Austin City Limits Studio

This listing is for the original iconic Studio 6A on the University of Texas campus where the KLRU (PBS) live music program Austin City Limits (ACL) was filmed from 1974 to 2010. It's still available as a rental venue for parties and events, but the taping of the show was moved to its new, much bigger digs downtown in 2011.

I was fortunate enough to attend a few of these tapings at 6A during my college days in the 1990s as a student volunteer usher. Back then, you'd have to wait until they announced the pass give-away on the radio or in the Chronicle for a taping that was often that same night. If you were lucky enough snag a ticket AND make it into the venue at show time, you'd also be treated to unlimited bags of Fritos and free cups of beer from the corporate sponsors before the taping began.

If you are seeing a taping of ACL these days, you're doing it at 310 Willie Nelson Blvd (aka West 2nd Street), next to the W Hotel and the big statue of Willie Nelson downtown. The new 2,750 capacity venue is wonderful, but the days of free snacks & beer are long gone.

For original Studio 6A (on the UT Campus) rental info, see
https://www.klru.org/about/studio-rentals/

For info on how to get a coveted ticket to an upcoming ACL taping at the new venue on West 2nd Street, see
http://acltv.com/upcoming-tapings/

For history on the legendary PBS TV program, check out the ongoing exhibit at the Bullock Texas History Museum here:
https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/visit/exhibits/austin-city-limits-theater

And finally, if you don't care about the hard-to-get-into tapings of the TV program and just want to get regular tickets to see an upcoming scheduled concert at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, see http://acl-live.com/calendar.

I'm only reviewing for the tour of the facility (not a live show), but it was the highlight of my trip to Austin. Our tour guide Gordon was a gem. He had so many nuggets about the venue and performers. The photographs and art were amazing. Being able to walk on and around the stage was killer. Seeing the green room and backstage operations was fun. If you can take the tour, do it.

We love the concerts, but the drinks are SO expensive!!! Come on!! 2 wines and a bottle of water for $68 ..... I've learned my lesson...

Attending an ACL taping is a truly unique experience. If you can get tickets, consider yourself one of the lucky few and do whatever you have to do to go!

Here's how mine went-

I managed to get tickets to the Okkervil River taping from a good friend who couldn't make it for one reason or another. So I rearranged my schedule that day and headed over to the UT Communications Building.

I was ushered into an elevator along with several other people after waiting in a short line. Throughout the ride, the anticipation was palpable, at least to me. I was like a kid waking up on his birthday. The elevator opened up to the studio floor, and I exited into a magical land filled with free beer and that oddly familiar stage set that looks like an outdoor ampitheater.

I found a seat and got situated. I snapped a picture of the set with my camera phone, and was sternly reprimanded by a lady enforcer in a blue shirt.

Before I knew it, there was the band. They played for only an hour or so. Often, they'd start a song over, or stop to chat with members of the audience. And as quick as that, they were gone.

The studio, the small, but engaged audience, the free beer, and the great acoustics combined to make this one of the most memorable shows I've been to in Austin.

I'm going to write about this before they move to their new location in the over-priced 2nd Street District. Currently, they are located on UT Austin's campus in the Communications building. They are several floors up so you have to take turns getting taken up in the elevator which is weird but I guess they want crowd control.

Bathroom:
In keeping with some of my reviews, I will start with the bathrooms. The bathrooms are a few floors down so that's strange. This is typical of many UT buildings but I still don't like it. So the couple times I go to a show here, I either hold it the entire performance or run to bathroom hoping not to miss that much. I hope when they move, bathrooms will be much closer. I don't recall much other than an old, outdated bathroom. Presentable in cleanliness but unremarkable at best.

Show:
I've been for Calexico & Regina Spektor. Both shows were great. I felt like the concert was just for me.

Venue:
The venue needs to be updated just to be fresher. It's a very intimate feel and much smaller than I anticipated. Do not sit in the front row center or all the people standing will be blocking you. I love that they serve free beer which is cool but I guess they want people to get liquored up a bit which probably makes for better TV & enthusiasm. The backdrop is cool with a mural of Austin & twinkly light and around the bleacher-style seats there are fake trees as well.

Tickets:
I love that the shows are FREE but the tickets are they often hard to come by. I've always thought the method to get tickets is weird....

1. If you are ACL member you get tickets to any show you want(mostly).

2. To the rest of the poor peons, you have to wait until KUT announces it on the radio or you call the KLRU hotline for the location & you rush & stop what you doing, because I'm about to ruin...I mean you rush to the location & hope they still have tickets available. Some shows get lots of buzz and are announced in locations before the radio announcement like on the Austinist.

"From KLRU Website:
Please call the KLRU Hotline at (512) 475-9077. The recorded message will detail the artist, taping date, time and which radio station(s) to listen to for the ticket distribution announcement. One or two working days before the taping the station will make the announcement stating the location of the ticket giveaway."

