"What are you listening to right now?" thread | Page 581 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Von Bontee said
Cool reminiscences there, SB – I love that folks like yourself and Wigwam and intotheskywithdiamonds are around to share their tales of seeing giants like the Dead or Hendrix or Miles while they still walked the earth. And played the same ballrooms! I witnessed the late-stage Arkestra play two shows in a jazz club in Toronto in 1991 (shook Sonny’s hand!) and they were fine, but obviously 1991 is not 1969.

  

Wow, I can’t imagine seeing them at a club. I was lucky to be in the bay area when the music scene was so alive. From 68-71 I experienced live music at least twice per week. My fav place was Fillmore West (just for fun I attached a list of Fillmore concerts  – some of the combinations of bands are hard to imagine). Tickets were pretty cheap (3.50 for most shows) and included 3 bands and a light show. Most shows were booked for 3 nights in a row, so word of mouth would spread about hot bands. Bill Graham would usually greet you at the top of the stairs and there would be a stack of posters for the show and a barrel of apples (from which you could help yourself). The setting could not be more intimate as the stage was only 2 or 3 feet high and there were no chairs except some old couches against the wall. Occasionally Hells Angels would drag the couches in front of the stage, which was pretty funny or scary (depending on your point of view). Sometimes if it was really cold out or there were police issues in the street, so at the end of the show Bill would tell everyone they were welcome to stay till morning. The local bands would usually come back and play some more. Since you could see a lot of the local bands for free at street festivals or in the park, I was pretty focused on seeing bands from England or the east coast when possible. It’s funny, the only shows I remember being sold-out were Led Zeppelins. I did see them in 1971 at the first theatre show I ever attended (actual padded seats with a balcony and marble  bathrooms). I wrote up something for the forum about what that was like (never posted it though because Joe asked us to cool it). I see the LZ thread is still active, so maybe a will now. 

http://www.chickenonaunicycle……0Shows.htm