Who doesn’t love the Alamo? Seriously? Alamo Drafthouse has ruined any other movie theater for all the Do512 staffers quite possibly forever and we’re just darn ok with that. Drinking beer while watching new movies, old movies, campy horror movies from the days of 35mm film yore and having the option of chomping down a solid order of potato skins or pizza while doing it is life changing.

The Action Pack has brought a new interactive element to film and their specialty feasts are not to be messed with. There’s no disputing they certainly are the cool kids when it comes to the most bad ass cinema experience. The best part is, they’re not done.

Enter in the gigantic facade we rolled up to on Slaughter, the first location to have the NEW Alamo logo on the outside of it. We put our hard hats on like good little tour hooligans and away we went. Tim League himself began the tour with a brief run down of how excited they were to finally get to break ground on the newest of the Alamos. A quick gaze up to the ticket booth in the lobby and it was impossible to avoid the fact that the Alamo sign was torn in half by giant, plantlike wall neighbors.

“We’re really close to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center here,” League said. He went on to describe how it thought it would be awesome to have each location under an invasion of sorts, thus Slaughter’s would be conspiring, evil plants. Rawr.

We then traipsed through the kitchen, which was quite possibly the square footage of an average person’s home. Alamo’s head chef, John Bullington, pleasantly announced that the equipment in the new location’s kitchen was top of the line and would cut down on their food preparation time significantly. Cookies for you faster my little movie watching friends! It’s a good thing too. He stated that last summer, they were looking at an average of 800 meals an hour being served at other Drafthouse locations. Excusameeee that’s astonishing.

While the behind the scenes changes will of course affect the experience of the average movie goer in a positive way, there’s also some changes that anyone who has visited the Drafthouse over the years is sure to notice.

* New table design! Personally, I don’t mind being kicked in the shin when the lady next to me has had one too many outta that bucket of Thirsty Planet and is crawling under the bar table to rush to the loolooroom, but some folks do. League showed us a new table design that is intended to be shared by two people. Leg room! Bathroom! Hiyo!

Tiny tables save you from death defying crawls to the bathroom!

*There is not a darn bad seat in the house. League said that they had learned from past theater designs that the front seats were not terribly desirable. They now have promised to always abide by the seat to screen distance rule which, in simplified terms, essentially means the first row is as far away as the measurement of the screen height. In this case, about 22 feet away from the screen. (Thanks to Alamo’s chief architect for that lil snippet)

Shh! The chairs are sleeping. Note how much dancing room I have from the front row to the screen. Wiggle wiggle.

* Separate for service members and the general population for the bigger theaters!

* Wall…..to wall….to ceiling screens. Huge screens. Big. Real, real big.

View from the projection room...monster screens!

* A decorative hallway archive of beloved 35mm films and memorabilia will be lining the main hallway in wall size glass cases.

* There’s a half theater, or a miniMo as the staff on tour joked. The teeny little theater housed 32 seats and is intended to be used for private party rentals and smaller movie screenings. The screen certainly didn’t shrink to fit the room though and League stated that he hoped to include one of these mini rooms in new location projects.

Not much now, but it's going to be super swanky when it's done!

* Because of the tiny theater, there was enough room for a cocktail lounge which they’ve titled the 400 Rabbits Club. The title hails from its namesake which happens to be an Aztec goddess who gave birth to…400 rabbits. What? Everyone knows that. Sticking with the plant theme, the cocktail lounge will have a heavy concentration on carefully selected tequilas and will also offer small bites to coincide with its cocktail menu. You also can now enjoy your Alamo treats on a patio! Swanky. Watch for a Sunday brunch to come to this spot upon venue open as well.

League wrapped up by saying that he felt this was a new playground where they were able to take what they had learned from the other locations, “tidy everything up,” and test some of their new ideas.

Their grand opening event is on March 22! Keep an eye on Drafthouse.com as well as Do512 for any updates!

 –Rachel

Now just think about hearing those Diamond staples at a live concert with several other fans that find singing along to his hits just as addicting as you do… Sounds pretty fantastic, right? Well, you’re in luck! While Neil himself will not be traveling through Austin, the San Francisco tribute band, Super Diamond, will be in the next few weeks! And believe us when we say you cannot any closer to the real deal. You will be so close to forgetting that it’s not actually Neil Diamond on stage.

