Goodbye X Games

X Games pulls out of Austin in surprising turn of events

X Games Austin Friday Women's Enduro X Final

Austin will host its final X Games this summer.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

UPDATE: An update from ESPN has been added to the original story.

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Bad news for extreme sports fans: X Games will not be returning to Austin after 2016. In a brief statement on Tuesday, ESPN announced it is looking for a new host city for 2017-2018.

The news of its departure from Austin comes as a surprise, as ESPN agreed to a four-year run (through 2017) at Circuit of The Americas.

Initial speculation of the departure centered around financial concerns with COTA. However, a spokesperson with ESPN told CultureMap that the reason for the exit was due to timing. Historically, the X Games have been held in July, when it did not have to compete with other major sporting event broadcasts — X Games Austin has been scheduled in June for three years now. As COTA is unable to host X Games in a July timeframe (who wants to be outside in Austin during July, anyway?), COTA and ESPN mutually agreed that 2016 would be the last year of X Games Austin.

"We've been honored to call Austin home of the X Games since 2014," said X Games Vice President Tim Reed in the statement. "We thank COTA, the City of Austin, and State of Texas for their support and look forward to an amazing final X Games Austin."

There's no news yet on who will take the reins from Austin, but previous finalists included Chicago; Detroit; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

X Games Austin will take over COTA one last time June 2 through 5. Tickets go on sale Thursday, March 24.

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Winter of Wilco

Wilco brings 3-day, no-repeat residency Songs FKA Winterlude to Austin

Photo by Peter Crosby

Wilco is playing three nights in Austin from December 5-7.

Alternative rock band Wilco are stopping by Austin's Moody Theater (the home of ACL Live) from December 5-7 for a special three-night residency. This engagement is more than just three standard concerts back-to-back; called Shows FKA Winterlude, there will be no opener nor intermission, and they won't repeat any songs.

This revives the band's former hometown residency in Chicago, called Winterlude. "We’re trying something new and taking Wilco’s winter residency on the road," said the tour announcement on their official website. Although touring with Winterlude is new, Wilco has played Austin residencies before and taped ACL Live shows.

Presumably, that means devoted Wilco fans could go to all three nights and enjoy deeper cuts they don't usually hear live, but the folks who are just in it for "Jesus, Etc." and "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" will have to get lucky.

These performances conclude the band's 2024 tour dates in three different cities. First is Austin; then Tulsa, Oklahoma; and finally St. Paul, Minnesota. They also follow the release of Hot Sun Cool Shroud, their 13th studio album that came out in late June 2024.

Wilco, a 1994 reworking of the alternative country band Uncle Tupelo, has since helped define the indie genre for early listeners, alongside bands like The Shins, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Dinosaur Jr. (Texans may think that Wilco is a nod to Williamson County. It's not; rather, it's a radio abbreviation for "will comply.")

Over its 30 years, Wilco has been called the best rock band and the best live band in America by NPR, received seven Grammy nominations, been inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2021.

Tickets ($48-78, plus fees) go on sale at acllive.com at 10 am on Friday, September 13. The full tour schedule for Shows FKA Winterlude is as follows:

Thursday through Saturday, December 5-7 – Austin, TX @ The Moody Theater
Tuesday and Wednesday, December 10-11 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
Friday through Sunday, December 13-15 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre

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