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[Anonymous]

It's been 25 years ago, and here are my memories of VH at the original 1978 Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas . . .

It was going to be a *very* hot day in Dallas on that July 1st. Already at 9am, it was 80 degrees! The Texxas Jam was actually a 3-day mega-festival, which featured Rock on one day, and Country on another, and Soul on another. It had been heavily adverstised state-wide.

The day of Rock was to have many bands I liked: Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, & Heart, and a new band that had an incredible first album out, that being --Van Halen--.
I made it a point to find out when VH would be performing that day........about 11:30am. But, the bigger billed acts just mentioned, were not due on until around ---5pm---. There would be other acts like Eddie Money and The Atlanta Rhythm Section on after VH. Note: this was a general admission event. There were no reserved seats ! ! ! It was first come, first served.

The Texxas Jam was scheduled to officially start at 10am. So, me and my friends arrived at the Cotton Bowl about 9:30am. By the time we got inside and seated, we realised the full impact that VH was making on what was now clearly an --event--. Because of VH's early time slot, the friggin' stadium was nearly eighty percent full-------before 11am ! ! ! ! There was almost 80,000 people already inside. The field was packed. As was the lower stands all the way around, except behind the massive stage, which wasn't available to the general public. So we sat up *in the Upper deck* about half-way back.

As I waited in the shade of the inner concourse for my girlfriend to come out the women's restroom.....I heard something that was a relief to my soul and music to my ears. It was EVH's opening notes to their set. I'll never forget how that sweet sound wafted through the concourse of the Cotton Bowl........to find me so desparately in need of relief from the Texas heat !

VH's set was way too short for my tastes. They didn't get to do as full a set as the big name acts did later that day. The ARS was good, Heart was better! And I suppose Ted Nugent stole the show ! Only the vast confines of the Cotton Bowl allowed Mr. Nugent's ego the space it needed to Rock out ! And that he did ! ! !
(Aerosmith's performance was lackluster-----they were not on tour when they had to come to Dallas on this very hot day in July).

If VH had been scheduled for say a 3pm or 5pm start time, there would not have been 80,000 people in the Cotton Bowl by 11:30am to see Head East ! ! There was no limit to how many people they let in to this festival. By the late afternoon, there around 100,000 people in the stadium! There has never been such a major music event since. After the experience of the packed out general admisssion Cotton Bowl, promoters, and the city limited ticket sales to all future events. There would never be that many people packed into the Cotton Bowl again.

This has been the single biggest concert event in Dallas's history, since the 3-Day, 1969 International Pop Festival, which drew such acts as Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, and, Led Zeppelin. I unfortunatly did not make it to the 1969 festival. I was in Jr. High, and I didn't know anyone who I could go to this large outdoor festival with. I just figured I would get lost in the sea of humanity.......and never be seen again ! !

I made up for it the next year though . . . I went to my very first rock concert at the age of 14......I saw Led Zeppelin in Ft. Worth, Tx. They put on an "A" show. It was a Golden first experience ! ! ! ! :thumb:

[hitnrundrummer]

Sweet....wonder if we'll ever hear 'em again?

[blu]

That's a really awesome story! Congrats to you! I think it would've been killer to see VH from the first tour on; you're lucky dude! :thumb:

[Anonymous]

That story just makes me want to cry. It makes me cry that I wasn't born 20 years earlier to catch VH live. :yell: After all, I was only about 7 years old when Balance was released!