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Cactus Cafe

{{Short description|Live music venue at the University of Texas at Austin}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}

File:Cactus cafe entrance 2014.jpg

The Cactus Café is a live music venue and bar on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.[http://www.utexas.edu/universityunions/texas-union/scene/cactus-cafe-music Official UT web page] Located in Austin, Texas, a city frequently referred to as "the live music capital of the world," a number of well-known artists have played in the Cactus, and Billboard Magazine named it as one of fifteen "solidly respected, savvy clubs" in the United States, "from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces."{{Cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/txunion/ae/cactus/index.php?section=ae# |title=About the Cactus Cafe |access-date=20 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226040112/http://www.utexas.edu/txunion/ae/cactus/index.php?section=ae# |archive-date=26 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Overview

File:Cactus Cafe stage.jpg

The Cactus Café, which opened in 1979, is located in the Union Building, a Great Depression-era building constructed using New Deal funds. The Café is a fairly intimate venue, known for its acoustics.

In 2010, the university announced that the Cactus Café would be closing. The decision was met with widespread shock and opposition in the Austin community, from musicians, and among students.Plohetski, T.; Corcoran, M. 30 January 2010. [http://www.austin360.com/music/ut-to-close-cactus-cafe-end-informal-classes-204226.html "UT to close Cactus Cafe, end informal classes."] Austin American-Statesman

Artists

A wide array of well-known artists played at the Cactus Café, many earlier in their careers. Lyle Lovett told the Austin Chronicle, "For a long time, the Cactus Café was the only place I played in Austin."Caligiuri, J. 6 February 2009. [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:736771 Blood on the Tracks: The ballad of Griff Luneburg and the Cactus Café]. Austin Chronicle

Notable Texans that have played at the Cafe include:

Notable national and international artists that have played at the Cafe include:

Threatened closing and controversy

In a press release on 30 January 2009, the university announced that the Cactus Café would be closing, and cited student leaders on the Texas Union Board as the decision-makers.

Members of the Austin community formed a non-profit, Friends of the Cactus Café, to attempt to save the venue. An arrangement was eventually made to keep the venue open under the auspices and management of the University of Texas operated public radio station KUT.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.utexas.edu/universityunions/texas-union/scene/cactus-cafe-bar Cactus Café Bar] The Texas Union official page for the bar.
  • [http://cactuscafe.org Cactus Café Music] Calendar and Ticketing managed by KUT – University of Texas.
  • [http://www.facebook.com/cactuscafeaustin Cactus Café (Facebook Account; Information on recent and future events).]

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Category:Music venues in Austin, Texas

Category:University of Texas at Austin campus