Sunday, December 4, 2011

December 4, 1965: Rolling Stones, San Jose Civic Auditorium, San Jose, CA

The San Jose Civic Auditorium at 135 W. San Carlos Street in San Jose, July 2011
The Beatles were the harbinger of modern rock and roll, updating what Elvis Presley had begun. However, mid-60s British Invasion music was still presented as an entertainment rather than an art, much less a call to higher consciousness. There was a lot of great music played by British Invasion bands in the early 60s, but it was still trapped as "fun for the kids." By the time the Fillmore came along to change the rock industry, rock music in general and rock concerts in particular had become serious matters. They were serious art and serious fun, a direct transmission from artist to audience, seemingly unmediated by the trappings of industry. This wasn't really true, of course, as there is always an economic portion to any artistic presentation, but fans certainly felt that rock concerts were authentic vehicles for communication from an artist. Conveniently, the exact crossroads of rock music as entertainment for kids and rock music as an artistic presentation of a higher consciousness can be precisely located: the San Jose Civic Auditorium at 135 W. San Carlos Street in downtown San Jose, California, on December 4, 1965.

On Saturday, December 4, 1965, the Rolling Stones were headlining the San Jose Civic Auditorium, a 3000 seat venue built in 1934. It was the biggest venue in the South Bay. The Rolling Stones' popularity was only eclipsed by The Beatles. While the Beatles were already too big to even play the San Jose Civic, no other groups were sized out of San Jose. Perhaps the Dave Clark Five was as big as the Stones, but no one save the Beatles were bigger. The Stones had numerous catchy hits on the radio, but they had a rocking dark side, too, by AM standards, an edge that set them apart from the family friendly Beatles. To American radio listeners, the Stones were definitely celebrating black music, white guys playing music from the wrong side of the town, and the fact that they were successful suggested that other aspiring white rock musicians could do the same.

During 1965, a secret group of adventurers in the South Bay had been experimenting with a perfectly legal product called LSD-25. LSD gave the users up to twelve hours of dreamlike hallucinations and expanded consciousness. This intrepid bunch had started holding a series of parties called "Acid Tests" in which everyone attending would ingest some LSD-25, and numerous entertainments were provided not for "fun" but in order to expand the experience of the users. Along with strobe lights, live microphones and other amusements, there was a "house band" who performed, just as dosed as the audience. They played whatever they played, for minutes or hours as the circumstances seemed to demand or as they were able. Partygoers found the music electrifying in more ways than one, even if they could hardly recall it afterwards. The Acid Tests were run by a group more or less headed by novelist Ken Kesey, and they called themselves the Merry Pranksters. The house band had been named The Warlocks, but for various reasons by the time of the Acid Tests they had changed their names to The Grateful Dead

All of these goings on were made famous by Tom Wolfe in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In November, The Merry Pranksters had gotten the idea that the Acid Tests should be open to the public, instead of just their friends. The problem was finding the right sort of adventurous people, willing to stay up all night and listen to weird music while ascending to a higher plane. This was all perfectly legal, of course, but there was no good reason to invite the police, so a normally advertised event was out of the question. The Pranksters image of themselves encouraged them to be cryptical rather than direct. The Prankster logic was as follows: cool people liked the Rolling Stones, so the cool people not already known to the Pranksters would be found at the Rolling Stones concert at San Jose Civic.

The Rolling Stones concert at the San Jose Civic was the next-to-last show of the band's 3rd American tour, which had begun in October. On Friday, December 3 the Stones had played two shows at the Sacramento Civic Auditorium, and on Sunday (December 5) they would end their tour with a show at the relatively giant Sports Arena in Los Angeles. For Saturday night, however, the Stones were playing two shows at the San Jose Civic. I don't know what they played; shows weren't reviewed in those days, and the idea of someone taping the show was unfathomable. There were certainly a bunch of opening acts, although again I don't know who. Probably a few lucky local garage bands were on the bill, because they would work cheap. The Stones almost certainly played no longer than a half-an-hour for both the early and late shows. Their equipment would have been minimal by modern standards, and to modern ears the show would have sounded tinny and weak. No matter--the Stones were the coolest of the cool.

After the late show, which probably ended well before midnight, exiting fans found some scruffy looking people handing out flyers that said "Can You Pass The Acid Test?" The Acid Test was held at a private house, a rambling old Edwardian near downtown. The flyers included the address of the house, but no explanation of what was actually being promoted. Whether people took the flyer from a scruffy stranger, or saw it tacked up on a tree, only a few of them took up the offer. Nonetheless, those that found their way to the house found themselves flying on a plane they didn't even know they had boarded.

