ACL Live Venue Debuts To Public 2/26 With Free Steve Miller Concert, Street Fair

The February opening of the ACL Live venue at The W Hotel in the 2nd Street District is an exciting milestone for Austin music lovers, but has also led to some understandable confusion. Most of this stems from the fact that the venue is a dual-purpose concert venue: the ground floor will be used for roughly 20 Austin City Limits TV tapings each season, while the entire three levels of the space will be (far more frequently) utilized as a 2,700-seat space for touring concerts - essentially, a slightly larger venue than Stubb's. So - will every event at ACL Live be taped for TV? Well, no. But the state-of-the-art theater will attract some roadshows that may have otherwise skipped Austin - to boot, both Janet Jackson and John Mellencamp have already announced dates in April.

While an official "opening night" charity benefit for KLRU had already been announced for February 24th featuring The Steve Miller Band, yesterday, the space announced a huge free street party and dual concert on February 26th featuring Dale Watson, Matt Wilson, Rick Trevino, and...The Steve Miller Band. Yes, the same concert that would set you back $150-$500 for the opening night gala will be repeated two days later for the first taping of the Austin City Limits TV season. A limited number of free tickets will be given away to the taping via the Austin City Limits blog, the 2nd Street District website, and via Twitter and Facebook (dates TBD).

For those not lucky enough to nab the free Steve Miller tickets, the other live acts and a street fair will take place on 2nd Street from 3-7:30pm on the afternoon of the 26th. Food and drink will be available for purchase, and area restaurants such as La Condesa, Jo's Coffee, and more will also be open for the event.