Austin Music Grapples With Reopening & Protests

Overshadowed by civil unrest locally and nationally, Austin bars and music venues continued to reopen last weekend. Broken Spoke, Stubb’s, Sahara Lounge, Parker Jazz Club, Hanovers 2.0, and Come & Take It Live all offered some form of live music. Austin’s most notable concert since March took place last Saturday on Lake Travis at Emerald Point Bar & Grill, which faced criticism last month for photos of unmasked crowds.

Viral Austin teen Quin NFN headlined a hip-hop show with up-and-coming Houston rappers Sosamann and Peso Peso. Instagram showed the local breakout playing to an all-ages front row of close-up fans. Promoter Mike Wade, who aids SXSW shows with WorldStarHipHop, said he only sold 300 tickets for a venue with an outdoor capacity of 3,000.

“We had hand sanitizer stations, and of course a few people didn’t wear masks,” he says. “They’re grown, we can’t say, ‘Hey, put on a mask.'”

Wade hopes to welcome larger crowds to see Vanilla Ice at Emerald Point in early July.

One of the first musically inclined bars to reopen was Buck’s Backyard in Buda, which collaborated with new group Reopen Every Venue Safely. Former Music & Entertainment Division Manager Don Pitts, who helps lead the program, says REVS isn’t a checkpoint for reopening individual venues but rather an effort to share information among music economies nationwide. He notes that although music venues are lumped into “bar/nightclub” designations under Austin code and can thus legally reopen, most local standbys are holding off.

“With Texas reopening, we’re seeing the difference between bars and live music venues,” explains Pitts. “Live music venues have historically, in my career, been more concerned about the experience of their audience and their staff. I think that’s showing.”

Denis O’Donnell, for one, says he isn’t ready to resume operations at Eastside mainstay the White Horse and instead focuses on debuting new South Congress dance hall Sagebrush. Nearly an acre of parking space now hosts picnic tables, so musical acts also moved outside. Mayeux & Broussard, Garrett T. Capps, Jonathan Terrell, and more play the grand opening Saturday, June 6.

“We had to turn our whole operating strategy up on its head,” explains O’Donnell. “I’m standing here in this vaulted ceiling, 6,000-square-foot pier-and-beam honky-tonk, and I don’t feel it’s safe to have a band inside. We have to make sure that when people come to my space, they don’t wake up in the morning and regret it.”