Finn Wolfhard Commands the Stage at Scoot Inn for ACL Fest Nights
Finn Wolfhard is no stranger to Austin. Finn first visited town in January 2019 to play with his then-band Calpurnia, and didn't return until March 2025 when he made his directorial debut at a series of stops for his movie “Hell of a Summer” with co-director and co-writer Billy Bryk. He seemed to like Austin so much that he came back a year later for the premiere of Bryk's brother Dempsey's movie “Crash Land” at SXSW this past March, which received 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Now Wolfhard is back to make his solo debut at Austin City Limits during his Common Side Effects Tour, starting out with playing Historic Scoot Inn for the first time as a solo artist, as he played the same venue in 2019 while still in Calpurnia. This performance came hours after Wolfhard released a surprise cover of Wreckless Eric's song “Whole Wide World” on Amazon Music, a song he frequently covered during the first leg of The Common Side Effects Tour in July 2026. He played sold-out nights at many stops and even managed to fit in a few performances at Lollapalooza and Osheaga Music Festivals in Chicago and Montreal respectively.
Finn's performance at Scoot Inn Friday evening also followed a release of a new EP, “Ketchup”, from The Aubreys, a band he formed with friend and former Calpurnia drummer Malcolm Craig, aka Malcy, who is joining Wolfhard for the October leg of The Common Side Effects Tour as his opener. The EP consists of 4 songs and are the first songs The Aubreys have released since the singles “Kato” and “Running” in July and October 2023. These songs came two years after the release of their debut album “Karaoke Alone”.
Wolfhard's set at Scoot Inn was preceded by Malcy as the opener at 7pm, playing a few songs from his own solo album “Tall Grass and Rocketships”, which was released January 2026, along with a single “Buddy” in April. Malcy's deep voice as he played the drums did not disappoint, showing how far he's come along since not only the Calpurnia days, but the early days of The Aubreys. Malcy may be young at only 23 years old but seems to have the experience of someone who's been making music for decades, as he seemed to tune everything out and focused completely on his craft, putting his heart and soul into the music. Each song ended with cheers and applause from the audience. His set ended with a solo of The Aubreys song “You'll Have To Wait”, the last song on their 12-track album “Karaoke Alone”, and Malcy’s solo rendition of the song did not disappoint, finishing the 6-minute song to loud cheers and applause.
Finn and his backing band, The Slaps, composed of Ramsey Bell, Rand Kelly, Josh Resing, and Garrett Spoelhof, came on stage at 8pm to massive cheers and screams as they took their places at their respective instruments and spots with Finn at the center. They started off with the first track “I'll Let You Finish” from Finn's second solo album “Fire From The Hip”, which debuted on July 10th. Wolfhard is a definite powerhouse on stage. His energy is catching and even if someone was there and not familiar with Finn's music, they quickly found themselves nodding their head with the beat and jumping along with Finn.
Wolfhard took full command of the stage, bouncing around with one of the many guitars he kept switching out depending on the song as he smiled and laughed along with his bandmates. They played quite well together and it's obvious they are not only bandmates but close friends as well.
Finn followed up with several songs from Fire From The Hip before switching it up and strapping on a harmonica as he covered Tom Petty’s 1994 hit “You Don't Know How It Feels”, a song he covered during his July shows as well. The audience was clearly very happy to hear this much anticipated cover from Wolfhard, as they made their approval known with loud cheers as the first notes rang through the speakers.
Not too long later, Malcy joined Finn onstage as they performed the song “What I Eat” from the Aubreys' EP released earlier that same day. It's clear these two love performing together and are very used to it.
The night progressed as Finn wrapped up the show with a few songs from his first solo album “Happy Birthday”, and his energy didn't seem to let up even though he had been going for an hour straight by this point. He finished the set with “Trailers After Dark”, a slow but moving melody with nostalgic lyrics.
Finn Wolfhard is definitely a performer to catch if you ever get the chance. His music and energy, plus his obvious love for performing with his friends for an adoring audience, is an amazing experience that anyone will get pulled into! Please go see him if he's performing near you soon!
Check out Finn on Spotify or wherever you stream music!
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