No non-musician has had more impact on the Austin scene than Tim OConnor- and he had to leave town for two prime years in the 70s. Oh, how OConnor doted on his kids Bobbie, Freda, YoYo and the rest, who inherited his magical energy, as one friend put it. And yet, his primary obstacle has been not being able to buy large shows year-round. Who Receive obituaries Sandra Lucille Hidrogo February 20, 2023 (81 years old) He's equal parts Tony Soprano and Bill Graham. Weed Corley Fish Funeral Homes and Cremation Services, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Meanwhile, O'Connor has directly helped shape Charlie Jones' destiny. He left behind his two dogs, Bobbie Nelson and Yoyo Nelson, who both had severe stranger danger.. "Tim ended up ruling the whole roost.". O'Connor's contract with one of the country's largest promoters is due to expire in December. After enrolling in a local high school, he immersed himself in student theatre (he was Conrad in Bye Bye Birdie). And to some degree, it's also about admitting what I've done wrong. Backyard II just couldnt accommodate sellout crowds of 7,500, like the May 11, 2011 Arcade Fire show when hundreds of ticketholders had nowhere to park and missed the show. The other rooms he rented. It's about the excitement. Leave a memory or share a photo or video below to show your support. His mission was always to bring entertainment for Austin, not bring Austin entertainment just because it worked in Houston or Dallas. A celebration of her life will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, June 3, at Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home. Comfort the family with flowers or a sympathy gift. Charles "Charlie" M. McLemore 81, passed away Tuesday February 21, 2023. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com. After Travis Heights homeowners blamed him for cigarette butts left nearby, O'Connor found a commercially zoned lot that bordered the neighborhood and briefly put in a petting zoo. That and inadequate AC: was that shit even on? "Not controlling your own destiny is a distinct disadvantage," says O'Connor. "Do I want to try and change my image? When O'Connor passed away from Hodgkin's lymphoma in July 2021 at age 76, the music community went into mourning. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Thomas Morton O'Connor, 78, passed from this life on Oct. 7, 2010 in Austin, TX. *Please note that the service will not be at a Keever facility, so please have flowers sent directly to the Hilco Event Center in Itasca.*. While most people don't care who owns the venues they visit, it could be argued that the one non-performer's name every Austin music fan should know is Tim O'Connor. The last act to play La Zona Rosa under OConnors ownership was Prince at SXSW 2013. Since O'Connor and Jones both describe their relationship as "father-son," the latter equally close friends with Attal, Jones has been the architect of what could be the new Ivory Tower collective -- a centralized effort from Stubb's, MiddleMan Music, and Direct Events. When Attal was paying for his own meet-and-greet trips to the coasts, Jones was meeting agents on O'Connor's dime. Although O'Connor admits there's still "conversations at different levels" about how the deal might be salvaged, he says a group of well-financed smaller promoters could perhaps team up to purchase the Backyard. Leave a memory or share a photo or video below to show your support. O'Connor controlled the Opera House, routinely dealing with Houston-based powerhouse Pace Productions and their Austin liaison, Steve Hauser. Maureen Margaret O'Connor Obituary. Receive a notification when services are updated. Then there are those that "respect" him too much to dredge up the past, those content with allowing O'Connor to spin his own story, particularly considering he's on the cusp of retirement and still recuperating from triple-bypass surgery. That would be good enough for me.". ", "It was the holdout," says Henry Gonzalez, who first worked at the Armadillo and later stage-managed the Opera House. starts petition, says its location is in jeopardy, Justin Theroux is supporting Austin Pets Alive! Like our page to stay informed about passing of a loved one in Austin, Texas on facebook. O'Connor's fuse may be longer these days, but one crossed signal could end the deal. So much so, in fact, that Attal has pried a sizable amount of shows away from Direct Events. . If you didn't know what you were doing there, he didn't either. When the lease ran out on the other half in 2008, the Backyard closed and work soon-after started on a bigger, better Backyard about a mile west on TX 71, on land bought by billionaire John Paul DeJoria. "I'll tell you the three things I never want you to be: cold, wet, or hungry.". The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers that include affiliates of Service Corporation International, 