As the sun set outside, inside the Austin ArtWorks Center things were just starting to light up at the first-ever ArtRocks Open Jam Session Friday night.

As Spare Parts warmed up, musicians and fans milled about, talked and tuned their own instruments for a chance to simply play.

“It’s really exciting,” executive director of the Austin ArtWorks Center said. “That has been one of the purposes of the ArtWorks Center. It’s great to finally be able to reach the musicians.”

The good vibes seemed to carry as more people arrived just as the session was about to begin. For Knoebel and the others involved, it was more than they could have hoped for.

“We actually had no idea — zero expectations,” she said. “It’s just short of 7 p.m. and we already have a ton of people.”

Pete Wangen who co-organized the event with Peter Jacobs felt the same way. By the time Spare Parts, the house band, kicked the night off, the spirit of music was already flowing. Close to 40 people — musicians and fans — were tapping their hands and feet as the house band started the night with a bluesy kick.

“The night exceeded everyone’s expectations not only in terms of the number of people who came to play, but also the people that came to watch other people play,” Wangen said. “The entire place was full and people had trouble getting in to watch.”

Wangen said by the end of the night, people overflowed out of the main room and perhaps that was the thing that surprised him the most.

“I was surprised by the number of people that came to watch,” he said. “The feedback we got back was incredibly positive.”

“I think it’s huge,” Wangen continued. “The amount of people that turned out was a testament of how this is needed in the community where there is so much talent.

Knoebel said the center is hoping to go once a month into the next year with a break in December. The next show will be Oct. 30 and will feature Jesse Smith and his band Cosmic. Smith was one of the artists at Friday night’s jam.”

Any future success of the jam got a good start Friday and Knoebel hopes for even more, including possible theme nights.

But the process isn’t done.

“We’re going to refine the process of making it easier to put their name on a sign-up sheet to make sure anybody who wants to play gets to play,” Wangen said.

Until then, the goal is simple. Add more musicians.

“For those musicians out there, come down and join us,” she said.