The Steffich brothers, Matt and Mike took on San Francisco last month for an action packed weekend featuring the best in Rock and Roll. The main attraction was the
50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love”, an annual celebration of the psychedelic poster era hosted by an organization known as TRPS (The Rock Poster Society).
Maybe you are reading this and thinking “oh man 50 years since the Summer of Love?” And you are having an “I think i might be old” moment… forget it. Rock and Roll, along with the Hippie Movement are still alive and well- it’s cool. Or maybe you are reading this and wondering “what the heck was the Summer of Love, it sounds kinky?” Well in short is was the summer of 1967 when nearly 100,000 young people traveled to San Francisco and changed the world, and yes it was sometimes kinky. To learn more follow this Link.
While attending the Summer of Love Poster show, the brothers met the leading artist from the era. These artist literally gave shape to the blossoming hippie culture. Artist like Wes Wilson, Bonnie MacLean, Stanley Mouse, and Lee Conklin to name a few.
After the show was over the fun was far from over. Next Matt and Mike headed over to the original Fillmore Auditorium, the venue that hosted countless legendary concerts with the best talent in Rock and Roll history. In addition they attended two concerts at a sweet little club called Biscuits and Blues where guitarist Harvey Mandel, (of the John Mayall Band and Canned Heat,) played a killer set that would make you weak in the knees! As well they caught another show with John Lee Hooker Jr, amazing.
No visit to San Fran is complete without a boat ride to the infamous Alcatraz Island (Alcatraz, a federal prison from 1934 until 1963 that was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons. In short a final resting place for ”the best of the baddest”.) Alcatraz was spooky, home to a lot of heavy history. After just four hours the brothers made their narrow escape from the prison island. So the Brothers had the time of their lives in San Francisco. All kinds of warm fuzzy feeling here. It is also worth mentioning that this weekend began with a cup filled with Overproof Wild Turkey Bourbon 151 and ended with another.
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This blog post is all about my meeting with Scott B. Montgomery, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Denver in Colorado.
I met Scott during my recent trip to San Francisco for the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love (when thousands of young hippies descended on that city to celebrate life, music and their blossoming culture).
