Friday at Hancher Auditorium

Donika Kelly, 6:30pm

A fitting opener for a festival about exploration and discovery, poet and University of Iowa English professor Donika Kelly will kick off the Stop/Time festival with a short, fifteen-minute reading at Hancher. Kelly’s poetry is reflective and expansive, covering themes from consuming love to blinding pain and everything in between. Her first book of poetry, Bestiary, won the 2015 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and her most current book, The Natural Order of Things, was released in October 2025 to positive reviews. Many of her individual poems have been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Paris Review.

–Bailey Vergara

Ambrose Akinmusire, 6:45pm

Hey, you. Do you like jazz? Let’s hope so, because renowned trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire is coming to Hancher Up Close to bless your ears with musings that combine avant-garde jazz, post-bop, hip-hop, and more. With music, Akinmusire hopes to break down the educational barriers surrounding classical jazz and uplift community stories; he borrows from tradition, but is not constrained by it. His newest record, “honey from a winter stone,” is an exploratory journey through a variety of moods, from slow and meandering to restless and lively. And in case you aren’t already sold on his talent, his 2023 album “Owl Song” was nominated for a 2025 Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

–Bailey Vergara

Mei Semones, 8:45pm

24-year-old guitarist and singer Mei Semones will bring her technical talent and playful songwriting personality to Club Hancher in Strauss Hall of Hancher on Friday. Her songs blend indie rock, bossa nova, jazz, and dreamy pop, with lyrics in both English and Japanese. Despite their intricate layering, you’ll still find them easy to hum along to, and you may not be able to stop. Semones’ newest full album, “Animaru,” is dedicated to her trust in her own instincts, built through years of practice and demonstrated by ornate guitar riffs and refined, breathy vocals. Her upcoming EP “Kurage” — which features Liana Flores, John Roseboro, and her own dad — releases April 10th.

–Bailey Vergara

Saturday across Iowa City

Evicshen, 4:30pm at Gabe’s

Tapping into the weirder side of the Iowa City music community, Hancher brought in San Francisco based experimental noise artist Victoria Shen. Performing under the name Evicshen for the past eight years, her music uses powerful walls of sound and intense textures that assault your sonic palette. This often is used with extremely creative ways of bending or playing her records, such as comb filtering and folding records with her nails. 
Within her live shows, she combines this extremely well with creative art installations, and the use of weaponry and other eccentric performance antics to create a vibrant visual experience, and assault on the senses. Watching some of the recorded concerts was a beyond fascinating experience, and something I hope a lot of you guys can enjoy. 
Artists like her aren’t interested in growing a large audience, or mass producing their music. They’re interested in performing for a niche crowd who understand their artistic version, and are open to hearing music on the more experimental and macabre side of the isle. If this intrigues you, she’s playing at Gabe’s at 4:30PM, come with ear plugs.

–Tarik Krob

Sharp Pins, 6:00pm at Gabe’s

Sharp Pins, an exciting new voice in the music underground, is a one man band combining elements of classic rock with more modern indie and alternative stylizations. The side project of Kai Slater, lead singer of fellow Chicago band Lifeguard, has been picking up steam in the last few years with some incredibly unique and high quality albums.
His most recent album Balloon Balloon Balloon is a jangly hallucinatory odyssey connected by three different tracks simply labeled Balloon 1-3. Wearing his influences off his back with zero shame, the album takes the trippy, other worldly sounds of psychedelic bands of the 60s like The Beatles and The Zombies with a more stripped back DIY sound, similar to post punk bands like Joy Division and The Velvet Underground. Their previous release Radio DDR has a similar vibe, but with a more varied song lineup and more pop-centered approach to songwriting. If Balloon Balloon Balloon felt like listening to your grandparents old low fidelity radio, then Radio DDR feels like sifting through random singles in their vinyl collection. 
If any of this at all sounds interesting to you, check them out at 6PM at Gabe’s. Start listening before it’s cool to say you’re a fan.

–Tarik Krob

Danez Smith, 6:45pm at the Englert Theatre

On April 4th, queer, non-binary poet and performer Danez Smith will return to Iowa City to perform at The Englert Theatre for the Stop/Time festival. Smith previously led a workshop and hosted the Writers of Color Reading series in 2017, which was also produced by The Englert. Smith was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Michigan. They’re best known for their poetry collections Boy (2014), Don’t Call Us Dead (2017), and Bluff (2024). Their work has won multiple awards, such as the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, and the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, just to name a few. Smith has also performed with rapper Macklemore, back in 2016 on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, along with Chicago-based poet Jamila Woods. 
For those interested in attending a poetry reading or specifically in Smith’s poetry, they will also being hosting a reading at Prairie Lights at 3:15 pm that same day. This reading is presented by Stop/Time Festival, but entry at Prairie Lights is free for all.

–Ria Das

The Branford Marsalis Quartet, 7:00pm at the Englert Theatre

The Branford Marsalis Quartet is a jazz band, closer described as a chamber group, headed by American saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Marsalis is a composer and the leader of the band. He has played with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Sting, the Grateful Dead, and Dizzy Gillespie. He has been playing the saxophone in bands and solo since the 1980s. The quartet officially formed in 1986 with members Kenny Kirkland on the piano, Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums, and Robert Hurst on bass. Pianist Kenny Kirkland died in the 90’s and was replaced by Joey Calderazzo and Robert Hurst was replaced by Eric Revis on bass. Later Tain left the band and was replaced by Justin Faulkner. On Saturday night they will be featuring their newly released album Belonging, which came out last March. Expect an experimental yet classic jazz sound from this quartet. As Marsalis notes, “it doesn’t really matter where our journey goes, as long as we keep the dance going.”

