The rent is TOO DAMN HIGH! Corporate property owners are attempting to run the Hole in the Wall out of Austin by refusing to negoatiate or even discuss new lease terms for this icon of the Austin music scene. Together we can SAVE THE HOLE IN THE WALL for future generations of Austinites. Donate NOW! Funds will go to establish a Hole in the Wall trust to pay furture rents or to hire revolutionaries and mercenaries if need be.
They took Liberty Lunch, Armadillo World Headquarters, The Ritz, Ruta Maya, LoveJoys...
The Hole in the Wall is Austin’s most legendary club for all the right reasons. Founded in 1974, it sits just across the street from the building at University of Texas campus where the Austin City Limits show was taped for decades, and KUTX radio still broadcasts.
Throughout Austin’s turbulent cultural storms, it has remained the Austin music scene’s “go to” club for generations of beginner bands, established touring acts, and famous rock stars to throw back a few, have a laugh with the locals, and, as Hole in the Wall’s most revered regular Doug Sahm once said, “get down to the nitty gritty.”
A few memories from our storied past….
Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley spent many a night under the pool tables after club crawls down Guadalupe Street. Both Courtney Love and Dave Grohl spent longer than appropriate amounts of time in the men’s room on separate occasions (only one of them because of beer spilled on their head)…
Fastball and some of their fans chased a guitar thief around the corner and trapped him in a nearby alley. Don Henley of the Eagles walked in one night just in time to sing background vocals with Mojo Nixon on his classic MTV single “Don Henley Must Die.” Pete Thomas of the Attractions once sat in with the band until way past last call, quitting only when a feisty waitress finally said, “Hey drummer boy- Time to go home!”
Lucinda Williams and Nanci Griffith played for tips in their early days. Beaver Nelson proposed to his wife from the stage. Ivan Neville sat in with the house band at a Last Waltz reenactment. Alejandro Escovedo reunited with his 80s glam band Buick MacKane. …and You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead played their Austin debut as a two piece and ended their set by scattering their borrowed gear on the sidewalk. Santa Claus once made a dramatic exit through the glass window after a karaoke number gone awry.
Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground was a weekly resident guitarist in the late 70s. Members of REM once stopped by to jam and take sidewalk snapshots under the most recognizable marquee this side of Vegas. St. Vincent played a solo set amidst a tangle of misfiring effects pedals. Emmylou Harris ate popcorn at the bar. Natalie Portman shot some pool. John Stamos played some decent drums at a free-for-all Sunday night jam.
Quentin Tarantino heckled a band one night with several obscure song requests.
Spoon shot the official video for the song “Jealousy” in the men’s room.
The stories could go on until well after last call…
AND ITS NEVER LAST CALL AT THE HOLE IN THE WALL
SAVE THE HOLE IN THE WALL