What I Did Over Summer Vacation

It has been another active summer.

We saw our daughter Anita sing for the band Cher Horowitz at the Gay Pride Day celebration. I had seen her perform before as DJ Durt. She played Rhythm and Blues classics from the Sixties. The same songs I used to listen to on The West Side! Great dancing music. DJ Durt can really get the party going.

Cher Horowitz got a spot on The Women’s Stage at Gay Pride. “We’re a Punk band from San Francisco!” Durt Gurl yelled. It was a thrill to see her stalking the stage, singing and rocking out! The band sounded great with pounding beats. We got to go backstage and meet the rest of the band. They went on a long tour that took them all the way to Maine and Canada.

The Fillmore Street Fair still draws a big crowd, but it hasn’t had the drunken excesses of some of the other fairs in San Francisco. Maybe it’s because it features Jazz music.

There are four stages and we heard The Marcus Shelby Trio at the California Street stage. They played a great set that included a couple of Irving Berlin songs. We wandered around a bit and came back to see Kim Nalley.

Nalley is a local and in all her glory playing the Fillmore neighborhood. We arrive to hear “Compared to What.” Then she sings The Ella Fitzgerald hit: “Tisket Tasket.” They did a version of “Long Gone Blues” with many dental double entendres. There were lines about a woman’s pain and novocaine, and what a big driller her dentist is.

They do have a problem at this stage with crowd traffic. Even though they put barriers up to guide the crowd it turns into human gridlock as the day goes on. Kim Nalley had to stop the show for a while, “Some policemen are upset.” We left to hear some old Blues songs from Scary Larry and the Blues Monsters. Despite the crowds, The Fillmore Street festival is still a great event.

Some of the street fairs in San Francisco have had problems. They just got too big and out of control. There was no alcohol sold at The Union Street Festival. I heard that people in that neighborhood loved it. It was a smaller, more family oriented event. We went to The North Beach Fair. Drinkers there were herded into small areas on the street, like social outcasts. There are still plenty of bars around, but the fair doesn’t get as crazy as it used to. There was no big stage set up in Washington Square Park. It’s the first time that has happened in years.

North Beach legend Carol Doda performed at the end of Grant Street. The first topless dancer on Broadway is getting old, but showed she’s still a performer. The Jazz band with her played a couple of warm up songs. Doda seemed a bit miffed when they start the third one.

Doda is a petite woman with platinum hair. She wore a silver and black pantsuit. She is the feisty stripper with a heart of gold. She still sings in San Francisco night clubs. She’s a show business veteran with the old North Beach rough edge. She started with a cocktail lounge classic: “You’re Nobody Until Somebody Loves You.” The next song: “These Boots Were Made For Walking” could have been written for her. This woman has seen a lot of North Beach entertainment history.

A young guy, Jacob, goes up to the stage carrying a music case. He joins the band and plays very well. He wants to stay, but the band tells Doda he’s had enough time onstage. I see him later in the crowd. He’s still exulting and buzzing a bit from more than holding his own onstage.

Doda tried to get people dancing from the start. She called a young guy with no shirt on and his partner to the front of the stage. She calls him “Tarzan.” The band does a Mambo number and a woman in a green shirt shakes it up. One of the locals joins her.

Doda turns the stage over to several “guests.” The first is Pedro Ramos and he’s obviously a veteran of singing lounge standards. Another woman joins later and does a Nat King Cole song. Doda has a seat at the front of the stage. She looks content to have others carry the show. The third guest is a woman the crowd recognizes as being from the neighborhood. She sings “Volare” and gets the crowd clapping and singing along with “Mambo Italiano.”

Peter Maccharini sat outside his shop on a stool. He’s in his work apron and working on some jewelry. Tourists come by and take pictures of the local North Beach artisan.

The stage schedule is strictly adhered to. “How long do we have? Two minutes? What can you do in two minutes? You can’t do anything in two minutes.” There are smirks and laughs from the crowd. Doda pretends to realize her inadvertent double entendre. “Oh.”

Two San Francisco police are standing near the stage. There is an increased police presence at most San Francisco street fairs. Doda sings her last number, a short love song, directly to the waiting cops. They do have to laugh.

The North Beach Fair has been scaled back a bit. Maybe it did get too big. I overheard someone say they failed to get the right music permits this year. Carol Doda was the only real live music we saw at the fair.

We went to the Cotati Accordion Festival, an interesting little event with a wide range of acts with one thing in common: Accordion! We had missed it last year. The day was full of frantic absurdity. Folk group Limpopo came onstage in babushka drag and performed juggling feats during their songs. Two of the members are from Siberia! The Great Morgani, a former stock broker, filled in between acts on the second stage wearing his wild costumes. The headliner on Saturday was Polkacide, a legendary combination of Polka and Punk. Like most of the Punk generation, the players have aged, but they put on a spirited show that had the crowd dancing.

Kathy got us one of the treasured picnic tables at a Stern Grove event. It’s the Seventy-fourth year that concerts have been held on summer Sundays there. The programs each year run the gamut: Symphony, Opera, Ballet, Jazz, and a Rhythm and Blues day. It was built for another time and it’s a little small now for the crowds it can draw if there’s a bigger name involved. There’s limited room inside ‘the bowl.” People sit on the steep slope across from the stage. Eucalyptus trees cut off much of the view, but people get spots up there and listen. Like any free event, it can get crowded. We try to go once a year. It’s worth it to see the Trocadero Clubhouse.

We got to see Luisa Maita as the opener, with Wil Campa y Su Orchestra as the main act. It was Salsa Day at Stern Grove. It’s not a show we would have usually gone to. Luisa Maita and her small band opened. They were surprising. Some of their music sounded Goth at times.

Salsa means dancing and party and the crowd was ready and excited to see Wil Campa and his Orchestra. Dancers filled in a small area in front of the stage. The band wore matching blue suits and the horn players did some synchronized dance routines. Wil Campa is quite an entertainer. He really got the Salsa party going.

San Francisco events are changing. Some events got too big, but seem to be adjusting. There are still great events happening on summer weekends in San Francisco.

The Sixteenth Annual California Blues Festival

Sixteenth Annual California Blues Festival.

There had been unseasonable rain in San Francisco. It was still overcast, but the sun peeked from gray skies through the day. It turned out to be a nice spring day and not windy. People were glad to get a break from the rain.

We’ve attended the California Blues Festival before when it was held at The Spreckels Temple of Music (“The Bandshell”) in Golden Gate Park. It was cancelled last year. San Francisco Recreation and Parks had hiked the rental fees, so the organizers called it off. Tom Mazzolini’s San Francisco Blues Festival has been gone for over two years now. We were looking forward to this one, but we knew what we were getting into.

