How I Attained Hippie-hood at the Armadillo World Headquarters

By Brad

I love music. I've loved it as long as I can remember. It calms me, it pumps me up, it grounds me, and it inspires me to grow. My first concert was Rare Earth in San Antonio. I paid a whopping four dollars and fifty cents per ticket. I took three friends with me and had a blast.

I was a wannabe hippy, still living under my parents strict rules. My dad was a school administrator and enforcer of a ridiculous dress code, which really cramped my style, or lack thereof.

My favorite band was the Beatles, and they still are to this day. They are the only band I would have gone to the crossroads to see. Finally, on my own and fit to be tie-died, I had to settle for bands like Cooper, Dillon, Tull, Zepplin, Stones, Clapton, Santana, Frampton, Little Feat, Bad Company, Fleetwood Mac, America, Steve Miller, ZZ Top, Trapeze, The Eagles, Heart, Jefferson Starship, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Steppenwolf, Tom Petty, Chicago, Marshall Tucker, John Fogarty, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan and on and on.

I attended many indoor shows, and some of the strangest outdoor concerts that shaved years off of my life. I love those memories, but one of my favorite moments had to be at my hang out in 1974--The Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas. I drank my share of Shiner, Pabst, and Lone Star beer. I burned my share of holes in the not so plush carpet at center stage. I could drink, smoke, whoop and holler, pass out, and be the real hippie I always wanted to be.

My special moment came unexpectedly one Saturday night when Brewer & Shipley, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and special guest Roger McGwinn of the Byrds, took the stage and sang "One Toke Over the Line." Sweet Jesus! Bullets started flying from every direction, as the floor of the stage turned yellow and white. Magic, love, peace, and smoke filled the air. Oh, how I miss the good ol' days.