Texxas Jam

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The Texxas Jam was the informal nickname of an annual summer arena rock concert called the Texxas World Music Festival (1978–1988). It was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas and in Houston, Texas, at either the Astrodome or Rice Stadium on the campus of Rice University.

The original Texxas Jam was a three day festival held over July 4th weekend in 1978 and encompassed rock and country. Texxas Jam was created by Louis Messina promoter of Pace Concerts in Houston and David Krebs, manager of the rock acts Ted Nugent and Aerosmith. Krebs wanted to duplicate the music festival California Jam II that was held early 1978 in Ontario, California in Texas. Krebs was unfamiliar with the territory so he contacted Messina in Houston. I recall this festival as being one of the better organized and promoted outdoor festivals of the time. A book Texxas Jam:1978-1988 was published in March 2011 covering all 11 Texxas Jams.[2]

Artists who performed at the Texxas Jam: Headliners marked in bold.

1978 (July 1): Texxas Music Festival, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas (General Admission - $13.00)

Note: Ted Nugent joined Aerosmith on stage for a rousing rendition of "Milk Cow Blues" Note: For comic relief between a couple of acts Cheech & Chong entertained the crowd Note: The high temperature was 104 degrees that day (over 120 degrees on the field). To protect the Cotton Bowl they covered the surface with black tarp. Over 100,000 people were in attendance on the hottest day of the decade. The concert had hose sprinklers around the field edge to cool people off and they hosed the crowd down with firehoses from the stage. First aid stations were busy. This was the FIRST southern stadium rock show since ZZ Top played to 80,000 people at UT Austin and tore up the field. There was never supposed to be another stadium rock show in Texas again (www.TexxasJam78.com).[1]

1978 (July 23): Cotton Bowl Jam 2, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Note: Billy Thorpe not included on the official concert tee. "Children Of The Sun" was all over KZEW back then.

1979: (June 9): Texxas Music Festival, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas (General Admission - $15.00)

The correct order of appearance on this bill was TKO/Hagar/Nazareth/Van Halen/Heart/Boston/BOC. Blue Oyster Cult headlined this show. TKO was managed by the same management as Heart at the time, which is the reason for their appearance on the bill. KTXQ-FM Q-102), simulcast much of this concert throughout the day, with TKO, Hagar, Nazareth, and portions of Heart's show aired live. Van Halen's set was not broadcast, and KTXQ had to unplug their sound equipment for Boston's set, which they did before Heart took the stage. As a result, only a portion of Heart's set was aired, the sound broadcast from microphones placed around the Cotton Bowl.

1979 (Sunday, August 26): Cotton Bowl in Dallas (General Admission - $15.00) "A Farewell To A Texas Summer"

Officially called "The Last Concert of the Last Weekend of the Last Summer of the Seventies",

1980 (June 21): Cotton Bowl in Dallas (General Admission - $16.50)

Note: Savvy was bumped at the last minute by The Eagles management. Show lineup confirmed by Steve Jones of Savvy. Christopher Cross, who already didn't fit on the hard rocking Texxas Jam stage, was resoundingly booed at the outset of "Sailing", then later cut his set short after throwing up on stage due to heat exhaustion.

1981 (July 18): Astrodome in Houston (General Admission: $17.00)

Note: Savvy was originally scheduled to open but was bumped by REO Speedwagon's management (same management as The Eagles in 1980). Show lineup confirmed by Steve Jones of Savvy.

1982 (Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX) This show was referred to as "The Super Bowl of Rock N Roll".

The correct order of appearance was Ozzie Osbourne, Loverboy, and then Foriegner. Ozzie played in the mid-day sun.

1982 (Dallas-June 12, Houston-June 13):

Note: Ozzy had a shaved head and black makeup around his eyes. From a distance, it looked like a skull. It was a hot day that day. Sammy Hagar had a guitar stolen backstage at the Cotton Bowl show, it was returned later that day. However, Hagar vowed to never play it again after it had been handled by someone else and lit it on fire on stage the next day at the Houston show.

1983 (Dallas - June 18, Houston - June 19):

Sammy came on right before Styx at the end. Trivia: Ted Nugent and Rik Emmett joined Sammy Hagar on stage in Dallas for their version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock "n Roll." Tommy Shaw recalls these shows as being some of the worst of his career. He claims to have feared for his life as his band was performing nothing but the (lame)ROCK OPERA "Killroy was here" after some of the best hard rock bands of the day had performed. (This was the tour that essentially ended Styx.) Not even RENEGADE?

1984 (June 10) Cotton Bowl in Dallas:

Trivia: Bryan Adams' drummer for this show was Matt Frenette of Loverboy.

1985 (August 24): Cotton Bowl in Dallas

1986 (July 19):

Trivia: Leslie West joined BTO on stage to perform Mountain's "Mississippi Queen."

1987 (June 20): Cotton Bowl in Dallas

Trivia: The live concert footage for Poison's video "I Won't Forget You" was filmed at this performance. The crowd seemed wild about Poison while in actuality a drunk concert goer was on top of a lighting tower (about 30' up) trampolining on the tarp roof in nothing but tighty whities and cowboy boots. The crowd really enjoyed him and the Dallas PD's attempt to get him safely to the ground. Also, Poison was joined onstage by Paul Stanley for their performance of KISS' "Strutter". (General Admission - $20.25)

1988 (a.k.a. "The Monsters of Rock", July 3):

This was the show where Sammy Hagar lost his voice after only a couple of songs and then he promised to play a free show in Dallas. A few years later they did just that at Dallas' West End.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Texxas Jam 1978 Documentary (www.TexxasJam78.com)

2. ^ [1] - Texxas Jam: 1978-1988

[edit] External links

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