Farewell Emo's

Tonight I'm watching the Riverboat Gamblers perform at Emo's for the last time. Aww. The downtown location doesn't officially close until Dec. 30, but knowing me, I'm probably not going out again until Free Week.

And it also makes me sad because this is the last show I'll see with my BFF Marlee for awhile. She moved to Colorado a few months ago, so I gotta cherish these moments whenever she's in town. I have yet to find someone who appreciates music just like I do, and she just had to leave Austin for job opportunities. You mean I can't stay in wonderful Austin and struggle as writer while working in retail for the rest of my life? Oh, adult responsibilities.

But tonight we will have fun, because after all it is the Riverboat Gamblers and that band never lets me down. Unfortunately, the bassist Rob will not be in attendance because of sad family news. However, the original bassist/founding member Patrick Lillard will fill in instead.

Anywho, I've seen a lot of shows at Emo's. I loved the intimate setting the inside stage provides. I won free tickets from Spin Magazine to see The Constantines. It was crazy packed so I sat on the bleachers in the back of the venue (anybody else miss those?). The crowd knew it was time for business when the band raised their instruments when they started playing the first note. The entire set was intense. It's still one of the most memorable shows to this day.

I saw The Bronx and Mariachi El Bronx for the first time on that stage too. I remember when Von Iva didn't finish their set because the singer couldn't finish her vocal duties. But that was also the same night as the Spiro's shooting so because of that, the show ended early. I went home early and that saved me from a bad situation. So hey, at least there's that.

Man, who else? I can't even begin to list all the bands I've seen or interviewed there. A lot of local bands held their CD releases there or opened for a bigger headliner. I remember squeezing inside to check out the free shows during SXSW. I remember freezing my ass off at the outside stage during previous Free Weeks. Oh yeah, I saw Glassjaw, Thrice, Tyler Hilton and Zykos on that outside stage. All for different shows, of course.

I'm sad Emo's downtown is closing, but at least we still have Emo's East (although, I haven't been there yet). I am curious to see how the closure will affect the Free Week and SXSW crowds though. Emo's East does have shows scheduled during Free Week, but I gotta plan to stay there the whole time if I attend any of their shows. I don't know about y'all, but I like to bounce around throughout the night. I've discovered some great bands that way. In the meantime, I plan to have fun at my last time at Emo's tonight.