I have so many great memories of the Hole: buying a “Nashville Pussy” t-shirt literally off the back of a waitress who did the rest of her shift shirtless; a deranged Fred LeBlanc stalking atop the bar with a snare drum during a Cowboy Mouth show; an incendiary Reverend Horton Heat gig; seeing a guy who I’d just been talking to drive his car into the Ginny’s copy shop just a few doors down after closing down a Sunday night with Jesus Christ Superfly; The Texana Dames with Erik Hokannen whilst tripping on acid; and Evan Johns attacking his guitar like a mad butcher on a leg of lamb, and so forth and so on...
In which case, I'm one of the few dozen to have bought the Commandos' album. Suzy Elkins EARNED her moniker of 'blitzkrieg chanteuse' (via John T. Davis?). Yes, EXACTLY what she sounded like with Phareux and the band keeping pace the whole time.
During the late 80's I was helping w/ reearch in the UT Biology dept. My usual routine after finishing lab work: Cactus Cafe/Tavern, HitW, and finishing up w/ jams at Antones. Unless yet another friend with yet another band was 'playing' at the Outhouse.
Other HitW faves: Teisco Del Rey cascading us all with hour long sets of scorching surf rock instrumentals - making a tired genre sound as fresh as the 50's they originated from.
Fun fact: I'm hard of hearing, so I can tolerate fairly high levels of gratuitous decibel overload (e.g. stage right speaker banks at a Ramones show at the ol' Austin Opera House). Ian Moore and Moment's Notice at HitW stands as the ONLY band that has EVER made me vacate the premises due to sonic pain. Dunno how the 'normies' could tolerate it :P
It's never been reissued on CD but now vinyl is cool again. I must have some of the last sealed copies, bought out the available stock from the old label in 1990.
I recall packed nights at Hole in the Wall, when cigarette smoking was still allowed inside the entire club. You could hang out for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before your eyes got so watery, it was painful. On positive notes, the intimacy and authenticity with the stage and music being located so close to the seated, attentive patrons, along with the long, popular bar is the magic! Michael is correct on H.I.W “heydays” years circa 80s and 90’s as I’d heard the FASTBALL band would play there, and that’s where people heard their major hit “the Way.”
I’m so glad HIW is still alive and it’s divey, live music playing self on the DRAG! My brother Willy McGee has played there multiple times and I think Shakey Graves used to play HIW regularly as well in the past.
First bar my wife and I went to in 1977 on New Years eve after just moving to Austin. Always loved the backroom area with the pinball machines for a break from the action.
I saw so many great bands at the Hole. Loose Diamonds could rock the house. We danced anywhere we could - sometimes outside in front of the window. I was introduced to Beaver Nelson, Walter Tragert, The Sleestacks, The Damnations, and so many more. Those were great times.
Dang, never heard of The Commandos. Hole to me is that window stage. Many a night we squeezed into that corner and blew the hairs back
I have so many great memories of the Hole: buying a “Nashville Pussy” t-shirt literally off the back of a waitress who did the rest of her shift shirtless; a deranged Fred LeBlanc stalking atop the bar with a snare drum during a Cowboy Mouth show; an incendiary Reverend Horton Heat gig; seeing a guy who I’d just been talking to drive his car into the Ginny’s copy shop just a few doors down after closing down a Sunday night with Jesus Christ Superfly; The Texana Dames with Erik Hokannen whilst tripping on acid; and Evan Johns attacking his guitar like a mad butcher on a leg of lamb, and so forth and so on...
In which case, I'm one of the few dozen to have bought the Commandos' album. Suzy Elkins EARNED her moniker of 'blitzkrieg chanteuse' (via John T. Davis?). Yes, EXACTLY what she sounded like with Phareux and the band keeping pace the whole time.
During the late 80's I was helping w/ reearch in the UT Biology dept. My usual routine after finishing lab work: Cactus Cafe/Tavern, HitW, and finishing up w/ jams at Antones. Unless yet another friend with yet another band was 'playing' at the Outhouse.
Other HitW faves: Teisco Del Rey cascading us all with hour long sets of scorching surf rock instrumentals - making a tired genre sound as fresh as the 50's they originated from.
Fun fact: I'm hard of hearing, so I can tolerate fairly high levels of gratuitous decibel overload (e.g. stage right speaker banks at a Ramones show at the ol' Austin Opera House). Ian Moore and Moment's Notice at HitW stands as the ONLY band that has EVER made me vacate the premises due to sonic pain. Dunno how the 'normies' could tolerate it :P
It's never been reissued on CD but now vinyl is cool again. I must have some of the last sealed copies, bought out the available stock from the old label in 1990.
I still claim hearing damage from Ian's last show at Liberty Lunch .
I recall packed nights at Hole in the Wall, when cigarette smoking was still allowed inside the entire club. You could hang out for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before your eyes got so watery, it was painful. On positive notes, the intimacy and authenticity with the stage and music being located so close to the seated, attentive patrons, along with the long, popular bar is the magic! Michael is correct on H.I.W “heydays” years circa 80s and 90’s as I’d heard the FASTBALL band would play there, and that’s where people heard their major hit “the Way.”
I’m so glad HIW is still alive and it’s divey, live music playing self on the DRAG! My brother Willy McGee has played there multiple times and I think Shakey Graves used to play HIW regularly as well in the past.
First bar my wife and I went to in 1977 on New Years eve after just moving to Austin. Always loved the backroom area with the pinball machines for a break from the action.
That's my photo of Suzy and Phay, taken at the Hole in July 1991, I believe. The Commandos Mark II.
I saw so many great bands at the Hole. Loose Diamonds could rock the house. We danced anywhere we could - sometimes outside in front of the window. I was introduced to Beaver Nelson, Walter Tragert, The Sleestacks, The Damnations, and so many more. Those were great times.
Thanks for sharing the Commandos tune! Love the Hole in the Wall! 💙📚🎶