The Acid Test was a roaring success, so successful that it couldn't be contained in a house.  It moved to Muir Beach, and then a nightclub in Palo Alto, and finally a place called "The Fillmore Auditorium" in San Francisco. By February, two promoters were putting on shows at the Fillmore that simulated acid tests, even if no acid was provided, and the modern rock concert was born. But a few adventurous people in downtown San Jose had already started the trip three months earlier, outside of the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

9 comments:

  1. I was at this Stones concert. I had seats 28 rows back and could barely hear the Stones because of all the "Beatlemania" screams from the girls. I can't remember what they play (I was 14 at the time) but I do remember Jagger playing with and twirling the microphone stand. Brian Jones was still part of the group and had the coolest look --- but in hindsight it was Keith Richards who was the heart of the group. I only remember one show on the venue. I did see them in 1969 at the Oakland Coliseum where they had 2 shows ---Later I attended Altamont --- but I'm pretty sure there was only one show on that December evening in 1965. I went out the rear exit so I didn't run into the Merry pranksters --- which would have been too much for my poor teenaged brain! I think they played at a venue on 13th street --- one of their first gigs as the officially titled Grateful Dead rather than the Warlocks. --- but I don't know for sure. At the time of the '65 concert there was some doubt about Keith Richards playing in San Jose because he'd received a solid electric shock in Sacramento when his guitar brushed a mike stand....or so I remember for the newspapers back then. A friend told me later that the Stones stayed at the San Jose Inn located on the Alameda. For years there was a Sambo's restaurant in the front of the place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. December 4th, 1965 was my 19th birthday. My mother gave me two tickets to this show. I remember them doing Satisfaction and a lot of their blues sounds, like "Off the Hook. They were great. Some of the girls in the row in front of us were taking off their panties and throwing them up on the stage. Good show, one I'll never forget. Especially the group that played before the Stones. PATTY LABELL AND THE BLUE BIRDS. WOW, did they ever put on a show. A lot of gymnastics and tumbling.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was at this show and remember the Pranksters, I remember the concert... Brian Jones wore those awesome red corduroy pants...I remember Satisfaction and Cloud, that´s about it...oh, and I´m Free...the Pranksters out front were freaky for me as a 12 year old, yet benign....I had to meet my mom up San Carlos St a bit west....had I walked 12 blocks east to that Acid Test I would never have been the same, hahahahahaaaa

    as the above poster says, Keef was electrocuted a day or 2 before in Sacramento...I don´t recall Patty Labell, but I believe you...

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Ratz from Sacramento opened, followed by the Byrds. Don't remember any other act. Stones opened with "Last Time." I still recall the hairs on the back of my neck standing up with the opening riff. Up in the balcony we could her pretty well, in spite of some of the birds screaming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Weren’t the Ratz from Modesto? My uncle was their bass player. Maybe the rest of them were from Sac?

      Delete
  5. I thought that The Rockin'Ramrods from Boston and The Vibrations were supporting acts. Also a black female vocal group, which is identified above. The Stones' set was brief, maybe 25 minutes long. There may have been two shows there, early and late. I remember getting dropped off by a parent before dark on that short December day. Also a long haired boy with blue eyeshadow out on the portico. Exhilarating time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. there was one of those early different type guys at the show I went to....he was just different, like a glam rock Ziggy precursor....oddly, a few years later we became pals, he lived in a big old Victorian downtown, his parents had it, buthe had an entire wing out back to himself and it was there that Ilearnd all sorts of stuff....I was turned onto Zappa and the Fugs and strange music, we got stoned all the time, there were girls, it was fantastic...

      regarding the show, I swear I can´t remember the opening acts at all...could have been the Chocolate Watchband for all I recall, hehehee...I saw my first 3 concerts that year at the Civic in Jose=Sonny and Cher, the Beach Boys and the Stones....I love this arcane thread, there could have only been about 5 000 people total who saw these shows, or show, I recall only one show

      Delete
    2. I was there, too. I'm almost 70 now, so it's all kind of a blurry memory. This was one of several concerts I experienced at the old auditorium; Beach Boys, Peter Paul & Mary, Dylan (one acoustic set, followed by electric and the boos from purists), Howling Wolf? And much later, Ram Das.

      Delete
    3. I was there with Gary Stamper, I only know this because I ran across a calendar I kept while at San Jose State. Thank you for remembering Patti LaBelle this awakened my memory. Gary, I am so sorry that I don’t remember you but I must have enjoyed your company, thank you for treating me to an amazing evening!

      Delete