Dubba G’s Favorite Sun Bowl Concert Memories

The Sun Bowl has back to back BS concerts .... errr, sorry, (not really), BTS concerts ... this weekend. If/when you're stuck in traffic around UTEP; remember these REAL Sun Bowl concerts.

The Sun Bowl hosted a few big rock shows back in the day ... but 1972's Elton John show was the last for many years. I don't know why but you can't keep a good stadium down. In the early 90's, UTEP fired up the bowl, (get it?), again.

The initial concert ban apparently came from above but once the high and mighty changed their minds; UTEP was all about it. I haven't ... and, in some cases, refuse to ... see them all but here are a few stories from the ones I have seen.

U2

This was a weird, very cool, very awkward one. My friend got tix and planned a very nice evening with his girl. Dinner, limo ride to the show and back to their hotel.

READ MORE: El Paso's Epic Concert Venues

That very afternoon, she dumped him. Long story short, he invited me, we had a great time, enjoyed the VIP treatment and the show. I don't know who he took back to the hotel with him but it wasn't me. Sucio, 

Rolling Stones

Repeat offenders - the Stones have been here twice. The first time, in '94, it got a little chilly so my date asked to wear my hoodie. I went to get a beer about halfway through and when I tried to return to my seat, I didn't have a ticket to show the usher. It was in my hoodie pocket and, (this was before cell phones), without it; he wouldn't let me pass.

Finally, an hour or so later, (when the show was almost over), my date, (finally), came looking for me. With my ticket stub She was wearing my hoodie which had my ticket stub and I was able to watch the last couple of songs from my seat. Not listening, with no view, from the concourse. The Stones returned in 2006 but I missed that one completely. (Although, I heard it just fine thanks to the wind and a friend who lived in Kern.)

Pink Floyd

This one. Was. Awesome. Two things went wrong though ... 1) It was very windy which caused a lot of Pink Floyds special effects, (smoke and flames), to not work as planned. 2) Going home didn't work as planned.

My brother came back in to town for the show which led to a reunion after party, which led to an all-nighter, which led to trouble at home. I'm sure you can imagine.

Guns 'N Roses, ZZ Top

One helluva show but my favorite moment wasn't the show. It was getting to go on a media tour of the setup the day before. I've been involved in shows for years, at every level, but this setup was HUGE.

Getting a rundown on how many people were involved, how much it cost, how the effects worked and were transported, rigged, etc ... it was beyond anything I had, (have), ever worked on. Gigantic. Even bigger than Axl's ego.

Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Motley Crue

On the downside, the heat was awful early on. Even Alice's guitarist, Anita Strauss, suffered a heat stroke. On the upside, Nikki Sixx threw some love to Anthony. (Careful, language NSFW.)

After that, the band killed it, (then), new guitarist John 5 was in top form and ... for added measure ... Tommy Lee's wife showed us all her boobs.

Good times and there will be more to come. (OzzFest? 'Ya out there>) With it's size and very unique, geographic location; the Sun Bowl is the perfect place for stadium caliber shows. Now that the word seems to be out; let's see who's next. Othet than monster trucks ...