Empire of the Sun plays Moody Center Monday night, Sept. 21, with doors at 6:30 and the show at 7:30 — parking opens at 5:30. According to ATX Things analysis of the band's own Austin history, it's their third Austin, Texas appearance in less than a year and a half, after an amphitheater show last spring and an Austin City Limits Festival slot last fall. Special guests Polo & Pan and Midnight Generation open.
What time should I actually show up Monday night?
Moody Center's own event page lists parking at 5:30 PM, doors at 6:30 PM, and the show at 7:30 PM, with a standard caveat that times are subject to change. There's no age restriction on this one — a genuine rarity on Austin's current concert calendar, where most club dates (Antone's, Emo's, Stubb's) carry an 18+ or 21+ line. That makes Monday's date one of the few full-arena shows this fall where a parent could bring a teenager without checking a door policy first — the same arena that hosted NEEDTOBREATHE and Sex Pistols on the same Saturday night earlier this month.
Moody Center
Varies by tour4.4★ from 4,604 Google reviews (as of Sept. 20, 2026) — the arena's own rating, not specific to this show.
Who are Polo & Pan and Midnight Generation?
The two openers are listed directly on Moody Center's event page: French electronic duo Polo & Pan (known for their 2018 breakout "Canopée" and a festival-friendly, tropical-house sound) and Midnight Generation, a newer touring support act. Neither name is a household one in Austin yet, which is exactly the kind of "get there for doors" detail worth knowing — miss the openers and you miss a genuinely different sound before Empire of the Sun's own set.
Doors are 6:30, but Polo & Pan's own tour pattern on this run has openers going on shortly after — skip the drive-through dinner and eat near campus before the show instead (see the restaurant list below).
Wait — didn't Empire of the Sun already play Austin this year?
Yes, and that's the actual story here. This is not a debut stop. Empire of the Sun played Moody Amphitheater on May 14, 2025 — the same venue that hosted Chance the Rapper and a five-show run led by Jimmy Eat World's 25th-anniversary tour this year — and then closed out weekend two of the Austin City Limits Festival at Zilker Park on Oct. 10, 2025, on the Miller Lite stage. The Daily Texan's review of that ACL set (by Angelina Liu, published Oct. 4, 2025, covering the festival's first-weekend performance on Oct. 3) described frontman Luke Steele opening in red robes with two dancers in red wigs, then changing into a white silk kimono for "Alive," his face painted and his voice run through the band's signature autotune — an "oriental visual-heavy show" built around a loose story arc of spiritual rebirth, with a guitar solo on "Half Mast" the paper compared to Black Sabbath's "Into the Void."
Monday's Moody Center date is the full indoor arena version of that same production — no festival curfew, no shared bill, no weather to work around. If Steele brings anything close to the ACL set's costume changes and stagecraft into a 15,000-capacity arena, it will look and sound bigger than either of the band's last two Austin stops.
Empire of the Sun's live show changes costumes and staging tour-leg to tour-leg — the ACL description above is from October 2025, not a guarantee of Monday's exact setlist or visuals.
What's actually driving this tour — the "Ask That God" album
Empire of the Sun — the duo of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore — went quiet for eight years after their 2016 album "Two Vines." They came back in July 2024 with "Ask That God," their fourth studio album, built from sessions the pair had been sitting on for years and, according to press coverage of the album's release, narrowed down from as many as 1,200 written songs to the album's final 12 tracks. The record landed a Metacritic score of 82. In a Billboard interview about the album's long gestation, the pair talked through why it took eight years to finish. The "Ask That God: Afterlife" tour behind it is genuinely global — more than 60 shows across 20 countries in 2026 — and Steele has described it as "a celebration of imagination, transformation, and connection in a rapidly changing world."
How much are tickets, really?
Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster via Moody Center's own site. Primary-market pricing wasn't visible on a direct check of the Ticketmaster listing (it requires an interactive session to price out), but resale marketplace StubHub showed a wide spread as of this week:
| Ticket source | Price range |
|---|---|
| StubHub resale floor | from ~$48 |
| StubHub resale average | ~$213 |
| Individual StubHub listings sampled | $66–$184 (incl. fees) |
These are resale-marketplace prices, not box-office face value — Ticketmaster's own tiered pricing wasn't scrapable this run. Check Ticketmaster directly for the current face-value floor before assuming the resale numbers above are your only option.
Monday is a school night and a work night. If you're planning to buy day-of, resale prices on a Monday-night show can move fast in either direction as sellers see how demand looks by afternoon — don't wait until 6 PM if you want a specific section.
What else is happening in Austin Monday night?
Check the site's full things to do in Austin hub for more of this week's picks — Monday isn't a one-event night. A few blocks away, Waterloo Park's free Yoga & Sound series continues with a Kundalini Vibrational Journey session at Moody Amphitheater from 6–7 PM — free, no ticket needed, and easy to do before driving over to Moody Center for the 7:30 show. Separately, Antone's Nightclub runs its recurring Blue Monday night (free for music and service-industry workers) with a different lineup than last week's. Neither competes directly with an arena pop show, but both are real, free options if you're downtown early or want a lower-key Monday.
Where to eat before the show
Moody Center sits on the University of Texas campus, walking distance from a cluster of casual spots that don't require a reservation on a Monday.
🍴Search inspection data from Austin Public Health
Today's high hit 97.4°F with a heat index over 100°F, and Monday's forecast high is similar (98.6°F). Moody Center is fully indoor and air-conditioned — the actual relief tonight, not the parking lot.
Quick hits: what locals should know
- When: Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. Parking 5:30 PM, doors 6:30 PM, show 7:30 PM (subject to change per the venue).
- Where: Moody Center, 2001 Robert Dedman Dr, Austin, TX 78712 (UT campus).
- Openers: Polo & Pan and Midnight Generation.
- Age policy: None — all ages welcome, unusual for a touring pop/electronic date this fall.
- Tickets: On sale now via Ticketmaster; resale marketplace listings this week ranged roughly $48–$213+.
- This is stop three: Moody Amphitheater (May 2025) → ACL Festival, Zilker Park (Oct. 2025) → Moody Center (Sept. 21, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
Is Empire of the Sun's Moody Center show all ages? Yes — Moody Center's own event listing states there are no age restrictions for this date, which sets it apart from most of Austin's club-circuit shows this month.
Has Empire of the Sun played Austin before? Yes, twice in the last year and a half: Moody Amphitheater on May 14, 2025, and the Austin City Limits Festival at Zilker Park on Oct. 10, 2025. Monday's Moody Center date is their first full indoor arena show in the city.
Who is opening for Empire of the Sun in Austin? Polo & Pan and Midnight Generation, per Moody Center's own event page.
What's the album this tour is built around? Ask That God," released July 26, 2024 — Empire of the Sun's fourth studio album and first in eight years, following 2016's "Two Vines.
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