San Antonio doesn’t always get its fair due as a music town, but there’s a deep and fascinating rabbit-hole of live albums recorded here by major artists. From Motley Crue and Ted Nugent to Elvis Presley and Frank Zappa, no shortage of artists rolled tape while performing in front of Alamo City fans.
Some of the most interesting recordings are available as bootlegs from Japan, Russia and elsewhere. Let’s take a look at 30 of the most fascinating and collectible records that were captured live in San Antonio, according to record-collecting site Discogs.com.
Credit: Fair Use
1. Dire Straits — King Biscuit Flower Hour: Live In San Antonio Part One. Classic-rock act Dire Straits was captured at the peak of its powers for the ABC Radio Network’s King Biscuit Flower Hour, show, which was later released on vinyl. The recording also appeared, minus radio interruptions, as Dire Straits: San Antonio 85.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Anthony Catalano
2. Black Sabbath — Live in San Antonio, Texas, 1978. As befitting the heavy metal capital of the world, Sabbath was captured several times on tape, including on this tour — its last, until subsequent reunions, with its original lineup, including singer Ozzy Osbourne. It was released as a bootleg from New Zealand, of all places.
Credit: Fair use
3. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult — Live in San Antonio. This industrial powerhouse captured an absolutely ferocious live performance on cassette in the Alamo City, and for many fans, this remains a highlight of the group’s entire discography.
Credit: Fair use
4. Motley Crue — San Antonio 1983. Motley Crue found a welcome home in SA for its hard-driving glam metal. The San Antonio 1983 bootleg captured the captured the rowdies at Hemisfair Arena as part of the Shout at the Devil tour. Also of note: The expanded edition of Crue’s first album, Too Fast for Love, also features San Antonio live cuts from the group’s first U.S. tour.
Credit: Public Domain / Micke Mejdén
5. Rainbow — Long Live Rock-N-Roll in San-Antonio. Although name of this 10-inch vinyl release echoes that of the band’s third LP with Ronnie James Dio at the mic, it captures a performance here featuring later replacement Joe Lynn Turner.
Credit: RCA
6. Budgie — Life in San Antonio. Welsh proto-metal trio Budgie gained a U.S. foothold almost solely thanks to DJ Joe Anthony playing the band on KISS/KMAC. Indeed, the group reformed specifically to perform what was originally to be a one-off-gig in San Antonio. This blistering live set, released in the UK, is from a 2002 show at Sunken Garden Theater.
Credit: Fair use
7. Boots and His Buddies — San Antonio Jazz. In the early 20th century, jazz ruled, and San Antonio was a hub for the emerging genre. This Swedish bootleg featuring Boots Douglas as bandleaders shows of dance-ready big band jazz at its finest.
Credit: Fair use
8. Kiss — Off the Soundboard. Recorded at Hemisfair Arena in 1985, this official release found Kiss, freshly free of the makeup, diving into some of its ’70s classics with a new lineup minus Ace Frehley.
Credit: Fair use
9. Pearl Jam — San Antonio, TX – April 5th 2003. Pearl Jam famously sold official bootlegs of many of its live shows. This double-CD set took place at the Verizon Amphitheater in Selma, where the grunge stalwarts played classics from across its catalog and a cover of the Who’s “Baba O’Reilly.”
Credit: Courtesy / ATCO Records
10. Pantera — San Antonio 1994. North Texas metal act Pantera brought the crunch to San Antonio during its ’90s heyday with this collection of live tracks drawn from seminal albums Cowboys from Hell and Vulgar Display of Power.
Credit: Jeff Salzgeber
11. The Happy Jazz Band — Jazz From The San Antonio River. Bandleader Jim Cullum Sr. was an important figure in early jazz, playing clarinet with giants including Jack Teagarden and Jimmy Dorsey. Later on, he formed the Happy Jazz Band with son Jim Cullum Jr., who played cornet. They recorded a live album in 1964. The younger Cullum went on to broadcast performances nationwide from his club the Landing, a River Walk nightspot sorely missed by music lovers.
Credit: Fair use
12. Judas Priest — Saint or Sinner. Much like Budgie, Judas Priest got an early boost from heavy airplay on KISS/KMAC. This double-LP bootleg collects live recordings from the legendary metal band during 1982 and 1983, when it had ascended into superstardom. The concerts went down at Hemisfair Arena and another undisclosed location.
Credit: Fair use
13. Jimmie Rodgers — Camden – Atlanta – New York – Dallas – Hollywood – San Antonio – Louisville 1927-1933 — Jimmie Rodgers, one of the originators of country music, did recording sessions at the San Antonio’s Texas Hotel and Bluebonnet Hotel, which feature on this double-CD collection. Near the end of his life, he built an elaborate mansion in Kerrville before relocating to Alamo Heights.
Credit: Fair use
14. Bob Dylan — San Antonio 76. This Japanese bootleg recorded at Municipal Auditorium in 1976 captures Dylan’s classing Rolling Thunder Review tour. Though the bootleg appears to be banned from Discogs, the recording can be found on YouTube.