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. That was unique, and I think a lot of that came from working with Willie. Sign up for service and obituary updates. I never heard him not paying an artist or cheating a partner. Who's gonna do it? "We all found ourselves together one day," says O'Connor. The son of Charles and Gladys (Farrell) O'Connor was born on October 14, 1949 in Appleton. Now, as his relationship with SFX, the country's largest concert promoter, nears contractual completion, the impact of O'Connor's retirement on the local promotions pool is unknown. He'd bought Nelson out two years earlier, just before the singer's tax situation got messy, but it wasn't long before O'Connor himself wound up in a bit of IRS trouble; since buying the Opera House in 1977, he'd been filing corporate taxes, but not personal taxes. After owning five record stores, French Smith controlled Austin's outdoor events, staging Pecan Street and a half-dozen or so other annual festivals while also renting the Opera House for the occasional indoor show. Timothy F. O'Connor Obituary. At the time, musicians such as Jimmie Vaughan and Rusty Wier began stopping at the restaurant on their way to Winter Park. "I'm open to the possibility we can do something collectively that we can't on our own -- to protect the Austin market," reasons O'Connor. In 1977, he led a group of almost 200 musicians on a cultural exchange trip to Japan. Timothy David Scott O'Connor On Friday September 30, 2022, Timothy O'Connor passed away at the age of 39. Please join us in Loving, Sharing and Memorializing Christopher Joseph O"Connor on this permanent online memorial. While this cost Direct Events some independence, the contract reserved O'Connor's right to promote 140 acts on his own that he had longstanding relationships with (artists such as Willie Nelson or Little Feat.) Bobbie is one of Tim O'Connor's dogs that is seeking a new home. AUSTIN, TexasAn integral part of Texas history, Tim OConnor, the creator of Austin Music Hall, Austin Opry House and more, passed away this summer of Hodgkins lymphoma. Absolutely not. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. Better yet, while studying the plots they'd just bought, O'Connor found an additional 13 lots they'd inherited through a sale the bank hadn't covered in the mortgage. But after a great expense to make the land concert-ready, Two River was one-and-done, opening and closing on the same Fourth of July weekend. Along with Wilson's Armadillo, and the One Night, Soap Creek, Split Rail, and Broken Spoke, there was the Checkered Flag, a fledgling beer joint on Lavaca owned by future Kerrville overseer Rod Kennedy and his partner Allen Damron. Both are now available for adoption. During the same period, he rented Laguna Beach High's gym for $50 and threw a concert featuring a semi-popular local band. Local obituaries for the Austin, Texas area 7,977 Results Tuesday, February 28, 2023 Add Photos Add a Memory Tommy Joe Adkins Tommy Adkins's passing on Friday, February 24, 2023 has been. I think Ill let you negotiate all my deals with Columbia, was Willies response. Although the Backyard wound up proving Austinites would indeed go out of their way for atmosphere and talent, O'Connor's next move brought him downtown. Amy captured the rescue on video. You have to build a base on a fixed income so if you lose it on the concert side you don't go bust.". He knew that you didn't always have to make money, that you have to give great product. Please, Like Lance Armstrong, OConnor just couldnt walk away from the action, and suffered the consequences. Even today, promoters often walk away at the end of the year making as little as 5% of the door's receipts. "I got to know an immense amount of people really well," he says. "The town had just gone from zero to 65 clubs in 18 months," says Eddie Wilson of the city's early-Seventies live music boom. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www . Attal co-owns and books both the restaurant's small inside room and Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater, a Backyard-style outdoor venue. "You have to create a niche that's so protected and specialized that it doesn't draw too much attention. using a new Instagram account, Austin Pets Alive! In any scenario, Jones and Attal say it would only take a drive to their office to unload the lease to the Austin Music Hall. Along with working in Nelson's front office and running Castle Creek, O'Connor also found time to open a non-music club, the Squeeze Inn, a bar on 19th Street where the pool tables, jukebox, and beer were all a quarter. You are invited to a reception following the graveside service at the funeral home. Copyright 1981-2023 Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved. Tim was born in Lakewood, NJ to Joseph P. O'Connor and Patricia DiGennaro O'Connor on December 4th, 1969. