’80s Amarillo Punk Documentary Is A Jackpot Of Rare Footage

When you think "music scene" in Amarillo, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's all acoustic guitars, Stetsons, three chords, and the truth. Hang out in Amarillo long enough, and you find out there's a lot more to it than that.

I recently stumbled upon this documentary made in the '80s about the punk rock scene in Amarillo.

Amarillo's Punk Rock History

Yellow City and punk have quite the history.

Recently, I learned about Amarillo's place in the final chapter of The Clash. We were one of the few stops leading up to the infamous festival appearance that wound up spelling the end for one of punk's most influential bands.

Locally, Amarillo had it's own scene. In 1986, a documentary about it was aired.

An Amarillo Punk Rock Documentary

The doc was made in '86 about Amarillo's punk scene. It features interviews, most of which are the kind of thing you'd expect from a documentary about a punk scene. One of the coolest aspects of it is the concert footage.

Punk Rock Museum And Texas Punk

Recently, news of the punk rock museum being opened in Vegas made the rounds. What's interesting, is that something similar has been in the works to honor punk culture in Texas.

The plan is to have a venue that celebrates and memorializes punk scenes from all over Texas. In the middle of it, is Amarillo.

Eventually, the hope is to have a place that not only celebrates the history, but also provides a venue to celebrate the here-and-now. The words "punk rock flea market" got used, and I got sold on the idea.

Amarillo may not look like much when you fly through on I-40, but there's definitely more to Yellow City than meets the eye.