Lubbock’s Best Things Ever: Remembering the Municipal Auditorium
Let's take a moment and go through some memories at the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium.
For those of you not in the know, the auditorium was attached to the coliseum and shared a parking lot with Jones AT&T Stadium. The coliseum and auditorium were built in 1956 and demolished in 2019. They were demoed with the promise of a new expo center to take their place, and also to herald the arrival of the new Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Stuff. Well, the Buddy Holly Hall has delivered way beyond expectations, while the lack of progress on the expo center makes it seem like we were sold a bill of goods.
Now let's get to the fun part of the history. My first show at the Lubbock Auditorium was Judas Priest with UFO. Me and a friend were able to take in the show from the orchestra pit, standing on road cases and leaning on the stage. It's absolutely, positively one of my best concert memories ever. Later on, I was actually photographed in that very same orchestra pit dancing along to the B-52s.
I also was able to check out an awesome Steve Miller-Eric Johnson double bill there. In its final days, I saw both Dwight Yoakum and Robert Plant, with Plant being the auditorium's final show. The auditorium's latter days also saw shows from Ghost and Puscifer.
I have to mention that the auditorium housed too many plays to mention, with my favorites being the repeated performances of Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas. Let's also not forget the many comedy shows that visited, including the funniest show I ever saw in my life with....Sinbad. Yes, Sinbad.
I think if the auditorium was still around today it would be host to the more metal acts that don't fit at the Buddy Holly Hall. It certainly wouldn't be enough to sustain the place, but there are a lot of bands that like to play theater settings.
The Lubbock Municipal Auditorium was certainly a special place and definitely one of Lubbock's Best Things Ever.