–Moira Grant

Golomb, 8:00pm at Gabe’s

Golomb is a alternative rock band from Columbus, Ohio and are made up of three members, two of which are married (members Mickey and Xenia Shuman). The third member is Xenia’s brother, Hawken Holm who plays drums while Xenia and Mickey sing and play bass and guitar. They have a dream-like/indie sound, leaning into noise and experimental rock. They write their own songs and were formed in 2018. Expect a lively show with folksy-sounding guitar riffs and country elements such as a pedal-steel guitar, especially in the song “Sweet Release (Ain’t No Devil)” but also a loud, lively, and heavy sound from the song “The Beat Goes On.” This band is experimental as well. The lead singer Mickey sounds just like Stephen Malkmus, the lead singer of Pavement. Xenia often does the background vocals and harmonizes excellently with Mickey. Perhaps being unified in marriage also transfers to being unified in sound and music? Find out this Saturday.

–Moira Grant

Tortoise, 9:15pm at The Englert Theatre

The post-rock Chicago legends Tortoise join us in Iowa City to close out The Englert Theatre’s share of events this weekend. This is one of those bands that people on the internet debate about at such a mighty length that this discourse can only be achieved through the means of doctorate dissertations or through Reddit. But at their core, they’re a rock band built from atmosphere. Influenced by electronica, krautrock, and jazz, their music is this kind of eclectic and wondrous mish-mash. It feels a stretch to call it “rock,” the sound is so minimal yet so captivating in how it pulls a listener directly into this world they’re creating. They’re current tour follows the release of Torch, their newest album from last year released after nearly a decade record hiatus, yet still ringing out the same quality as their 1998 landmark TNT album. I’d truly recommend seeing this band, they’ve played such a major part of the post-rock foundation and seeing them at this festival really encapsulates the exact artistry that Stop/Time Festival is creating space for.

–Pauly

Frankie and the Witch Fingers, 10:30pm at Gabe’s

Punk-rock band Frankie and The Witch Fingers performs at Gabe’s for Stop/Time Festival and as part of their tour for their newest album, Trash Classic. The band was originally formed in Indiana by founding member Dylan Sizemore, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and later relocated to Los Angeles. Currently, the band consists of Josh Menashe (vocalist, lead guitarist, and synthesizer), Nikki Pickle (bassist), Nick Aguilar (drummer), and Jon Modaff (synths). Frankie and the Witch Fingers evolved from Sizemore’s original solo act into a band, signing to record labels such as Permanent Records, and released their self-titled first album in 2015 with their psych-pop/acid-rock second album Heavy Roller out a year later. The band has since released more albums, with their most recent Trash Classic in 2025, described as plunging, “into a sewer-slick fusion of proto-punk venom, fractured new wave, and industrial grime. Brimming with wiry synths, angular melodies, and grooves that squirm and bite.” If any of that sounds interesting to you, consider attending their show for the chance to rock out with them live!

–Ria Das

There’s plenty more to see at Iowa City’s first Stop/Time Festival this weekend, with a huge spread of incredible local and touring artists, authors, and poets presented by Hancher Auditorium. For more information on further events and to purchase tickets, check the Stop/Time website here.

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For those who are new to the band, Mannequin Pussy consists of 4 artists, Missy Dabice on vocals and lead, Kaleen Reading on drums, Bear Regisford on bass and secondary vocals, and Maxine Steen on guitar. They weren’t always called Mannequin Pussy, but I assure you the original name was just as upsetting to the status quo. And that has always been their goal.

Somewhat early on in their show, Dabice made it clear that part of the performance of their art is also conversation with the audience. I found that pretty respectable. It’s not by any means original to include the audience in the experience of art, but seemingly uncommon in mainstream music recently. Dabice began the conversation by discussing the profanity of their name. She told men in the audience to join her in repeating the word “pussy,” stating that their name isn’t funny and it certainly shouldn’t be uncomfortable anymore. And that the consideration of the slang for female genitalia is only inappropriate because of the misogyny that lies in sexualizing women.

At the time I was a little shocked by their openness to topics like this. As someone who has grown up in Iowa, I’m no stranger to the ideas of the reigning majority in the government. It felt surprising because I had really only delved into discussions like that online, in small circles of friends, or in books. It brought up a wider topic for the night about vulgarity and censorship. I found it really interesting because one could actually argue that it’s still inappropriate to use other slang for different genitalia, but ultimately the point is that society deeming parts of the human body inappropriate or vulgar creates insecurities and tension that harm everyone in the long run.

Later on, they would go on to speak on a different kind of suppression under class. Dabice stated that billionaires “want to keep [the middle class] in a fantasy state fighting for something that will never be [theirs]” and that fighting keeps us from realizing corruption. She said America does not center its rage on the correct demographic. The more we fight over politics or identity, the more we fall into a state of pawns. To quote, she asked the crowd to “pledge allegiance to [ourselves] and [our] community.”

The show was a great experience for me as someone who had been listening to a good handful of songs and only had a little knowledge on the band. The small venue also made it far more intimate for the audience. When they came out on stage it felt like you were meeting them in person. Maybe that had something to do with the amount of conversing between songs, but that aspect influenced my impression of the band greatly. Well, that and there was this feeling in their words that other than educating the audience, they also wanted to release this sort of cathartic feeling. The entire audience was invited to scream as loud as possible for as long as they wanted in the last ten minutes. And then they played Romantic as the closer and everyone in the room lit up.