3. You hope that when you get to said location they still have tickets. I have heard of times when they were gone in 5 minutes so unless you were close to the locale, you were out of luck. It seems like most of the time the location is at UT communication building or Waterloo records but often it's in the middle of the day & most of us working folk can't just leave work on a whim. Each person gets 2 tickets but they are space-available tickets. In order to be assured of a full house for the taping, KLRU distributes tickets in excess of our capacity to account for "no-shows."

4. The ticket has a time you need to show up on the day of taping which is usually a few hours before they start taping. But you need to show up earlier than the time they tell you b/c at that time they give you a number which is you place in line. With limited spots, you need to be as early as possible to get entry and a good seat.

5. So after you get your number, you have a time to return to get in. At that time you line up & 15 minutes before the show and after members and other important people get in, they let in people for the remaining spots. I have heard of people going through this entire process & then none of the space-available people get in at all.

6. So based upon your number that is the order they let you in.

7. If you get in, enjoy!!

I love the shows at the ACL Studio (& free beer) but the process to get tickets is tedious at best. Plus the bathrooms are several floors away from the studio which is bad as well.

I look forward to what the new ACL studio will have in store for Austin...

We had our evening event held here for a recent conference that I went to--it was fantastic! I'm not much of a music person, so I wasn't the most thrilled about the venue, but this exceeded my expectations by so much.

Yes, the place isn't all that big, but it gives it that intimate air that you're having a concert put on for just you and your friends. Since this was a private event, we had it catered and with a cash bar--not nearly as much fun as if all the alcohol were free, and yet there was plenty of fun to be had.

The band was great--they played cover songs to tv shows and movies. Towards the end of the night, all inhibitions were gone and the dance floor was packed with people having a lot of fun and dancing to all their favorite theme songs. For the rest of us (meaning those of us who were still sober), we had great seats in the stadium that allowed us to watch our coworkers make fools of themselves--a perfect way to end the evening.

If you ever get a chance to go to this, I definitely recommend it. Yes, the building is kind of ugly on the outside, the the acoustics are great and it is conveniently located on campus.

Simply amazing! After all these years we finally got tickets and what a studio and performance it was! We were lucky enough to get a double header (The Decemberists followed by my local fav Ghostland Observatory) and it was an experience I will not forget. It's such a small venue, but the acoustics are naturally great and it's so very relaxed. They do serve up free beer and you can buy ACL gear after and during intermission!
We are so frickin' lucky to have this studio here. My favorite quote from both bands was the Austin skyline backdrop being made of felt and twinkly lights. Very kindergarten when you look at it up close but so great on tv!
Congratulations to probably the most famous spot in Austin. We are so proud!

I wasn't lucky enough to see a show, but I did take a free studio tour offered every Friday at 10:30 am. Call ahead to make sure they are offering the tour, though. For more information, go to the web site at http://www.klru.org/about/tours.html.

The building was a little difficult to find for us out of towners, but we managed. It's in the UT Communications Building, and there is some small (very small) ACL signage to lead the way. We rode the talent elevator and were able to walk up on stage and examine the backdrop close up (yes, it's a little cheesy.) The tour guide was friendly and informative, and dished about some past performances. A small assortment of shirts, caps, and bags are available for purchase after the tour.

It's such an intimate, homespun setting and I wonder how that will change when they open the new studio in a few years. Glad I was able to see this while it still exists.

I am sooo happy i got to see the original set before they change locations. My boyfriend Erasmus and I were in town for th ACL festival. We heard there was a taping, no idea who. We found the station and stood in line. I spoke to one of the production/staff people and they let us in!!! Hate to use this but OMG....its hard to describe in words the feeling you get standing in the same room as so many legendary artists. We saw Cat Powers and watching the taping process is very interesting.

Amazed we got in without tickets and found the studio without a map!! It was meant to be.
Love Austin and hope to go see the new studio soon!!

Awesome!! I was in Austin for SXSW Interactive, and PBS (among others like RRW, Frontline, etc) were holding their party in the Austin City Limits Studio. I was excited that I was able to see this historic place.

Right next to the Communications building of UT, it's on the sixth floor. Once you walk in there are framed pictures of all the various influential acts that have graced the studio at one time or another. To the right there is a set but it was set up with displays and an area for mingling. To the left was the actual studio, and it was exciting.

There was an amazing catering of tex-mex and margaritas, and then open seating for Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea and Band of Skulls. I only had time for Nicole's taping, but it was really lovely. I loved the stage setup. The cameras were not too distracting watching the taping. Not only that, they don't crank up the volume like crazy, but it was nice without need of earplugs.

The types of people here were also fantastic. If you are ever in the area, try your best to come to a taping or a tour, one of my best experiences in Austin.