The Festival was plagued by electrical problems at the site in Golden Gate Park. Two years in a row the sound system blew up just as things were really starting to really get going. When the electricity didn’t run out, they ran out of time. Local community oriented acts came on early. There were young kids dancing and Gospel music. I don’t want to deny the kids their moment in the sun onstage, but the Festival was poorly organized. When the main acts came on at the end of the day and things started cooking, they would run out of time.

This year it would be held at The Hamilton Park Recreation Center. It was on a strip of the park that is a couple of blocks from Fillmore Avenue. This is the neighborhood that was known as “The Harlem of the West.” There was a legendary Jazz scene in the clubs here. It was home to Bill Graham’s dance hall and much of the Sixties music scene. The site of the Winterland Ballroom, Graham’s larger venue is now an apartment complex a block away. The history of the Fillmore neighborhood has its dark side. Japanese residents were relocated to internment camps during World War II. Redevelopment drove most of the Black inhabitants out of the neighborhood. The former site of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple was across Geary. It’s a U.S. Post Office now.

Hamilton is an urban park that covers both sides of Geary Boulevard. It has seen big changes in recent years. The athletic fields across the street were converted to artificial turf. The library behind the stage and the swimming pool have been renovated.

Along the sides of the crowd were vendors selling clothes, jewelry, trinkets and art. One booth sold water and juice drinks. There was a small hot dog cart. Local families had come prepared with barbeque. There was no booze being sold, so expenses, especially security and insurance, were kept down. It was a more family oriented event.

The pace was like shows from the old days. There were long delays between acts. Most of the crowd were from the neighborhood and didn’t mind waiting. It was a day to get out and socialize with old friends. There were many friendly greetings and reunions. Everyone seemed content to spend a leisurely day in the park. The atmosphere was more like a neighborhood block party. I didn’t time it, but it seemed like there was an hour between bands.

As we arrive DJ Lance is acting as MC. He’s paying respect to DJs from the past. “And talk about rap ... I could never rap as fast as those guys.” He rattles off names of DJs who spun R&B and Soul records for local radio stations like KSOL and KSAN.

The first band finally gets going. They are Ascension with lead singer Judy Padilla. They look and sound like an Rhythm and Blues Lounge band. They start with a funny upbeat song from the Seventies: “Gitchee Gitchee Ya Ya Da Da.”

Once the bands started the sound was good, with few problems. They were using one generator behind the stage. The one generator looked weak, but once they got going the sound was pretty good.

This is Bobby “Spider” Webb’s event. He’s a local Blues and neighborhood icon. We’ve seen him many times at clubs and events like this. He’s dressed in black and wanders the crowd holding a clipboard. His hair is graying. He is getting old. Many local neighborhood people greet him and thank him for running the event. He’s still spinning records for local radio station KPOO. KPOO has a great station announcement: “Don’t touch that dial, it’s got pooh on it.”

We spread a blanket. A Park Ranger is behind us. I’m not sure what his authority is here, but he’s there in uniform. He’s talking with a friend. He can’t believe people were smoking pot near the front of the stage. He must be new in town. “420 they call it,” he tells his friend. He does stop some people from smoking cigarettes, but eventually he either gave up or went to some other duties.

A couple of scruffy middle aged homeless looking guys set up behind us. Someone onstage says, “We want to thank Bobby Webb for the wonderful weather.” One of the homeless guys says what I’m thinking, “Bobby Webb has nothing to do with it! God gives us the weather!”

It is Memorial Day weekend and a couple of older guys in V.F.W. caps wander the crowd. The Veterans say they’re being displaced from “our building on Market Street.” The two are campaigning to have this stopped. They ask around, “Are you a veteran?” One of the homeless guys says yes, he’s a veteran but then quickly adds, “I can’t do that stuff. I was court-martialed.”

Ascension goes on to play some mainstream hits including some Santana. They may be stuck in the Seventies. A friend wanders the crowd handing out their card. Yes, they are available for weddings. They sound fun, but they never play a Blues song.

There’s another long wait. A lone sound man struggles with mike checks and the sound board. He races back and forth from the stage to the sound board.

An old Hippie clown wanders the crowd. He’s blowing up and selling balloons to the kids. He has a big fake cherry nose and big clown shoes. I can’t blame the guy for trying to make a buck, but to me he looks like an evil Wavy Gravy. I guess most would say he’s harmless, but to me he’s Creepy Hippie clown.

The next act is Eddie Neon Blues and Special Guests. Ronnie Stewart plays guitar. He’s a veteran Bluesman from the Central Valley and President of the Bay Area Blues Society. They play “Any Time.” “This is for Koko Taylor, if she’s out there.”

The sound has been good, but they totally lose the guitar player on this song. It’s too bad. Even without any sound we can see the guy is good. Next is “I Always Knew This Day Would Come” followed by an Etta James song. There has been some line dancing going on. More join the dancing during this song.

It’s time for another break and Bobby Webb takes the mike and talks about “The Foundation.” The Blues and R&B Music Foundation is trying to preserve the music of the past. They made the nearby mural possible. Bobby Webb is the president and founder. He asks for donations to keep the Festival going. There’s a donation tub in front of the stage. Fillmore Slim bops up and puts something in. Bobby announces it to the crowd. “Look, Fillmore Slim made a donation!”

The mural is worth seeing. It’s on the wall of the swimming pool. Local R&B and Jazz stars from the local past are portrayed. Most of the big stars of Blues, Jazz and Rhythm And Blues are on the wall. They all played in this neighborhood. It’s an impressive collection of figures from music history.

The wait is a bit shorter before the next act, Angel. It’s a solo act with songs from the Eighties. I recognize the “Summer” song, a big hit in the Eighties. There is a good psychedelic synthesizer part. They play an original song, “Sexy Girl” but I lose interest during the Disco parts.

DJ Lance comes back on. It’s another long wait before the main act. It’s still early. Lance launches into a basic history of Black people in San Francisco. “We’ve been here since the 1820s!” The first prominent Black landowner, politician and entrepreneur was William Alexander Leidesdorff. “There’s a street named after him in the financial district.”

In the early days of San Francisco Leidesdorff’s mansion was used to entertain important guests. “The best people” from around the world wanted to visit San Francisco, even then. They were wined and dined lavishly at his mansion.

Mammy Pleasant had a mansion too. It was up on Laguna Avenue, not far from today’s event. It was right across the street from the infamous Lodge Residence Club, which is now the St. Anne’s Bed and Breakfast Hotel. Mammy may have been one of the most bizarre and controversial characters in the long history of odd San Francisco characters. She was sharp at business and made a fortune. She was well known for helping people. Many at the time were suspicious that a Black woman could be so successful. There could be only one explanation: Voodoo! It was rumored she used the dark arts to gain her fortune. She was later known as “the mother of Civil Rights movement.” She also had a mansion in Napa that is still there today. DJ Lance tells us the public is invited to visit.