In terms of music, the lineup was great, their set came to about an hour and fifteen minutes in length, and it was electrifying. The song lineup was a lot of their newer album, with some older favorites sprinkled in towards the second half. I found myself dancing a lot, much to the dismay of a guy and his preteen daughter next to me. (Sorry by the way, hope the concert was still pretty good even if you guys stood there the whole time). Mannequin Pussy makes music that makes you want to scream and sing and thrash around in all the best ways. My favorite song just happened to be their closer that night and that made the show all the more special for me.

In my personal opinion, I thought the show was really powerful. I would one hundred percent see them again just to do the same thing all over again. (Though I doubt any one show would be exactly the same kind of magical). Mannequin Pussy are not only extremely musically gifted, they are a visionary group and their shows fabricate a compassion for their craft and the people impacted by it like no other artist I have encountered. As their name would suggest, Mannequin Pussy is an unavoidable display of intimacy and beautifully crafted vulgarity.

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Formed in 2017, the Chicago duo Angry Blackmen consists of rappers Quentin Branch and Brian Warren, who both brought their A-game to Gabe’s at 9pm on Friday. “Y’all fucking with that shit? We got some more shit!” they yell into the crowd after introducing their glitchy experimental rap. They fly through cuts from The Legend of ABM, their excellent 2024 album, the bass from their industrial beats pulsating throughout Gabe’s. It was fierce music, the type that grabs your attention from the start and won’t let it go. They included cuts from their earlier work as well, such as their 2020 record HEADSHOTS! For a sense of how their music translates live, check out Angry Blackmen on Audiotree Live, a nine track recording including the bangers “Vomit” and “Dead Men Tell No Lies.” 

Beyond the heavy production and tight rhymes, Angry Blackmen’s most impressive attribute was the duo’s synergy and crowd interaction. Warren grabbing and rapping into both microphones, falling into his flow, while the duo threw out call and response statements, engaging the crowd. “Angry” they shout, “Blackmen!” replied the crowd. The same deal with different words later on: “Fuck!” // “Off!” Halfway through the set, the duo memorably split the crowd in half to form a de-facto catwalk, bringing all the chanting together as one. “Angry,” shouts Warren before waving the microphone at me, “Blackmen!” I dutifully respond. 

The tragedy of this stellar crowd interaction was the dwindling number of people to recruit as the set progressed, the product of a brutal clash with Friday night’s headliner Mannequin Pussy across the street at The Englert Theatre. While the rappers were locked into their craft—“hit me with whatever Q,” Warren tells Branch without deliberation—the audience that should have stuck around to appreciate that high energy performance faded away. This is the way festivals go, like the music itself. People ebb and flow between the venues, but it certainly detracted from the incredible focus and passion Angry Blackmen were striving to cultivate at Gabe’s. 

The duo saved one of their best songs, “HEADSHOTS!” until the end of the set, making it an intimately intense performance for the remaining fans. The chorus—“Fuck with me if you want to, bang bang that’s headshots // Stuntin like I’m supposed to, bang bang that’s headshots”—remained stuck in my head for days after the show. They concluded by reminding the crowd that “tomorrow isn’t promised,” urging everyone to make the most of today. This was a show that will certainly live long in my memory, I just wish more people had stuck around to celebrate it.

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The Mission Creek audience was treated to a preview of a selection of Flux4D’s songs, with “How Long,” the EP’s second track, sounding remarkably rich on the Riverside Theatre stage. These fresh songs were cut with older tracks such as Gimme Life from the duo’s 2022 EP Fruit to the Knife, and Superposition which is technically a Jim Swim solo track with an Alyx Rush feature. “That’s one of our favorites,” they reflect after finishing “Superposition.” Which is a sentiment I certainly share. 

All That, taken from Sun Centauri’s 2023 EP After the Last Time, often requires crowd participation, and Mission Creek was no different. “Give me all that,” sings Alyx Rush, “Do something crazy. Who cares if they see? Who cares?” On cue the crowd responds with “Fuck it up!” Towards the end of the show the duo drop Two Shots, their first single as Sun Centauri and an absolute bop at that. It crowned a triumphant night for the local artists, who are sure to make a wave beyond the state—perhaps beyond this world—in the coming months. A quick shout out to the Mission Creek team for booking Dawn Richard + Spencer Zahn straight after Sun Centauri at Riverside Theatre, as their soul-baring experiential project was a truly incredible follow up. 

I was absolutely delighted that Alyx Rush and Jim Swim joined my radio show, Lonely Cloud FM, live in the KRUI studio shortly after Mission Creek to discuss their music, influences, and world building aesthetic. It was such a joy to chat about their collaborative process and hear those fun stories that only emerge in person. For instance, I now know that their sun-kissed cover art for Two Shots was taken not in Hawaii but, in fact, at the Coralville Community Aquatic Center. Go figure! The playlist they curated was also full of bangers; if you missed the show, check it out here. 

Their KRUI appearance came to fruitition after I wore my brand new Sun Centauri tee—purchased at the Mission Creek show—to a Ragers for Charity event which Jim Swim was playing at. He was delighted to see the shirt, I was delighted to chat, and we spent the night dancing away to Rihanna. The rest, as they say, is history. 

