by What really constitutes the perfect gig night out?
If no compromises were made, it would involve an early meet-up, roughly two hours prior to entry, in a bar that is dingy enough to get you in the mood for a night of plastic pints and darkness. To fuel whatever energy would soon be expended in the depths of the crowd, a meal that hits all the salty and fatty notes. No room for guilt on the night of a gig. A burger, a pizza, and a taco all make the grade in this capacity.
Most great music cities can facilitate this with a string of cultural hot spots that all lead you to the promised land of your upcoming gig venue.
But one city in the world has it in abundance. One great music city has this to such a degree that the gig could quite easily dissipate from your memory, as you sink into another pitcher with your friends and lose yourself in the hysteria of talking about the upcoming setlist. Like little pockets of joy, Austin, Texas, keeps you hemmed in, bathing in the excitement of people, arts and culture.
Like a beacon of liberalism in Texas, it thrives on the open-minded community it attracts. But while it’s forward-thinking in its attitudes to cultural integration, it celebrates it in a very real, old-fashioned sense. Sharing a big table in a bar, diving into the community essence of big eats and good drinks, it’s all about that salt-of-the-earth human connection that drives fun, which is showcased no finer than in its thriving music scene.
Bars are brimming with DIY stages just welcoming homemade musicians to share their art, with little to no thrills but a whole lot of heart. It’s why the likes of Black Pumas and Gary Clark Jr have thrived in the city and similarly why Being Dead have found a voice there.
Their full blooded approach to garage rock undoubtedly lends itself to the peeling bricks of Austin’s gig venues, where right as their final note strikes, they have to humbly step off stage and stroll back through the bar to get to the green room. Through those experiences, this band are as well placed as anybody to offer a guide to this great city, and so we simply couldn’t pass up the chance. Here is their definitive list.