Opening for Super Diamond is the Austin-based, Rock & Roll cover band, The Cover Girls. They have been in the biz ever since 2009 and are known for selling out top Austin venues. So if you’d like to hear some Blondie and The Go Go’s before an endless amount of Neil Diamond then you won’t want to miss this.

We recommend not passing up a night as entertaining as this one unless you want to be weeping like a willow because you have to sing a lot of songs sung blue instead. So If seeing Super Diamond and The Cover Girls sounds nearly as appealing as we think it does, then click “I like it” here for a chance to win one of five pairs of free tickets! The show is for all ages and on February 17 at La Zona Rosa. You can buy tickets in advance here as well for $17!

Quidam (pronounced “key dam”) made its world premier in Montreal under the Big Top in April 1996.  Since then, the production has toured on five continents and has been experienced by millions of people, so they’ve had plenty of time to perfect the show for us Austinites.

The narrative follows a young girl, Zoe, who feels detached from her friends and family and lost among a world without meaning. Seeking to fill the void, Zoe gets swept into the imaginary world of Quidam where she meets a wild cast of characters who encourage her to free her soul.  It is an intense and imaginative journey that transforms an alienated world into a place of hope and connection.

Of course, the real magic of any Cirque production lies in the spectacular acrobats, rope climbers, rope jumpers, trapeze fliers, and freaky clowns.  This show delivers on all those fronts and more, so prepare to be dazzled.  Tickets are on sale now, and since we love to hook up our faithful readers, we’re offering a $10 discount per ticket when you use the promo code DO512.  Enjoy!

Awesome music isn’t all there will be, as this is a themed surf party! Come dressed in your best beachwear, grab your board and be ready for Surf Trivia, a “Most Surf-i-licious Man and Woman” contest and a gnarly silent auction. There will be prizes, and did we mention go-go dancers?

Surf rockers, The Del-Vipers, are a fairly new Austin-based band that every punk-loving Austinite must see. Country musician Junior Brown has been locally loved since his days as part of a house band for the Continental Club. Bill Kirchen’s unique guitar sound has been dubbed “Dieselbilly,” complete with heavy licks that cannot in good conscious be missed live. What a way to celebrate the birthday of a great local radio station! Who wouldn’t want to honor the 17th year of a community station with a wonderful mission statement :”to provide high quality, innovative, and diverse community- oriented programming to Austin with an emphasis on those communities that are ignored or underserved by mainstream media . . .”

Show your love for KOOP Radio and get your tickets ASAP, available through Antone’s. Or, try your luck with Do512, and enter to win a pair of free tickets!

G. Love has released a new album titled “Fixin’ to Die,” which maintains the band’s original meld of hip hop and gritty blues, but adds in a dash of country. This may have something to do with The Avett Brothers, who not only produced the album, but also play on several of the tracks. The result of this collaboration is the creation of dynamic and soulful songs that are hard not to dance to. So, don’t miss their show this Saturday at La Zona Rosa. Click here for a chance to win a pair of free tickets!

You want to know what to do on Valentine’s Day? As you wish.

You want something new, delicious, smooth, yet witty to drink this Valentine’s day while enjoying a delectable meal? As you wish.

You want to see the Alamo Drafthouse’s Action Pack host in velvet pants? AS YOU WISH!

While the Princess Bride themed quote-along is a longtime favorite for Alamo lovers on V-day, this year there’s some extremely exciting news. After pondering what they could do with their wine list to make it exciting and unique, the Alamo did what they do best and thought of something so charming, yet simplistic, it’s simply astonishing it didn’t already exist before.

Enter in, the Bottle of Wits. After a few phone calls to the Princess Bride rights holders, the design maestros at Helms Workshop for a collectible bottle idea and of course, their in-house drink master, the Drafthouse was looking at two wines they call Inconceivable Cab and As You Wish White.

We were lucky enough to get to try a little smattering of the two last week and were not at all disappointed. The wine will be available for everyone to try starting this February 14 and will be unveiled at the Princess Bride Valentine’s feast. Shortly afterwards, it will then be available for purchase online. Delicious. While the wine is divine, it certainly is going to be sharing a stage with some notable edibles as well.

