From the crushing deathcore of Suicide Silence to the horn-driven soul of Tomar and the FCs, San Antonio’s live music calendar offers plenty of opportunities to get loud and get down this week. Let’s check out the highlights.
Wednesday, Nov. 11
Suicide Silence
Californian deathcore band Suicide Silence began its journey in 2002 and now is touted by Loudwire as one of the “Big Four” of the subgenre. After the sudden passing of original vocalist Mitch Lucker in 2012, Eddie Hermida — the previous vocalist of metal band All Shall Perish — took over screaming duties for Suicide Silence, and the band has carried on with its mission. Expect pinch harmonics, trash-can snare and grimace-inducing heaviness as the band hits the stage in SA. $40.60-$121.27, 7 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 803-2101, therockboxsa.com. — Brianna Espinoza
Friday, Nov. 13
Tomar and the FCs
Tomar Williams learned to sing the hard way: fronting his family’s band on the Chitlin’ Circuit in the late ’80s. Williams spent the next few decades as a producer and sideman, then in 2015 he linked up with an Austin instrumental outfit called the FCs and remembered he liked being out front. Since then, Tomar and the FCs have made three records (Heart Attack, Rise Above and 2025’s Soul Searching), and NPR picked the act to represent Austin in its Tiny Desk contest. The band specializes in deep, sweaty, horn-driven soul — the kind that doesn’t work sitting down. $39-$99, 8 p.m., Crystal Ballroom at The Gunter Hotel, 205 E. Houston St., the-gunter-hotel.turntabletickets.com. — Bill Baird
We Are Scientists, Sean McVerry
Formed in Berkeley and later based in NYC, indie-rock band We Are Scientists is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut album With Love and Squalor. The band became associated with the same New York indie-rock scene that produced acts such as the Strokes and Interpol. Since Squalor, We Are Scientists has released an additional eight albums, including Qualifying Miles in 2025. Put on the band’s “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” and get ready for a great Friday. $23.68, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes
Saturday, Nov. 14
Makaya McCraven
Chicago drummer and producer Makaya McCraven is jazz’s mad-beat scientist. His method is to record improvised live sets, take the tapes back to his studio, then cut, loop and overdub them until they groove like hip-hop records. He calls it “organic beat music,” and it’s made him one of the most influential jazz musicians of the past decade. He has remixed Gil Scott-Heron’s final album, dug through the Blue Note vaults for Deciphering the Message and spent seven years making 2022’s ambitious In These Times. His newest, Off the Record, collects the four EPs he put out last fall. Live, nobody’s sure where it’s going, including the band. $18-$43, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com. — BB
Sunday, Nov. 15
Stinking Lizaveta, Deathbird Earth, Syr
Philly’s instrumental doom-jazz lifers Stinking Lizaveta have been doing their thing for more than 30 years, and nobody else does anything like it. Brothers Yanni and Alexi Papadopoulos — guitar and bass, respectively — and drummer Cheshire Agusta play heavy music that swings, shreds and wanders off into the dark without a single word sung. They’re touring behind Cassandra, Prophet of Doom, the band’s 10th album, out in September on SRA Records. Fellow Philadelphians Deathbird Earth open with sci-fi noise rock. San Antonio prog-metalers Syr play tunes from their forthcoming LP, the delightfully heavy In the Orbit of a Dead Star. Full disclosure: Syr’s lineup features Current editor Sanford Nowlin. $10, 8 p.m., Hi-Tones, 621 E. Dewey Place, instagram.com/hitones_sa. — BB
The Deslondes, Kristina Murray, Nicky Diamonds
Pull up a chair for these New Orleans dudes. Their country soul sounds like it was dug out of a crate of old Stax and Sun 45s with Alan Lomax field recordings mixed in. Sam Doores, Riley Downing and Cameron Snyder all write songs and take turns singing. You get three songwriters, gospel harmonies and a rhythm section that knows exactly when to lay back. They’ll be coming off a Honky Tonk Fest set in Austin the night before, so they’ll be warmed up. Waltz accordingly. $10, 7:30 p.m., The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., thelonesomerose.com. — BB
