Gig History
October 3, 1965
Denver, CO — Denver University Student Union
The band is 10 days old.
October 19 – 21, 1965
Denver, CO — KBTR battle of the bands
The winner’s prize: opening for the Rolling Stones 1965 Denver show. We come in 3rd out of 45 bands.
October 31, 1965
Denver, CO — Denver Theatre, KBTR Halloween promo show
We play immediately after the showing of Walt Disney’s “Old Yeller,” during which the audience is weeping uncontrollably.
November (?), 1965
Boulder, CO — Tulagi
Rusty is pulled off stage by the local gendarmes to make sure he’s not too young to play in a bar.
December 3, 1965
Boulder, CO — Student Union, Denver University
25 cents admission.
December 31, 1965 – Jan. 9th
Aspen, CO — The Mad Dog
First gig with Kim King. We begin to experiment with improvisational breaks in “Louie, Louie”. Eventually Louie, Louie would disappear, leaving only “It Comes On Anyhow”.
January 26 – Feb. 6, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
February (?), 1966
Grand Junction, CO
Very weird gig. Scary patrons who didn’t like long-haired hippie musicians. Kim slept with a rifle near his bed that night.
February 10, 1966
Denver, CO — Friends of Folk Music concert, IBEW Hall
February 1, 8, 15, 22, 1966
Denver, CO — Tiger a-Go-Go
March 2 – 13, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
March 18-26, 1966
Aspen, CO — The Mad Dog
March 30 – April 10, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
April 5, 1966
Denver, CO — Johnson MacFarlane Hall, Denver University
April 15th
Fort Collins, CO — Clancy’s FAC
Last gig with W.C. Wright.
April 30, 1966
Englewood, CO — The Rug Room
First gig with Paul Conly.
May 4-15, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
Paul's first appearance at the Exodus.
May or June, '66
Denver, CO — La Pichet (The Pitcher)
We sub in on the usual turf of The Rainy Daze.
May 15, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
“Woodsie” party in the foothills. Our amps blow up due to faulty generator.
June 8 – 19th, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
Sold out shows. Last gig before Spoonful concert.
June 26, 1966
Denver, CO — Red Rocks show
Moved to the Denver Coliseum, with the Lovin‘ Spoonful.
August 1-3, 1966
New York, NY — Trude Heller's
We get fired because we don’t play dance music.
August 9, 1966
New York, NY — The Night Owl Café
Our debut.
August 16-20, 1966
New York, NY — The Night Owl Café
Our first full week there.
September (most of the month), 1966
New York, NY — The Night Owl Café
We're the house band. Jimi Hendrix is playing around the corner at the Café Wha as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.
September (?), 1966
New York, NY — Café a Go-Go
With Richard Pryor who clowns around with Lothar, our theremin.
September or October (?), 1966
Private party at Mad Magazine contributor Earle Doud’s house
We meet Paul Simon.
October 5 – 16, 1966
New York, NY — The Village Gate with the Byrds
We meet Andy Warhol, Nico & Dr. Tim Leary.
November 9 – 13, 1966
Denver, CO — Exodus
Sold out shows.
November 18 – 20, 1966
San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore Auditorium
With the Grateful Dead & James Cotton.
January 19, 1967
New York, NY — Fashion Institute of Technology
January 20, 21, 1967
New York, NY — Andy Warhol's Balloon Farm
With the Chambers Brothers.
January 27, 28, 1967
New York, NY — Andy Warhol's Balloon Farm
Tim Buckley took tickets at the door.
February 17, 1967
New York, NY — Andy Warhol's Balloon Farm
With Mothers of Invention (?) or Free Spirits (?)
February 18, 1967
New York, NY — Wollman Auditorium, Columbia University
February 24 – 26, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
The debut of this club. Paul and Tom sleep on Todd Rundgren’s floor.
March 3-5, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
March 10-11, 1967
Boston, MA — The Boston Tea Party
With the Orphans.
March 17, 18, 1967
Boston, MA — The Boston Tea Party
With the Hallucinations (Peter Wolf).
April 14, 15, 1967
Boston, MA — The Boston Tea Party
With the Front Page.
April 21 – 22, 1967
Boston, MA — The Boston Tea Party
With the Hallucinations.
April 27, 1967
Montreal, Canada — Expo 67, Place Bonaventure
With the Blues Project, Tiny Tim, Suzanne Verdal.
May (?), 1967
Richard Avedon’s party for his son & subsequent photo shoot with Avedon
June 2 – 4, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
With Mandrake Memorial.
