Friday, September 3, 2010

Purpose

I hope to eventually provide a comprehensive concert chronology of venues in Ventura and Santa Barbara County from 1960-1975, focusing on the emergence of psychedelic music, its precursors and successors. Venues to include:

Arlington Theatre (Santa Barbara)
The Back Door (Ventura)
Earl Warren Showground (Santa Barbara)
Granada Theatre (Santa Barbara)
Isla Vista Beach (Goleta)
Oxnard Auditorium
San Marcos High School Auditorium (Goleta)
Santa Barbara County Bowl
Starlight Ballroom (Oxnard)
University of California, Santa Barbara (Campbell Hall, Robertson Gym and Harder Stadium)
Ventura County Fairgrounds
Ventura High School Auditorium

and as many others as I can remember. :-)


27 comments:

  1. Thanks for this my Marin county band "Rose" played the week including Christmas 1969 at The Backdoor" in Ventura also on the bill was
    Ramblin Jack Elliot untill I saw this site I could not remember the name of the club

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  2. Thanks for the info, Les; I will add it to my Back Door listings.

    It was a great little venue; I saw everyone from Lee Michaels to Taj Mahal and many, many others there.

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  3. Now I might be able to put a more accurate time with a past concert experience... Nice blog.

    Regards,
    Dennis

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  4. Where was the Back Door located? I remember it, but can't remember it, you know? ;)

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  5. The Doors appeared with opening act The Chambers Brothers Friday, June 28, 1968 at Santa Barbara City College - La Playa Stadium. Trying to find the name of the dance studio in Ventura (on Thompson Blvd) that had a coffee house there on the weekends. Alexander's Timeless Bloozband appeared there on several occasions (along with other acts). This was NOT the Back Door (on Front St in Ventura). That came later. I think the name was Nielsen & Nielsen, but I can't find anything listed that was on Thompson Blvd. Also, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Ventura County Fairgrounds June 21, 1970.

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    1. Could have been "The Private Residence of R Allison Metzenger" a coffee house on Thompson.

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  7. Thanks for the information; I will add to my rough drafts. I know that Quicksilver also played at City College but I don't have a date.

    It was so foggy the night that Hendrix played the Fairgrounds that he played first before the opener' I think the promoters were afraid that if they waited the audience wouldn't be able to see him.

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  8. Here are some dates I hope you can use:
    6/28/68 La Playa Stadium - Doors, Chambers Bros, Boston Tea Party
    4/2/71 Lobero - Sweetwater, Goldstreet
    2/5/72 SBCC Gym - Quicksilver, Dan Hicks
    4/26/72 Granada - Van Morrison, Leo Kottke
    5/18/72 Granada - Steve Miller, Fleetwood Mac
    3/28/73 Granada - Mahavishnu Orch, Robbie Basho
    6/6/74 Granada - Firesign Theater
    1/17/75 Bluebird Cafe - Flying Burrito Bros, Cach Valley Drifters

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  9. Thank you very much; I've added them to my drafts for those venues, which are still a bit too sketchy to publish, but they're getting there!

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  10. Dennis, thanks for your site. I'm the artist who drew the Memorial Day Ball poster and those for many of the subsequent concerts at Roberstson Gym. Great memories.

    Mike A.

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  11. Note to Mike A:

    Thanks for the posters, and thanks for not taking offense I used your image!

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  12. The Ventura County Fairgrounds with Jimi Hendrix was my first concert as a little boy being happy and dragged around on the Fairgrounds floor near the mixing board. The night was cool and the fog wasn't there. The problem was the Cable from the mixing board to the stage. It ran straight through the crowd. People were stepping on the cable and the sound was cutting out. There was a little mist in the air and things were slightly dewy around 10pm. Maybe the combination of mist and cable problems led to a shorter set list.

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  13. We remember it differently, as does a member of the band "Grin", which was also on the bill and opened; he also attributed the change in order being due to the fog. Poor cabling could have also been a contributing factor.

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  14. Two dates for your drafts, Dennis.

    One confirmed: October 27, 1979, Arlington Theatre, "Point Conception Indian Center" benefit concert with Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Roger McGuinn and Danny O'Keefe. Memorable version of "Teach Your Children" with Jackson doing vocal backing to CSN.

    And I have a beautifully designed, damaged poster (that had been tacked up) for Elvin Bishop/Richmond Shepard Mime Theatre/Animal Bob and Michael at the Granada, October 25, 1975? 1976? but you'll need to help me with the year as there's no publication date on the poster.

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  15. I've posted your dates in my drafts, and I thank you very much for your help! Now working specifics for the Elvin Bishop show.

    The 5/20/73 is one of my favorite Dead shows ever - three sets in the sun, followed by 3 more sets in the sun in Kezar the following week.

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  16. Was anyone at the show the night The Who played the show grounds. My band was the opening act. The Original Y. B. Blues Band
    The largest crowd that we played for to that point. If any one has a handbill or a poster from that gig I'm wanting it. We opened then my friends band the Caretakers and then The Who.
    What a night

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  17. I was there that evening, but all I remember is that they played in the arena outdoors, right? I remember sitting outside on an area with a lawn, and listening to the Who.....

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  18. Two Cream Concerts at Earl Warren visiting mi amigo at UCSB and hangin in IV. Plus a few other concerts there too. Loved em. Was within sweat range of Baker and the guys on guitar. Surfed at I.V. beach many times at Campus Point. May have a pix or two somewhere. Where is my cream poster? I've got a lil bit of photos hiding around someplace here?

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  19. Hello. I recall attending a show as a kid--1967 or 68--at the Carriage Square Cinema in Oxnard... it was connected to KACY radio, I think, and Jim Salzer, whose record store was still in the adjacent shopping mall at the time. The band Turquoise played, though I don't think it was a full-length concert.

    I also have a hazy recollection the Lee Michaels and Frosty played at Ventura College at some point, though I did not attend the show.

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  21. 3/29/69 is the date of Lee Michaels & Frosty at Ventura College, which was a billing of Poco, Lee Michaels and Black Pearl, which is on my still unpublished list of postings expanded this chronology.

    And you are right on the Turquoise at Carriage Square Parking lot - I was there also, and do not have an exact date at this time.

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  22. Thanks for the reply. I didn't remember that Turquoise played in the parking lot, though that makes sense... I remember being at the event inside the movie theater, where I think some of the KACY DJ's were MC-ing. I won a copy of the Lovin' Spoonful's greatest hits LP. I recall another parking lot performance in my youth, though it doesn't relate to Psychedlic music. I forget the exact location, but it was probably next to a place that sold Vox guitar amplifiers. Paul Revere and the Raiders played on a parked flatbed truck. BTW, is there a way I can send you some image files? I have a couple of unused tickets from Earl Warren shows, circa 1967, if you're interested.

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  23. They could have very well played inside the cinema at another time...

    I did get verification from Jim Salzer that the parking gig was in 1967. Feel free to send image files to dennisdster@gmail.com. Thanks!

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  24. I'm guessing that you are correct about the date and place of the Turquoise concert. Most likely they had the KACY-focused activity inside the theater, then moved to the lot for the performance. I remember seeing Turquoise, but other than winning that album, my memory of the details is hazy.

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