Before it became The Armadillo World Headquarters on August 7, 1970, it was known as The Sportscenter, where in 1955 Elvis Presley himself played rock-n-roll in Austin, Texas before "he left the building!"  Shiva's Headband headlined on opening nights August 7 & 8, 1970, with opening acts The Hub City Movers (featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore & John Reed on guitars & vocals), and Whistler.    For their closing night which ended on the morning of January 1, 1980, it was Asleep At The Wheel, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, with Maria Muldaur, Kenneth Threadgill & The Velvet Cowpasture Band as the opening acts.

Between those 2 dates, anybody & everybody played there, including: AC/DC (their 1st USA gig in 1977!), The Clash, The Bubble Puppy, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa & The Mothers, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Devo, Iggy Pop, Leo Kottke, Dire Straits, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Electromagnets (with Eric Johnson-guitar), Willie Nelson & Family, Waylon Jennings, The Runaways, The Joe Ely Band, Little Feat, Spirit, Michael Martin Murphey, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Linda Ronstadt & Swampwater, Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels, Jerry Jeff Walker & The Lost Gonzo Band, Budgie, John Prine, Van Morrison & The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, The Jam, Jerry Garcia Band, Janis Joplin & The Kozmic Blues Band, The Skunks, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Phil Ochs, Joe "King" Carrasco Y El Molino, Freddie King, Thin Lizzy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, The Police, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Gentle Giant, Weather Report, ZZ Top, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, It's A Beautiful Day, Steely Dan, Denim, Alice Cooper, Count Basie, Johnny Winter, Mose Alison, The Ramones, Taj Mahal, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Kinky Friedman & The Texas Jewboys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Rockpile, Steven Fromholz, and so many more!!

I managed to stop by once on my way to Killeen, Texas in 1977 or '78.   Driving all the way up from the Rio Grande Valley in a Ford pickup with NO A/C, it was in the afternoon though, and it was summertime, so we stopped in for some ice cold refreshments in the garden for about an hour.   After a while, I walked over to the entrance of the big cavernous place, just stood there and saw the stage, looked around at all the seats for a good minute or two, and just said "wow."

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"If you want to live in Texas, you gotta have a lot of Soul." - Doug Sahm