Live music is hard to sustain as a club.....I can think of only one venue in Austin that has lasted. Antoines..............Steamboat closed, Maggie Maes closed, Bob Popular closed, Anchovies closed. Clubs have a half life of about 4 years then they die....you have to upgrade.... Someone else will pick up the pieces in Houston...hopefully. DD
Maggie Mae's is still going quite strong...25 years now. Not sure of this Antoines you speak of, but Antone's is a great venue. Stubbs has been rocking since the 70's. A lot of the great Austin venues have shut down in the past decade or so, but there are still many many great places to see music.
They had a fire earlier this year (same one that took out the Blind Pig & the 311 club), but reopened the next day.
Exactly. This is how I feel. Washington is the place to be and it's fun to go to multiple places. The main concern as mentioned by others are the coppers. Btw, Washington is nothing like how Richmond used to be. The traffic is much better and there definately isn't any trunk poppin going on.
I vaguely remember. I only went out on Richmond for about a year or so in my junior & senior year of highschool. I moved away for college in 2000 and the scene shifted to downtown. We mainly went to this place called Shock on fri and sat nights. I remember having a blast but who knows..I was only 16, 17.
I went to high school in the Heights, so I am very familiar with Washington Ave. Well, I used to be. Back then it was a bunch of closed store fronts, pawn shops, drug stores and restaurants. A couple of clubs and live music venues. I went to Walters on a date, she loves live music, and was shocked at all the restaurants, bars, and activity on the street. I saw Manchester Orchestra there that night. I enjoyed myself, but thought they could really use a freaking AC and security. Hopefully in the move they will be able to get those things. Walter's moving is no big deal, IMO. It is moving, not closing. That is important to remember. We all look back and say, "Remember when?". The young people going to clubs on Washington will do the same thing when these clubs close. It is the way things go.
Precisely. Richmond's heyday was in the 80's and early 90's. (Yucatan closed in 1993 roughly.) About 1996, Shepherd Square was where you headed. Richmond was already out when you were heading there. Back when Sam's Boat and Sam's place were two different places. 6400, Network, Detour, Club XCess, Yucatan Liquor Stand, R&R, etc. I know I'm missing a few places from back then.
My bad...read that wrong. Stubbs' Austin location opened in 1996. The original Lubbock location is what started in the 70's.
Kaboom. I went that that place entirely too often. I have barely stepped foot in a dance club since. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XqNC0M6JYrY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XqNC0M6JYrY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> I think I was actually at this show. It was f***ing horrible and probably was the last time I went here. It was the moment that I realized live music should be so much better.
Thanks for all the stuff, guys. I was out this weekend and am just catching up on here. For those who think this is old vs. young, nothing could be further from the truth. I like some of the young LIVE MUSIC hangs like The Mink. And, frankly, most of the people I see on Washington aren't 22. They're over 25 and under 35 for the most part. What I was talking about was how all the live music venues have been replaced by trendy bars, some of which have come under fire for their door policies prohibiting certain ethnicities from entering. There are plenty of these places that already exist in Midtown and downtown. Washington was unique in that it had a long history of live music dating back well before the 90's. A friend of mine did tell me that there is going to be a new rock music venue opening on Washington soon. He didn't say where, but I also heard that Pandora is losing its lease and that used to be the Rhythm Room, which was a FANTASTIC music venue, so fingers crossed. Frankly, I'd like to see a West Side Story scene with hipsters from Walter's and popped collar yuppies from Pearl Bar facing off in the middle of Washington. Hey, Batman, get on that!
Just got around to reading this. I used to love playing at Walter's and we were always treated kindly by Pam, even though we were a part-time local group. We always got good crowds and she was always kind enough to tack us on any bill. I write this like an obituary because that's what I fear it is. So many places don't survive a move and downtown can chew them up and spit them out. Notsuoh seemed like a good place on Main, but fell through a while back. I'm personally surprised that Super Happy Funland has made it through not only the move to the East End, but survived their ridiculous wait for permits. Although parking was bad at Walter's, I don't know if people will follow to their new lot. I hope Pam is able to keep scheduling local bands, as it was one of the few places that young guys looking to cut their teeth could go. Groups like the Wild Moccasins have proven that local bands can pack them in, despite other venues not giving them the time of day. I hope Walter's makes it and I'll be sure to stop by the new location when it opens.
see i'm of the opinion that the scene in houston - particularly the indie scene - is more than strong enough to sustain a move like this. as long as walter's keeps billing the same bands, they'll have no problem. i hope this is near last concert and the new st. arnolds brewery... those three places in close proximity to each other could really transform that warehouse district north of downtown.
Hope you're right about the warehouse district by Last Concert. My company, The Catastrophic Theatre, is starting an ongoing residency at Diverseworks Artspace (just across I-10 from Last Concert) and will be performing all our shows there for the next few years. It would be great if we could take advantage of traffic moving our way instead of driving it all there ourselves.
I'm liking how folks that go where the hot women are are suddenly douches. I also find the prominence of the word "douche" interesting. Can't someone come up with something more original? And El Rey is overpriced nonsense. But that taqueria down the street from it is great.
