On Juneteenth, 1985, rap icons Run DMC performed at Liberty Lunch in Austin. This was an off-date excursion from the group’s Fresh Fest package tour that Run DMC headlined along Golden Age legends Whodini, the Fat Boys, and Grandmaster Flash. This wasn’t the first big hip-hop gig in Austin by a long shot, either, as the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash had entertained a crowd of three thousand at Municipal Auditorium way back in April 1981. And, a number of key shows had already planted the seeds for the Houston scene. It was, however, a significant moment of crossover visibility for the genre on its way to becoming the core of American popular music.
It was an auspicious intersection of people and events. If hip-hop was on the rise, so was Juneteenth itself, a grass-roots community celebration that Texas first observed as a state holiday in 1980. Liberty Lunch, too, was at a pivotal moment as a central stage in Austin’s rock scene, with the early days of SXSW just around the corner. And Run DMC was perfect to take that rock stage in this crossover moment, their guitar-heavy samples already pointing toward their blockbuster Aerosmith collaboration “Walk This Way” of the following year.
The Run DMC show marked a turning point, then, but it had a DIY feel all the same. Local artist and civic leader Harold McMillan had arranged the gig as a Juneteenth fundraiser for the Black Arts Alliance. It was a big get, as Run DMC was at their swaggering peak, touring on the album King of Rock. When McMillan picked the superstars up at the airport in his Datsun, they knew this would be a different kind of gig. There was a hiccup, too, when they arrived at Liberty Lunch and realized Jam Master Jay’s records were still on the Fresh Fest tour bus. They hopped in the back of a pickup truck and drove to Sound Warehouse for replacements. And in one final twist that gave the triumphant evening its DIY flavor, Liberty Lunch’s plywood stage, meant for frenetic rockers like Joe King Carrasco, was not designed for the likes of Jam Master Jay’s turntables. The record player’s needle jumped as the rappers bounded across the stage. The crowd loved it, though, and hip-hop crossover took another step forward in the Texas capital. Run DMC raised hell and gave their all every time they stepped on stage, whether it was this Juneteenth crowd in a modest Austin rock club, or, just a month later, performing for 100, 000 at Live Aid in Philadelphia. Run DMC, “King of Rock” Run DMC, “It’s Like That”
Sources:
Michael Corcoran. Austin Music Is a Scene not a Sound. Fort Worth: TCU Press, 2025.
Media: Fresh Fest 1984 Houston Commercial Fresh Fest 1985 Press Conference Run DMC at 1:14 Run DMC, “King of Rock” at Live Aid, one month after Liberty Lunch Juneteenth
