L7’s reunion was supposed to be a loop around the block. They got back together in 2014 thinking, as Donita Sparks later put it, they’d take “one last victory lap around the sun by playing some shows.” That lap produced a documentary (L7: Pretend We’re Dead, 2016), a first new album in twenty years (Scatter the Rats, via Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, 2019), and a decade of touring they didn’t plan in advance. The Last Hurrah Tour is the farewell they apparently had to earn.
About the Show
L7 formed in Los Angeles in 1985, signed to Epitaph, then Sub Pop, and spent the early nineties making records that didn’t bother separating the noise from the message. Their press materials describe four decades of “punk ethos, heavy grunge, melody, socio-political anthems and humor” — a reasonable shorthand for a band whose third album, Bricks Are Heavy, peaked at #24 in the UK and connected them to an international audience that wouldn’t let go. The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2014. A documentary followed in 2016 (L7: Pretend We’re Dead), and Scatter the Rats came out in 2019 on Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, their first new album in two decades.
Sparks on what the reunion chapter ultimately added up to: “Looking out into the crowd seeing longtime supporters rocking out next to a new generation of L7 fans has been the most powerful and humbling part of this chapter. We are deeply grateful and ready to give our audiences one last, loud, fun, and hopefully unforgettable night of rock and roll.”
The fall leg of The Last Hurrah opens October 9 in Phoenix and closes November 14 in Los Angeles, with stops in Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, and more, covering 22-plus cities across six weeks. Austin is stop four. No supporting act is confirmed for this date.
Venue & Logistics
On East Riverside in Austin, Emo’s holds 1,700. Club-sized and close-quartered — deliberate for a farewell tour by a band whose frontwoman has described the crowd connection as the most meaningful part of this final chapter. At this scale, the set travels differently than it does in a shed: volume and proximity do the work they’re supposed to do. A pre-doors patio access upgrade is available starting at 6 p.m. through the ticket page. Show time is 7 p.m.
Tickets
No ticket price was listed at press time. Buy tickets