The Many Amazing Concert Venues El Paso Has, Had And Will Have

I have seen so many great bands in El Paso and Las Cruces in so many great venues. Do you remember all these?

Here's a rundown of some of those venues, (past, present and future), along with some of the bands that have played them. Pretty much everyone has seen a show or two at the areas biggest venues.

The "Big 3" in El Paso:

1. The El Paso County Coliseum which has hosted Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy and a ton more. Not to mention rodeos, circuses, Disney On Ice and other events.
2. The Don Haskins Center. Located on the UTEP campus, "The Don" has seen the likes of Trans Siberian Orchestra, Metallica, KISS and Scorpions. Along with UTEP Miner basketball, the Harlem Globetrotters and a zillion high school graduations.
3. UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium is the big dog. The site of the annual Sun Bowl game, it seats over 50,000, is routinely transformed into a monster truck race track and has been rocked by the Rolling Stones, Guns 'n Roses,U2, Pink Floyd and more.

Las Cruces' Dynamic Duo: 

• A little north of us, lies another stadium. NMSU's Aggie Memorial which, in addition to sporting events, has seen the likes of Metallica, Paul McCartney, The Eagles, GnR, Faith No More and others.
• A tiny bit farther north, a few hundred yards really, of the stadium sits the NMSU Pan American Center. Similar to "The Don" in just about every way as far as events and sports and stuff; bands like Korn, KISS, Trans Siberian Orchestra and more have played there. The Pan Am was also the site of the only known concert "sleepover" in the area ... that's another story.

A couple of other cool venues have come and gone, like:

• Metropolis - Basically a warehouse with a bar and a stage. I saw Corrosion Of Conformity, Fight and Slayer play there.
• Big Apple - A two-story bar/venue somewhere near Yarborough and Gateway East. I think. Maybe. I saw Saxon, Armored Saint, Savatage, Rouge Male and a super young Metallica..
• Far West Rodeo - Located on Airway, where GECU's headquarters is now, this place was HUGE. (The DJ booth was the cab of a full-on semi truck, hung halfway up the side-stage wall/ so that it looked like it had crashed through it.) A "country" bar that wasn't afraid to rock, they brought in bands like Judas Priest, (in the Ripper Owens days), Danzig, Ratt and more.
• Tricky Falls was so cool . A former theater, circa 1930's, with a classic-creepy-classy vibe. Bands I saw there include Ghost, Green Day, Powerman 5000 and more.

In addition to those spots, we've also got The Rockhouse on Montana. The Rockhouse is not only a great place now, they're looking to the future with a new venue, the GOAT, coming soon..

They will absolutely keep the fire burning for acts that cannot ... or, in some cases, just don't want to ... play stadiums and other "monster-domes".