June 9 – 11, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
With Mandrake Memorial.
June 16 – 18, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
With Mandrake Memorial.
June 30, July 1, 1967
Boston, MA — The Boston Tea Party
With the Shakers.
July 21, 22, 1967
Allston, MA — The Crosstown Bus
With the NY Rock n Roll Ensemble.
September 1, 2, 1967
Washington, DC — Capitol Theatre
With Vanilla Fudge
September 29, 1967
Denver, CO — Family Dog
With Captain Beefheart (Doors poster).
September 30, 1967
Casper, Wyoming
Our road manager was punched out by some cowboys.
October 11 – 15, 1967
Denver, CO — Exodus
Sold out shows.
October 27 – 28, 1967
San Francisco, CA — Family Dog
With All Men Joy.
November 3 – 5, 1967
San Francisco, CA — Avalon Ballroom
With Canned Heat, All Men Joy.
November 10 – 12, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
With Mandrake Memorial.
November 17 – 19, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
December 8, 9, 1967
Philadelphia, PA — The Second Fret
We interpret the paintings of Paul Klee as music charts and freak out the audience.
December 22, 23, 1967
Boston, MA — Boston Tea Party
With Beacon Street Union.
March (?), 1968
Philadelphia, PA — The Trauma
April 23 – May 5, 1968
New York, NY — Generation
With Buddy Guy. We had the modular Moog at this show.
June 21, 22, 1968
Spray Beach, NJ — Le Garage
July 18 – 20, 1968
Boston, MA — Boston Tea Party
With the Hallucinations (Wolfgang’s Vault says it’s 1969).
August 2, 3, 1968
Spray Beach, NJ — Le Garage
November 29, 30, 1968
Boston, MA — Boston Tea Party
The dancing robots poster.
January 14th, 1969
New York, NY — Capitol Records party at Nepenthes (137 W. 48th)
Earle Doud attended, as did Bob Margouleff and Nick Venet, two of the producers of Hand People records.
February 6 – 8, 1969
Boston, MA — Boston Tea Party
With Raven (great band from Buffalo).
Possibly Feb. 27, 28, 1969
Philadelphia, PA — The Electric Factory
With Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Winter / Spring, 1969
New York, NY — The Scene
Jams with Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter.
March 22 – 22, 1969
New York, NY — The Scene
With Betty Carter.
March 29, 1969
New York, NY — The Scene
With Betty Carter.
March 30, 1969
New York, NY — The Scene
July 25 – 27, 1969
New York, NY — The Scene
Between Sha Na Na on the 24th and Big Mama Thornton on the 28th.
April 4 – 5, 1969
New York, NY — Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum
June 12 – 14, 1969
Boston, MA — The Ark
With Sea Train.
July (?), 1969
Spray Beach, NJ — Le Garage
August 3, 1969
Atlantic City, NJ — Atlantic City Pop Festival
Janis Joplin headlined.
August 9, 1969
Boston or Cambridge, MA
Outdoor gig.
November 1, 1969
Albany, NY — SUNY at Albany
November 15, 1969
Middlebury, VT
With Atlantis and also The Fat Band.
December 12, 1969
Amherst, MA — Amherst College
March – April, 1970
New York, NY — The Astor Place Theatre
Sam Shepard plays. Paul & Rusty with Sam Shepard on drums appear as the Hand People (Mark Von Lehmden sits in on harmonica).
Other gigs we barely remember or where the dates are lost in the haze of the past:
The Cheetah (or some big disco w/ a rip off benefit where we played for free).
A debutante party in New Canaan, CT where the hostess got really drunk.
Another freebie — Earl Wilson's birthday party attended by Johnny Carson, Barbra Streisand and, our personal favorite, Orson Bean.
The fashion show where they wanted the theremin but then asked us to play “Just In Time” with the words, “Mr. Klein“.
A bowling alley in New Jersey where they introduced us as the backup band for the Mamas and Papas and Brian Hyland lip-synched to “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie… etc”
Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden event.
Celebration Party for conductor Erich Leinsdorf at Harvard University Club, New York City.
Max’s Kansas City — with Nick Venet in the audience — Spring, 1969.
Sheri’s Shack (?)
Yale — with a stripper when George Bush was a student. (Was he there?)
The World, Westchester County, where they locked us in our dressing room & ripped up Tom's cigarette.
The Catacombs in Boston — when Paul threatened the club owner with the leg from the Wurlitzer piano.