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The band approached the stage like concert hall musicians. They fiddled with string tunings as they shuffled quietly into place, waiting for the keyboardist to make the final adjustments to his very large sunglasses. Without introduction and only a glance between themselves, the band queued into a loose psychotropical groove. Melodies shifted around a psychedelic haze rooted in a tropical rhythm. Instruments cut in and around each other as the drums maneuvered in between, tempo tumbling, pulling, and pushing to their own whim. The tones from the guitar, bass, and keys were disfigured into a funky electronic mangle, reminiscent of Scooby-Doo’s ghoulish gooey music. Music flowed continuously, until it was hard to pinpoint what was a shift in tempo, change in melody, or just a completely different song.

Cabeza De Chivo’s sound reflects their own city of Chicago, drawing inspirations from cumbia and Jamaican rhythms building colorful melodies bursting with energy. They find inspiration in their own local community, and together create music to share that feeling and inspire a connection in their audience. By transcending the divisions separating people, they create their own space of unity and belonging. Their music bridges the gaps between us, using their groove to draw together any crowd into one body moving together in dance. Just like the music, the dancing did not stop. 

Spurred on by music and unyielding to the collective fatigue built up over the long weekend, the crowd danced to the dripping melodic commands. Even the most hardened dudes-at-shows-who-stand-completely-still-with-crossed-arms accidentally loosened their stance into a bouncy sway. Fun spurned into infectious movement. I witnessed a particularly expressive man move in ways I had once thought physiologically impossible, a contortionist’s dance that moved (most impressively!) with the beat. Intoxicated by vicious rhythm, people twisted, jumped, tilted; dancing every which way the human body could while trapped in the hypnotic state swallowing the crowd whole.

That night, everyone in the room danced together under Cabeza De Chivo’s commands. Bending our bodies to bend the floor. You could feel the uneasy sway of wood beneath your feet, the separated worlds of Gabe’s upstairs and downstairs nearly coming together, uniting themselves under the same gooey psychedelia. Creaking wood settled amidst the rising cheers and shouts as the music came to its end, leaving us with leadened muscles and lightened spirits. Closing out with the final sparks of this year’s Mission Creek Festival, Cabeza De Chivo dealt out their infectious groove for us all to dance with, what choice did we have but to obey?

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The show began without any address to the crowd, nor waiting for the voices in the lobby to die. Nat simply inhaled, setting his bow upon the wired strings, and pulled out a thick note to reverberate across the room. The crowd grew quiet. Even the chamber outside stood silent as Baldwin linked that first cloying note into the next, carefully working the bow across the face of his instrument. Heavy fingers danced over the neck with instinctive grace and calculated intent, weaving into a low melody. Throaty vocals accompanied the deep bass in a voice which moved as gracefully as the hand pulling his bow, as though he were writing a sentence over the strings. With his words, Baldwin spoke of family, love, age, and time. He spoke of messing up, of starting over, and of trying again. Baldwin sang, played, and spoke out that theater what it felt to be human. The set was short, interrupted only twice by modest introductions and credits, and a brief “I love you too!” in response to a shout from an audience member. And yet, the music seemed to last longer than it could have possibly been, as time turned to hour-miles bent around the heart. The sweetest moment being Nat’s cover of beloved Iowa musician Arthur Russell’s “A Little Lost”, fluttering and earnestly singing “Cause I’m so busy, so busy/Thinking about kissing you,” perfectly befitting of the atmosphere that evening.

As Baldwin closed out his set, he thanked everyone for coming and spoke with audience members afterward, exchanging handshakes, kind words, and various forms of sweet affection. Within the culture of modern music festivals, even at smaller ones like Mission Creek, it can feel almost routine to show up and just choose what’s easiest, what’s simplest, and forget how to care. When I left the Riverside theater that night, I left knowing that Nat Baldwin cared, and so did I.

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ICE CREAM Zine Fair (11:00 AM PS1 Close House)

What draws students, writers, artists, and freaks to Iowa City is the longstanding traditions that foster our love of the arts, and our appreciation for making. It’s events like ICE CREAM (the Iowa City Expo for Comics and Real Eclectic Alternative Media) that are one of many facets of local and grassroots cultural celebration. As part of Mission Creek, ICE CREAM is returning once again for the 8th year in a row. 

ICE CREAM aims to supply the community with an outlet to directly support underground and independent artists and micro-pressers. This year, it’s also getting support from local tourist board Think Iowa City and local comic shop Daydreams Comics. 

Though as its acronym implies, ICE CREAM is not only about comics. It’s anything eclectic and alternative. Now, what does that look like? For 2025, ICE CREAM will boast 40 independent artists, offering zines, comics, handmade books, buttons, stickers, prints of their art, and general tchotchkes. It’s all about more wacky stuff, off the beaten path. 

Some out of town artists who will set up booths in the Cloud House include: the Chicago based two-person-team COMA THEORY, providing poetry, transformative work, and more, all fueled by “100% self-indulgence”; and Ann Drew, an illustrator based out of Kansas City, who blends the aesthetics of the mid-century pulp magazines with queer characters and storytelling.  

As for more local artists to expect, the Tree of Liminality and the Art House Collective will offer things such as handmade sketchbooks and typewritten poetry, all made in Newbo City Market in Cedar Rapids. Fatface Press, operated by Poojana Prasanna, an MFA student at Iowa studying Book Arts, will also set up a booth and offer works that blur the line between DIY creations and fine press printing. 

Besides ICE CREAM, zine enjoyers and art freaks will also get down with a few other local operations of different mediums. Snacky Mini Mart will drive their food truck right beside the Close House, offering pan-Asian cuisine and Chinese street food. At the Cloud House next door, the Iowa City Video Zine will put up an open house and installation of local artists’ material.  

