The Closing of Winterland
Dec 31,
1978
(Page 1 of 2: Getting tickets; The Blues Brothers)
By Show
By Musician
Jerry and Bobby are in almost every image, so the links above are fine. But if you're looking for a shortcut to someone in particular, try these:
Bill Fridl 's other sites:
Patient Education Materials
Bicycle-Touring
This show seemed destined to be one of the big events in concert history. The Last Waltz had been filmed in Winterland just a year earlier, and if that brought together a who's who of rock 'n roll, then the closing of this famous venue had to be even bigger. I had transferred up to UC Berkeley by this time, so I was local -- at least compared to my UCLA friends -- and figured that I'd get tickets one way or another. I did get a ticket... but I don't remember anymore how... I do remember sleeping out on a sidewalk in downtown Oakland after a rumor circulated that tickets would be on sale the following morning at select music stores. One other person apparently acted on that rumor -- there we were -- two young guys in sleeping bags half-hiding behind newspaper boxes as downtown Oaktown went about its troubled way. The next morning: no tix. The rumor was false.
Well... somehow I got a cherished ticket, and Matt and a few others
from the LA gang scored as well. But the night before Winterland was to
be Pauley Pavilion, on the UCLA campus, so we'd warn up for New Year's
Eve in LA, then fly up to SF for the Grand Finale.
Pauley was a fun show, but the flight north was the memory that lingers
decades later. I think that there were two flights from LA to SF that
departed late enough in the evening so that Dead Heads could catch the
flight after a full concert at the UCLA campus. Ours was on PSA, I think.
Imagine, if you will, a 2am flight packed with tie-dyed Dead Heads heading
north to the show of the decade. I expect that it's the only flight that
ever had announcements requesting that passengers NOT BONG in the No-Smoking
Section. The announcements were ignored. (If any readers were on either
of these flights, send me an email with your stories - I'd love to publish
more memories about those flights!)
We
got to Winterland, and plopped our sleeping bags on the sidewalk somewhere
before dawn. I don't remember much about that morning except lots of folks
looking for tickets. I think we were let in around 3 in the afternoon.
Matt and the others raced to what could be described as the 50-yard line
in the balcony; I raced to the floor, and was a few rows away from the
stage. The waiting began. Bill Graham showed a movie -- Animal House --
which seemed like a poor choice to a lot of us... even if the Blues Brothers
were scheduled to play...
Well - you know the rest. First set was New Riders of the Purple Sage. Then the Blues Brothers. Then the Grateful Dead, with 3 sets. And the first Dark Star in ages! (So - who were those folks with the Dark Star banner that appeared at so many shows?)
(I received the following email a month after posting this site: "So - who were those folks with the Dark Star banner that appeared at so many shows? Well, that would be me and my husband and brother-in-law. Nice photo on your site -- look carefully at your outside Winterland shot, you will see those standing below the "only ones that do what they do ..." billboard are wearing their coneheads -- that was us, too. Happy trails! Karen")
click on the back-side
text to enlarge it...
I'm not really a Blues Brothers fan, but the photos came out well...
Bill Graham arriving for the midnight celebration in his paper mache joint.