DJ Lance asks the crowd if they remember the traditions of The Fillmore. It all happened right here “across the street” at Ben Franklin High School. Some in the crowd cheer. It was the kind of neighborhood where if you “did something bad” there was a good chance your parents would hear about it from the neighbors.

And there was The Paddle! “How many here got The Paddle?! Right there across the street, from Mr. Toler.” That name rang a bell. Burl Toler was a player on the University of San Francisco Football team that went undefeated. (USF had a very successful football team before dropping the program.) They were undefeated, but were not invited to a Bowl game unless they left several Black players off the roster for the bowl game. The players voted not to go. They were “the best team you never heard of.” An injury cut short Toler’s NFL career, but he became the first Black ref in the NFL. It sounded like he was a tough teacher.

It could have been an endless series of announcements and pleas for funds, but DJ Lance kept things interesting during the wait. He tells us that Bobby Webb is “paying for this out of his pocket.” They need donations if you want to see this event again next year.

There were some small children in family groups, but there were few teenagers or young adults. This was not the scene for the Hip-Hop generation. Maybe there were too many parents around.

Bobby “Spider” Webb and the band are ready to go. They do sound great on a song Webb often opens with: “Night Train.” They do the old Al Green standard: “Let’s Stay Together” and Bobby Webb blows a great sax solo. He’s still a great musician. Next is his signature song where he spells out his name: B-O-B-B-Y!

Bobby Blue Bland’s son, Sunny Blue Bland makes a cameo. He tells us about the song that made his father famous. It’s the “The B.B. King song, “Drifting.” Bobby Webb and the band has stayed onstage and they play “Further On Up the Road” and “I Hear You Crying” with Sunny Blue Bland singing.

Bobby Webb takes over again. “Now we’re going to play a request. Make sure you get your requests in.” Webb says they’re going to play a song from 1956, “Shotgun.” Hey wait a minute, is this the Junior Walker “Shotgun” from 1966? Bobby Webb makes the song his own with a great sax solo. After the song he corrects himself: “Shotgun” was from 1965 or 1966. He is a DJ.

The band does a good version of Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Coming. Big City Cat Tolefree Angel joins them for “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “Down Home Blues.” Big Cat is a large man with a big stage presence.

There is another break and DJ Lance takes the microphone again. “Hey, Fillmore Slim, how many times did you slam dunk at The Shack?” Fillmore Slim is near the stage, but I couldn’t hear his shouted answer. It’s a trick question. There was no basketball court in The Shack.

In the old days kids hung out at the end of this block in a recreation center called The Shack. There was ping pong, but no gym. They had to go to the gym up on Masonic to play basketball. They hung out at The Shack, but they couldn’t play hoops. “That was all we had.” A gym was later built there. The Shack is gone. It’s a dim neighborhood memory. This is a big part of today’s event. It’s not only seeing people from the old days, but remembering and talking about the old days.

Bobby Webb is clearly a respected member of the Fillmore community. He introduces Fillmore Slim, who is respected in a different way. Fillmore Slim (aka Clarence Sims) was a Player back in the day. He was “King of the Game” in his time. He left the music business for more profitable activities. He paid the price too, doing several stretches in prison. Fillmore Slim has been wandering the event all day, mingling with the crowd. He’s wearing a pimp suit and fedora hat. It almost looks like a Zoot Suit.

Bobby Webb introduces him and they play a James Brown medley. The band gets very funky. Slim’s singing style is more rapping than singing. He’s not playing guitar today.

Slim looks older and even slimmer than when we last saw him a couple of years ago. His sunken cheeks look a bit cavernous. He has many long time local fans. He’s still working the crowd.

There’s a group dressed like Fillmore Slim standing near the stage. They are wearing wild suits with fedoras or pork pie hats. They must be locals from the old days, and they’re obviously buddies of Fillmore Slim. He gives them a shout out from the stage and an occasional nod and wave.

A young woman in front looks like she’s in some kind of Fillmore Slim trance. She’s acting like more than a fan. Slim plays to her, leaning over to her and singing to her. She looks like she’s in a sexual ecstasy.

The band does sound funky and keeps churning behind Slim’s rap like delivery.

They slow it down a bit with the Elmore James song, “Dust My Broom.” Ronnie Stewart rips on guitar.

Slim asks for contributions for the bucket for donations in front of the stage. “I put a hundred dollar bill in!” It’s all right, he says he knows it will come back around to him. “You know how that goes.” They play “Hootchie Cootchie Man.”

Creepy Clown is doing some business on the fringe of the crowd. The kids show no fear as parents scramble to buy and distribute balloons.

Fillmore Slim tells us he’s been hanging out with Snoop Dog lately. Snoop will be playing Fillmore Slim in the “new movie.” Slim’s musical career was revived after he stole the show in a documentary, “American Pimp.” There’s a big director lined up for the Fillmore Slim movie: Quentin Tarantino. Slim says it won’t be long before the money starts rolling in. This is starting to sound familiar. He talked about this two years ago at the last California Blues Festival.

A few older guys use canes to get to a side of the stage. They look like geriatric bikers. They wear Levi jackets with patches including the most prominent: “The Triple O.G.$.” I imagine the stories these guys could tell. It wouldn’t be snitching. There has to be a statute of limitations.

The band goes into the instrumental “Chicken Shack” and Bobby Webb thanks us for coming out. It’s been a nice little event with a neighborhood charm of its own. The new venue, Hamilton Park, has worked out great. I hope Bobby “Spider” Webb doesn’t get soaked for the money and they can do it again next year.

Johnny Nitro Memorial Redwood City

It was one of those things we had planned on doing. It had been a while since we’d seen Johnny Nitro and The Door Slammers in North Beach. We knew he had been in ill health. I heard that he had collapsed onstage in December. He was back playing the next weekend. It wasn’t a big shock to learn he had passed away. We had seen him a few times in recent years, but not in North Beach. It wasn’t a simple walk down the hill anymore. Johnny Nitro has been called a North Beach institution. I have to admit I thought he was indestructible. It was hard to realize he was gone. We thought he would always be there in North Beach.

Many say Johnny Nitro was the King of the North Beach Blues scene. He mentored many budding Blues stars. Nitro loved the Blues, but he was more of a Rocker. He played his stinging guitar night after night, most of the time in North Beach.

Johnny Nitro was John Newman from Sacramento. He got the name Nitro because he mixed the explosive fuel for race cars at the track. Nitro could be a scary looking guy. His long red hair, beard and goatee made him look like a biker. He had a raspy smoker’s voice and the pale complexion of someone who works at night.

Despite his gruff looks, Nitro was an entertainer. He played the Blues, but his band, The Door Slammers, were a rocking party band. After years of playing clubs in North Beach he had developed a humorous and entertaining stage patter. He told jokes and talked to the audience between songs. Tourists from around the world discovered and rocked with Johnny Nitro.

