San Jose Civic
Rolling Stones December 4, 1965
After the show, people were handing out flyers "Can You Pass The Acid Test?" for a party at a nearby house.
The first show under the name Grateful Dead was in San Jose, at Ken Kesey's Acid Tests.
The band changed its name after learning of another group called Warlocks. When they were trying to come up with a new name Garcia and Lesh were at Phil's place on High Street in Palo Alto when Jerry opened a book Phil had named "Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend" and saw the name "Grateful Dead" that came from a series of Folk Tales with a good interesting story(Thanks Nick)
On Sunday, August 20, 1972, the Grateful Dead finally headlined at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. Less than seven years earlier, they had been part of a guerrilla group of "Merry Pranksters" handing out flyers after a concert there; now they were the attraction itself.
"The Civic is a gorgeous, 3300 capacity mission-style auditorium that was built as part of the WPA project and opened in 1936. The horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement made for good sightlines from the floor, the mezzanine seating, and the balcony. After years of relative disuse during the late 20thcentury,
The venue was created through a joint venture between the City of San Jose, Public Works Administration, and local property owners Mr. and Mrs. T.S. Montgomery, who donated the property. The building was designed by Binder & Curtis, in the Spanish Colonial/California Mission Revival style"
The Alameda a personal project by local photographer David C. Hill
Olympus OM-D with Fisheye Lens
Originally shared on Explore San Jose · January 19, 2021