A bunch of us Waco folks took over an Austin institution on Wednesday night.
That is to say, the Waco products and Waco-proud boys in the David Crowder Band headlined the opening concert of their current tour at Stubb's Barbecue just off 6th Street in Austin.
And a big group of Waco fans enjoyed the show from among the sold out crowd in Stubb's back yard.
There's two things you need to know about Stubb's. If you've ever eaten barbecue at Stubb's, you know it's barbecue done according to the high standards for that thing we call Texas barbecue, in a setting that is unmistakably Austin, Texas.
But if you've only eaten barbecue at Stubb's, you may or may not be aware that it also hosts some of the best music you could ever hope to grace your ears. And, what's even better, Stubb's serves barbecue on its back porch so that concert goers don't miss out on the greatness of the barbecue.
This, friends, is one of the top 10 reasons why I love living in Texas. Maybe top 5.
It's also a good example of why I believe Waco is a wonderful place to live. We have a medium-sized town here. But we don't have to settle for medium-sized entertainment because we can zip down to Austin or zip up to Dallas-Fort Worth in a heartbeat. Case in point, I pulled out of Waco about 5:30 Wednesday evening and made it in the door for the opening act at Stubb's by a little after 7.
So now that I've praised Stubb's, living in Texas and specifically Waco, let me tell you how I feel about the David Crowder Band.
I expected the setting at Stubb's to feel a little bit strange Wednesday evening, since I'm used to hearing the Crowder Band play church music on Sunday mornings at University Baptist Church in Waco, and since just four weeks ago I saw the Drive-By Truckers play songs like "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" on that same stage at Stubb's. I also expected the Crowder Band show to feel a little bittersweet.
But I didn't feel any of that, or I didn't feel it for long. I just felt blessed to have been able to see and hear the David Crowder Band for so many years. And I felt blessed to see them one more time on Wednesday night at Stubb's.
