Stuff I Heard on the Island

Somehow Ozzy made it to 76 years old before leaving the planet this week. If the Prince of Darkness can make it to 76 there might be hope for the rest of us. But his passing evoked old memories from ear-jarring concerts from San Antonio to Austin to the old Memorial Coliseum and Ritz Theatre here in Corpus Christi. 

Over the course of several decades a San Antonio-based company called Stone City Attractions brought in bands from Paul Simon to Black Sabbath and along the way Ozzy Osborne was a regular visitor to South Texas. In each of the major Texas markets Stone City Attractions worked two venues; a larger room for the bigger acts and a smaller one for the up and comers and the down and outers. Here in Corpus Christi it was the Memorial Coliseum and the Ritz starting in 1975 with Kiss at Memorial Coliseum followed by Rush at the Ritz the following year as Stone City rocked the Coastal Bend over the next several decades. But in a twist of Ozzy fate the most infamous of his shows came in 1982 when Mr. Osborne had an urgent need to heed the call of nature while riding along Alamo Street in downtown San Antonio and jumped out of his car and the next thing you know ended up in the Bexar County Jail for relieving himself on the Alamo…or at least that is the story that went out. In fact Ozzy’s immediate need for relief didn’t allow him to make it to the Shrine of Texas Liberty, only to the Alamo Cenotaph right next to the road.
The actual structure involved didn’t really matter as the path of the Prince of Darkness crossed with a security guard and Ozzy was hit with a ban from performing in San Antonio leaving South Texas Headbangers hanging until 1992 when then San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff managed to mend fences when Ozzy apologized and was allowed back to town - with the help of some charity work. It was a press event and, as one who was present, I would say Ozzy may not have been actually aware of where he was that day either – with Ozzy it was hard to tell. But it served the purpose and then ten years ago Ozzy took a public tour of the Alamo grounds and bygones became bygones.
The rest of the story

Over the course of years I came to have interaction with the Stone City group as part of fund raising efforts for the local Crime Stoppers organization, some of whom were in the procession with Ozzy that day. Not that it comes as any big surprise but Ozzy was said to be in a state of altered consciousness as he passed through Alamo Plaza that day back in 1982. I was working at the old San Antonio News where as an afternoon paper we were able to break the story of Ozzy’s transgression on the front page of our edition and it was suspected by the police reporters present that Ozzy was still not sure where he was when he was released from the jail that day. If memory serves Ozzy made the concert that night at old Hemisphere Arena before the ban took effect.
But the history of Stone City and the shows it brought to this area has a message that still rings to this day. When Hemisphere Arena was torn down and the Alamodome took its place the era of local promoters doing shows in San Antonio ended. Booking acts at the Alamo went corporate and companies like Stone City were left behind as the concessions at the new dome were kept in house and without concession and parking revenue – cash streams available to local promoters at the old arena which now went to the venue - the opportunity for local business people to put shows there faded like the last chord at a Black Sabbath concert.
While Stone City did rock shows other local promoters sprang up for other genres of music. When Tejano hit big in the early 1990s shows promoted by local business owners packed Hemisphere Arena, the same for country which many of us got into, professional wrestling, even evangelical revivals all of which spawned local businesses which kept the money raised through shows in the local market rather than going to the corporate office far away. It wasn’t just Ozzy who got banned from town, it was also the local promotion business and the shows they brought to the stage.
As Ozzy exits the stage the business model that brought him to South Texas is one that worked for local businesspeople but has been abandoned here in Corpus Christi even as we contemplate the future of our two venues – one big and one small. We are working to bring back the Ritz Theatre with $30 million in seed money from the state which could help to reinvent a music scene that once existed here – or at least half of it. If we had a way for local promoters to put shows in our big room on the bayfront it could also spawn a local promotions industry and jump start the local music scene as local bands gain traction by fronting touring acts. I know it works because I have seen it. It may sound crazy…but it worked for decades here and it could again but it will require a rethinking of how we manage our public facility going forward.
Headbangers are counting on us.