In collaboration with Mission Creek fest, Ice Cream’s 8th year event will take place at the Public Space One Close House located on 538 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City. It will run from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with free admission. 

-Harry Ginsberg, Editorial Staff

Small Press and Literary Magazine Book Fair (12:00 PM Spare Me Bowling Alley)

Mission Creek, known for its musical talents and celebration of the arts, is returning with its literary focused events for this year! One of the highlights is the annual Small Press & Literary Magazine Book Fair. This fair is known for bringing presses of varying sizes, ranging from local University of Iowa undergraduate literary magazines, like Ink Lit Mag, Catharsis Literary Magazine, New Moon Magazine, and Earthwords, to bestseller translated novels. There is something in this fair for everyone.  

Spare Me Bowling Alley is completely transformed, where both floors have stands of different literary magazines and publications. At each stand, books are displayed and available for purchase. Representatives are there to answer any of your questions, explain the mission statements and goals of the press, or just to chat. Attendees are welcome to mill around at their own pace and to spend as much time as they would like. This is a great networking experience for fellow writers and readers, or a great opportunity to expand your reading palette and get exposed to some new work you may not have discovered otherwise. 

-Noa Zapin, Music Staff

Samuel Locke Ward (2:45 PM Trumpet Blossom Cafe)

Samuel Locke Ward wears his love for creating on his sleeve. When he’s not driving a school bus here in town and tending to his wife and two kids, Locke Ward is something of a DIY Darling around these parts. His parents, high-school band teachers, were happy to supply the teenage Locke Ward with keyboards, guitars, horns, and the like to tinker with at home or at school. Back in the 90s, the do-it-yourself ethos of acts like Nirvana were what inspired him to create music in the first place. As he would collect CDs from bands like The Dead Milkmen, he’d eventually learn to jerry rig a children’s cassette tape into a homespun multitrack recorder. 

Hailing from his family’s Ottumwa farm, Locke Ward moved to Iowa City in 2001. Some 24 years later, his Bandcamp profile has become chalk-full of more than 60 records ranging between indie-punk, avant-pop, and garage rock galore. His discography spans both lo-fi and self-produced solo works, and efforts featuring the likes of Half Japanese’s Jad Fair, Joe Jack Talcum of The Dead Milkmen and Mike Watt of Minutemen who he collaborates with under the pseudonym SLW cc Watt. While holding strong to his independent roots, he’s put out albums under the labels Kill Rock Stars, Already Dead, and Unread Records.  

If you try to label his work, you’ll quickly find that it’s hard to cast as wide of a net as possible. Locke Ward’s music is at times experimental, ludicrous, and inherently random. At times, it’s delightfully odd and humorous. At times heartfelt, with passionate tributes to the local scene he loves. At times, he simply makes painfully catchy pop-rock. But no matter what rod you cast from the vast lake that is Samuel Locke Ward’s discography, there’s an infectious love of making that oozes from his creations. 

Besides music, he’s a zine maker whose comic strip Futile Wrath is a regular edition of Little Village’s print magazines. In all his output, each part of the process is uniquely him — from his songwriting, vocals, underground comic storytelling, down to his self-supplied album art and his at-home recording studio. What comes to mind is a sort of technological Frankenstein’s monster, an outdated PC tower full to the brim with sketches of songs-to-be and songs-that-were. All the while, this geriatric Dell computer powers a songwriter’s gear heaven. But as you listen to his music, you’d really want nothing more, wouldn’t you? 

-Harry Ginsberg, Editorial Staff

Slacker (3:45 PM Trumpet Blossom Cafe)

Iowa City’s raucous garage-grunge duo, Slacker, is making waves with their raw energy, electrifying programmed drumbeats, gritty guitar riffs, and gravelly, radio-mic vocals. A fresh force in the Iowa City music scene, they’ve quickly gained attention for their off-kilter sound, magnetic stage presence, and explosive sound. With their self-titled EP celebrating its one-year anniversary shortly before their performance at Mission Creek, this is a set you won’t want to miss. Prepare for a high-voltage performance that promises to leave you buzzing long after the last note. 

-Amanda Moy, Editorial Staff

Sun Centauri (7:00 PM Riverside Theater)

I love Sun Centauri. There, I said it. I mean, what city doesn’t want their own super-duo? Alyx Rush’s exquisite vocals meld perfectly with Jim Swim’s layered production, creating an effortlessly dreamy sun-kissed sound. It’s a brilliantly generative collaboration, and one that keeps gaining creative momentum. I’ve been lucky enough to catch them live across the state, most memorably at Lost Woods Festival in Cedar Falls last September where their futuristic R&B lit up the forest. I recently saw them at The Englert in Iowa City during the city’s Free Week programming, and I was delighted to hear some new material that I’m sure will get another showing at Mission Creek. 

So far, Sun Centauri have released two EPs, 2022’s Fruit to the Knife and 2023’s After the Last Time, alongside a superbly breezy 2024 single, “Two Shots”. For a relatively small body of work, their music is packed with bangers. These include “Fighter Jet” and the infectiously catchy “Right on Time”. In 2023, the duo released an inspired remix of “Gimme Life” from their first EP, which became a stand-out song in their growing repertoire. If you’re in the mood for innovative pop or R&B at Mission Creek, as you should be, look no further than Sun Centauri. On a personal note, seeing Sun Centauri also means I can check out the Riverside Theater as a venue for the first time, which I’m very excited to do. I hope to see you there, bopping at the front of the theatre alongside me on Saturday night. 

