SAM HOUSTON COLISEUM

HOME THE HOUSTON SCENE CONCERTS/TICKETS VENUES LINKS

You know the day destroys the night,
Night divides the day,
Tried to run —
Tried to hide —
Break on through to the other side!
Doors

The Sam Houston Coliseum was opened in 1937. Originally built as a rodeo arena and convention center it served as the main venue for large concerts in the 60's and 70's. It's seating capacity was listed at 9,217 but floor seating for concerts probably increased it to over 10,000. It did not have the greatest acoustics and you were screwed if your seat happened to be behind on of the many concrete columns in the building but it was the largest venue in town until the Summit was built 1n 1975. All of the greatest 60's rock bands played at the Coliseum. The Beatles only Houston appearance was here August 19, 1965. The first concert I saw there was The Doors on July 10, 1968. Cream, Hendrix, Grand Funk, Jethro Tull, The Who and Queen were just some of the great concerts at the Coliseum.

 

 

 

PERFORMANCES
(Note: These are the performances I have seen and can verify. If you see any groups not listed that you know played at this venue, please email me)

Beatles   Grand Funk
Rolling Stones   Animals
Jefferson Airplane   Herman's Hermits
Cream   Buffalo Springfield
Doors   Quicksilver
Hendrix   The Who
Grateful Dead   It's a Beautiful Day
Ten Years After   Trapeze
Moody Blues   Black Sabath
Allman Brothers   ZZ Top
Chicago   Jethro Tull
Jefferson Airplane   Byrds
Procol Harem   Poco
Santana   Lynard Skynard
Mountain   John Mayall
Thin Lizzy   Robin Trower
Argent   Wishbone Ash
Young Rascals   Guess Who
Genesis   Kinks
Humble Pie   Eric Clapton
Alice Cooper   Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Bruce Springsteen   Marshall Tucker Band/Outlaws
Elton John   Creedence Clearwater
Three Dog Night   Jimmy Buffet
Queen   Beach Boys
Led Zepplin   Neil Young
Cheap Trick   Foghat
Judas Priest   Bachman Turner Overdrive
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Jeff Beck
Blind Faith   Leon Russell
Quiet Riot   Eagles
Queensryche   AC/DC
The Outlaws   Nazareth
Blue Oyster Cult   Ozzy Osbourne
Sammy Hagar   Ted Nugent
Molly Hatchet   Triumph
Van Halen   Iron Maiden
Kiss   Def Leppard
Krokus   Dokken
April Wine   REO Speedwagon
Rush   Pretenders
Traffic   Buddy Miles
Rod Stewart   Grassroots
Pat Benatar   Blackfoot
Yes   Deep Purple
Wet Willie   Sonny and Cher