TacoLand was a place I spent many many nights hanging out at and I miss it along with Ram. To the bands that played there I say, Thanks for all the shows, good times and great memories in and of a place that will NEVER be again. As Ram would say, "Kiss the baby"(goodnight).
By: Bell

too many significant memories to even know where to begin. i spent a good part of twenty years of my life at tacoland, from age 15 to 36. i'm adding a small representative selection of the flyers i have gathered from my own collection and contributions of many other people from my "keep san antonio lame" page on facebook. see http://www.facebook.com/keepsalame for many more and lots of other san antonio memories. big thank you to shea and npr for doing this story and giving us a forum to share, and to ann hepperman for the spark.

everyone, please note wiki editing is a little tricky - i accidentally deleted bell's prior post for a little while :) you can undo almost any changes - check the help link if you need assistance.
By: Keepsanantoniolame

As was said before, way too many memories made and lost at Tacoland. Some of my best friends in the world were made and lost at tacoland. A thousand great nights watching and playing music. I learned so much about different people there that I know i gained a huge amount of respect for people I might not have ever even looked twice at before. I got hired for a band there that I was in for 7 years and many tours. Some of my best memories of Ram will always be watching new people try and figure out him and how the placed work. Bands showing up expecting the worst show of their tour and getting the complete opposite. A full size corn suit and too many hangovers were only a few of the things I took away from one of the greatest places in the world. Alot of us were changed forever with the demise of Tacoland, but we share the common bond and memories of being part of it!!!!! D.B.A.P.!!!
By: Chrisroxx

Tacoland was the great social equalizer. Perhaps that—aside from Ram himself—was its greatest appeal. I can honestly say, I never understood the impact that one inhuman act could have on an entire community until the murders. I try not to think about the specifics of that terrible night. I don’t want ugliness and gore to overshadow all the happy times, but it is still hard for me to think about what we had without lamenting what we have lost.
By: Anjali

It is quite an amazing prospect to consider, your memory of taco land. Family seems to round them all out. So many nights and even some random afternoons when I could just go there, have a beer and feel in my element. Never before or since have I felt the comfort that place gave me. come as you are, Come with 2 dollars come and sit under the tree by the river on the bench, by the bar b q pit, in the back room, play some pool, pass some time with any collection of like souls all circling around this concrete and brick treehouse on the river. Such an impossible feat to find your niche in the world and then to watch it pass so quickly like a flash, like looking at the sun. Every day, every time I get down and want to just go be somewhere where I will not be bothered while at the same time not be alone it reminds me of how special a combination of time and place can be and I want to go back and kiss that old man that would serve me beer, call me Masota and pass the baby along.
By: Jax

I remember the first night I stepped foot onto the patio in the early 80's. Mohawks red hair and lo and behold the first person that spoke to me was Matt Machesney. My lifelong love affair with TacoLand began. So many shows so many friends come and gone. In 1992 I proposed to my then wife Melinda in the middle of a bands set that I don't remember. It was all set up so the the music stopped and the singer announced that someone in the audience wanted the mic......I got down on one knee in the middle of a crowded TacoLand and proposed. Ram gave me 2 swigs off the mystery bottle that night.....Kiss the Baby! RIP Ram, you trully were my 2nd father!
By: Cobyolz

My introduction to Taco Land was Dec 31, 1984. I was 15 years old, full of angst and identified with none of the groups at my high school. That night an older friend dragged me there to experience my first punk show.

I will always remember opening that door for the first time and the music barreling out. I remember weaving through the mish-mash of wild haired punks, leather clad bikers, aging, Pearl drinking abuelos and the unidentified dorks like myself to get to the front to see that there was no stage. The stage was Taco Land. The show was us.

That night I had the sense that the place and people said "Hey kid, if you wanna come on in, we'll accept you." It was a great outlet for me and simultaneously an inlet. My weekends from thereon were going to the shows. I quickly developed relationships that are still strong to this day. While it led me to other great clubs like the last days of Villa Fontana, The Bone Club, After Midnight and The Cameo, it was and remains the most unique, interactive and intimate watering hole/music venue/"tree house" I have experienced.

To paraphrase D Boon: "Taco Land changed my Life."
By: Brady

[[Memory::Keep readin'

These are the (mostly) San Antonio bands heard in the NPR story:

The Hickoids
Buttercup
Phil Luna/Shit City Dreamgirls
Snowbyrd
Los #3 Dinners
Mitch Webb and the Swindles
Dead Milkmen

And we were proud to use tape of Ram from the 1996 documentary by Laura Escamilla-Fouratt Hey P***y, It’s Taco Land.

If you want to hear the October 18, 2009 NPR “Weekend Edition” broadcast, you can listen to “Taco Land” on NPR’s website.]]
By: Sheashackelford