Due to circumstances beyond our control we missed the tribute at The Saloon on March 20, but we did know about the memorial to be held at Redwood City’s Little Fox Theater. My wife Kathy got us a hotel room. We may have missed a last chance to see Nitro, but we weren’t going to miss this.

We’d been to Redwood City and seen The Little Fox Theater. It was next to The Fox, a movie theater that booked some musical acts. Both theaters had closed, but had recently reopened. The Little Fox had been renovated and had a new name, Club Fox. It’s a small club with great sound. It has an Old West feel to it. A balcony wraps around the stage giving great views of the stage. It could be the perfect club. The Little Fox has been hosting Blues jams on Wednesday nights.

We showed up a little late and there was a line to get in. The bouncers said they were “at capacity.” When someone would leave, we would be let in. I thought it unlikely people would be leaving this early, but small groups in line ahead of us were being allowed in. Apparently they had room. Maybe they were giving up on people on the guest list. We could see inside a little. We were willing to wait. People inside and out were reuniting with old North Beach friends. There were warm greetings and big hugs.

It was a great night out, the first real break in the recent winter weather. It was in the eighties, even at seven p.m. Later in the evening, some just sat outside in the plaza across the street and listened.

A woman who had been inside went up to a friend in line. “You’ll get in,” she said, “The dance floor isn’t even full.” Another convention staffer saw me in line. We had been talking about Nitro just before he passed. She was a regular at his shows at The Saloon.

She was there on “the last night.” She had also been at what would be his last gig the night before. “Everyone was surprised,” that he passed away. He had been looking good. Nitro had health problems, but he had given up drinking and smoking some time ago.

“It was strange. We heard sirens, but you hear sirens all the time in North Beach.” Then they realized the sirens were stopping at The Saloon, and the sirens weren’t coming from squad cars.

An article in the Chronicle told the strange North Beach tale. Nitro had been living in one of the rooms upstairs at The Saloon. Legend has it that long ago the rooms were used as a brothel. EMTs carried Nitro’s body out of The Saloon. Those in the bar gave Johnny Nitro his last round of applause. The band played “Lean on Me.” They finished the set, saying that that was what Johnny Nitro would have wanted.

While we waited Silvia Cicardini, The Bride of Nitro, was onstage blasting with some of the modern day Door Slammers. We were let in. Admission was five dollars! Early arrivals had staked out the tables along the dance floor and in the balcony. Silvia asked for a show of hands, “How many were in The Door Slammers?” Few hands go up. “How many played with Johnny Nitro?” More hands went up. “Who got lessons from Johnny?” More hands. “Who has seen Nitro more than five times?” Many hands throughout the crowd are raised. This call and response was repeated later in the night.

Silvia wore a top hat and a jacket with a bright, psychedelic Sixties print. She says that Johnny told her she had to be as flamboyant as possible onstage. The top hat had been a Johnny Nitro trademark. Part of her North Beach act was “walking the bar.” She would get up on the bar playing the sax and Rock it from end to end. It could be startling for anyone sitting at the bar who was not paying attention. “Walking the bar” would get a crowd going. They did “Trouble” from Nitro’s last recording.

One thing you wouldn’t see in the old days of North Beach: There were TV screens throughout the club. Sometimes they showed Johnny Nitro’s quizzical face. There were also ads on the screens for future shows and how to get tickets. The screens around the club weren’t that distracting, but they did have one right behind the stage. Another difference from the old days: People were taking pictures with their cell phones. Couldn’t blame them tonight. It was a special night that many wanted photos of.

They played “Try Me.” It was a James Brown tune that Silvia had arranged with Johnny Nitro. It was a little more than a month ago that Johnny had passed, but it still had to be tough for The Bride of Nitro. It was a romantic Rhythm and Blues ballad they had worked on and made their own.

It was time for another upbeat Rocker. Silvia yelled, like Nitro used to, “Somebody scream!” She had everyone yell “Nitro” up to the sky.

Jan Fanucchi comes onstage and does a couple of numbers with The Door Slammers. Musicians changed through the night. Some played early in the night, and came back onstage with other groups later. Shad Harris played keyboards with Fanucci. He would later play a “keytar.” Burton Winn, a modern day Door Slammer played bass for Silvia and Fanucchi.

Mari Mack is up next, and she says that Johnny Nitro was her first friend in San Francisco. That’s something you don’t forget. What will she miss the most about Johnny? “His mischievous smile.” Daniel Castro joined her onstage and they did “Cold, Cold Feeling.” Bruce played a great keyboard solo.

Mari starts the next number:

“Hey everybody, let’s have some fun!

You only live but once, and when you’re dead you’re done!

So let the good times roll!”

The song rings true tonight. There are a lot of smiling faces and partying for a memorial. It’s said several times through the night, and there’s no doubt, that’s the way Johnny Nitro would have wanted it. This was certainly his scene. There were times tonight that I expected him to walk in the door.

Kathy Tejcka played keyboards and organized the musicians that shuffled on and off the stage. She would read off the names of those who would be onstage next: “Tommy, Johnny and Perry. Please come to the stage.” She slipped once and called for “Mr. Hacker” but quickly corrected herself. She apologized to the crowd. It was a hard role for her, “I’m the creative type. It’s hard to organize and find musicians when you’re a musician yourself.”

She announced that there would be “a real memorial” in May at The Great American Music Hall. That was the last place we’d seen Johnny Nitro play at. It had been a benefit for The Blue Bear Music School. Nitro had been very involved with the school. Students played onstage that night. The Beat goes on!

Announcements were made for contributions to The Blue Bear Music School. Someone had donated a $500 check. “I hope that’s not the biggest we see.” It costs $2,500 to send a student through a year at the school. “If we don’t help, there will be no Blues musicians in the future.”

A tip jar circulated through the crowd, like in the old days. “That’s the only way The Door Slammers are going to get paid tonight.” A share of this split couldn’t amount to much. It was a labor of love tonight. There was a parade of former and present Door Slammers all night.

Steve Freund took the stage. He played in Chicago for years, but moved to the Bay Area. Freund said that Nitro had still been a Hippie at heart. He had still believed in the spirit of the Sixties. Nitro had a laid back attitude about money.

He did have some songwriting success. Albert Collins covered his song, “Dirty Dishes.” Nitro once toured with Albert King. Nitro didn’t tour much. He played in North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf and had the world come to him. A fellow Blues musician said that, “If the world was fair, Johnny Nitro would be famous.”

Freund said that Nitro was more of a Rocker than a Bluesman. They did talk about the Blues for hours. He played some rocking music for Nitro and then the song maybe best remembered as a Howling Wolf song, “Going Down Slow.” It was a chilling, appropriate song for tonight.

