Greune Hall
Yes, Gruene Hall! Claims to be the oldest dance hall in Texas. I believe it was something like 1896. A small German square with a dance hall and a few houses and a few brick buildings. (in the early days, now it is commercialized.) This place brings back to me the best of early Ace memories. If you have never been there, you need to go, regardless of who might be playing there.
I can't count the times I saw Ace play here. I am sure it was close to 30 or 40. A lot of the shows they played were with Clay Blaker (who you know wrote some of George's early songs) Each band would play a set and then for the final set they would all get on stage and jam. It was great!Certainly worth the price of the concert tickets!
Gruene Hall is great because there is no ac and no heat. The way you keep warm is drink a shot of wild turkey. You see more dance styles here than at any other place in the world. The courtyard in the back is great where during breaks you can go outside and pitch horseshoes are cool off during the summer. They had the big 4 foot floor fans in the corner of the dance floor in the summer so you wouldn't pass out going around the dance floor.
What really looked great was at the end of the night. The waitresses never picked up the long neck bottles on the tables during the night. There were hundreds of longnecks lining the tables. I believe there is a picture of this on the back of Georges first album.