-Glenn Houlihan, Editorial Staff

Supersonic Piss (7:30 PM Gabe’s)

Iowa City’s hardcore scene may be the strongest now as it has ever been, but its foundation didn’t come out of nowhere. People have been building the scene for decades. Supersonic Piss is one of those older generational Iowa City bands, being primarily active in the mid 2000s. The members of the band are reuniting together for their Mission Creek performance at Gabe’s. Their inclusion on the festival bill is an interesting homage to Iowa City’s old Mission Freak performances that used to happen around the same time as Mission Creek. That pseudo-festival was put on by local punk bands who felt there wasn’t as much local representation of their scene at the festival proper.

The brand of punk performed by Supersonic Piss is extremely abrasive. Rhythms, riffs, and screeches feel like they just barely make it through the disintegrated threshold of the high gain hiss that persists throughout their songs. The instrumentation style is extremely sludgy and feels like it melts as the songs trudge through, before bursting to life again. It feels like the band is morphing time into their own image. We’ll see how it flows in punk time or festival time, whichever they choose.

-John Glab, Editor-In-Chief

William Elliott Whitmore (8:00 PM Englert Theater)

Iowa’s own William Elliot Whitmore will be gracing the stage of The Englert Theater on Saturday. Whitmore is no stranger to The Englert, with this upcoming Mission Creek set tallying his third time performing at the Iowa City staple venue. His one-man band performance puts you at ease with a welcoming baritone voice, warm Martin acoustic guitar, the occasional banjo, and kick drum rounding out the rest of Whitmore’s unique and charming sound. 

William has been making music since 1999, starting out in the Iowa City punk scene but later leaving the distortion for the folk genre, becoming a songbird for personal tragedy as well as the ever-scarier landscape when you leave the farm. The past 26 years have been filled with lyrics hitting the heart, focusing on the passing of his parents and grandparents. Whitmore used his music to work through the struggle of loss and come out the other side with a more optimistic and hopeful tone, which is reflected in his most recent LP from last year, Silently, The Mind Breaks. This encouraging and buoyant outlook is exactly what you need to listen to as the weather gets warmer and the flowers start to bloom.  

-Logan Melia, Music Staff

Dawn Richard + Spencer Zahn (8:15 PM Riverside Theater)

The collaboration between multimedia artist Dawn Richard and instrumentalist Spencer Zahn is an extraordinary partnership blurring the divides of narrative, sound, and music. Originating from New Orleans, Dawn Richard has traversed the scenes of pop music as a founding member of both Dainty Kane and Diddy’s Dirty Money. She has continued her solo career to self-release six studio albums dancing around and between R&B, jazz, and electronic, pushing boundaries of music and culture at every step. Massachusetts native and multi-instrumentalist Spencer Zahn is a classically trained bassist, who has cultivated a collaborative ethos exploring jazz in ambience to inspire dimensional soundscapes. Together, their partnership does not merely subvert genre, rather they work to create art beyond the idea of conventions. As Richard describes herself, “I am the genre.” 

Their album from last year, Quiet in a World Full of Noise, blends storytelling into a neoclassical ambience, with quiet features from the Budapest Film Orchestra. Richard’s velvet voice echoes poetic narratives between the wefts of Zahn’s orchestral atmosphere, together weaving an arrangement to enrapture listeners into their world. Futurisms intertwine with sound, as intimate lyricism and sparse composition remind us to reflect in the stillness, a reality shaped by restrained silence where quiet can rule. Altogether entrancing, atmospheric, and orchestral, it will be fascinating to experience how Richard and Zahn bring their genre-transcending orchestration together at Riverside Theater this Saturday. 

-Pauly, Music Staff

The Tanks (9:00 PM Gabe’s)

Not your dad’s typical punk band, The Tanks from Dubuque, Iowa and the Midwestern underground scene popularity are taking part in the Mission Creek Festival this year. Since 2004, The Tanks have been putting out heavy tracks with strong political messaging and head-banging good tunes. While their members have come and gone, their sound and image have remained consistent through 11 years of activity. Over those years, they have put out a total of three EPs and four albums, two of which are available on Spotify, and all of which are available on their blog page. Expect plenty of explosive songs, danceable beats, and interesting spoken word vocals during their set at Gabe’s on Saturday. 

-Lee Nienhaus, Editorial Staff

Raekwon (9:45 PM Englert Theater)

Raewkon, one of the most influential artists to ever come out of East Coast hip hop, will be headlining Saturday’s shows with an appearance at The Englert Theater. The Chef is on tour in advance of his upcoming album The Emperor’s New Clothes, which will release later this year. For his show, he will be performing tracks from his iconic ‘90s debut concept album Only Built for Cuban Linx…. Since his string of legendary albums with the Wu Tang Clan, and collaborations with rappers like Mobb Deep, MF Doom, and Rick Ross, he’s remained active in the underground, along with collaborating with numerous artists involved in the Boom Bap revival, including Schoolboy Q, Freddie Gibbs, and Westside Gunn’s collective Griselda. His lyrical narrative and gritty worldbuilding represent the pinnacle of golden age hip hop, and continues to resonate with OGs and new generations alike. 

-Amman Hassan, News Director

Cabeza De Chivo (11:00 PM Gabe’s)

An incessant rhythm drives Cabeza De Chivo, pulling influences from around their city into a surfy psychotropical groove. Hailing from Chicago, Cabeza De Chivo thrives in the culture of their local scene, creating music that reflects the colors of the city. In an interview with South Side Weekly, Los Chivos described their songs as bridging cultures to bring people together into a place of belonging into their shared place of music. Drummer Alex Aguayo notes, “At the end of the day, I hope you find that safe place. I hope you find that place where you feel yourself.” 

