Before Austin’s gov’t practically gave away the land to CSC, I caught my last concert at this venue with new friend Ethan. Despite it being a somber event, I was pretty excited to see Semisonic. The Minneapolis trio was still riding high on their overplayed hit “Closing Time,” but for me it was like seeing Trip Shakespeare II since two members came from that Eighties band; I did see TS in 1992.
The Lunch (as I heard some people call it) used to be my favorite place to catch a touring gig during the first Austin stint (1994-1997). When I lived at 38th and Guadelupe, I could take the bus or ride my bike; it was located on Second Street which meant an after show dinner at Katz’s (Sixth and Rio Grande) was possible when I had more money.
First concert there was oddly Gwar. A University Towers co-worker invited me to tag along and I decided to go for it, see what else my new home had to offer besides the Backyard. The shows I took in over the next three years improved thankfully: Matthew Sweet (three times), JudyBats, Posies, Velocity Girl, Southern Culture on the Skids, Violent Femmes and The Heads (Talking Heads minus David Byrne). Looking back, it seems I didn’t see many shows in such a relatively long period of time. Well, I do know I missed some great opportunities thanks to my early days being plagued with underemployment: Garbage, Foo Fighters, Sugar, James, Sonny Landreth and Better Than Ezra.
Semisonic was great too. They played the hits from their current two albums plus a pair of covers: “Erotic City” due to their Minneapolis heritage and “I Got You” which they were practicing for their upcoming tour of New Zealand. Remy Zero was one of the better openers I had seen. They had a small hit going at the time which helps.
Nowadays, I would say Stubb’s fills the void left behind. La Zona Rosa might be more similar through its size, location (near Second) and being indoors but the ticket prices put it closer to an arena concert.
Hopefully other Austin friends will post their experiences and share what were the best shows.