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "Tim and Willie were an odd couple," says Arlyn's Freddy Fletcher, Nelson's nephew. "The battles I had with him at Pace over why we couldn't do a certain event always came back to the same thing, 'That's not what Austin's about,'" says Hauser. Young told him it was a bird nest on the ground -- he'd only need to pick up the eggs. What do you want me to do? By sixth grade,. SFX. ", Several months later, the landlord offered him the chance to do just that; after tearing down the wall O'Connor opened the Austin Music Hall with a sign that said "Phase 1. The deal Willie made with Terrace Motel owner Dude McCandless included 14 acres on South Congress at Academy for just over a million dollars. Midway through producing the second Farm Aid, at Manor Downs in 1985, O'Connor got the news his daughter had passed away. In 1960, after eight months of marching with a weighted backpack and an M-1 rifle, O'Connor and several other cadets broke ranks, literally running away and leading police on a manhunt. We will miss you and love you always, MeMe. He enjoyed brewing wine, bee keeping, hunting, fishing, gardening, and pigeon racing. "I'm dealing with the agents on both venues and putting the show where they'll be best presented. Overestimating access and parking capabilities also marred the second Backyard in Bee Cave, about a mile west of the original. I may have given up a certain amount of information here or there, but my past is that nobody really knows what I'm up to. It doesn't take much asking around for folks to recall the first time he screamed at them, or the first time they witnessed him either stand on his desk to make a point, or clear it with the sweep of an arm. Age 81. and yea.the gun.timc/s, This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. I have very little patience for people that fool around in this business or just want to make a buck.". I'm not sure if I said it or not, but I knew right then that I was willing to carry this guy's guitar to hell.". He was presented IBM Means Service Awards in both fields, in Recognition for Outstanding Accomplishments in Service. I've made some mistakes and enemies, but the other side is I hope I've made some friends and made a little bit of difference in the presentation and the quality of music that comes to Austin. Program Support Representative in Kansas City and San Jose, then worked in Software Test and Development at Santa Teresa Lab in San Jose. "My hippies couldn't work with Willie's hippies. Timothy J. O'Connor, 78, of Mentor-on-the-Lake, passed away Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, at his residence. OBITUARY Tom O'Connor November 10, 1931 - October 7, 2010. We're talking about a concert promoter 30 years later. on its website. He was king of the roadshow in town for a quarter century, from 1977 until his protege Charlie Jones and Charles Attal took over in 2002 with the Austin City Limits Music Festival and aggressive bookings all over town. Obituary. has started a fundraiser to help reimburse those fees- which is estimated to be about $2800- and is asking the public for any interest to help Bobbie and Yoyo get fostered or adopted. Kansas State University was the next institution to ask O'Connor not to return. It just so happened it was my stray bullet.". According to the website, Bobbie Nelsonis just over 2 years old. Throughout 1990-91, O'Connor drifted yet again, this time to Minneapolis to work with a group that presented stadium-sized Earth Day concerts featuring acts like Paul McCartney and REM. What do you want me to be?". But they all turned to shit. We never called them 'benefits,' but we both knew the deal. Today, he owns three of the city's most popular venues: La Zona Rosa, the Austin Music Hall, and the Backyard. REX/Shutterstock. Nelson repeated. Tim O'Connor, Direct Events, The Backyard, The Austin Music Hall, La Zona Rosa, Castle Creek, The Austin Opera House, Pace Concerts, SFX, Willie Nelson, Information is power. Thanks also to Seton Medical Center Austin for the care given the many, many times he was a patient there. He's been zealously drug- and alcohol-free ever since. Let others know about your loved one's death. Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news. And suffice it to say that in those days, there were plenty of outside influences that dictated someone's personality, to be as polite as I can without casting stones from a glass house.". Maureen Margaret O'Connor, age 75, of Austin, Texas passed away on Friday, February 24, 2023. Even if you control a market and wind up making money, as the Ivory Tower collective did, it's often not the kind of money true empires are built on. Tim O'Connor, longtime club owner, music entrepreneur and erstwhile promoter of Austin music, partner of Willie Nelson as a director of the famed Fourth of July picnics, has died. "I didn't take direction very well.". Private Messages APA! After roughly 26 months in an adoption facility, he was