Carol I.
Yelp
Sunken Gardens Theater is one my favorite music venue ever!
I give 5 stars to SGT for what it used to be and for what it can be again. I just hope and pray that the City of San Antonio and Brackenridge Park Conservancy (plus maybe the Tobin Center/Tobin Foundation) can restore this theater to be the best venue for it's size in the state...
... and that we can find the promoters that will have respect the bands and their fans to book their concerts here instead of free space in warehouse which is horrible waste for us all!
Honestly, I haven't been to Sunken Gardens in probably a decade due to the fact that no bands that I really want to see are being booked here... and I heard last night that it has been 5 years since SGT last hosted a rock concert. Hats off to Twin Productions & Paragon Presents for bringing Primus Fri 20 Oct 2017... a 5 star show! The security line went quick, plenty of port-a-potties so no need for long lines in the regular potties, with a great selections of beers and food trucks.
Just as Tina said in her review, "Those were the days!" when KISS and KZEP radio stations would sponsor the shows. We also had promoters like Stone City Attractions aka Jack Orbin and Lone Star Attractions aka Bill Lee that knew the music SA liked and how to make a kick ass show happen. Bill Drain and Greg Wilson are two others great promoters in SA that I have to give a shout out as well... which all have retired.
Sunken Gardens Theater is not to be confused with Japanese Tea Gardens which is next door... as I am seeing way too many pics as well as reviews of JTG on this page... you can find the page for JTG here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/japanese-tea-gardens-san-antonio
History
http://www.sanantonio.gov/ParksAndRec/Parks-Facilities/All-Parks-Facilities/Parks-Facilities-Details/ArtMID/14820/ArticleID/2913/Sunken-Garden-Theater
"The City of San Antonio leased its hard rock quarry in what is today Brackenridge Park from the middle 19th to early 20th centuries. Alamo Roman and Portland Cement Company, later called Alamo Cement Company, used the quarry from 1880 until 1908 when it moved to a new facility with rail access north of the City limits. The abandoned quarry was adjacent to Brackenridge Park that had been donated to the City in 1899, and to a tract owned by the Koehler Family [Pearl Brewery] that was donated to the City for park land in 1915.
As early as 1914, the city's cultural leaders and park officials began to discuss new uses for the abandoned quarry. Some saw the unique, natural setting of the quarry's deep excavations shaped in a huge semicircle as the backdrop for an open-air Greek amphitheater. Observing the site, the manager of the Boston National Grand Opera Company urged the city to consider such a facility, saying that, "It could be made one of the show places in the country."
It was Ray Lambert, appointed Parks Commissioner in 1915, who transformed the City's old quarry into a civic attraction. On the northern portion of the site where the Cement Company's kilns had been located, Lambert built a lushly landscaped lily pond that he named the Japanese Garden. Newspapers as early as 1926 refer to the area as "the sunken garden."
The natural acoustic features of the quarry drew local performers to the site, and in 1926, the Chaminade Choral Society's president, Mrs. Eli Hertzberg, urged that the area be considered for outdoor musical and other events too large for the Municipal Auditorium. In late 1927, Mrs. Hertzberg suggested that such a theater be named the Tobin Memorial Amphitheater to honor Mayor John W. Tobin who had recently died while in office. Mrs. Hertzberg estimated that an outdoor amphitheater at this location could seat 50,000 to 60,000 people. [I have the same dream 90 years later!]
The Sunken Garden Theater facility as it appears today was completed in 1937 as part of the Texas Centennial celebration. Renovation and additions at that time included dressing rooms, stage improvements, and a concrete floor for the theater seating area. A bronze plaque installed on the east wing wall read, "1836-1936. Sunken Garden Theatre, a memorial to the Heroes of the Texas Revolution.""