SAN ANGELO, TX — Saturday night, March 30, is when the Dos Equis West Texas Jam happens at the San Angelo RiverStage.
Three bands highlight the evening and they will play songs everyone has heard. The headliner is the Dallas-based AC/DC tribute band called Back in Black.
Don’t let the tribute band label fool you. “Back in Black” is the name of their band when they’re playing the AC/DC standards like “Thunderstruck” or “Dirty Deeds.”
To make money in music, you have to play cover songs, and Back in Black’s lead guitarist Mike Mroz understands this. He said every band working the Texas music circuit has to eventually play a hit everyone in the venue or bar knows. It connects the musician with the audience.
Mroz and his bandmates do it so well that they’ve created an additional, separate act doing so. They are so good, they could be the real thing.
When the real AC/DC band’s lead singer Brian Johnson lost his voice about five years ago, AC/DC’s megastar promoter flew Back in Black’s lead signer Darren Caperna to Atlanta to audition to fill in. Caperna was deemed worthy, but the promoter ended up choosing Axl Rose.
Axl Rose had a name that would sell more tickets.
Mroz and Caperna understood. They were appreciative by having the once-in-a-lifetime experience of going to an all-day band practice with their heroes of AC/DC.
Back in Black’s real band name is called Stripwired. They have written and performed their own songs too. Their latest is a record released just last month and produced in a Dallas studio. It’s titled, Another Shot.
In San Angelo, they’ll headline the West Texas Jam as AC/DC by performing as Back in Black. The finale of their show will feature the Home Motors Fireworks display.
Two additional great Dallas-based bands precede the fireworks-accentuated AC/DC tribute.
Def Leggend is another veteran Dallas-based tribute band. Their subject is the British rockers Def Leppard. Opening the entire show is Bon Jovi tribute band Blaze of Glory.
In between the acts, West Texas Jam promoters are holding the Water Logistics Lip Syncing Contest and the West Central Wireless Air Guitar contest. Contestants can win $100 (or $50 for second place) for the best 20-second performance.
The Home Motors Fireworks will go off sometime during the Back in Black set.
The show is not over with the fireworks. The after-party at the Concho Pearl Ice House, 1605 S. Chadburne St. in San Angelo, will feature Def Leggend on stage performing an all-acoustic set. The after-party begins soon after the RiverStage show ends.
The RiverStage gates open at 5 p.m. Saturday and the show begins at 6 p.m. We expect the show to end by 11:30 p.m. and the after party at the Concho Pearl to commence soon thereafter.
The West Texas Jam is more than a concert; it’s an event.
Major sponsors include title sponsors Dos Equis and Glazers, Twin Peaks Restaurant, Home Motors, West Central Wireless, and Water Logistics.
General admission tickets are still available for $15 in advance; $22 the day of the event on Saturday. Everyone gets a Twin Peaks glow-in-the-dark bracelet.
Advance ticket sales end Friday at midnight and the price goes up to $22 Saturday. The following sponsors offer coupon codes to save even more on the advance ticket price.
Get $1 off each ticket by using one of the following codes that work until midnight and are only available on Stubwire:
- David Mazur Construction discount code: “BUILDIT”
- Dry Clean Super Center discount code: “DRESS4SUCCESS”
- Blake Fulenwider Chrysler Dodge Jeep coupon code: “CLYDE”
- Texas Bank discount code: “GROWSANANGELO”
- Invisible Fence discount code: “INVISIBLE”
- Bug Express discount code: “KILLROACHES”
- MediaJaw discount code: “MEDIAJAW”
- Sunset Chiropractic discount code: “NOPAIN”
- Angelo Home Team Realtors® discount code: “SOLD”
- All American Autoplex San Angelo discount code: “RAMTRUCK”
Are you looking for a hotel room also? The Pearl on the Concho motel offers a package deal: Get 2 general admission tickets and a room for $100, all taxes and fees included. You can walk to the RiverStage from the Pearl. Order a room + 2 ticket package via Stubwire here.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Post a comment to this article here: