5/21/1987 Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gregg Allman, Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ


 34 years ago today...

May 21, 1987 - Phoenix, AZ

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Gregg Allman put on a concert of Texas Blues and Southern Rock at Celebrity Theatre.
I had seen Gregg with his Allman Brothers several times, but this was my only chance to see and hear SRV who blew the doors off the theatre in the round. He had just released his "Live Alive" album from shows recorded in 1985 - 86, and played many of the same songs from that release.
Allman opened the show. He was pretty stoned out during a lot of this post-Cher era, but had just released a surprise hit "I'm No Angel" from the album of the same name. This song provided a solo career spike. This was a great doubleheader show.
Adding to the fond memory was that my partner for the concert was my late Blues-loving brother Rabs, who was also with me for the Allman Brothers Derby Eve Jam at Churchill Downs a few years earlier. We would recall the SRV/Allman concert as one of the tops we had seen together to date.

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