Key change for Austin City Limits show

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The doors are shutting for good Monday night but the music will keep on playing. Austin City Limits will change homes next year and take more than 30 years of memories with it.

"This is not the end of the road, it's the end of an era," said Austin City Limits executive producer Terry Lickona.

The current staff had a hand in designing the new Moody Theatre, which is set to open for musical business in February at the W Hotel in Downtown Austin.

"The magic is going to come with us when we move downtown," said Lickona.

People throw around the word "bittersweet" to describe the big move, but Lickona said there are few other words to describe the transition that would do it justice.

"Of course we're nostalgic and a little bit sentimental," he said. "There are so many great memories and so much magic that happened on this stage that we're sitting on right now. How could we not remember and think about that today?"

The memories do come back now and again with each microphone check and light bulb change. While after 36 seasons it's hard for him to pick out a single show as his favorite, one that stands out in his mind and heart the most is Stevie Ray Vaughn's last performance on the stage before he died six months later in a helicopter crash.

Lickona said he and his crew are talking the final taping all in stride and just setting up for another show.

"But the truth is it's not 'just another show .' So ask us how we feel at the end of the night tonight," he laughed.

He reflected on the "vibe" that reverberates in the small intimate studio, from the closeness to the artist to the connection to the audience.

Unlike its deceptively real 30-year-old Austin skyline backdrop, the "vibe" is the special something that makes Austin City Limits --some say the only thing in Austin that hasn't changed.

As the lights dim and the chairs move they're not looking at this as a wrap on the show. They are looking at this as a new spotlight on Austin music.

"I want to be able to take the history, the legacy the magic that has happened in this space and transfer it and transform it into something even bigger in our new home downtown, because we have to!" said Lickona. "We built this incredible legacy of Austin City limits for 36 years. We have to protect and preserve all of that and and beyond that we need to make sure that is grows and continues along the same path that we've been on for all of these years."

Monday night's show is sold out.