We were on the dance floor during Freund. It’s been a while since I jived with the hep cats. We used to go to the Blues bars on Grant Street often, when we lived in North Beach. There was a little scene going on there in the Eighties and Nineties. The Grant and Green and The Lost and Found were next to each other and sometimes they would alternate sets. The Saloon was just down the street.

The bars looked rough. Some would call them dives. There was hard drinking going on, but there was still a bit of the Sixties camaraderie. The musicians and fans were dedicated to preserving the Blues. Some of the early musicians of the Bay Area Sixties explosion still played an occasional gig in North Beach, or popped in to jam: Nick Gravenites. Charlie Musselwhite. Norton Buffalo. Barry (The Fish) Melton. Many of the survivors still do an occasional gig in North Beach. Johnny Nitro was a big part of this scene, and it’s mentioned by several onstage tonight that no one knows how much he did to help the scene keep going.

I didn’t spot many faces I recognized. I lived in North Beach for fourteen years, but I’m just a blip on the radar. There’s a lot of history in North Beach. The Saloon, Nitro’s home bar, was founded in 1861!

It was fun to see musicians who had just played mingling in the crowd and socializing. The organizers must be praised. There was little time between sets.

Several musicians mention that they usually don’t like doing Johnny Nitro songs. They say his songs are too much his own. Freund, and later Tommy Castro, say they don’t mind doing Nitro songs tonight. They want to do great versions to honor him at his memorial.

Daniel Castro is a tall amiable looking guy. He has long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Like so many playing tonight, Nitro was his mentor. He wrote a song to honor Nitro. “I don’t play guitar fancy, I play it mean. I’m the King of the North Beach scene!” After the song, keyboardist and organizer Kathy Tjecka said it was hard to keep the secret that Daniel Castro had just written the song.

The owner of the Saloon came onstage. Myron Mu is a middle aged Chinese man. “Twenty-seven years! Twenty-seven years he played for me.” He said few people knew how great Johnny Nitro was. There were many stories, but he’d tell just one.

Nitro played The Saloon on New Year’s Eve for years. A local restaurant, Rose Pistola offered him five thousand dollars to play on New Year’s Eve. The Saloon was paying him one thousand.

“He turned them down! Can you believe it? I asked him why. He said he had committed to playing The Saloon.” The owner said he appreciated his loyalty, “It’s good to be loyal, but don’t be crazy. Next time take the big money ... and he did!”

Tommy Castro is one of the biggest stars to come out of the North Beach Blues scene. I saw him play wild shows at The Grant and Green. He was another young musician under Johnny’s wing. Tommy has matinee idol looks, rare for a Bluesman. Kathy was jostled a bit by females making a bee line to the stage. People had been taking pictures earlier but now a phalanx of cell phones came out in front of Tommy’s spot onstage. He’s still got it.

After the first song, Castro tells us that people ask him why he sings the Blues. “Why do you play the Blues and get sadder?” Why wallow in misery? Castro says, “They don’t get it. People like you understand.” The Blues makes you feel better. Castro was saddened by Nitro’s passing, and knew he had to show up tonight and play the Blues to feel better. He also says that Nitro was more of a Rocker than a Bluesman. “No one knows how much Johnny Nitro did to keep the North Beach Blues scene going.” I see Johnny Ace come in the front door just as they page him to the stage. He still looks like the ultimate hipster. His frizzy hair sticks out from under a beret. He runs around to the back of the club to see and talk to people. He looks like a man on a mission.

Both Nitro and Johnny Ace had quit drinking and smoking years ago, but Nitro wouldn’t spoil the party. He had still used the lines: “Keep drinking triples till you’re seeing double, feeling single and getting in trouble,” and, “When you’re not too sure, have two more.”

They play “Big Legged Woman With the Miniskirt.” Tommy Castro told a story about a night they played the song at Lou’s Blues Club on Fisherman’s Wharf. Nitro added some raunchy lyrics. Some tourists at a front table were offended. They got up and left. The crowd cheered and applauded. “Don’t like it? Get out of here!” Nitro watched the offended tourists leave with his devilish, mischievous smile. “He just smiled,” Castro said.

Johnny Ace joins Tommy Castro onstage. Johnny Ace was one of the original Door Slammers. The crowd knew this could be the highlight of the night. Johnny Ace is a wild live performer, especially for a bass player. He stalks the stage and Rocks. He looks emotionally charged tonight. Like the other musicians, he wants to play his best in tribute to Johnny Nitro.

During a song, he simulates rolling and smoking a joint. He prepares and does an invisible line and then raises his head with comic eyeballs popping. He taps his arms, as if he’s just shot up. It’s a daring display these days. The funny thing is, Johnny Ace has been clean and sober for years now.

Perry Welch, another original Door Slammer, joins them onstage and plays some great harmonica. Tommy Castro says that this is almost the original lineup he saw when he arrived in San Francisco.

The band hits a big chord and holds it in Gospel style. They’re testifying for Johnny Nitro. After five or six long chords, each one building a bit, they launch into “Funky Broadway.” “Every town I’m in ...” I remember the Door Slammers doing this one in North Beach. Blues bands played long hours night after night. The band needed a long song to jam on and fill time. They usually played it late, when the crowd was looser. It was always a crowd favorite. The band plays a great Rocking version. Johnny Ace yells to the sky: “Johnny Nitro! We love you, where ever you may be!” He flips his bass in the air and catches it!

Ron Hacker was on next and did a rocking set. Hacker’s sound is more Rockabilly than Blues. He plays a great driving slide guitar. His hair is slicked back and he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt. They play a Rocker, “I’m Eighteen.” Andy Just plays some great harmonica. At the end Hacker says, “It’s a train wreck, but nobody got hurt.” Two modern day Door Slammers, Burton Winn on bass and Robin Roth are the rhythm section. Hacker plays more slide on “It Hurts Me Too,” the classic Elmore James song.

Mz Dee is a large Black woman with long dreads. She has quite a stage presence. Modern day Door Slammers Burton Winn and Robin Roth play while she belts out “Twenty-Nine Ways (To Get To My Baby’s Door.)” Between songs she tells us that she remembers hanging out with Nitro at The Saloon. “Almost everything was good with Johnny.” They play “Rock Me Baby.”

Ads for the memorial had a show time of 7 to 11. I thought the 11 p.m. ending was a bit early, especially for the night owls of North Beach. Was there some kind of school night curfew in Redwood City? The crowd had started to drift out after Johnny Ace and Tommy Castro. After Mz Dee’s set, an announcement was made. They’re going to let us stay, “As long as we buy beer ... Or until 1:30,” it was quickly added.

Dave Noteman led another group of musicians for a few tunes. They played well, but the crowd had lost a little steam.

