We’ve started creating poster-type designs for gigs that actually happened. It’s a great way to reflect on rock’s tremendous heritage, first and foremost, and to remember what fantastic bills some gigs were. You know me, these were important, often memorable nights in our lives, and I want to celebrate and honour them.
Because, as we age, these are bookmarks in our lives: nights we often fondly recall or nights we bitterly regret, such as my drunken Wishbone Ash debacle on the New England tour, which is the reason I still hate the smell of Southern Comfort.
While I’ve been researching this, obviously, America had much bigger and better bills than any I saw in the UK, such as Black Oak Arkansas with Rory Gallagher and Back Street Crawler. Or how about Iron Butterfly with Canned Heat and The Youngbloods, or the Allmans, J. Geils, and Albert King?
And they’d only cost a few dollars. These were the glory days of touring for punters, even in the UK, but in America, you must have been able to live in a town or city and wait for every single band to come through as a headliner or as support, with as many as three or four bands per week.
If, for example, you lived in or around Detroit, I don’t think there was a band of any description or notoriety who didn’t call in at 8952 Grand River Ave to play the Grande Ballroom from 1966 - 1972 and play for 1800+ people. It’s shamefully derelict now. Tear it down or rejuvenate it. It could be great again.
Or what about the legendary Santa Monica Auditorium? Opened in 1958 and holding 3,000 people, if you lived in LA, there’s literally no one you couldn’t have seen who was popular. For just one example, the Steve Miller Band played there, supported by The James Gang on 28th November 1970. I bet that was an amazing concert.
Meanwhile, in the UK, we did get some great pairings, rarely a triple bill though. Free and Amazing Blondel played Newcastle City Hall on February 22nd, 1972, a nice eclectic bill, and Ten Years After played the University of Kent with East Of Eden (who were so much more than the excellent Jig-a-Jig) on 3rd September 1968.
What were these occasions like? I imagine students at Kent University in 1968 were a hairy bunch of freaks and alternative thinkers, as naive as that might be, and probably counted Steve Hillage amongst their number who, later in 1973, was actually playing support to Robin Trower at Liverpool Empire.
Wondering about the context where they took place fascinates me all these years later. Perhaps because I’m a writer, I find the romance of it all very engaging, so that’s the inspiration behind these newbies. As usual, they’re so much more than just mere products. They’re celebrating bookmarks in our lives.
Celebrating bookmarks in our lives...
