tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post6617103521828053661..comments2024-03-26T23:10:34.814-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Sources: June 27-28, 1970: CNE Stadium, Toronto (Festival Express I)Light Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-1848979658781325532018-10-04T20:58:43.489-07:002018-10-04T20:58:43.489-07:00I added an illuminating piece from a Madison, WI u...I added an illuminating piece from a Madison, WI underground paper, from the point of view of a gate-crasher. He decides to break in after seeing a leaflet about how the festival is a rip-off (I'm not sure he needed extra encouragement!), and in turn tells everyone he can to crash the gate. It's ironic - Joplin, the Dead & co. have come to Toronto, and now the event's a disaster: "It was beautiful...we were screwing THEM!" He revels in fighting the pigs, condemns people who don't want to fight as "Peace & Love freeks," and considers them "radicalized" when he can get them involved in the struggle and chased by the cops. <br />The ironies continue once they're in the stadium: "It was bad. The amps kept breaking down, the bands were late, etc." Not even worth a free break-in! So, somehow, the gate-crashers "set up an alternative festival...and got everyone to play at a park." No hint at the authorities' involvement in this, and of course the bands themselves have no say. But it's free, so it's good. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-72637354316281460182018-07-12T18:14:06.779-07:002018-07-12T18:14:06.779-07:00A note in the 7/2/70 Montreal Gazette:
"Outs...A note in the 7/2/70 Montreal Gazette: <br />"Outstanding accounts to the tune of close to $150,000 incurred for the Festival Express performance which was cancelled out of the Autostade on June 24, have been paid [by the Eaton-Walker group], including artists who received fees even though they did not perform."<br /><br />There were also meetings held in Calgary that June by community associations trying to stop the festival from coming to Calgary. "Many people in this area are really opposed to the festival, some of them quite violently... Some of them have been in the United States and seen rock festivals there... They would rather have the Calgary festival moved elsewhere." They cited concerns about huge numbers of rowdy kids descending on Calgary, and the possibility of violence and property damage. <br /><br />But their efforts failed - Calgary mayor Rod Sykes supported the festival, blaming "a tiny little group of adult fanatics" for any problems that might occur: <br />"They are trying to whip up fear and antagonism ahead of time. This is just the kind of thing that does cause trouble. If there is any trouble, it will not be the kids who are causing it, but the adults who are trying to cause it now, trying to set the stage for trouble."Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195590583641426943.post-69228902213024771812018-07-12T18:13:36.415-07:002018-07-12T18:13:36.415-07:00The 6/10/70 Montreal Gazette reported the cancella...The 6/10/70 Montreal Gazette reported the cancellation in Montreal: <br />"The Festival Express has been derailed on its way to Montreal... <br />The city asked the CMHC to cancel the festival because of a 'concern for public safety,' the city having had a report from the city police department. <br />Major reason for the Festival Express cancellation seems to be the fear by city and provincial authorities that a pop festival held on the same day at the St. Jean-Baptiste parade would be an open invitation to violence.<br />A letter from the Central Mortgage and Housing Corp. [which owned the Autostade] informed the Festival Express that the City of Montreal could not provide the protection necessary for a projected attendance of 30,000 at the Autostade and suggested that the show not go on... [The police department would not issue permits for additional police protection at the Autostade.] <br />Kenneth Walker of Eaton-Walker Associates...said yesterday that tickets could be refunded or used at the two-day Toronto show. As well, he said all performers would be paid for the cancelled show. <br />This was to have been the second pop show booked into the Autostade. The first, a day-long affair last month, ran at a loss and was marred by some vandalism and a brief appearance by the Montreal Police Riot Squad." <br /><br />From the Montreal Gazette, June 12, 1970: <br />"The train-bound Festival Express show was cancelled out of Montreal last week because of what the organizers called 'civic intervention.' City officials said they had been disturbed by reports of sex and drug use at a previous show, and the date coincided with St. Jean Baptiste Day, which in the past has been marked by violence."<br /><br />A comment on the 6/12/70 Gazette editorial page: <br />"The forced cancellation of the Pop Festival Express, which was to have been held at the Autostade on June 24, is a deplorable occurrence. The decision to order the cancellation was made...for what appear to be entirely unsatisfactory reasons. <br />It is an over-reaction to the threat, or the alleged threat, of violence. Out of fear of a few trouble-makers, a popular public entertainment has been cancelled. <br />A pop festival is indiscriminately ranked with street demonstrations and unilingualism rallies as a threat to public order. But a pop festival is not even a confrontation, much less an incitement to violence. The audience and the performers do not represent separate factions, spoiling to get at each other. <br />No reason exists to believe that the Pop Festival Express would have attracted a crowd so large and volatile that the police could not control it. The Autostade is an urban stadium with only 35,000 seats and controlled access, not a rural Woodstock-type farmland with room for 400,000 people to roam. <br />It may be that in the view of the civic administration, the June 24 holiday, St. Jean-Baptiste Day, is not the day to allow a large crowd of high-spirited young people to congregate. Because of the emotions the day can arouse, the risk of trouble may be higher. <br />If such was, in fact, the administration's attitude, this should have been made clear in plenty of time to allow the festival organizers to select another date at the Autostade."Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com