56 years ago tonight
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Lance minimum goad Newberry
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The Grateful Dead performed for the first time as "The Grateful Dead", in San Jose at the first or second Acid Test.
The Rolling Stones played at the San Jose Civic the same night, and the stories are that Kesey and his bunch stood on the steps as people were leaving, handing out flyers announcing the event happening a few blocks away.
Quite a night in San Jose.
I'm betting no one at either or both of those events 56 years ago had a clue how interesting and long-lived all of that would be.
And continues to be.
Happy Birthday Grateful Dead!
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Localcountyline
Good call, nice anniversary.
Good call, nice anniversary.
25 years after that show (31 years ago tonight), they did a nice gig at the Oakland Coliseum. (Slightly bigger than Big Nig's house).
A bunch of my favorite Garcia songs, including Eyes to open the second set.
Pretty amazing that The Wheel has been turning this long.....
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Localcountyline
Wish this was tonight!
Wish this was tonight! Another blast at the Coliseum; It was amazing to be there on the anniversary.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
Those two early December
Those two early December Oakland shows were really fun, as was the NYE run later that month. That period with Hornsby was a resurgent time for me as a fan of the band.
As for 56 years ago, I've often wondered how many mostly straight kids came out of that Stones show, got the flyer and maybe recognized Ginsberg or Cassady's name, figured it was probably some beat poetry thing and they walked over to the "party" to see what was happening, only to have a cup of the "punch" and had their brains rearranged.
"Damn. I've never been to a party like THAT before."
"And what happened to my clothes?"
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: doctor
If I got that flyer in 1965 I
If I got that flyer in 1965 I would think is was gibberish and not take it seriously. Plus where does it tell where this party is??
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Localcountyline
That wasn't the one for the
I don't think that one was for this show Doolittle.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Don Volume
Read here for a first-hand
Read here for a first-hand account by a local teenager who got ditched at the party by his older brother and his frat brothers; probably the most vivid account of the evening that I have come across.
http://www.thebestofwebsite.com/Bands/Grateful_Dead/Misc/EvanHunt/Meeting_Jerry.htm
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Strangha
I was at the Saturday show
I was at the Saturday show that weekend. First time traveling to California to see the band. Still a newbie.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cultivate kindness
I was 5 when this happened,
I was 5 when this happened, and I've been fascinated with this thing of ours since I was about 18. I'm 61 now, and it's still a source of endless fascination.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
Yeah, not only were flyers
Yeah, not only were hand-drawn flyers like that handed out after the Stones show (with the address obviously not blanked out, as it is on the image I posted) but it was Ken Kesey, a young and lovely Carolyn Adams and a bunch of other VERY colorful people handing those out and pitching the event on the steps of the San Jose Civic.
You have to figure with those characters on those steps it was a pretty enticing situation for many young folks in '65 who were going to see the Rolling Stones and who were also heavily influenced by On The Road, as so many of that generation (and other generations) were.
Allen Ginsberg?!? Neal Cassady!!?! That's Carlo Marx maan! That's Dean Moriarity maaaaan!!! From On The Road!!!!!!!
THAT'S got to be a cool party!
By all reports 300-400 people from the Stones show went to that "acid test" and it was a rager for the ages.
We can only imagine what THAT night was like.
Or not.