On the menu for the rest of the feast, you’re looking at a carefully planned mutton & arugula sandwich on a nice multi-seed bread with herb dressing, an eel salad and a coffee, mustard and peppercorn rubbed beef tenderloin with truffled risotto and port glace.

If you don’t know what half those words mean, we found out they mean “dude, yum.”

The earlier those Valentine’s plans get made, the better that day with exorbitant amounts of pink everywhere will be. We assure you, we trust Alamo to take care of us when all we want is to eat drink and be merry. Tickets on sale tomorrow!

As…you…wish.

–Rachel

We already know that Kung Fu Saloon is the place to go to on Sundays for free play of all of their awesome games, but Super Bowl Sunday is going to be even better. Yes, just like every day the 3 lanes of Skee Ball will be free, and just like every Sunday, every other game will be free too. That means Foosball, Ms. Pac Man, NFL Blitz 2000, NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat III, Centipede, and a lot more. And don’t forget the board games like Giant Jenga, Scrabble, and my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean Game, Liar’s Dice.

Plus…Happy Hour is going to last all day! That’s $3 wells, $2 domestics, and $2 off everything else. And $1 mimosas until 5pm. That means if you get there when Kung Fu Saloon opens at 11 a.m. and you have 3 mimosas an hour…I’m too drunk to count. All that’s for certain is that on Sunday, there will be opportunities to have a lot of fun without spending a lot of dollars.

And, and, I’m saying and a lot in this blog, but there are so many things! Man Bites Dog is giving away gourmet hot dogs to everyone fo free! Fo free! And that’s not all, Kung Fu Saloon will be giving away a 42 inch flat screen TV. That means next year, you can stay home to watch the big game, although it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

Remember those high school days when you were angry at your parents because, let’s face it, they were real wrong about most everything? Remember the angsty bands you listened to really loud in your room? We’re talking the music that got you through your first dates, breakups, math class, and gave you the best feeling in the world when you blasted it in your first car windows down, Bayside bumper sticker proudly planted. The guys from those bands are all grown up, just like you, and they’re coming to Antone’s next Wednesday for solo acoustic sets. Like Ace Enders from The Early November:

Hello! How are you? Like your shoes, love your hair.

Also, Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids will be playing at this show, in addition to Evan Weiss of Into it. Over it. and Anthony Raneri of Bayside, the band that decided its name when it passed the Bayside train station on the way to a Long Island New Found Glory show. Don’t forget about Chris Conley from Saves The Day:

The where’s the band title is making a lot more sense now huh? Join the guys at Antone’s. February 2. We can’t be held responsible if you leave this show with an urge to hope into a Honda Civic, roll the windows down & blow the speakers while attempting to set a street in New Mexico on fire after mooning your high school principal. *coughBaysideMemories* <—purely hypothetical whimsical story that may or may not have happened in this author’s lifetime possibly or possibly not around 8 years ago. Tickets!

The fun travels on with a visit from Curtis Grimes of NBC’s The Voice, who will serenade guests at the bash, followed by a signing after the fashion show. In addition to that awesomeness, former Miss Texas, Holly Mills-Gardner will emcee the bash. Some pretty sweet prizes will be awarded, such as a “Boudoir Experience” courtesy of Tiffany Tagle Photography, or a trip to Hotel Madeline in Telluride, Colorado.

The Barr Mansion

Next, swing by the cocktail reception at the Barr Mansion VIP Bridal Bling Lounge for a drink, and make sure to check out the showcase of jewelry from Kendra Scott. Perhaps the prettiest event will be the Fashion Show, featuring slews of wedding dresses from awesome boutiques. For the grooms, who may be slightly daunted by all the sparkling, shimmery fun, there will be games on behalf of Billiard Factory, plus the Dominion Golf Group Cufflink Lounge.

Planning a wedding on your own can be more difficult than taking the Bar Exam, so let Austin Monthly help you out by providing a lavish event complete with the best vendors in town, ready and willing to offer you their services for your big day. Once you step into the Bridal Bash, your stress will immediately be eliminated and you’ll finally be able to enjoy the precious time prior to holy matrimony with your soon-to-be-hubby/bride that is so fleeting. Tickets are reasonably priced, with regular admission and VIP tickets.