Polo
Fields
Golden Gate Park
January
14,1967 was the "Gathering of the Tribes-Human-Be-In.
I was one of the crowd of thousands of bliss filled
people who showed up for the event to hear Allen Ginsberg, Timothy
Leary and Gary Snyder and rock to the bands. Jefferson Airplane,
the
Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Sir Douglas Quintet.
The fabulous jazz flautist Charles Lloyd sat in with the Dead and
the Hell's Angels provided security. It was a fabulous day of Peace
and Love.
About
a week after Bill Graham died I was also one in the crowd of 300,000
who turned out for his memorial concert. That was October 1991. They
billed it "Laughter,Love and Music" and it certainly lived
lived up to its title. Crosby,Stills and Nash played as did Journey,Santana,local
Robin Williams, and Bobby Mc Ferrin.
The next year when Peter Gabriel appeared for a paid performance to
kick-off his WOMAD Festival they had the largest crowd ever recorded
in the history of his moving festival. Sorry I missed that one. But
I was there for the memorial service to Jerry Garcia in August 1995.
Speedway meadows was what we called the strip of park leading to the
Polo Fields.