What does a rock band need for a major tour?
Guitars. Amplifiers. Drums. A tour bus.
And perhaps a buffalo?
In 1976, an American rock band came up with a rather unusual idea: instead of simply playing music from Texas, they wanted to bring the entire state of Texas onto the stage.
So the stage itself was built in the shape of the state of Texas. It was roughly 19 meters wide, 15 meters deep and weighed around 35 tons, surrounded by a huge backdrop depicting the Texas landscape.
But that wasn't enough.
Real cacti and other plants were placed around the stage. And among all that Texas scenery were actual live animals: a Longhorn steer, an American buffalo, rattlesnakes and several vultures.
This wasn't just a publicity stunt.
The animals had their own handlers and a veterinarian. The enormous production eventually required dozens of vehicles and around 75 tons of equipment.
But eventually, one of the animals made it clear that it had very little interest in rock'n'roll.
During a concert at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, the buffalo escaped.
Suddenly, a rock concert had turned into an improvised rodeo.
The buffalo charged across the stadium grounds and onto the baseball field. A trainer reportedly chased after it in a golf cart while spectators and everyone involved could do little but watch.
Guitarist Billy Gibbons later remembered the bizarre sight of the buffalo running across the field and zigzagging toward home plate.
It is difficult to imagine a more surreal scene:
Thousands of rock fans in the stands.
A gigantic stage.
Amplifiers and spotlights.
And a full-grown buffalo running across a baseball field.
But the buffalo wasn't the only animal to cause trouble.
At another concert, one of the vultures suddenly took flight and began circling above the audience. Eventually, its handler had to step into the spotlight and whistle the bird back down.
The tour ran from 1976 to 1977 and became one of the most spectacular and unusual rock productions of the 1970s. More than a million people eventually saw the shows.
And that leaves us with one question:
Why would a rock band transport nothing but amplifiers when they could bring a buffalo along as well?
That was rock'n'roll in the truest sense of the word.
Incredible – but true.
