30 years ago… My Summer at Sandstone!
Collage courtesy of Anthony Woodard
The Summer of 1994 was a crazy, fun time in my life...
It was a time filled with parties, concerts, and stories, stories that still make me smile and sometimes also think, “I can’t believe I did that...”. On the music front, in addition to weekly guitar lessons, I attended a half-a-dozen concerts at the former Sandstone Amphitheater, a handful of smaller gigs around town, and witnessed (albeit via MTV) Woodstock ‘94, which showcased several of the same bands (listed below) that I saw live throughout that memorable summer. After attending my first Rock concert the year before, I began to prefer live performances over studio recordings. Plus, I even got to meet Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee, as they briefly mingled with us fans before their set. To this day, when I hear songs like “Crazy”, “Far Behind”, “Hooligan’s Holiday”, and “Still Remains”, I am immediately taken back to those days and nights at Sandstone; my endless summer…
Aerosmith - Candlebox - Collective Soul - Fight - Ian Moore – Jawbox - Kansas - King’s X - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Meat Puppets - Metallica - Motley Crue - Redd Cross - REO Speedwagon - Starship - Stone Temple Pilots - Suicidal Tendencies - Ted Nugent - Type O Negative
“While today’s technology has brought numerous benefits and improvements to our daily lives, certain aspects of our former existence arguably offered us a greater opportunity to connect with others on a more human-level. For example, purchasing concert tickets was a more visceral experience in 1994. Back then, there was no internet (at least where I was). [In fact, according to a Pew Research Center poll from the following year (June 1995), only 14% of Americans reported using the web at that time.] Sure, one could take a chance and try to purchase tickets by phone. However, more times than not, one would experience the dreaded busy signal, as circuits and lines quickly became overloaded. Most importantly, buying tickets in-person allowed one to meet people from all walks of life. It also seemed as if the best tickets, especially the tickets within the first 10 rows, were only available through local ticket outlets or venue box offices. Regardless of the chosen method, buying tickets in 1994 required planning and dedication.
I almost always chose to purchase tickets in-person. They generally went on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays. Ticket outlets, especially those located in grocery stores, sometimes utilized a lottery system in a worthy, yet futile attempt to reduce the number of people waiting in line and in front of the store. Despite all measures taken, fans, myself included, would begin filing in at around 7:00 a.m. A dozen people, became two dozen. Two dozen, quickly became four dozen. And, four dozen, often became a gross; a hundred or more people, all united for one cause, one mission. Occasionally, small arguments and skirmishes would develop as folks jockeyed for position. However, more times than not, people would simply tell stories of past concerts and good times had by all, share band lore and trivia, or debate over which album or song was the all-time best; all of which fueled excitement for the upcoming shows. For a budding musician and musicologist like me, I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything, except for maybe back stage passes...”
- Woodard, Anthony. “Driving with binoculars...”. Mar. 16, 2023