit a solo artist building dense arrangements in real time.
Beyond his solo work, Ishibashi has scored film and television projects and continues to tour with a full band that recreates his densely layered studio arrangements live, looping violin lines in real time rather than relying on pre-recorded tracks. For another Red River stop worth checking out, Emo’s is just up the street and books a similarly adventurous range of touring acts.
Doors are at 7 PM for this all-ages show. Mohawk’s outdoor stage is open-air, so check the forecast before heading out and dress for an October evening.