Coming Full Circle at Azura Amphitheater

Forty years ago, I got my first summer job straight out of high school at what was then called Sandstone Amphitheater. I made lifelong friends, learned teamwork, and even how to survive a sudden summer thunderstorm (remember that Moody Blues show?).

By my final summer, I’d just been accepted to the Air Force Academy—with only two days before basic training started. The night before I left for the academy I worked the Judas Priest show with my full glorious mullet!

Through Academy summers, my managers kept the door open. I’d return for a few shows, reconnect with old friends, and soak in that backstage energy under the Kansas sky.

Now, four decades later, I’m back—hovering above the amphitheater with my drone, shooting marketing footage. It’s the same place, the same people (with a bit more grey and fewer mullets!), but seen from a whole new aerial perspective.

Azura Amphitheater (formerly Sandstone) sits in Bonner Springs and holds up to 18,000 fans—2500 reserved seats and a sprawling lawn.

It will always be Sandstone to me!