213 W 5th St, Austin, TX 78701 [map]
Antone's is a significant part of the reason Austin is called the Live Music Capital of the World. It opened as the first live music venue on 6th street in 1975 and later came to its present resting place on West 5th and Lavaca.
Verbatim from antones.net: "Antone’s has helped launch the careers of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lonely Boys, Ian Moore, and Bob Schneider just to name a few."
“Showtime at Antone’s, proudly presents, The Scaaaaaaaaabs!”
Its no secret that the artist I’ve seen most at Antone’s is Bob Schneider. The weekly Tuesday night Scabs show cost just $7. It was the perfect price and at a perfect time - late. The first visit to Antone’s was with my friend from high school and future roommate, Sarah Hollen. My parents are going to faint if they read this - and I can’t believe I allowed this to happen with how risk-averse and rules-following I am. Sarah would pack beers into her purse and we’d drink them in the bathroom and then we’d head out to watch the show. I know. Shame, shame. Why we didn’t just drink them in the car before we walked over to the venue, I don’t know. We were obviously retarded back then. Its the stuff that doesn’t kill you or get you thrown in prison that makes for good stories now.
But, I digress. I don’t know what I enjoyed more - the loud, funky, R-rated Scabs shows with the neon yellow cut-out stars hanging on the curtain behind the stage or the acoustic sets or the Lonelyland shows. The music Bob has birthed grew up with us. As we matured, his music matured and still does so.
But, this is not about Bob. This is about Antones.
The line for shows often wrapped around the building. I don’t remember not getting in, but the anticipation of wondering made it all that more exciting when you walked in the door. Clifford made the rounds outside sometimes. Its a dirty, dark, smallish place but its perfect. Its the venue that I use to benchmark other indoor venues. Its the place that’s tattooed the back of my hands with the most X’s and wrapped my wrists with the most cheap wristbands.
One of the best memories I have is when Christina got us access to the green room and VIP seats. Her cousin is the saxophonist for The Grooveline Horns (who now tour the world with popular rock and pop artists). He probably thought we were weird, but it was the highlight of our semester to be in the same room with the artists that made us shake our booties for 3 hours straight on a regular basis. That was the night Bob said hello to us and shook our hands. I was starstruck. I couldn’t speak. I’d never been more in love. And then he walked out the door.
Scabs shows took a turn when they started charging $20 for entry. The average age and douchiness of the audience increased exponentially. Old drunk people are super annoying. And they don’t pay attention to the show as much. Maybe my personal bubble size was also increasing at that time. Whatever it was, it was the beginning of the end.
So that’s Antones/the Scabs for you.