It was a great night of music and certainly a fitting tribute to Johnny Nitro. Seeing the two Castros perform on the same night was a big treat. The musicians wanted to sound good and give Nitro a proper sendoff.

Near the end of a set, usually before the last song, Nitro used to say,“Please, please, if you’re going to be driving, make sure you have a car or a truck or a motorcycle or something.”

Johnny Nitro’s Sunday night slot at The Saloon is being filled by Silvia Cicardini, The Bride of Nitro.

Comedy Night at the Four Star Theater

The Four Star Theater on Clement Street is one of the last small neighborhood movie theaters still open in San Francisco. It looked like it was going to close, but it is still open and family run. It’s getting ragged around the edges. Everyone is glad that they’re still open, so customers ignore some dinginess.

We had just moved in, and we were settling into our new San Francisco neighborhood, The Richmond. It’s a neighborhood we were familiar with, but it’s a different deal when you’re living there. There are many restaurants, markets and a few bars close to our apartment. Within a three block radius from our apartment there are Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese and Middle Eastern restaurants. It’s a short walk to the Presidio in one direction and to Golden Gate Park in the other direction.

The Richmond is a neighborhood that is a little more connected to the earth than other San Francisco neighborhoods. It has a blue collar history. It’s in the fog belt and has cheaper rent.

We walked by The Four Star Movie Theater and were surprised to see an ad on a sandwich board outside the theater: “Stand-up Comedy Showcase & Music with Groovy Judy.” It would be on Thursday night, March 10. Admission would be five dollars! “Bring the whole family.” “Free hors d’oeuvres!” Five dollars? How can you go wrong? It’s three blocks from our apartment.

The theater isn’t far from The Holy City Zoo. The Holy City Zoo on Clement Street was the center of the Comedy Club boom in the Eighties. A comedy club was usually a cheap night out. There was no Internet back then. Cable TV was just taking off. Comedy clubs seemed to be everywhere.

The big night arrived and we walked over to the theater. Our host, Danny Dechi was out in front of the theater in a sparkly blue suit jacket. He’s a little guy and bald. He reminded me of the sleazy game show host Michael Palin played on Monty Python. He was talking to people outside and working the crowd a bit. Maybe he could talk some passersby into coming in. It was a little guerilla promotion outside the theater. We stepped up to the window and were surprised to find out that yes, it really was five dollars.

We’d seen Groovy Judy play at street festivals and other events. She’s tall and wears a purple outfit and a top hat. She stands out in a crowd. In her outfit she looks like a relic from a bygone psychedelic era, the early part of the era when everything was good vibes and Love. As we entered the historic Four Star Theater, she was talking people into moving closer to the front. We grabbed seats about half way back in the theater.

The theater has been subdivided to compete with the multiplexes. We were in the biggest theater. Some of the smaller ones are little more than rooms with a small screen. The Four Star shows some recent first run movies. They also show Chinese language movies.

The theater is old. The ceiling is red and the screen has a gold gilt decoration around the edges. The lighting was bad for a theater. I wondered how long it had been since they had an event here that wasn’t a movie.

Judy Groovy started the evening with a few songs on an acoustic. Her songs were peppy and upbeat. Maybe too upbeat for this crowd. An early clap-a-long failed, but she rallied the crowd later for a little call and response.

The crowd was old, but not ancient. Maybe I’ve been to too many dinosaur, geezer events. The crowd seemed a bit jaded. I got the impression that most of this audience had been to Comedy Clubs, maybe even during the Comedy boom of the Eighties. I don’t think the crowd expected too much for five dollars, and they were appreciative that the show was happening in their neighborhood. The comedians seemed a little nervous. They were all comedy club veterans. Maybe it’s harder to do comedy in your own neighborhood.

Groovy Judy sang a song about Being Yourself. You can be what you wanna be. Whatever it is. An artist, a pilot, a teacher... just be true to yourself and follow your dream. She even made getting laid off sound like a positive, learning experience. “Then you can do whatever you want!” She admits that’s not what she thought when she was first laid off in 2004. “They didn’t want to see my smiling face around there anymore.” She said she was happy playing music and teaching guitar, “And making money doing it!”

Groovy Judy did a good job of warming up the audience. They’re ready to laugh. She’s wrapping up her act. Dechi signals from the aisle next to us. He needs more time. “Time for one more?” Judy asks. Someone in the crowd shouts, “Encore!”

She does another song, then Dechi takes the stage and begins his hosting duties. “Welcome to the Four Star Theater.”

Dechi grew up in the Richmond neighborhood on Twenty-fourth Street, between Clement and Geary. “When I make it big, I’m moving to Twenty-second Street.” He said it was a lifelong dream.

Yes, he admits he’s a nerd and enjoys going to the big Wondercon Comic Book Convention held each year at The Moscone Convention Center. That caught my attention. The lobby was full of young nerds waiting to buy tickets. Dechi knew how to handle them. He stuck his head in and yelled, “Eugene, your mother is here to pick you up!” The nerds scattered and he was able to waltz in.

The only person left was a hot woman in a Wonder Woman costume. Dechi asked her to come home with him and he’d show her his comic book collection. “I’ve got a lot of issues.” Some in the crowd groaned.

He had a music case that I assumed carried a mandolin or maybe even a fiddle or violin. He opened it up with great flourish and pulled out... a pencil! Dechi is “The world’s only pencil musician.” He plays a couple of tunes by slapping his cheeks with the pencil. He uses a No. 2. Then he played the William Tell Overture on the top of his head. Now I recognized him! He was on Creepy KOFY Movie Time! With Balrok! The greatest TV show ever!

Cechi introduces the next comedian, Mike Spiegelman. Spiegelman is a young guy and takes the stage with some nervous energy. He tells us he will tell us some mushroom jokes later. He does the “I’m single” schtick. Just about every comic uses it tonight. “I hate the Internet.” He tells a joke about smoking pot and then informs us that, “We all buy our pot from Dechi.”

He finishes with the promised mushroom jokes:

Mushroom walks into a bar. The bartender says, “We don’t serve mushrooms here.” Mushroom says, “Hey, I’m a fun guy.”

There’s a series of mushroom jokes. At one point he’s all over the stage. He’s yelling and waving his arms. He’s playing the bar tender who finally says, “You know I freak out on mushrooms.”

Clark Stanton is next. He’s a middle aged bald guy with a bit of an edge to him. He tosses a few barbs at making mushroom jokes. He makes a joke about the carpet matching the drapery. “You can explain that to the kids.” Maybe his wife should shave her head to help him feel better about his baldness.

I tried to discretely look back and see if there really were any children in the theater. There was a small group of four kids near the back.

Lynn Ruth Miller is introduced. Seventy Seven years old! We had just seen her on Creepy KOFY Movie Time. She looks sharp onstage in a pants suit. Her jokes are quick one liners.

