By Bob Zettler
July 28, 2024
(NOTE: I started writing this three months ago. Please forgive typos but let me know what you discovered.)
I continue to read posts and comments about rock bands we’ve seen and how they were. Now I’m from Champaign, Illinois, and that’s not exactly the Mecca for concerts – at least back in the late 60s, 1970s and even the 1980s. However, I did see a few there at the Assemby Hall, Red Lion Inn, a number of local bars on campus and around town, and then a bunch more later on in 1985 at Memorial Stadium.
And during my “formative” years, I lived in the East Bay area of California across from San Francisco, and then in San Antonio, Texas while in the USAF; 1973 and then 1974-1975, respectively. And, as such, saw and “experienced” a bunch of bands. And only God knows all of them as things seem to fade over time....
And, I just recalled that I even went to concerts and did reviews while at Parkland College from late 1975 through 1977 after I got out of the USAF. I remember Led Zepplin and…well I will add them to the list below. And, now (again) I probably went to concerts at SIU-C too. Man oh man, this just keeps growing!
However, the Internet can be your friend and there are now websites out the wazoo that provide snapshots on concert venues, group’s history, and the like that can assist one to try and remember what they forgot – and I am that such person!
The operative word is “TRY” as I have painfully discovered after hours of searching, comparing dates, venues and bands, that they are certainly not complete and even some are flat out inaccurate. Case in point. I was at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin for one of the best concerts I have experienced. There were at least three groups, including the Charlie Daniel’s Band, the Marshall Tucker Band and the original Lynyrd Skynyrd. Can’t find the date but it was either 1974 or 1975. And then I simply can’t find a concert that I consider one of the worst I ever “experienced” from I seem to recall in Champaign. They seemed to me to be a combination of Jethro Tull or B, S and T. But all I can recall is how bad their stage presence was in my opinion. But I don’t have a name and the Assembly Hall doesn’t list them from before February 1973. It’s enough to drive you batty!!
While not comprehensivee or complete, as there are gaps and lapses, I hope to have captured for posterities sake, most of those concerts I “experienced” from around 1969 to probably 1986.
WHOOPS! Here I am editing this introduction as WORD deleted it all and I couldn’t recover it but this reminded me of several other concerts I actually went to during that time period in St. Louis and Chicago. Now I’ll add them and I’ll probably continue to update, edit, delete, correct, etc., as memories or friends remind me of past “experiences.” You just have to understand that I am trying to share some of my life here. So here I go!
CHAMPAIGN, ST.LOUIS, CHICAGO and ????? 1969 to 1972 and 1975 to Today? – Assembly Hall, Red Lion Inn, Memorial Stadium, Panama Reds, Mabels, Chances R, United Center, Checkerdome etc.
The Kinks (new 8/12/24)
Romantics (new 8/12/24)
Blood, Sweat and Tears
The Byrds
Ten Years After
The Moody Blues
Chuck Berry
Jethro Tell
Rolling Stones
B.B. King
Ike & Tina Turner
Terry Reid
REO Speedwagon
Yes
Tormato?
ZZ Top
Atlanta Rhythm Section
Led Zeppelin
Starcastle
Head East
Chicago
One Eyed Jack’s
Pork and the Havana Ducks
Neil Diamond
Neil Sedaka
Captain and Tenille
Dan Fogelberg
Iron Butterfly
FARM AID 1985 (I had to dig deep on this one as several “good” websites did not list everyone.)
