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Woodshock

IN PROCESS

 

The reason for Woodshock 81' was that Raul's

was on a month-long legal hiatus and it was

hard finding gigs, so I decided to have a festival

in the park.   It was actually a follow-up to my

Backyard Jamboree that was held on Nueces

Street earlier in the year. For Woodshock we

had no trouble finding 9 bands to play (probably

more, only a few made the poster). I set it up

so that Jerryskids opened and closed the show ...

then nobody could whine about those 2 positions.

A couple of days before the gig, Steve Sonleitner

said "Woodshock" and the name stuck.   We

had David Yow put Charles Schultz' "Woodshock"

canary on the poster with a "doa" tag on his toe.  

The event in Waterloo park was the first "punk rock"

show at that venue and the first electric show, too.

I got the permits, signed up the help and the rest is ....

if not history, a mystery as to how well it went off.

The city turned the sprinklers on at exactly 10 PM

when the permit expired.  A great time was had by all.   

                                                            Chris Wing

Before the sprinklers went off.  The Dicks at Woodshock 81'

Woodshock 83' Through 87'

By Mike Alvarez

And that's how it started in 1981.   There was no intent at

that time to have an annual show.   In 1982, I met Blaine

Hurlbut in a hot check writing class.  You can go to jail

in Texas for writing a $15 check that bounced.   Blaine

was the son of Burt Hurlbut, the property owner of the

Hays County property that hosted several of the famous

Willie Nelson picnics in the 70s.   Blaine knew that I

was in the thick of the Austin punk scene and suggested

they throw a punk concert at The Hurlbut Ranch.  

 

Woodshock 83'

To get to the Hurlbut Ranch where Blaine wanted to hold

the concert, you would have to drive on the roughest dirt

roads you can imagine.   In one newspaper article that

reviewed the first show, the writer described the drive to

the ranch as “driving down stairs” – and that was about

right.   On my first drive to the ranch, I thought “no way”.  

The car would bottom out, get stuck in deep ridges in the

road – a nightmare.  But when we hit the clearing and

saw the ranch – it was a beautiful sight.   Furthermore,

there were the water holes.  There were two water holes,

“Deadman's” and another smaller private hole that only

the Hurlbut family used.  It was a picture out of Heaven.  

I obviously didn't care how many people would show up

to a show there.  Those that would come - would never

forget it.

 

I recruited Charles Gunning (“Doug The Slug”) to help put

a show together.   He was a feared thug and club bouncer

at the time – everyone was pretty much afraid of him. He

had a thing for Lisa Gamache, my band mate (Max and the

Makeups lead singer), so he was always around us and I

took a liking to him. He was working at Dan's Liquor at

the time and managed to borrow a giant truck from the

store.   We planned to use the truck to store musical gear

during the show and we used it to move things out to the

sight. The truck sort of gave us a look of organization though

we were far from organized.   Before I would agree to do a

show there, I had Blaine take Doug and I through all of the

caves, jump off all of the cliffs and danger spots as I knew

the punks would try anything if it was there to try.

Charles Gunning building the Woodshock

83' stage at The Hurlbut Ranch

I think Jeff Smith got interested early, bringing some San

Antonio bands, including his band Bang Gang, and a lot

of the local hard core punk bands to our attention. Local

musician and professional sound man Johnny Medina agreed

to bring his sound system to the event and he did so for five

years.

 

The festival would become the world's premiere alternative

music festival for its time between 1983 & 1987.   The

lineup for the first show in the hills would include Max

and The Makeups, The Jitters, Crotch Rot, The Offenders,

Channel 3, The Ideals, Skank, New Torpedoes, Human

Drama, Bang Gang, Tiger Roos and Pleasure Method.

Woodshocks 83', 84' and 85' were held at The

Hurlbut Ranch, where concert goers enjoyed

spring fed creeks and diving plateaus - far from

mainstream.

Woodshock 85

View Rick Linklater's Woodshock 85 Short Film Here

Woodshock 85' lp Liner Notes

2:30 pm

Daniel Johnston "The Marching Guitars"

Larry Seaman "In This World"

Texas Instruments "1st Meditation on Schaeffer, NV"

4:10

Room City "Mirror Image"

The Vertibeads "The Harmonic Song"

5:25

The Dharma Bums "Looking For An Answer

The Ideals "Slow Death"

Glass Eye "Vegetable Wheel"

7:20

Doctors' Mob "Time's Up"

Last Will "Confessing the Blues"

8:30

Zeitgeist "Summertime"

Pez "Responsibility"

9:45

The Dig "Laughing at Myself"

The Crybabys "Bean Eater"

11:15

Cargo Cult "Empty House"

12:00 am (midnight)

The Offenders "Fight Back"

The U-Men "Shoot 'em Down"

1:20

Moto-X "Shanghai Cobra"

Poison 13 "Seventh Son"

2:45

Not For Sale "Pinball"

Sons of Sam "Wham!"

4:15

The Hickoids "It's a Beautiful Thang"

All tracks recorded live at WOODSHOCK '85, at the Hurlbut Ranch, Dripping Springs, Texas, the afternoon and night of June 29 and June 30. Live sound and 4-track recording by Johnny Medina. Fostex 4-A machine provided by Sound Centers of the Valley, Pharr, Texas. Re-mixed by Mike Alvarez and Jeff Smith at Europa Sound Center, Austin, Texas. Continuity: Charles Gunning III. Event produced by Not Records Tapes. Executive Producer: Charles Gunning III and Future Music. Associate Producer: Blaine Hurlbut. Stage Manager: John Hudson. Backstage: Miles. Gate: Curly and Gal. Concessions: Rick Crick and Caesar Torres. Sight Foreman: Robert Baylis. Security: Ranger Security. Front Cover: Jukebox. Back cover photos: Jim Karow. Layout and Type: Rat, Susannah, Jeff. Zeitgeist appear courtesy of DB Records. Doctors' Mob, Glass Eye, Moto-X, and Poison 13 appear courtesy of Wrestler Records. Not For Sale and The Offenders appear courtesy of Rabid Cat Records. The U-Men appear courtesy of Homestead Records. Write for free Woodshock '85 fanzine. The Woodshock '85 album is a co-production of Not Records/Tapes and Matako Mazuri Records for El Jefe Records.

EL JEFE RECORDS

225 Congress, Suite #203

Austin, Tx 78701

A very special thanks goes to Danny Sherr and Dog who made the project a reality.

This live documentary C & P 1986 EL JEFE RECORDS.

EJ-D-21201 Unauthorized duplication is a violation of all applicable laws.

Printed in USA.

  

Woodshock 86

At Camp Ben McCullough - nice, but....More to Come.

Woodshock 87

D.O.A....More to Come.

 

 

 

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