- The untold story of the most infamous heavy metal club to live and die in Austin, Texas, as told by the people who survived it.
- After three decades of blues, metal, punk and hip-hop, the black sheep of Austin's many music venues pulled the plug in July [2006] when the Back Room closed its live music stage on East Riverside Drive with one last bang from former L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns and an all-day metal meltdown featuring regional neck crackers. Best known for its 1980s reign of long hair and short skirts, the Back Room hosted such unknowns as Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Marilyn Manson, as well as Pantera, Motorhead and the Ramones. More importantly, the land of cheap pitchers and familiar faces was the launching pad for 1980s homegrown hard-rockers Dangerous Toys who signed a major-label record deal following a Back Room SXSW gig and soon landed on radio, MTV and tours with Judas Priest and the Cult. "There wasn't any other place that the Toys truly fit in Austin," says Toys singer Jason McMaster. "The Back Room was instrumental in the timing and magic of the Toys' success." With McMaster on tour at the time of the Room's closing, the honor of shooting out the lights went to longtime Austin guitar shredder, Matt Fury. "It was one of the most bittersweet moments of my life," he says. "I had the honor of playing there with Pantera and Exodus, and I played my first show there in 1989. If you told me then that I would be the last guy to play that stage, I would have thought you were nuts. What a ride, what a venue, what a scene. It is sorely missed." Written By David Glessner, as originally published in Texas Music Magazine.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of the Back Room (2024) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer