On this day (August 27th) in 1990, the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash after playing a show with Double Trouble at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, just outside of East Troy, Wisconsin. They were the opening act for Eric Clapton that night.
That show was part of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's "In Step Tour," which started in May of 1989. The tour had 6 legs and 136 shows. Below is a list of the three local stops on that tour, along with links to the reviews that were published in the newspapers, and a bootleg audio recording from concert at the Palumbo Center in November '89.
- June 29, 1989 at Station Square's Melody Amphitheater with Joe Grushecky and The House Rockers. (review of the show by Lynne Margolis for the Observer-Reporter)
- November 4, 1989 at the Palumbo Center with Jeff Beck. (review of the show Scott Mervis wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, bootleg recording below)
- June 30, 1990 at Star Lake with Joe Cocker. (review of the show Peter B. King wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Author Alan Paul, who was raised in Pittsburgh and recently released a book that he co-authored with Andy Aledort called "Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan," wrote a piece for Guitar World Magazine back in 2008 called "RIP Stevie Ray Vaughn - The Story of His Final Gig." It is a must read article, and available at alanpaul.com (click here).
I also found another bootleg recording of a show SRV did at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh on January 24, 1986, so that is included below as well.