www.stillisstillmoving.com

Photos by Matt Auclair

http://checkitoutmusic.com

Opening his set with “Whisky River” Willie Nelson kept the music train rolling for us on the last night of July 2011. The sun was shining down on us with the perfect breeze as the crowd sat in their seats and respectfully loved every song Willie Nelson performed for us tonight. It was a relaxing night of music, that often I caught myself swaying my hips too.  The only thing that was missing was a dance floor.

I couldn’t believe that Willie Nelson still plays “Trigger!” For those of you unfamiliar with Trigger, it is Willie Nelson’s Martin N-20 Guitar; which is so old it has a hole in it! If you can ever get close enough Trigger is even inked with over 100 signatures. Such a cool piece of Willie Nelson.

Willie Nelson causally stood on stage singing and playing his guitar the entire night. He had a stripped down band on stage with him that featured a harmonica player, bass player, occasional piano player, and a gentlemen on a smaller drum setup. Sometimes the audience was so excited, after or even sometimes before songs would start , they would stand up and scream “We love you Willie” or wave at him. He is quite the legend to have come to Spokane.  At the age of 78 Willie’s still kickin’ right along!

Willie Nelson performed a song for Waylon and one for Hank, along with “Crazy,” “Whiskey River,” “On The Road Again,” “Still Is Still Moving to Me,” “Always On My Mind,” “Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” “Georgia On My Mind – Hoagy Carmichael,” “Hey Good Lookin’,” “Move It On Over,” “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” “Beer For My Horses” and many more. Every song sounded fantastic!

On our way out the door a guy was telling us how pissed he was that he got kicked out from the show for his “good reefer.” We told him we were sorry, but honestly he probably could of just sat by his car and heard the last few songs… it is an outdoor venue. Besides, it’s a Willie Nelson concert no one should get kicked out for that.

Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.

The new Austin City Limits studio is on Willie Nelson Boulevard – 310 W. 2nd Street, Austin. 

“In with the old, in with the new”
www.acl-live.com

by: Jackie Vega, Pamela Cosel
www.kxan.com

Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, John Mellencamp, Gipsy Kings, Tony Bennett and Jeff Beck will be among the first to grace the new Austin City Limits studio in Downtown Austin.

ACL Live at the new Moody Theater launched its website Friday morning, making the much-awaited announcement about the first round of concerts that includes two nights with the big names. The first event on the calendar is the Imagination Movers on Feb. 10.

Still, not all the shows will be broadcast as part of the “Austin City Limits” show on PBS.

“Austin City Limits” will be taped inside the new Moody Theater, but Austin City Limits Live is something entirely different – with a wide range of its own concerts that also happen inside the Moody Theater.

Beginning in March, the Moody Theater inside the W Hotel will be the new home of the historic ACL television show, which had its last run at the University of Texas’ Communications building Nov. 8 inside the familiar Studio 6A – home to the show for 36 years.

Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode of “Austin City Limits” – before the iconic Austin city skyline backdrop was installed inside the studio – so it’s only fitting that he be among the first performers inside its new state-of-the-art home all these years later. The new studio is on Willie Nelson Boulevard – 310 W. 2nd St.

While photos of the inside of the new theater are prohibited — for now — ACL Live staff gave KXAN Austin News a sneak-peek inside the venue at the W Hotel on Tuesday afternoon.

ACL Live at the Moody Theater can host 2,700 concertgoers — just shy of nine times more than the old venue.

The venue will be a mixture of the old and new. “Austin City Limits,” the TV show, will share the space with the new venue, ACL Live, soon to be a concert facility with capabilities to house large, small or private events of all kinds.

Staff is developing a show series now to include big names in the entertainment world. They’re big names that will come to Austin’s newest performing venue that features a soon-to-be-glass enclosed balcony, walkways and 25 points of sale for bars and outdoor eateries.

The worst seats in the house will be nearly as good as the best seats, with no one seat being further away than 75 feet from the platform.

The stage itself is raised only four feet from the main seating level. It measures 40 feet by 33 feet, and is surrounded on three sides by three levels: main, mezzanine/club and balcony seating.

Various group and private dressing rooms and a green room are backstage, still to be constructed with drywall, paint and flooring. A smoking area is outside backstage, and is named for Willie Nelson — Austin’s own famous musical genius, a new statue of whom will be installed outside at the bottom of the main staircase to greet visitors to this new performing hall.