FD-26 · Alton Kelley, Stanley Mouse
San Francisco
Oxford Circle
Skeleton & Roses
On Friday, September 16, 1966, the Family Dog opened a two-night stand at the Avalon Ballroom — the Grateful Dead over Oxford Circle, September 16–17 — and hung in the window the poster that would outlive every other artifact on this page. FD-26 is the "Skeleton & Roses" card, Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley's, and it is the first appearance of the image that became the Grateful Dead's permanent face (bill, dates,…
Read the full story →Also on September 16
Matrix
A year to the day before the Grateful Dead's skeleton went up at the Avalon, this is what the San Francisco scene looked like: Jefferson Airplane playing a Thursday at the Matrix with JC Burris, the first of two nights, September 16-17, 1965. The Airplane were the club's house band in those opening …
Read about this poster →Fillmore Auditorium
The most revealing bill of the week, and it is not a rock story. On September 16, 1966 the Fillmore Auditorium had the Byrds with Wildflower -- and between the sets, the house staged "The Dutchman," the LeRoi Jones one-act, by the writer who would later take the name Amiri Baraka. It is a short, sav…
Read about this poster →Matrix
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BG-83 — Fillmore Auditorium
Closing night. Saturday, September 16, 1967 finished the three-night BG-83 stand at the Fillmore Auditorium -- the Electric Flag, Mother Earth and the LDM Spiritual Band, the run dated on the poster itself as September 14, 15 and 16 (per the V&A record, accession O107084, corroborated by wolfgangs).…
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FD-81 — Avalon Ballroom
Night two of three. Saturday, September 16, 1967 continued Victor Moscoso's FD-81 -- the "Mist Dance" poster -- at the Avalon Ballroom, The Youngbloods headlining over The Other Half and Mad River, lights by the North American Ibis Alchemical Co., across a September 15 to 17 stand (bill, dates and l…
Read about this poster →FD-D2 — Family Dog Denver
Night two of three. Saturday, September 16, 1967 continued the FD-D2 stand at the Family Dog's Denver hall -- Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Charlatans and Superband, on the George Hunter and Michael Ferguson poster, September 15 to 17 (per coau and rockposters). The Charlatans appearing on a po…
Read about this poster →Straight Theater
Night two at the Straight Theater, and the bill shifted under it. On Saturday, September 16, 1967 the Steve Miller Blues Band were back and Billy Roberts was held over, but Sopwith Camel had dropped off and Notes From the Underground came in (per coau). That kind of overnight substitution is charact…
Read about this poster →Fillmore West
Read about this poster →Family Dog on the Great Highway
Devil's Kitchen and Orion at the Family Dog on the Great Highway, Tuesday, September 16, 1969, with the film "In Search of America" running as part of the bill -- the Great Highway hall mixing cinema into a music night the way it mixed in lectures and themed evenings. Devil's Kitchen were a Carbonda…
Read about this poster →Were You There?
Do you have memories of this show, or an original FD-26 poster? On This Day in Art Rock History celebrates the people who lived through the psychedelic era. Your stories and collections matter to this archive.