First concert you attended in SA? (San Antonio, Anton: pictures, venues, rain)

[KINGFISHER1884]

Hi, my name is John (Hop) King and I was in a band called "Rocksand" in San Antonio way back when and we opened for "It's a Beautiful Day", "John Mayall", Quicksilver Messenger Service", and the "Grateful Dead". Of course no one thought of taking any pictures and I am desperately trying to find some. We were too busy to remember to get anyone to take any. If you know of any I will pay big bucks for them, especially if there are any of us. You can call me at 512-789-5404. I'll share a cute little stroy with you about that concert. The morning of the concert we all (Rocksand) went down to Hemisfair Arena to see the Dehi Sound System and all that was going on with the set-up. Most of the guys in Rocksand had been playing for years and years in other bands and I was a neophite and I'd never been inside Hemisfair Arena before and when we opened the door to the arena I just stopped there in awe and fear while the other guys in the band went up on stage and were talking to the set up crew. I was standing there thinking, "oh ****, what have I gotten myself into", when the door next to me opened and this pretty gal stepped through and when she saw me just standing there with my mouth open she said, "Why are you standing all the way back here by yourself for", and I wanted to say "Because I'm waiting for you", but I didn't, and then I told her my situation, that I was just used to playing small venues and she said, "Hell, don't worry about that, once you start playing it will be about 100 times more fun than anyplace you have ever played. About halfway through our first song I thought back about what she had said and realized that she was right, we finished out set and then "it's a Beautiful Day" came on and she was the lead singer. After that we got to play with "The Coasters", "Rene & Rene", "Blue Cheer", "The 13th Floor Elevators", "Sheva's Head Band" and I got to hang out with Jeff Beck, Carmine Appice, Tim Bogart, and "Spencer Davis" while I was really cruisin one night without knowing who they were for awhilwe and I was telling them all kinds of jokes and stuff and they were all laughing, and when I went to get another beer, a friend of mine came up and said, "Do you know who you've been talking to" and I said, "No, just some guys with strong accents", and then he told me who they were but it was too late to be intimidated because we were just having too much fun so I went back to where they were and continued where I left off. We hosted a TV show called "Swingtime" for about 3 weeks and then some of the guys in the band got into something they couldn't live without "H", so that was the end of the band. Thanks for taking the time to read this, try to find some pictures! Hopper

Originally Posted by Paka

Are you referring to "Its a Beautiful Day" the group that did "Whitebird"?
If so it was Jethro Tull and several others...was there for that one. Seems to me it was like 5 different bands for that concert. One of those long concerts.

For The Iron Butterfly concert, Ron Bushy the drummer broke his drumstick on a portion of In-A-Gada-Divida and I jumped over 3 folks to get it when he threw it in the audience (a bennie for being tall I suppose)...and then I got his autograph on the back of my ticket stub that night...kept those forever and ever it seemed.

Did anyone every get to see Led Zepplin? That was my MAJOR disappointment in life, never getting to see them play.

[tony78201]

Originally Posted by Sweetie Pie

I saw that one, early 70's!



I saw the first one they played, at the arena, Jethro tull opened. It was August 69. The night that Sharon Tate was murdered I remember waking up to that news the next day. Sheesh, talk about a buzz kill!





If I remember right, I thought it was at the Arena. It was in '69, Gen. Adm. I don't remember any auditorium seats. I was standing in front of the stage, and saw Janis kick some drunk biker dude in the head. He was trying to hand her a bottle of booze.
Guess it wasn't Southern Comfort

Here is a janis flyer form her show here in 11/21/68 I read online that it was cancelled though

[tony78201]

3 Dog Night ad from an august 1970 show at the arena. does anyone know what the jam factory was?



a led zep website says that this august 23rd 1970 show was cancelled due to an outbreak of childrens diphtheria in san antonio??

[manthechange]

I didn't move to San Antonio until 2000, but the first concert I saw here was Frank Black at the White Rabbit.

[streetscenes]

KISS at the Freeman coliseum in 77 or 78 (I think). SA was such a meca for heavy metal back in the day. Never realized it when I was a kid.

[tony78201]

Originally Posted by KINGFISHER1884

Hi, my name is John (Hop) King and I was in a band called "Rocksand" in San Antonio way back when and we opened for "It's a Beautiful Day", "John Mayall", Quicksilver Messenger Service", and the "Grateful Dead". Of course no one thought of taking any pictures and I am desperately trying to find some. We were too busy to remember to get anyone to take any. If you know of any I will pay big bucks for them, especially if there are any of us. You can call me at 512-789-5404. I'll share a cute little stroy with you about that concert. The morning of the concert we all (Rocksand) went down to Hemisfair Arena to see the Dehi Sound System and all that was going on with the set-up. Most of the guys in Rocksand had been playing for years and years in other bands and I was a neophite and I'd never been inside Hemisfair Arena before and when we opened the door to the arena I just stopped there in awe and fear while the other guys in the band went up on stage and were talking to the set up crew. I was standing there thinking, "oh ****, what have I gotten myself into", when the door next to me opened and this pretty gal stepped through and when she saw me just standing there with my mouth open she said, "Why are you standing all the way back here by yourself for", and I wanted to say "Because I'm waiting for you", but I didn't, and then I told her my situation, that I was just used to playing small venues and she said, "Hell, don't worry about that, once you start playing it will be about 100 times more fun than anyplace you have ever played. About halfway through our first song I thought back about what she had said and realized that she was right, we finished out set and then "it's a Beautiful Day" came on and she was the lead singer. After that we got to play with "The Coasters", "Rene & Rene", "Blue Cheer", "The 13th Floor Elevators", "Sheva's Head Band" and I got to hang out with Jeff Beck, Carmine Appice, Tim Bogart, and "Spencer Davis" while I was really cruisin one night without knowing who they were for awhilwe and I was telling them all kinds of jokes and stuff and they were all laughing, and when I went to get another beer, a friend of mine came up and said, "Do you know who you've been talking to" and I said, "No, just some guys with strong accents", and then he told me who they were but it was too late to be intimidated because we were just having too much fun so I went back to where they were and continued where I left off. We hosted a TV show called "Swingtime" for about 3 weeks and then some of the guys in the band got into something they couldn't live without "H", so that was the end of the band. Thanks for taking the time to read this, try to find some pictures! Hopper

[tony78201]

Originally Posted by streetscenes

KISS at the Freeman coliseum in 77 or 78 (I think). SA was such a meca for heavy metal back in the day. Never realized it when I was a kid.

very cool, you went one of the 2 nights they played here.
11/22/77 and 11/23/77

[perticusrex]

The first concert I ever saw in San Antonio was.....umm errrr aherm* Cypress Hill - at the Live Oak Civic Center.

[streetscenes]

Originally Posted by tony78201

very cool, you went one of the 2 nights they played here.
11/22/77 and 11/23/77

sigh, just did the math and that was almost 31 years ago.

[Sweetie Pie]

Originally Posted by streetscenes

sigh, just did the math and that was almost 31 years ago.

Do you remember the Christian "Righters" trying to convince everyone standing in line that the band were devil worshippers, and trying to admonish all the parents for bringing their children to such an evil, godlees event??