By Shawn Perry
One of my greatest rock and roll memories is when I used to peruse the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar section — which only came out on Sunday in those days — for upcoming concerts. Even though the ads lacked the color and artistry of the infamous psychedelic posters of the 60’s, they still managed to capture a moment in time for a generation striving for identity — the kids of the 70’s.
Indeed, the music of that period was marketed in a much broader and commercial fashion. More promoters were moving in and the competition grew fierce. In Southern California, the biggest promoter was probably Wolf and Rissmiller, who virtually held a monopoly on every show that came to town. Fortunately, the shows were still entertaining and fairly cheap. In my case, I lacked proper transportation to make most of the early 70’s shows.
It wasn’t until 1974 that I could venture out on my own and see the reality of what I had marveled at in the pages of Calendar. During the mid-70’s, there were several superstar acts who played multiple nightly runs at the Forum or Long Beach Arena. Led Zeppelin played one of the last successful engagements for 6 nights at the Forum in the summer of 1977.
During the 80’s, only a handful of acts like Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and newer superstars like the Police and U2, could fill the arenas. Wolf and Rissmiller sort of dwindled in the breeze after a series of bad investments (notably their night club in Reseda) and personal tragedy (Wolf was murdered at his home). I stopped collecting ads by then. It came to a point where the groups I followed had either withered away, or did a single night at a stadium or coliseum, once every few years, and were done with it. Then the beer companies moved into the promoter’s seat. The whole idea of seeing a sweaty and loud rock and roll performance had been transformed into a sporting event.
Still, I’ve never stopped going to the shows. In addition to a portion of my 70s archive posted below, I have posted some stubs, passes, leaflets and newspaper ads from the 80s and 90s. I must admit that the 90s were musically enriching for myself and vintage rock. In addition to my favorites, I discovered newer “vintage” rock bands like Government Mule, who randomly draw from The Beatles to Free to everything in between; and Phish, who have paid homage to a variety of “vintage” bands like the Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd and Velvet Underground. Vintage Rock is still alive and well.
UPDATE: As of 2017, I’ve added more random adverts to peruse…