“I’m glad to be aging. I know people who didn’t get the chance.”

She goes through the obituaries now for romantic leads and attends funerals looking for love.

“I’ve got enough cross hatches on my cleavage that I can play tic-tac-toe... If I could find the pencil.”

“When I was your age...”

“Why do I wear a bra? So they don’t hang out the bottom of my blouse.”

Lynn Ruth Miller also uses the line, “You can explain it to the kids.” There might be much explaining to do later tonight.

The lighting in the theater isn’t meant for a stage show. The footlights shine and throw shadows on the scree. It reminded us of an old vaudeville house, or at least the movie and TV depictions of them that we’ve seen. It was more like what a theater must have been like long ago.

The cavalcade of comedy continues with Mike Capozzola. He lies down facing the audience. “I figure my face is the first one you can see.” He puts his face behind one of the stage lights. “Is it creepy?” He does look like something out of an old horror classic. Stanton’s big bit is about Girl Court. What if there was a reality TV show where law was interpreted by teenage girls? Girl Court! Few males stand a chance.

DJ Real looks like a young slacker dude. He uses an iPod to play some music while he raps. He sounds like Weird Al Yankovitch. He does some funny White boy rap. He has a little trouble finding someone from the audience to “help out” with his act. “It’s easy.” Tom joins him onstage and holds the Evil Paper Bag. “Whatever you throw into it becomes evil.” DJ Real plays some more music on his iPod and tosses in cut out heads of characters into the paper bag. They become sinister characters.

A tall guy takes the seat at the end of our aisle. He seems kind of weird to me. Intense. He toys with a cell phone. I’m tempted to hassle him about the cell phone, just to aggravate him. Dechi consults with him at one point. Then he introduces him. It’s the headliner, Will Franken!

Franken starts slow and does a sketch about a guy on the phone. He works some voices into it. He gets a call from someone asking him what he should do with a pallet of lost money. “You can leave it at 340 Twenty-fourth Avenue,” Franken quickly tells him. It's an address very close to the theater.

The voice of God calls. There is no God, only the voice of God. It’s Marlon Brando. He gives us the ‘errand boy’ speech from Apocalypse Now.

Then Franken plays an impressionist who can only imitate Michael Caine. It’s the only voice he can do, but it’s very convincing. If he tries to do an impression of anyone else he reverts to his normal voice. He only sounds like Michael Caine when he says or spells Michael Caine.

Michael Caine says he was kicked by a horse. Frantzen does a great Woody Allen, who calls to see how Caine is doing. “I just thought I’d check on you.” Frantzen tells a long story about Caine’s trip home to England.

Franken’s set is a bit more peppered with the F word. I think the children have left, and now it’s time for us to go.

Dechi almost forgets to give away the previously announced door prize. It’s a copy of a book about The Richmond. It’s from the great Arcadia publishing series on San Francisco neighborhoods. It will go to anyone who can yell out the answer to a trivia question. “What year did The Four Star open?” I was guessing 1927, but I was a little slow on the draw and someone else yelled it out. No, Dechi tells us. There are some lower guesses. 1914! It’s 1913. Some guy from Massachusetts takes home the prize.

I don’t know about the “Bring the whole family” that was on the ad. As the night went on, the comics seemed to stray from the wholesome family policy. At first there were a few inadvertent F words, but as the night went on, the comedians brought out more of their over 21 nightclub act. Maybe they should just keep the kids away, and let these comedians rip!

It was a great little show, especially considering the price, and that we had walked there. I sure hope it was a success. It would be great to see other events at this local theater.

On the way out Cechi made his last announcement from onstage: “Thank you for coming; or however you responded.”

Summer of Love Revue Pier 39

Most locals avoid the Fisherman’s Wharf area in San Francisco. Pier 39 has been around for almost forty years. It’s a bit plastic, but it draws a lot of tourists. There are a few good restaurants, but most of it is tourist schlock. Is it just another mall with a great view? It’s one of my guilty pleasures that I still like going there.

My wife Kathy did it again! She won free tickets from TV station KRON for “The Summer of Love Revue.” It would be at “Theater 39 on Pier 39.” Yes, there is a theater on Pier 39. It was used for a long time for an Earthquake simulation ride. It’s up the stairs from The Hard Rock Cafe. The Hard Rock is a sponsor of the show tonight.

It was a nice night. Lights reflected off the water in the Bay. It was about seven, getting late for the Wharf area. Pier 39 has a wide entrance off Bay Street. A Black man played saxophone there. He was accompanied by a tape machine. There were still some tips to be made. This guy had the best spot at Pier 39.

We wondered what kind of event this would be. I expected it to be a lecture with film clips. We were a bit surprised when we showed up and there were ten people waiting in the ticket line. Most of us in line had either “won” tickets from KRON or were guests. We did see some people who had actually bought tickets. There was a sign:“$28.50 or $32.50.”

A woman behind the box office window struggled with guest lists and tickets. A guy in a long platinum wig came up to the waiting line, “ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!” Yes! We are ready! He posed for a picture with the three ladies in front of us. We later learned he was “Hippie Dude.” People in Sixties clothes were going in and out of the theater. The show would be: “A Live, Fully Costumed Music Revue.”

In recent wanderings around town I saw that there are still tourists and visitors coming to San Francisco and spending some money. Would they pay for a Sixties “Summer of Love” experience? Yes, now you can live, or relive, the glory days of The Summer of Love in the friendly surroundings of Pier 39! This could become another Beach Blanket Babylon, the long running comedy revue. Beach Blanket Babylon had become a San Francisco institution. Could the Summer of Love Revue become another Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 attraction? Maybe it would be a Ripley’s Believe It or Not of the Sixties San Francisco Rock scene. This could work, even in these economic times. Tourists have certainly been ripped off by worse things.

The doorman was a Black man wearing a black beret, a black leather jacket and an armband. It was the Black Panther uniform. The lobby was a large room with some psychedelic decorations, posters and a big peace flag for photo opportunities. There were plenty of postcard ads offering a ten dollar discount on future shows.

The theater held 250. People found their seats while vintage footage of the Sixties played. Most of it was familiar footage to me. There were clips from the Monterey Pop Festival. A tape of Sixties music played. They played some more obscure songs from the Sixties: Status Quo: “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” Kenny Rogers and the First Edition: “Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In.”

Some of the actors and musicians wandered around in period garb. They wore big wigs and leather fringe jackets. They did look a bit corny. They were trying to spread the spirit of the Sixties. The Sixties were becoming a distant part of the past. It really was a long time ago now.

Andrew Hernandez greeted the crowd. He looked familiar. Later I figured out he was the same guy who produced the Monterey Summer of Love event in 2007. (Another event Kathy won tickets for!) He thanked us for coming out. He said they were “still working things out” and asked for patience. “We didn’t sell tickets in the first rows so it could be a dance area.” If you felt inspired you could dance in the aisles, or “just go ahead and dance at your seat.”