Credit: Fair use
15. Sex Pistols — Taking Texas By Storm. This bootleg LP chronicles the legendary show at San Antonio venue Randy’s Rodeo that jumpstarted Texas’ punk rock scene. It’s also the show where Sid Vicious clonked an obnoxious fan over the head with his bass.
Credit: Fair use
16. GG Allin and the Murder Junkies — Savage South Tour. This 2005 DVD captures notorious shock rocker GG Allin’s performance at San Antonio’s now-defunct all-ages punk club the DMZ. The video’s liner notes claim the tour was one of the most violent in history, only ending when Allin was dragged back to Michigan to finish a prison sentence.
Credit: Courtesy / The Mystery Train Blog
17. Elvis Presley — Live 1972 and Goodbye San Antonio. Elvis Presley’s Live 1972 album, released by RCA, featured recordings from Hemisfair Arena. A later bootleg, Good Bye San Antonio, captures one of the King’s last performances before his 1977 death.
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
18. John F. Kennedy — His Last 24 Hours. Felled by an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, President John F. Kennedy spent his final days in Texas. This fascinating recording from the day before that fateful event captures a stirring speech at Brooks Air Force Base, detailing the young president’s visions for the the nation’s space program.
Credit: Zappa Records
18. Frank Zappa — Guitar. Avant garde rocker FrankZappa’s 1988 album Guitar was his bid at entering the pantheon of guitar greats of that shred-obsessed decade. His live-in-the-Alamo City song from that collection was titled “Were We Ever Really Safe in San Antonio?” Based on the amount of fretboard damage he unleashed, the answer is/was no.
Credit: Dualtone Music Group
20. Robert Earl Keen — No. 2 Live Dinner. A San Antonio live album list wouldn’t be complete without this banger. If Americana is country music with a college degree, Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen delivered a master class with this album.
Credit: Epic Records
21. Ted Nugent — Double Live Gonzo. Before the Ted Nugent started embarrassing himself by inserting his obnoxious brand of politics into everything he did, he was a bonafide rock god. This album, recorded at Joe and Harry Freeman Coliseum, is what broke him through to superstar status. Listen hard to the end of “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” where repeatedly yells “San Antonio” and someone in the crowd shouts back “Suck my bone-io.”
Credit: Alternative Tentacles
22. Butthole Surfers — Live PCPPEP.This chaotic 12-inch EP captures an early Butthole Surfers lineup from their San Antonio days, providing a foundational moment in their early catalog. Recorded live at the now defunct Club Meridian Austin Highway, this may include the definitive version of the frequent Surfers show closer “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave.”
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
23. De La Soul, Blackalicious — Livewire Party: San Antonio: May 16th, 2003. This 2003 bootleg recorded at Sunset Station — the open-air venue since renamed The Espe — captures two of the all-time greats of hip-hop. RIP Trugoy.
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
24. The Cult — MMX San Antonio Sep. 29th 2010. Eighties rock superstars The Cult’s star fell with the advent of grunge, but the music holds up remarkably well. During the group’s 2010 tour, it released USB sticks of live performances immediately after every show. This one at Backstage Live captures the band running through all the hits, from “Fire Woman” to “She Sells Sanctuary.”
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
25. Slayer – Live at Villa Fontana 1984. This recording documents the legendary Slayer vs. Slayer show at the much-missed Villa Fontana, which featured the LA-based thrashers performing with the Alamo City’s SA Slayer. Though the actual bootleg is hard to find, the audio files are floating all over message boards and, of course, YouTube.
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
26. Selena — Live: A Night to Remember. Released in 1991, this DVD features Selena in a live performance at Market Square. Though it doesn’t her later hits, the performance displays the late Tejano superstar’s brilliant charisma and her unbreakable hold on an audience.
Credit: Courtesy / Discogs
27. Tejanos for Hunger — Somos Hermanos. This charming time capsule was San Antonio’s entry into the mid-’80s “We Are The World” phenomenon: gather big stars into one room and have them sing for a charitable cause. Despite being a classic too-many-cooks scenario, this recording is fairly memorable, thanks to being a Who’s Who of San Antonio Tejano and conjunto greats: from Patsy Torres to Sunny Ozuna to Flaco Jimenez to the San Antonio Symphony. Hell, it even featured then-Mayor Henry Cisneros on piano.
Credit: MCA
28. Lyle Lovett — Live in Texas. Texas singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett drew critical raves for this 2006 live album recorded in San Antonio and Austin that showcases an energetic set by his Large Band and a strong sampling of his best-loved tunes.
Credit: Fair use
29. The Carter Family — Don’t Forget this Song. Considered the “first family of country music,” the Carters moved to San Antonio later in their career. This album — and an accompanying book — documents them live in San Antonio garage of Don and Dode Baxter, where they recorded their weekly radio show for the border radio station XET.
Credit: Fair use
30. Ozzy Osbourne – Revelations of Mr. Crowley. If the cover date can be believed, this 1982 soundboard recording was made the same day as the infamous intent where Ozzy Osbourne peed on the Alamo. There’s some online controversy whether this recording is actually from the 2-1-0, but, hey, it’s printed right there on the cover. The real star here is Osbourne’s shit-hot band featuring Randy Rhoads on guitar.