When Christopher B. “Stubb” Stubblefield returned home to Texas in 1968 after serving in the Korean War as a mess hall sergeant, the 2x Purple Heart recipient opened a bar-b-q joint in Lubbock.
The food was so good musicians reportedly would play for free in exchange for Stubb's ribs, brisket and/or BBQ chicken topped with what would become a world famous sauce.
As the restaurant grew in popularity and prestige, Stubb sought out a proper new building in Austin where he could mix live music with his delicious plates of food, but he never achieved his goal.
It wasn't until a year after his death in 1996 that his family secured a building at 801 Red River built in 1850 that for a few years in the '70s was a biker bar called One Knite that boasted early performances by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Joe Ely.
"From 1970, when a trio of pals bought the business for just under $2,000, until it closed on July 4, 1976, the One Knite was known for its hanging junkyard decor and its illegal after-hours parties that often raged until dawn," music historian Michael Corcoran wrote.
Part of the appeal of the building, in addition to its primo location is its flexibility for programming.
Inside, its cozy basement room holds about 300 people. Out back, what is now called the Waller Creek Amphitheater whose natural slope down to the stage can accommodate 2,500 fans makes it one of the best outdoor venues in all of Austin, as you can see from this video shot with a potato of Motörhead in 2008.
This flexibility especially comes in hand during the SXSW festival where Stubbs has been the venue for big-named bands that want to hold a special, more intimate gig to 2,500 as opposed to 25,000.
Of the many who have rocked Stubbs over the years include My Chemical Romance, who stopped by on their original Black Parade Tour of 2008
During SXSW in 2010 it was a completely rejiggered Hole that appeared at Stubbs as Courtney Love released her first new material in over a decade with Nobody’s Daughter, featuring the hot single, "Skinny Little Bitch."
As SXSW grew, more and more corporate sponsors paid to attach their brand names next to musicians who were playing at these special shows.
In 2014, Doritos got a lot more than they bargained for when they sponsored Lady Gaga's performance at Stubbs.
The ever-theatric Gaga entered the stage tied to a spit like a pig with smoke billowing about her as she frantically gyrated around, finally yelling at the crowd to applaud.
"Do you want some bar-b-q, bitch?!" she asked loudly, upside down and then sang "Aura," from her recently released ARTPOP.
Throughout the hour-long set, she welcomed guests like Zedd and Twista, but it was her wild rendition of "Swine" midway through the set with Millie Brown that raised eyebrows.
"The song is about rape. The song is about demoralization. The song is about rage and fury and passion, and I had a lot of pain that I wanted to release," Gaga told Howard Stern on his show later that December.
"I said to myself, 'I want to sing this song while I'm ripping hard on a drum kit," she continued.
"And then I want to get on a mechanical bull' – which is probably one of the most demoralizing things that you can put a female on in her underwear – 'and I want this chick to throw up on me in front of the world so that I can tell them, you know what: you could never, ever degrade as much as I could degrade myself, and look how beautiful it is when I do."
Be like Shaq and indulge in dat barbecue. And when you're done catch a show.
Upcoming gigs include:
Jesse Welles with S.G. Goodman, March 26
Mariah the Scientist with 4batz, April 3
Snail Mail with Sharp Pins, April 26
Architects with Holywatr, May 4
Get your tickets on the Stubbs website.
Other Venue Spotlights: The Apollo Theater, Aragon Ballroom, The Bluebird Cafe, First Avenue, The Fillmore, The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood Palladium, KIA Forum, Madison Square Garden, Massey Hall, The Metro, Nippon Budokan, O2 Arena, O2 Academy Brixton, Pappy & Harriet's Palace, Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall, The Ryman Auditorium, The Sphere, Stubb's Bar-B-Q, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, The Whisky, 9:30 Club
