They then returned to North America where, during a leg that lasted more than three months, Vaughan and Double Trouble opened for Men at Work and The Moody Blues.

In that year, 1972, he brought his band Blackbird to Austin to play at the Rolling Hills Country Club, and later at the Soap Creek Saloon.

[4] He had accepted offers from several local bands, but within six years of arriving in Austin, Vaughan and his own group, Double Trouble, were playing at the Rome Inn.

After an appearance before record producer Jerry Wexler, Vaughan and Double Trouble were invited to the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1982.

[11] In a memorandum to executives at the southwest branch of Epic written before the tour, marketing Vice President Jack Chase agreed to break Vaughan and Double Trouble out of Texas.

[13] However, there is no evidence to suggest that Hammond was less involved in the making of the band's subsequent studio albums; it seems that he trusted Vaughan's abilities as an artist.

[14][clarification needed] Chase wanted Vaughan and the band to begin touring as soon as possible—the longer the album took to breakout, the more competition it would face.

Their philosophies and techniques in the major markets led to the band eventually performing arena tours, which enabled them to earn bonuses for reaching specific ticket sales plateaus.

However, the review praised the band: "The concert opened strongly with the ubiquitous Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan leading his trio Double Trouble through a workmanlike set of blues and boogie-woogie.

[31] The band proceeded through the west and Midwestern U.S., an area that encompassed Michigan, Illinois, Colorado and California, arriving in Grand Rapids, on August 11.

However, in a lineup with mainly hard rock and heavy metal artists, Vaughan and the band stood out and were not received well by the audience, some of whom began throwing bottles of urine.

One person who took particular note of this was the band's road crew member Byron Barr, whose journal records the reaction in demeaning terms: "Played Reading Festival.

"[35] Uber Rock writer Andy P's own recollection, written in 2014, was similar: "He kinda stuck out a bit like a sore thumb and like Steel Pulse the day before he caught the attention of the bottle throwers.

Hopkins comments that the female host came out wearing Vaughan's trademark flat-brim hat, which he did not appear to find humorous.

[40] The band's agent Rick Alter was sufficiently confident of their career status to announce the group's appearance at concerts at Houston Music Hall, Austin City Coliseum and the Bronco Bowl in Dallas in early October.

[16] An advertisement for the Dallas concert included the phrase "the triumphant return of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble".

[42] The main reason for their return to Texas was to play celebratory homecoming concerts for Vaughan's immediate fan base in the state.

He confirmed that Vaughan and Double Trouble would soon return to the studio, and learned that Texas Flood was approaching sales of 300,000 units.

He reckoned that both bands had a common thread in musical genre,[clarification needed] however, and accordingly organized concerts for October through December, which were deemed a success.

[46] The recordings made by Vaughan and Double Trouble during these sessions were released as Couldn't Stand the Weather, the band's second studio album.

They played a concert there at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, appearing at the tenth-annual Volunteer Jam, an event organized by Charlie Daniels.

[49] Less than a week after the band left Chicago, a 28-year-old man named Willie M. "Wimp" Stokes, Jr., the son of a drug kingpin, was shot and killed at a motel there.

[19] After four months on the road, during the Moody Blues tour in October–December 1983, the band received $5,000 per show, an amount that included additional bonuses dependent on ticket sale plateaus.

[52] Layton stated that, "I could actually pay my rent and keep my lights turned on and have money to eat on and put gas in my car—that was our real priority in life.

[54] At times, the shows were packed to capacity; in August 1983, near the end of the first North American excursion, the group's performance at The Palace in Los Angeles was a sellout.

[55] Two months later, after their success in Europe, Vaughan and Double Trouble received a portion of the near $75,000 in ticket sale revenue, following an appearance opening for Men at Work in Seattle.

[57] The following year, after studio duties were completed, Vaughan and Double Trouble earned a percentage of the near $155,000 gross revenue after their performance in Nashville.

[57] This was evidenced in his hometown, on June 16, when a number of radio VIPs attended the Texas Flood record release party.

[62] The released works include two instrumentals "Scuttle Buttin'" and "Stang's Swang", and two lyrical pieces "Couldn't Stand the Weather" and "Honey Bee".

Vaughan's creative progress is reflected in the songs released on Couldn't Stand the Weather, which, according to Hopkins, quickly outpaced the sales of Texas Flood.