This is my memory of the Buffalo Springfield concert at Liberty Hall in El Paso, Texas, February 9, 1968. I remember it was held during the week of “school night,” and I was barely 16 years old. We had to talk our parents into letting us attend. The concert opened with a local group named Iron Butterfly. No, not that Iron Butterfly. Liberty Hall holds maybe 2,000 people and it was about 1/2 full. Buffalo Springfield started the concert with “Rock and Roll Woman”. Richie Furay and Stephen Stills were both wearing cowboy hats and when they went to sing at the same mic, their brims kept hitting each other’s, so Stephen reached up to his hat and threw it across the stage like a frisbee.
The concert was one hour of absolute joy. When the concert seemed to be over, there were a few hundred people milling around, and Stephen came out and said their contract was for two sets so, after about 30 minutes of break, they came back on stage. Only 200 people were there at that time and we all moved closer to the stage. I don’t think they repeated any songs from the first set. The second set’s highlight was Richie singing on stage by himself, “Sad Memory”.
When leaving the concert, I took a poster off the wall. I later gave it to my girlfriend to hang in her college dorm room. I had to marry her to get it back. About 12 years ago we put it on eBay with a minimum of $500. In the last 10 minutes of the sale time, the offer went up to almost $1,000. It was purchased by a poster shop in NYC. I wish I still had it. I do still have the wife.
Poster from Liberty Hall, El Paso, Texas concert, February 9, 1968