In 1978, legendary English punk rock band The Sex Pistols performed at Randy's Rodeo in San Antonio. The concert has become part of San Antonio's music lore.

In a converted bowling alley in 1978, Olmos Park resident Sig Izbrand listened as the Sex Pistols began their concert with, "God Save the Queen," their sonic attack on the British monarchy. Like many others in the audience that night, Izbrand said she felt she was part of an epoch-making moment.

“There were TV cameras outside, and cameras inside everywhere,” Izbrand said. “People from as far away as California came to the concert. It was a show you didn't want to miss.”

 “Once that show happened, Austin wasn't the same,” said Margaret Moser, a staff writer for the Austin Chronicle. Moser grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School.

“The whole punk scene exploded in Austin.” The English punk rock band had become a sensation the year before as the antithesis of corporate arena rock. Moser and Izbrand were among the 1,200 people at the Sex Pistols' now notorious show at the old Randy's Rodeo on Bandera Road.

It was a show where even famed Rolling Stone Magazine photographer Annie Leibovitz was said to have turned up. During the concert, some say a girl wearing devil horns bit Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious on the lip, prompting him to swing his guitar at the audience in a homicidal rage. Others say Vicious went ballistic after taking a beer can in the face. No one denies that spit, beer cans, bottles and other projectiles were frequently hurled through the air that night.

“The audience was almost like something out of a (Federico) Fellini movie,” Izbrand said.

“People were there because they wanted to see if someone was going to get murdered,” said Joe Pugliese, who grew up in Thunderbird Hills and graduated from Holmes High School. Pugliese's band The Vamps opened for the Sex Pistols that night. The Randy's Rodeo show was part of the Sex Pistols only North American tour.

Along with Vicious, original Sex Pistols members included lead singer Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. The band picked San Antonio over more likely destinations Austin and Houston.

“I was one of many who went down from Austin to see the show,” Moser said.“The Sex Pistols only played a handful of shows in the U.S., and they had a mystique about them.”

“At that time, San Antonio musically was the heavy metal capital of the world,” Pugliese said. “Bands like Budgie and Riot were huge here.” In addition to being in The Vamps, Pugliese also worked the ticket booth that night at Randy's Rodeo.

“The show wasn’t a sellout, it broke even,” Pugliese said.

Attendees said they weren’t disappointed, even though musically the Sex Pistols were sub par.

“When I heard them play, they were terrible,” Izbrand said. “But the show was exciting because they had terrific presence. That’s what so brilliant about them. They became a legend on very little accomplishment, basically one album.”

Although credited with jumpstarting the punk rock movement in England in the 1970s, the original Sex Pistols had effectively broken up by 1978. Still, they are remembered for songs such as “Anarchy in the UK” and “Holidays in the Sun.”  Moser said it’s a myth that the Sex Pistols started punk rock music.

“They were as manufactured as The Monkees,” Moser said. “They took their cue from The Ramones (a New York band).” But everyone remembers the feeling of hope and inspiration that came from the Randy's Rodeo Sex Pistols concert.

“It was about DIY ethic, do it yourself,” Pugliese said. “You didn't need talent or a big record company. All you needed was desire and attitude to become a rock star.” Pugliese is now an independent concert promoter and producer who works primarily out of Nashville, although he is still based in San Antonio. After the concert, Izbrand moved to Houston to work as assistant to legendary Texas entertainment mogul Bill Ham of ZZ Top fame. Izbrand has lived in Olmos Park since 2000.

Moser also said the “do it yourself ethic” was the heart of the punk rock movement.