I was there as well. Just an incredible show to go to, if it was your first. So much electricity in the air that my hair would have been standing on end if it hadn't been wet. Truly a trip. I think my first rock concert was the Animals in '65. Alan Price was still with them, and he left at the end of that year, or I'd probably have the year wrong. My memory sux for dates of concerts back then, unless it was something that really, really stood out, and it was a group I only saw once. Lots of distractions going on, lol!
Like a girl recollecting her first sexual encounter.... My first concert was Whitesnake @ Summit 87 (my bro got stuck babysitting me). But my first REAL concert was Lollapalooza 92 @ Fairgrounds.
So, it's bugging me that I can't remember the venue of my first concert... was there a smaller place connected to or adjacent to Sam Houston Coliseum? It sat about 3,000 people...
The Music Hall... nirvana for rock concerts in Houston, if you wanted good acoustics, good seats, and a cheap ticket. I posted about it in the "Unusual rock concert experience" thread. I can't tell you how many concerts I saw there. Cream, with Vanilla Fudge. Pink Floyd, when they were touring for Dark Side of the Moon (in surround sound! the ticket was $3.50). Hendrix once. Zappa, the Kinks, Jethro Tull, and many, many other groups more than once at the Music Hall.
Exactly, and acts that had had success, but didn't have the ability to fill the really large venues, someone like Donovan, for example. Some simply didn't want to play the Coliseum. I saw Frank Zappa at the Music Hall, with maybe a dozen great musicians playing with him, and he could have sold a lot more seats in the Coliseum. I don't see how Zappa could make more than a dime off of some of those concerts in the Music Hall, but he played there. Who in their right mind would have preferred playing the Coliseum over the Music Hall? More seats. Everything else sucked in comparison. When Hofheinz opened, an alternative that was better than the Coliseum, if not as good as the Music Hall, became a viable alternative for big acts. Groups like the Stones could play there, and make it work.
We were there too. It was great except someone stole my wife's purse...with the car keys in it. Who else was on the bill that night? I can't uh. remember. The lightning was awesome though.
Technically, it was the Beach Boys after a 'Stros game in 1980. First real concert was Rush (Golden Earring opened) at the Summit in '83.
I know I was 12 at the time so, that was '80. But, I'd bet your memory is just fine as I recall that the "Beach Boys after a 'Stros game" was an annual event for a while.
