Whirr Shakes Austin with a Sold-Out Shoegaze Set

Sofia Slack

Music Reviewer 

Austin, Texas – The hazy blue lights illuminated through the thick smoke fog, and the frequency faded in the first strum of the guitar. The crowd was in a trance, still sweaty from the openers. The moment, the hours of waiting, and the congested crowd knew it was all worth it. For the rest of the night, the only thing happening was Whirr.

Whirr is an American shoegaze band from Modesto, California, formed in 2010. It was previously known as Whirl. The band is composed of vocalist and guitarist Loren Rivera, Nick Bassett, Joseph Bautista, bassist Eddie Salgado, and drummer Devin Nunes.

People were lined up outside of Mohawk, a sold-out show. Mohawk in Austin has an incredible track record for performers. This tour is the band’s first in 10 years. They had two openers for the show that night: Mint Field and Nothing. The group Nothing performed. This really spurred me to revisit their discography. After Nothing and Mint Field performed, everyone was anticipating Whirr. During their setup, they started playing instrumental frequencies that shifted the mood from the moshing chaos to an at-ease, serene feeling.

The energy from the atmosphere and the crowd created a whimsical sense. The music and the frequencies playing in between songs gave you this feeling of euphoria. Before Whirr came on the stage, they let the fog machine run for a while and completely smoked out the venue. The lights change from deep blue to turquoise to violet, irradiating over the crowd.

It was a little after 11 p.m. when Whirr started. When the first chords of the electric guitar struck. The frequencies heard playing before started to blend into the background. It was deafening. Whirr is known for having very loud sets when playing live. The ambiance was still somehow relatively peaceful despite being consumed by the reverberation.

They played the songs “Raw Blue” and “Collect Sadness” from their new album, Raw Blue (2025). They also performed songs from their album Feels Like You (2019), such as “Wavelength,” “Rental,” “Vividly,” and fan favorite “Younger Than You.” 

After the last song, there was a chant for another song. No one wanted this night to end. Nicolle 25, a local Austinite and regular concertgoer, had this to say on the performance. “Where I was, people were definitely captured by the show, just nodding our heads in sequence. Luckily, I got a good standing spot upstairs so that I could see the crowd and the band,” said Nicolle. “Lots of energy, everyone was definitely on the same wavelength that night.” She started listening to the band after high school, around 2019.

It was hard to believe how fast it all went by. Hours of waiting, sweating, and drowning in sound felt like one long, hazy rush. Whirr live did not just feel like a setlist but like living and breathing the experience.