adopted and given the surname O'Connor. "Instead of fighting each other for the same piece of pie, we were cutting the pie up.". It started with a love of music. RESCHEDULED FROM 2/2: Branzino, Shooks, Otis Wilkins. Unfortunately, before he could think on it harder, a night of drinking in Carmel led to another arrest; police picked up O'Connor and his buddies after neighbors reported having seen them prying at a metal cage in front of the local liquor store. Id sure like to play your joint, said Willie, who was growing out his hair and looking for new audiences. This was one of those nights. Still, it was best for Tim to leave town for a couple years. I'll never forget Willie's answer. Get the best experience and stay connected to your community with our Spectrum News app. Yet for all the yelling, he's known real pain of his own: He's lost a testicle to cancer and a daughter to drugs. He didnt have to say no anymore, just Why dont you run it by Tim?, Read more about Castle Creek, Spellmans, Alamo Lounge, emmajoes. worked with TRAPRS, a trapping, rescue and pet recovery service, for the rescue operation. Timothy was a member of the Masonic Lodge. Send a note, share a story or upload a photo. right now i got tears in my eyesi sat with tim's ashes with connie.i really dont know what to say but thank you michael. Employees fear him and competitors loathe him. That arrest led the state of California to declare him an emancipated juvenile; he could now be tried for adult crimes. By all means necessary. "Can you imagine sending a guy like me over as an ambassador of goodwill?" Willie is the Muhammad Ali of white people, yet running in tandem with his crowd is a something a lot of people can't do.". Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this . Timothy was born on April 23, 1969 in Fond Du Lac, WI to Timothy Patrick and Rhonda (Floyd) OConnor, I. Timothy attended school in Fond Du Lac and graduated from Rising Star High School in 1988. The tale of Tim O'Connor starts with a Baby Doe born in Great Bend, Kansas. Get hyperlocal forecasts, radar and weather alerts. Check out the rescue video: https://t.co/HdqwH1zKJo Help out today by donating to their rescue and care: https://t.co/H4ndUa1g7M pic.twitter.com/PBL0nIXOWm, Willie Nelsons daughters and OConnors goddaughters, Paula and Amy Nelson, were able to find homes for four of them. And honestly, for me, it wasn't about money in the end. He let me spill everything out for him and then I asked, 'What do you think?' i'm holding the 25 year chip tim gave me when we both hit 25 years. First there was the Two River Canyon Amphitheater in 2003, a gorgeous 800-acre setting near OConnors Spicewood ranch with the potential to thrill festgoers for decades. Owning the Backyard and Music Hall gave O'Connor an opportunity to formalize their dealings; in 1995, the two companies signed a contract that allowed Pace to co-promote shows in O'Connor's venues. They now own 130 venues nationwide, including 44 amphitheaters. But it's time to clear the air and say the driving force I have at this point is merely wanting to grow old gracefully. Timothy Joseph (Tim) O'Connor, 53, of Toms River, NJ, passed away peacefully at home on December 26, 2022, after bravely battling cancer. Austin Owen O'Connor, 66 of Loogootee, was called home at 9:33 a.m. Friday, December 4, 2020 at Loogootee Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. O'Connor is the first to admit the combination of Pace's deep pockets and his own long-term connections represents a serious hurdle for competing Austin venues. "The acoustics were horrible, and it was just this terribly hot, smoke-filled room.". Maldonado Construction had the biggest claim- $334,000 for work building detention ponds and roads and supplying utilities at the new Backyard. Send a note, share a story or upload a photo. Guestbook Condolences Memorial Donation. (Austin Pets Alive! She is survived by 2 daughters, Sheila Ham and Janet OConnor; 2 sisters and 4 brothers; 10 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren and a host of other family members. Tom married his high school sweetheart, Beverly Ford, on July 5, 1952, and they enjoyed 58 years devoted to each other. "We had the town in a headlock," Ramsey says. AUSTIN, Texas An integral part of Texas history, Tim O'Connor, the creator of Austin Music Hall, Austin Opry House and more, passed away this summer of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Unfortunately, O'Connor almost didn't get an opportunity to use his new Rolodex entries. "I think a fair amount of folks will come," he says. Tim O'Connor believes his funeral will be like many other events he's staged: well-attended. Is he showing his hand to lull competitors into a false sense of security, or is coming clean part of a public relations campaign designed to repair his reputation before he eases into retirement? 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