Largely instrumental, their psychedelia constantly changes shape between languid and dark, to fuzzy and driving. It never stalls or stales. Full of tempo changes and instrumentals cutting in between each other, they perform with a refreshing vigor. The classic instrumentation of guitars, bass, keys, and drums are disfigured by electronic effects to get that fuzzy ‘60s psychotropical vibe. Their sound pulls inspiration from across Chicago, as cumbia and Jamaican rhythms intermix into something brightly colored and inspired. This band’s grooves are absolutely crazy. Catch their infectious psychedelia at Gabe’s as they close out Mission Creek 2025. The last set of the festival always goes hard. 

-Pauly, Music Staff

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Thursday:

Rachel Kushner (6:00 PM) & Kim Gordon (8:45 PM)

Kim Gordon will be coming to Mission Creek Festival on Thursday April 3rd, with two events. Her first performance will be at 6:00 PM at Hancher Auditorium. She will be coming to conduct an interview with Rachel Kushner, who is an author of many different novels and essay collections.  

Kushner is on a reading tour for her newest book Creation Lake. It’s a fiction work focused on a secret agent who is sent on a mission in London. The book was also long listed for the 2024 Booker prize. She is considered to be one of the biggest rising writers at this time. Rachel Kushner’s books are written with thrilling narratives and heart racing action that keeps readers enthralled. The use of heavy characterization is also employed throughout many of her stories. She has been praised for her use of the characters telling their own stories and how it differs from the traditional style of having them live through current moments. 

Kim Gordon’s second event of the night is performing with her band live at the Hancher at 8:45 PM. This was a last-minute change-up after previous headliners Julien Baker & Torres had to drop from the festival. Gordon is a music icon from her work with Sonic Youth that put her on the map, to her solo work that has continued to amaze, and her work as a music critic. Her solo work often has a very experimental sound to it that intrigues and amazes listeners. She released her second studio album The Collector in March of last year to wide critical acclaim. The album blends hip-hop, trap, dub, and many other genres. An all-time generational talent comes this year for Mission Creek. 

-Will Clair, News Staff

Friday:

Nat Baldwin (7:30 PM Riverside Theater)

Nat Baldwin is a New Hampshire born musician, improviser, and founder of the experimental music label Tripticks Tapes. He has led a storied and successful music career for over 21 years. A disciple of avant-garde jazz legend Anthony Braxton, Baldwin has trained amidst the best in his field to distinguish himself as a modern virtuoso of the electric and double bass. He has put out numerous solo records heavily featuring his performance on said instruments, along with a rousing demonstration of his compositional skills.  

Besides his rich solo career, Baldwin was additionally a longstanding band member of the indie darlings Dirty Projectors, wherein besides playing bass, he also served as a songwriter. Despite being a veteran in the industry, Baldwin hasn’t strayed from his avant-garde roots. In recent years he has released several free improvisational projects, the most recent of which being 01.30.22, a collaboration with fellow artist Stella Silbert, released in (as the title suggests) 2022. Baldwin’s performance is undoubtedly one you don’t want to miss. 

-Evan Raefield, Training Director

Mabe Fratti (8:00 PM Englert Theater)

Combining improvisational jazz and avant-garde experimental music with tinges of rock, Mexico City based artist Mabe Fratti is not to be missed on your Mission Creek Festival schedule for Friday night. About a year ago, KRUI received a promo for Sentir que no sabes, Fratti’s most recent project, and I was instantaneously captivated with its bold presentation. Superficially, that captivation was attracted to the vast sound landscapes that put synthesizers forward alongside the beautifully played cello, which in turn is elevated by Fratti’s vocal performance. 

Now delving deeper, I see the bold presentation of these farfetched elements captivating due to their perceived dissonance and how well it matches the album’s lyrical themes of uncertainty. Now if you don’t understand Spanish, sonically alone, Mabe Fratti is sure to leave you in awe by the end of her performance.

-Andrés Mora Mata, Music Director

Diles Que No Me Maten (8:30 PM Riverside Theater)

Diles Que No Me Maten is a quintet formed in 2017 from the Mexico City scene and will be gracing the stage at Riverside Theater for Mission Creek. Despite currently producing dreamlike jazz influenced psychedelia on albums like Obrigaggi, the band has roots in metal prior to 2020. Raúl and Gerardo Ponce, Jéronímo Garcia, Andrés Lupone, and Jonás Derbéz work together, on the spot, to generate atmospheric yet conscience music, bringing in elements of the Aztec language into their music to acknowledge their native connection to their Central American roots. The band are masters of their craft, bringing in diverse instruments and manipulating tension beautifully, drifting from reflective slowcore ballads to energetic anthems.

The members of Diles Que No Me Maten describe their local scene as spiritual, involved, and hyper-inclusive of varying genres. Their sounds pull from 1970s krautrock, along with post rock’s textures and poetic lyricism. They fuse it with their own droning, repetitive beats that have been compared to Oaxacan funeral marching music. Because of their improvising nature, a live show could be unpredictable, likely depending on the crowd’s energy. When it is time to get the audience moving, Jonás Derbéz shakes the crowd with spoken word on top of danceable alt-rock grooves. Their eclectic instrumentation and intimate performances resemble some of the projects that came out of the Louisville punk scene in the ‘90s and the current Windmill Scene in London.

