Live music review: Gary Clark Jr. opened Moody Amphitheater

After a decade of renovations, the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park finally opened and hosted hometown hero Gary Clark Jr. for a pair of shows last weekend (August 20-21). Clark was the ideal choice to open Austin’s brand new downtown concert space.

The Austin-born and bred guitarist is a crowd-pleaser who can bring ‘em in, but knows how to work a lawn audience after filling up Blues on the Green last month. With a full moon in the sky, Clark’s bluesy soul was perfect to lay on a blanket and look up at the stars or look over the stage at the glowing capital.

It’s a tall order to open a new venue in a city grappling with how to handle mask and vaccination mandates and reports from night one’s mask enforcement weren’t encouraging, so perhaps I was more curious how night two would go logistically than how Clark would sound. There was a mask requirement listed and it wasn’t enforced. For some folks that’s enough to stay away. My group wore masks entering and exiting the show and when we got up from our blanket to get a drink or use the bathroom. More on the bathroom later. Most to all concert-goers Saturday didn’t wear masks when at their seat. How you feel about that is up to you. 

The venue itself is gorgeous. With well manicured landscaping, it’s the right size so you can see the stage just fine even from the back of the lawn. The venue is smaller than you’d imagine and looks shiny and new and despite a single entrance, we were able to get in quickly, though there were rumors of a two block line the night before. The sight lines are mostly good despite the grounds being flat. 

There was one moment where our whole section was sitting except for two dancing folks who blocked our view for a few songs. When they finally sat down, our section cheered, one of the biggest cheers of the night. That’s not fair to hometown hero, Gary Clark Jr. though. The crowd loved him more. 

After a strong opening act of local hip-hop artist, Kydd Jones and his guitarist, Bromani Ray Barton who wailed, playing behind his head and with his teeth (Barton later clarified it was his tongue), Clark took the stage and came out swinging. He opened with his signature song “Bright Lights” that got the entire crowd on its feet and they stayed up for a couple more bluesy rock numbers as Austin’s current face of Texas Blues asked us how we were doing a few times. It was a chill night at the park, the gifted guitarist played nine songs off his Grammy winning album “This Land” and though he doesn’t have a lot of songs folks know the words to, they were happy to sway and dance or just sit and smile along.

Last few thoughts on the new venue. Overall I was really impressed and excited to see more shows there. There are a few little kinks to work out. My girlfriend said she and a few other women noticed the stall doors didn’t lock unless all doors were closed at the same time. The line getting in seemed like a problem night one and I don’t know if I just came at the right time or if the venue staff figured it out by night two. Those things are fixable. Mostly I’m just happy to have this pretty new venue downtown and excited to see who gets booked there next year. I hope Gary Clark Jr. plays it every year to open the season. 

All photos Ryan Vestil

More images and crowd shots below. Were you there last weekend? You might find yourself in gallery below: