Grand Opening of the Vulcan Gas Company October 1967

Known as VG-1, this is the grand opening poster for Austin's Vulcan Gas Company, located in 1970 in downtown Austin at 316 Congress Avenue. Local bands The Conqueroo and Shiva's Headband were the headliners.

The Vulcan folks had been producing music performances for a year or so starting in the mid 1960s- at first at Doris Miller Auditorium, and then in October 1967 the Vulcan Gas Company opened at 316 Congress Avenue, headed up by Don Hyde, Gary Scanlon, Sandy Lockett and Houston White. For the next almost-three-years those young people turned musical experiences around to another dimension. Not only did they book the leading psychedelic bands like Shiva’s Headband, the 13th Floor Elevators and the Velvet Underground, masters of the blues scene appeared- young Johnny Winter and his trio, not so young Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters. Local bands like the Conqueroo, Greezy Wheels, Angela Strehli and the Georgetown Medical Band were regular performers. The Vulcan staff made up for somewhat rustic conditions inside with a light show that made patrons forget about the appearance of the joint.

Then, almost Forty-five years ago, in 1970, there was a shift in the counter culture continuum. The Vulcan Gas Company closed in April 1970 and in August that same year the Armadillo World Headquarters opened. But that's another story.