-Julia Wilson, News Staff

Angry Blackmen (9:00 PM Gabe’s)

Formed in early 2017, Chicago based experimental hip hop duo Angry Blackmen consists of rappers Quentin Branch and Brian Warren. Their 2020 HEADSHOTS! EP opened with an audiobook style narration on the track “DREAM!” that introduced the prominent themes of their music: “Once upon a time, in a post-apocalyptic, racially divided white America, there lived two angry black men. The two embark on a savage journey to the heart of the American dream.” As Branch raps on the following track “PROPAGANDA!” this is, “Not that cotton candy rap. This that Dark Night, Batman vigilante rap.” Across the EP, the beats spit and sputter while the fiercely insightful words relentlessly flow. 

A similarly tense atmosphere is curated on The Legend of ABM, the duo’s full length 2024 release. It’s an intense, raw, and powerful listen, grabbing the listener’s attention with the explosive opener “Stanley Kubrick” and not letting go across the album’s brisk 30-minute runtime. Producer Formants absolutely nails the instrumentals, crafting a series of tight, thorny beats that refuse to let the audience settle. Clocking in at just over four minutes, the closer “Magnum Opus” is the album’s longest, and most introspective, song. Featuring the ethereal vocals of Abbie from Mars, it’s the perfect way to end the demanding project. With heavy beats and sharp lyrics, Angry Blackmen make Gabe’s the place to be on Friday night. 

-Glenn Houlihan, Editorial Staff

Mannequin Pussy (9:30 PM Englert Theater)

Hailing from the ever-innovative music scenes in Philadelphia, Mannequin Pussy is an indie pop-punk band that is just as melodic as they are hardcore. Their Mission Creek performance on Friday comes over a year since their last project, I Got Heaven released. Having cut their teeth on the underground scene for nearly a decade, last year’s record pushed them to a new stratosphere with popular online music blogs. It’s the band’s best album yet and is a deep well of emotional depth that manages to compellingly describe the human condition with a tinge of euphoric luster.  

Similarly, their performances complement their incredible discography and match the intense cathartic energy of their music. This show is a must see for those who enjoy performance art and creativity of any form in music. Mannequin Pussy represents the best of what alternative music has to offer in both sound and style. 

-Maurice Crawford, Editorial Staff

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Having been to multiple rap shows in various stadiums and arenas, this performance was the most memorable one I’ve seen so far. Most rap concerts play the song through giant speakers while the artist does ad-libs and lets the crowd perform the rest of the song. Armand Hammer’s performance heavily contrasts with those other shows because they actually rap their entire songs from beginning to end without the traditional hypeman. It’s something that shouldn’t be uncommon in today’s music scene. This creates a much more intimate atmosphere for fans to connect with their favorite songs and truly witness the artistry of hip hop. Additionally, the rap duo’s style of performing adds a new dimension to their songs, allowing the audience to hear them in a new, different context, and allowing them to discover unrealized themes in the lyrics. 

The energy of the crowd was unlike anything I had ever seen before, with each person locked in like a lion towards its’s prey. People were rapping along to the songs word for word while consciously rocking their heads back and forth. The energy of the crowd was like a wave, coming and going in seismic shifts. This was absorbed by the performers, with every verse vibrating through my chest and echoing through my mind for days to come.  

Armand Hammer’s setlist was incredibly structured, as it allowed both artists to shine as both individuals and as a duo. It summed up the entirety of their careers and gave a showcase of artistic evolution over time. For me, this concert was the best of the Mission Creek Festival by and far, and there is no amount of money that I wouldn’t pay to witness this show again. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to witness hip hop in its purest form, and create an incredible life memory that I will never forget. This was a masterclass in how hip hop should be performed.  

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Wearing a translucent white gown and intriguing jewelry, with two feathers facing horizontally on both sides of her nose, she resembled a glowing white cross, an angel, or a ghost. The draping fabric moved as gracefully as she did, slowly crossing the stage, moving up and down the stairs between the rows of seats, while she made intimate eye contact with each viewer. After each song though, she would return barefoot to her looping pedal, where she would craft the next one from scratch.

Hatis Noit brings a performance to the Mission Creek Festival that is steeped in her own, rich diverse experiences. These experiences include hearing Gregorian chants, along with the ones of Buddhist monks in Nepal. All these sounds inspired her music which aims to connect the natural aspects of the universe with the spirituality that can be found in humanity. The critically acclaimed Aura is the epitome of this concept, and she shared the experience of crafting these sounds with Iowa City.   

She shows the power and versatility of vocals in “Jomon”, looping an intense, heartbeat like burst of air to give a consistent drum sound. Her voice is full and strong, making for an invigorating sound throughout. The transition to “Angelus Novus”, however, brought the audience to an entirely timeless holy place, with those sounds reminiscent of Gregorian chants, whispers of prayers, and the humming of monks.

As she neared the end of her performance, Hatis Noit described the inspiration for “Inori” as the widespread, collective pain from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. In this song, she introduced her recording of the ocean near the Fukushima power plant, the only element of pre-recorded audio throughout the concert, and the only non-vocal sounds. She lamented those lost and those who longed to go back home, before transforming these powerful emotions into ever more powerful vocals. Her closing song, “Sir Etok”, meaning ‘the end of the Earth’, brought a feeling of being lost deep in nature among far stronger forces. Her loud cries, filled with an intense collective emotion, faded into silence, and she smiled to thank the audience.

Following the performance, she stood by her merchandise table to talk to those who wished to speak with her. When asked which song on the album was her favorite, she appeared surprised, as if she had never considered it. Her answer was both the opening and closing tracks of Aura, but it raises the question of what criteria could possibly be used to rank such abstract expressions of deep emotion.

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