The Off Beat: Armadillo World Headquarters Plots Austin FC Partnership

l-r: Ray Benson, Gary P. Nunn, and William Beckmann perform “London Homesick Blues” at ACL Live on Feb. 15 (courtesy of Getty Images for Armadillo World)

Over 40 years since closing its doors, the Armadillo World Headquarters returns – not as a music venue, but as a lifestyle brand. Last week, co-founder Eddie Wilson announced Armadillo World, a revamp set to include a documentary about the storied space, a merchandise line, and, most surprisingly, a collaboration with Austin FC.

A trailer for the in-development documentary pulls archival footage of the Armadillo, which from 1970 to 1980 turned a onetime National Guard armory into a music hall suitable for Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Count Basie, and Ray Charles to perform. As Wilson and Armadillo poster artist Jim Franklin recall in the clip, shows of all genres drew fans of all kinds: “The cowboys started growing their hair out, and the hippies started wearing hats.” (Find a Q&A with Music Industry Hall of Fame inductee Franklin in today’s special insert.)

Armadillo World revealed its Austin FC partnership – featuring the hard-shelled mascot and the venue’s original address, 525 ½ Barton Springs Road, on the soccer team’s new jerseys – at an ACL Live unveiling on Thursday, Feb. 15. The unlikely collaboration is part of the 2021-launched team’s plans to “pay homage to the people and places who helped build Austin’s creative and vibrant spirit,” Austin FC President Andy Loughnane said in a press release. According to Wilson, the Armadillo was No. 1 on their list.

The company “showed up on my door one day and said, 'We’ve been studying Austin for several months and it looks like your fingerprints are all over everything that we would like to be,’” the owner told the Chronicle.

Thursday’s unveiling was a full-circle celebration for the OG Armadillo crew. Austin country mainstays Asleep at the Wheel were among the acts who played the venue’s final show on New Year’s Eve 1980, which extended until four in the morning. Alongside rising singer William Beckmann, the band christened Armadillo World with another performance.

“It’s nice that the current town recognizes that this was an important cultural institution that helped shape the city,” singer Ray Benson told the Chronicle of the relaunch. Recalling his unique experiences seeing Bootsy Collins, the Runaways, and Van Morrison at the same place, the artist remarked: “Texas was a dangerous place for kids with long hair and dope-smoking kids. [The Armadillo] was a magnet. It was a safe place. You could go, probably find somebody who had some pot, some acid, or whatever the hell you were doing. And it was safe. Whereas you travel 50 miles out of town and you go to jail, get beat up, get your hair cut, et cetera.”

Benson is happy to see the Armadillo, once again, symbolize community within Austin, even in a new, sportier form. “The armadillo is this creature that is prehistoric, doesn’t hurt anybody, and when somebody tries to attack it, it curls up in its little shell and protects itself,” he said, likening the mascot to the venue. “It was an incredible time where people of disparate beliefs got together because of music. And that is something that we could use a whole lot more of these days.”