Alabama, Hoyt Axton, The Beach Boys, The Blasters, Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffett, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, David Allan Coe, John Conlee, Charlie Daniels Band, John Denver, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Foreigner, Vince Gill, Vern Gosdin, Arlo Guthrie, Sammy Hagar, Merle Haggard, Daryl Hall, Emmylou Harris, Don Henley, Waylon Jennings, Billy Joel, Randy Newman, George Jones, Rickie Lee Jones, B.B. King, Carole King, Kris Kristofferson, Huey Lewis, Lone Justice, Loretta Lynn, Roger McGuinn, John Mellencamp, Roger Miller, Joni Mitchell, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Charley Pride, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Reed, Kenny Rogers, Brian Setzer, Sissy Spacek, Tanya Tucker, Eddie Van Halen, Debra Winger, Neil Young, Dave Milsap, Joe Ely, Judy Rodman, X
CALIFORNIA 1973 at Winterland, Oakland Coliseum, Kezar Stadium, Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley Square, Cow Palace, Berkeley Community Theater, Paramount Theater, The Long Branch, Crows Nest and more.
Beach Boys
Steely Dan
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks
Slade
Led Zeppelin
Roy Harper
The Tubes
Lee Michaels
Yes
Poco
Focus
The Kinks
Mason Proffit
Jesse Collin Young
Santana
The J. Geils Band
Steve Miller Band
King Crimson
Blue
Dr. John the Night Tripper
Boz Skaggs
Humble Pie
San Antonio, Austin, etc., Texas, January 1974 through November 1975 – Alamo Dome/Convention Center, Marbach ?sp?) Saloon, Texas Theater, Laurie Auditorium, Armadillo World Headquarters, Memorial Stadium (University of Texas in Austin) and Municipal Auditorium IN San Antonio
Ten Years After
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Joe Walsh
Van Morrison
Johnny Winter
Jeff Beck
Gordon Lightfoot
Kiss
The Guess Who
Wet Willie
Point Blank
Triumph
Fog Hat
Montrose
Black Sabath
REO Speedwagon
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Grand Funk
Rare Earth (twice)
Cactus
Trapeze
Blue Oyster Cult
Rod Stewart
Too Smooth
Bloodrock
Edgar Winter
Climax Blues Band
Leslie West
Foghat
Thee image
Fleetwood Mack
Rick Wakeman
ZZ Top
Ted Nugent
Rat Madness
Joe Cocker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jay Boy Adams
Todd Rundgren
Ramiro Ceverra
Loggins & Messina
Cate Brothers
Gentle Giant
Steve Miller Band
Boz Scaggs
The Charlie Daniel’s Band
The Marshall Tucker Band
Peter Frampton
Elvin Bishop
Leon Russell
Brownsville Station
Queen
Bad Company
T-Rex
ADDENDUM
An interesting but related aside. RIght now I cannot recall which date it was (either 1983 or 1984) but the Celtics were in the NBA Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks and the team was staying at the same hotel (adjacent to the arena where they played) where I was attending an Occupational Health meeting as part of my job as Patient Services Manager for the Christie Clinic in Champaign, Illinois. I was either 30 or 31 at the time and had never been involved in any kind of sports other than the outdoor activities of hunting and fishing, which consumed me even back then.
Anyway, our Health meetings were over shortly after 4 PM, and I didn't know anyone else there at tthe time, so I was on my own to make dinner plans and socialize the rest of the night. So, I decided to hit the mezzanine bar overlooking the courtyard inside the hotel and introduced myself to others gathered barside.
Now I was a loner, not so much by choice but by personality it seems. No, I'm not a bad person, I'm just someone back then who had a difficult time making small talk with others (you wouldn't believe that nowadays). And while there many other business men and women there in their suits and dresses, I ended up getting to know the other odd-man out there who just happened to be a member of the Rock Group Molly Hatchet out of Florida. And as luck would have it, he too loved to hunt and fish as much I did and still try to.
We spent several hours sharing stories and had a great time but as it was dark outside and he had a concert to play at the MECCA and I hadn't ate, we paid our tabs and split.
Funny aside about that. As he pulled his wallet out to pay, an unsmoked joint fell onto the counter and he said, "Gosh, I wonder where that came from," with a twinkle in his eye and a chuckle.
So, while not a concert, it was related!
https://texasarchive.org/2013_02397
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