Legendary songwriter-singer Robert Earl Keen has announced that he will play a pair of shows at one of the best-known venues in his home-state of Texas. Keen will take the stage on June 12 and 13 at New Braunfels Gruene Hall. It will be one of the first indoor concerts since the COVID-19 pandemic forced stay-at-home orders.
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Texas is an early adopter for bringing back live events. Whiskey Myers played a show several weeks ago which started to usher in other decisions that has led the Texas Governor to open sporting events to 50% stadium capacity.
The Gruene’s seating chart is below, showing which areas were specifically designed for these shows. The venue is typically set up as a General Admission, Standing Room Only configuration, with a capacity of 800. The updated capacity indoors is 138, with 23 tables of 6. So we are utilizing roughly 20% of the typical indoor capacity of the venue. Ticket buyers must purchase a full table, so that they are only seated with their own party. These tables will all be six feet apart.
If demand warrants, there are another 27, 6-top, tables set up in the outdoor beer garden, which has a view of the stage and where the audio can be heard. These tables will be offered at a more affordable ticket price than the indoor tables. Indoor, walk-up bar service will be closed, and table/waiter service for drinks will be provided for the indoor ticket buyers.
“Gruene Hall is my rejuvenating, hot springs, fountain of youth,” Keen told Rolling Stone. “Gruene is the catalyst for thirty three years of marriage to my beautiful bride, my first band and every other band after, and frankly, my longevity in the music biz. The good people at Gruene rescued me from my nadir in 1987. It makes perfect sense that Gruene Hall is stepping up and giving us a chance, after three months of uncertainty, to do what we do best — play live music!”
Tickets go on-sale next week: http://gruenehall.com/
