Fact #91969
When:
Short story:
The Family Dog Collective runs a "Tribute To Doctor Strange" dance and concert at Longshoremen's Hall, San Francisco, California, USA, with Jefferson Airplane, The Charlatans, The Great Society, Marbles and Notes From The Underground.Full article:
Alton Kelley (poster artist) : We didn't really have anything to do, so we thought about putting on some dances.
Elliot Sazer : When people tried to start dancing, the police would stop them. You're not allowed to dance in San Francisco, unless you're in a hotel or the place has a special dance permit. And for a very liberal town, this was the craziest law I'd ever heard of in my life.
Alton Kelley : And the first dance event really made the scene jell. We called it A Tribute To Dr. Strange, and it took place at Longshoremen's Hall, in the city. The Charlatans played and the Great Society and the Jefferson Airplane and The Marbles.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)
Bob Harvey (co-founder, Jefferson Airplane) : Longshoremen's was the foreshadowing of the psychedelic dance concerts. But it was more than just music and dance. It felt like belonging, like family. It was my last gig with the band. I knew I was going and it felt so bad.
(Source : not known)
Alton Kelley : We had a light show by Bill Ham, who projected lights through coloured liquids ont the wall. I guess about 600 people showed up. And they all had long hair and were dressed hip, and it was a shocker. Everyone went, 'Whre the hell did all these people come from?' We had no idea there were that many freaks in the city. And then it just started to roll.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)
Victor Moscoso (poster artist) : What I saw blew me away. Here were freaks, street people, beatniks, artists, poets. You know, the dregs of society, the fringes of society, those that barely were in the society – garbage pickers, petty dope dealers – having a grat time getting stoned and making music. It was far out.
Ralph Gleason (reviewer, San Francisco Chronicle) : Long lines of dancers snaked through the crowd holding hands. Free form [dance] improvisation was everywhere. The clothes were a blast. Like a giant costume party.... It was a gorgeous sight.
Bill Thompson: I remember long lines of people, holding hands, dancing to the music. I mean, 20, 30 people sometimes, going around in a circle. They'd get caught up in the energy of the music, and the excitement. There was so much freedom. This was not like school dances – that was a whole different story, everything was regulated.
Darby Slick (guitarist, The Great Society) : The amazing thing to me was just the sense of community, the idea of, 'We're all freaks, we're all here together.' This faded quickly. By 1967 this mood was over.
Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) : Before the dances, we were just the band at a party, because we weren't connecting with an audience, even at The Matrix. And the party was often much more interesting. I mean, there was a structure there of a stage, and an audience. But, quickly, that wall broke down almost instantaneously.
Alton Kelley : We threw six or seven dances before we even knew we had to have a permit. The city tried to shut it down but once it was happening there was no shutting it down.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)
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Elliot Sazer : When people tried to start dancing, the police would stop them. You're not allowed to dance in San Francisco, unless you're in a hotel or the place has a special dance permit. And for a very liberal town, this was the craziest law I'd ever heard of in my life.
Alton Kelley : And the first dance event really made the scene jell. We called it A Tribute To Dr. Strange, and it took place at Longshoremen's Hall, in the city. The Charlatans played and the Great Society and the Jefferson Airplane and The Marbles.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)
Bob Harvey (co-founder, Jefferson Airplane) : Longshoremen's was the foreshadowing of the psychedelic dance concerts. But it was more than just music and dance. It felt like belonging, like family. It was my last gig with the band. I knew I was going and it felt so bad.
(Source : not known)
Alton Kelley : We had a light show by Bill Ham, who projected lights through coloured liquids ont the wall. I guess about 600 people showed up. And they all had long hair and were dressed hip, and it was a shocker. Everyone went, 'Whre the hell did all these people come from?' We had no idea there were that many freaks in the city. And then it just started to roll.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)
Victor Moscoso (poster artist) : What I saw blew me away. Here were freaks, street people, beatniks, artists, poets. You know, the dregs of society, the fringes of society, those that barely were in the society – garbage pickers, petty dope dealers – having a grat time getting stoned and making music. It was far out.
Ralph Gleason (reviewer, San Francisco Chronicle) : Long lines of dancers snaked through the crowd holding hands. Free form [dance] improvisation was everywhere. The clothes were a blast. Like a giant costume party.... It was a gorgeous sight.
Bill Thompson: I remember long lines of people, holding hands, dancing to the music. I mean, 20, 30 people sometimes, going around in a circle. They'd get caught up in the energy of the music, and the excitement. There was so much freedom. This was not like school dances – that was a whole different story, everything was regulated.
Darby Slick (guitarist, The Great Society) : The amazing thing to me was just the sense of community, the idea of, 'We're all freaks, we're all here together.' This faded quickly. By 1967 this mood was over.
Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) : Before the dances, we were just the band at a party, because we weren't connecting with an audience, even at The Matrix. And the party was often much more interesting. I mean, there was a structure there of a stage, and an audience. But, quickly, that wall broke down almost instantaneously.
Alton Kelley : We threw six or seven dances before we even knew we had to have a permit. The city tried to shut it down but once it was happening there was no shutting it down.
(Source : interview in Rolling Stone – 23 August 1990)