Big Back Porch

A promoter has taken the “everything’s bigger in Texas” cliché to heart and announced plans to construct the largest permanent outdoor stage in the Lone Star State.

Backporch Productions recently signed a letter of intent with the city of Clyde at Clyde Lake to build the Back Porch of Texas Stage and Event Center.

The multi-use venue will include a 7,500-square-foot, 600-capacity event center with 14 VIP boxes, a VIP bar, five VIP living suites, layered VIP row seating and a dance floor.

But the real kicker will apparently be the Back Porch’s ability to transform into an outdoor venue.

Plans include a large hydraulic door that will swing open to reveal the stage and a catwalk to the outside. It’s unclear if VIPs would watch from the back. The venue, when converted to an outdoor facility, can accommodate a 40,000-capacity crowd, Backporch said in a statement. The facility will also include acres of RV parking, camping areas and picnic tables with grills.

Back Porch will be located near Abilene, Texas, which counted a population just more than 117,000 in the 2010 census. However, a lack of people in the area hasn’t dissuaded Backporch Productions. The promoter said in the statement that the massive stage will help attract big-name acts that don’t normally visit the region because of limited capacities.

Abilene is contributing $650,000 toward the bill, according to the local Reporter News, with sponsors underwriting the rest of the project.

Construction is expected to wrap by January and the venue is tentatively scheduled to debut with The Outlaws and Legends Music Festival in March.