As the blogotwitbook-o-verse (yes, guilty), reminds us every day, the Cactus Cafe is slated to be closed. In talking to Chris, one of the employees, at the Cactus this past Friday, he seemed optimistic (well, as optimistic as possible, I guess). And that made me optimistic about the prospects for keeping Austin's folk-church open. On the other end of the spectrum, Michael Corcoran over at austin360 is all but sounding the death knell.
If it is over, or ending, or whatever, I would like every band and artist who ever played there to pay tribute as the Gourds did this past Friday night. With their gear en route from Wyoming, the boys had to round up replacement gear from their garages and their friends to pull together a bit of a throwback show that was thick with favorites and rarities from their earlier albums. In between songs, they would reminisce about the shows they saw (or missed) at the Cactus and what it meant to them. A very fitting bit of tribute from one of Austin's finest live bands. The highlight for me was Kev and Keith covering Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine" after a quick encore break. Intentional or not, that song is a fitting tribute to how many feel about the potential closing of the Cactus.
Audio below. Check out the full write-up over at the Gourds News (link) for pics, videos and annotated setlists.
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