The 'Dillo opened for business in late 1969 and enjoyed a ten-year ride as a premier Austin, Texas rock/country rock venue. Located in a former National Guard Armory and co-founded by Shiva's Head manager Eddie Wilson, the wildly painted emporium presented local and national talent including Charlie Daniels, Emmy Lou Harris, Frank Zappa, Bruce Springsteeen and Willie Nelson to highly appreciative Austin audiences. Folding in fans from the Vulcan Gas Company, AWHQ also enjoyed the supreme talent of its own house artist, Jim Franklin, who designed many of the venue's posters. The 'Dillo's "Last Dance" concert was held on New Year's Eve, 1980, and the rockin' hotbed of some of Austin's most memorable concerts was replaced by the most pedestrian of buildings: a bank.