tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post3274528394433196374..comments2024-03-25T14:10:52.808-07:00Comments on Rock Prosopography 101: 307 Church Street, Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, May 28, 1966: Jefferson Airplane/Mystery Trend/Flowers Of EvilCorry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-62397760764912052222023-07-23T17:29:53.203-07:002023-07-23T17:29:53.203-07:00Thanks for these details. The Airplane show at Coc...Thanks for these details. The Airplane show at Coconut Grove was May 14 '66, and they played the Civic on May 28. <br /><br />Any details about The Barn gratefully received. A more recent crack at the NDRB/Barn story was here: http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/03/david-nelson-and-new-delhi-river-band.htmlCorry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-2237695143707258162023-07-23T17:21:00.170-07:002023-07-23T17:21:00.170-07:00I attended UCSC from graduating as part of the Pio...I attended UCSC from graduating as part of the Pioneer class. Two points about the music scene in Santa Cruz. 1. The Airplane show was actually at the Coconut Grove. It was part of Dick Miller's anti-Vietnam War campaign. I was involved with planning, publicity and the light show run by Ken Kesey's dentist, Dick Smith. 2. My friends and I attended many Barn shows and loved them. The New Delhi River Band rocked. Ucscgkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08252908724019500970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-85819977074269432002019-06-08T07:37:06.546-07:002019-06-08T07:37:06.546-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.planet mojacarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14315356592363254170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-38704397548503697942016-01-30T09:46:54.372-08:002016-01-30T09:46:54.372-08:00With the recent death of Paul Kanter I have been h...With the recent death of Paul Kanter I have been have memories of when The Jefferson Airplane came to Santa Cruz, my hometown! My later to be wife and I were seniors in high school and were at the May 28, 1966 concert. It was one of the best experiences of my life!SeabeeRonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14633261815566531741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-53442730385788798252011-02-14T18:50:35.421-08:002011-02-14T18:50:35.421-08:00I'm liking your theory about the Canfield Fami...I'm liking your theory about the Canfield Family. That would make a lot of sense. Regardless of who actually owned the Cocoanut Grove, it was fed by and in turn fed the Boardwalk. The Civic was downtown, and didn't revolve around the Boardwalk.Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-19019886532714430872011-02-14T18:47:18.120-08:002011-02-14T18:47:18.120-08:00I think there may be more to this. Santa Cruz has ...I think there may be more to this. Santa Cruz has always been very dependent on tourist and visitor revenues and it was even more so then than it is today. The city fathers may have been conservative but they were also interested in making a buck. <br /><br />I think the economics of the music business at the time played a big part in this. Compared to a place like the Barn in Scotts Valley (yes, I went there a number of times), or the Chateau further up the road, the Civic was/is an expensive place to rent and operate and has always been subject to stringent and expensive insurance and security requirements. A capacity of 2000 is not that big if the overhead is high. <br /><br />And there was the competition from The Fillmore and the Avalon to consider. San Francisco was THE place to be for a long time so a promoter needed to be careful how he scheduled against them or he'd lose his shirt. Remember that there was not a large local audience to draw from at that point so to fill a place like the Civic you needed people to come from the Bay Area. Sure, the "Mountain People" were in the San Lorenzo Valley but there weren't enough of them by themselves to fill the place on a regular basis. UCSC had only just started up and was not very big and that population was in town only during the winter months. So when they were there, the tourists weren't. A big show, which is what you would need to make it work at the Civic, would need to draw some from the same pool of customers as the San Francisco and bay area venues. Special events could, and did, work but as a regular or even a semi regular venue it was darn risky. <br /><br />And what made it even more problematic was the Coconut Grove. I'm almost certain that the events there were promoted by the Seaside Company themselves who own the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which in turn is owned by the Canfield family. For good reason, the Canfields are very influential in Santa Cruz so I'm pretty sure that the city would have nixed anything that might have been competition for the Grove. So there again, scheduling conflicts and complications.<br /><br />I'm not saying your premise is wrong, just that I think the circumstances may have been more complicated.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15599925001380025327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-83499025831825883012011-02-14T18:01:57.491-08:002011-02-14T18:01:57.491-08:00I don't have any documentation. To some extent...I don't have any documentation. To some extent my assessment is based on the absence of any concerts--why wouldn't they have had concerts at the Civic, unless the city didn't want them?<br /><br />I also did some poking around on various message boards, and someone mentioned the story I describe above about "Sacred Cow" as a promoter. There's no way to judge anonymous internet posts, but that doesn't make them wrong. <br /><br />After all, were there any SC Civic Concerts between March 25,1967 and 1970? There were plenty of shows at Monterey Junior College, but none at Santa Cruz Civic? Why not? Yet another mystery that I am still trying to unravel.<br /><br />Did you ever go to The Barn, by the way?Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-4724176698443188452011-02-14T17:42:01.360-08:002011-02-14T17:42:01.360-08:00The Civic didn't have regular events that I ca...The Civic didn't have regular events that I can remember and I spent a lot of time on that side of the hill. (Still do, I live in Santa Cruz County now) The Grove was more regular but only in the summer. <br /><br />What leads you to think that they didn't want to have concerts there? Have you happened onto some documentation? I vaguely remember looking into doing something there and have some thoughts on the subject.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15599925001380025327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-29092819342896415042011-02-14T10:36:38.679-08:002011-02-14T10:36:38.679-08:00Mike, thank you very much for the kind words.
It...Mike, thank you very much for the kind words. <br /><br />It's very interesting to hear about the CWB playing the Civic. Do you recall if there were regular events there, or just occasional ones? I know Cocoanut Grove was open many weekends, and all sorts of groups played there, but I have always remained mystified at how little SC Civic got used during that period.<br /><br />Santa Cruz was a very conservative town in those days, and I don't think the powers that be were comfortable with rock shows other than near the Boardwalk (where Cocoanut Grove was).Corry342https://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-68088476391977236252011-02-13T19:57:28.912-08:002011-02-13T19:57:28.912-08:00Corry,
I have spent a lot of time on your blog sin...Corry,<br />I have spent a lot of time on your blog since I discovered it yesterday and I have to tell you how much I enjoy it. Lots of very good stuff. I hope you don't mind that I chime in with comments.<br /><br />Re: the Santa Cruz Civic, there were other events there during this time frame. I remember specifically a Chocolate Watchband gig. Also, don't forget the Coconut Grove at the Boardwalk-lots of acts played there-Watchband, E-types, Righteous Brothers (I think)Wm Penn and His Pals. I'm not sure but I think the Beach Boys may have played there. I know the Beach Boys played the San Jose Civic in '63 or '64Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15599925001380025327noreply@blogger.com