All establishments in Texas with liquor licenses have to put down a deposit with the state Comptroller's Office as collateral against their alcohol sales taxes. The reason? The oversimplified answer is that the state wanted more money from the Lounge than the club could muster, and almost overnight. In late January, Lounge owners Mike Henry, Jay Hughey, and Mark Shuman announced that if things didn't turn around fairly dramatically and fairly quickly for the club, they might not make it to South by Southwest.

The exception is the Electric Lounge, and even they were hobbling along from crisis to crisis just fine until the tax(wo)man stepped in. Thus it seems patently silly to think that somebody would go out of business while they're making money, but that's almost exactly what happened to these clubs in the course of 1999. That's why any place goes out of business: They aren't making enough of it. But make no mistake, 1999 was exceptional in this regard, exceptionally brutal, as four of Austin's most frequented venues are no more. Club closings are a constant in the equation. Taking inventory of live music venues falling by the wayside has become an annual rite in Austin. Even less vital local venues such as Dessau Music Hall and Austin Blues passed into the past tense, the latter after a mere six months of operation. More than anything else, however, 1999 will be remembered as the year Austin's exploding economy leveled the landscape of live music venues. Even the annual Austin Chronicle Musicians Appreciation Dinner didn't happen this year. And the Butthole Surfers suffered the ultimate humiliation of losing their album artwork to Marcy Playground. Major-label releases from Don Walser, the Derailers, and the Damnations went DOA as their label, Sire Records, focused on finalizing its deal with London Records. Indie records stores Stashus Mule, Duval Discs, and Rolling Pin Records closed up shop. The Austin Rehearsal Complex was forced out of its building and out of business. A local musician we all thought would stand forever, Doug Sahm, was also felled - by a heart attack. Well, the Schneider Store is still standing, but not Liberty Lunch. For Austin music in general, the next 12 months weren't much betterįor proof, look no further than the corner of Guadalupe and Second streets. Approximately 30 minutes before 1999 even began, Antone's was forced to clear 200 very unhappy patrons out of the bar and issue refunds on what otherwise should have been one of their most profitable (and merry) nights of the year. The annual South by Southwest nuisance (aka the Austin fire marshal) made an early appearance by paying a New Year's visit to the legendary club, then declared them in violation of maximum occupancy. In some perverse way, it's only appropriate that the year is ushered out with the specter of Clifford Antone being ushered off, because he was also 1999's first victim. Who knows for how long, but even if it's only for a little while, that's still too long.

Even as these words are being put to page, another vital piece of Austin is in danger of being taken away. And 1999 deserves to die before it kills anything else. All that stands of Liberty Lunch (Photo By John Carrico)

The year 1999 nextime