There would be much more live music than I had expected. Show time was near and we were shown a clip of The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Hippie Dude came onstage. He would be our first MC. “I was there, man... thirteen years old.” Well, he saw The Beatles on TV. Uh Dude, if you saw it on TV, were you “really there?” Besides, if you remember The Sixties, you weren’t there, right?

He talked about the last Beatles show at Candlestick: “The media said The Beatles changed San Francisco, but we know it was San Francisco that changed The Beatles.” He spewed some Sixties cliches, “Don’t take the brown acid!” I started to find him a bit irritating. Maybe he was stalling for time. He announced the first act, “One of the first San Francisco bands, The Mamas and the Papas!” I thought the Mamas and Papas were considered a Los Angeles band.

“The Mamas and the Papas” came out and sang “Monday Monday.” They did sound like The Mamas and the Papas. One guy wore the John Phillips trademark beaver hat. It was a good song to start with. People were starting to get into that Sixties spirit. I saw heads bobbing. They did a great “California Dreaming.”

A spirited “Jefferson Airplane” was up next. The musicians and singers rocked! A Liquid Light show started on a big screen behind the band. Groovy! Boudeeka, a tribute band veteran, was Grace Slick. “Patrick” did a pretty good Marty Balin. It wasn’t the real Jefferson Airplane, but that didn’t matter right? You’ve got to get into it, man. Do your own thing. Don’t be uptight. They did sound like the Airplane.

The slow intro to “White Rabbit” started and the fog smoke machine made its first appearance of the night. They did a Rocking “Somebody to Love.” “Marty Balin” started to leave the stage. “One more, Patrick.” There was revolutionary nostalgia with “Volunteers.”

During the break the “Michelle Phillips” from “The Mamas and the Papas” came out in a different character. She was a young Hippie chick, full of altruism and Love for her fellow humans. She told us about The Haight Asbury Free Clinic. “If you’re having a bad trip, there’s always someone there to talk you down. For free!” She warned us to use condoms. “There a bad strain of gonorrhea going around.” She was the wide eyed innocent of the Sixties. “We’re starting to find out that heroin is a very addictive drug.” They were also discovering that speed was a “bad drug.”

Next was “The Santana Blues Band.” The crowd suspended belief and got into it. They had a Hammond B3 organ. We could see the fan rotating and cooling the organ. A synthesizer was perched on top. Hippie Dude played some great keyboards.

There were more dancers. Some were musicians waiting their turn onstage. Members of the crowd joined and danced to the Santana rhythms. There was “I Ain’t Got Nobody ... To Depend On,” and the big Woodstock hit, “Soul Sacrifice.”

Backstage was painted black, and you could see the pipes. The background was spare, but even this was authentic. Most Rock halls back then were dingy old theaters or clubs.

The “Santana” bass player went up to the mike. “I want a beer. The guy who hired me said I would get beer.” The “Marty Balin” guy from “Jefferson Airplane” delivered a couple of bottled waters.

“I’m serious. I want a beer.” He picked up a bottled water and gave it a disgusting look. He tossed it over his shoulder. Not everything was peace and love back then. Some beer was finally delivered.

“John Fogerty” joined Santana for a song. A future event by the Summer of Love Revue will feature The Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It was a good show. Most of the musicians were young. They looked to be in their twenties. There were some tribute band veterans. Sure, I would rather see the original musicians from the Sixties, no matter how gray and hoary they are getting, but that hasn’t been happening too often lately. Musicians from the Sixties are getting pretty old. Most of them haven’t been interested in the music of that era for a long time now. They’ve got their own music to do. (“We’ve got a new CD out!”) There’s also my favorite: They can’t remember anything from the Sixties anyway.

Maybe it’s time for younger musicians to take over playing the music of the Sixties. These young musicians were not only playing great, but they were really into the music. I think the older musicians are embarrassed that they still play music from forty years ago.

The musicians rotated and would pop up in different bands through the night. Some struggled with the oversized wigs. They also changed Sixties clothes from band to band. It was a bit comic, but it really was a “full costumed revue.” There were technical problems, especially with the sound. I guess that was authentic too. Was there any big Rock show back then that didn’t have problems with cords, mikes or amps?

After “Santana” there was an intermission. Amateurs behind the bar struggled to keep up with drink orders. There was a jar of free earplugs, just in case.

Across the wooden walkways of Pier 39 was The Eagle Cafe. In its original location, it was a watering hole and social center for longshoreman, dock workers and members of the Merchant Marine. It became a union hall during the labor troubles that hit the waterfront.

When Pier 39 was being planned in the early Seventies The Eagle Cafe was the last business to hold out. The owner wouldn’t sell until he was assured that the bar would be taken apart and reconstructed as part of Pier 39. It was taken apart piece by piece and reassembled at Pier 39. It even had the same wood. The walls were covered with photos of the old days in the bar. It looked a bit out of place on Pier 39, but it was a relic of the past.

A couple of years ago new owners renovated it. They took out most of the old photos and mementoes of a lost time in San Francisco. It was now another “nice” restaurant on Pier 39. At least it was still there. The iconic Cliff House had removed one of the best rooms in San Francisco when they moved the bar away from the windows that looked out on Ocean Beach. You don’t know what you had until it’s gone. I’ll get off my twisted soap box and return to The Sixties.

“Janis” and “Big Brother and The Holding Company” opened the second half of the show. “Janis” was Boudeeka. She was one of the “Janises” in a recent stage play here: “Janis.” The play rotated three women in the Janis role. It’s hard to be Janis three or four nights a week. Boudeeka sounded and acted like Joplin during “Piece of My Heart” and “Down On Me.” She finished with “Bobby McGee,” a popular choice with the crowd.

I’ve seen Janis and Hendrix tribute bands before, but I don’t remember ever seeing a Steppenwolf tribute band. It was different. “John Kaye” had big guitar problems in the beginning. A middle aged guy in a tee shirt rushed around trying to plug him back in. It was just like the old days. In one of the few casting mistakes, the roadie looked too old. “Steppenwolf” had a more Heavy Metal sound to them, especially compared to the positive vibration Sixties sounds of the other bands. They opened with a great “Magic Carpet Ride.” How often do you hear “Sookie Sookie” anymore?

They played the inevitable “Born to Be Wild” and the Baby Boomer crowd loved it. There was more dancing. It was like being in a bar in the old days. Maybe the band wasn’t a big name, but people had a good time. “Heavy Metal Thunder!”

There was a long wait while they got everything ready for “Jimi Hendrix.”

Carleton Powell was “Jimi Hendrix.” His opening stage patter sounded like Hendrix. He opened with “Voodoo Child.” He had the Hendrix moves. He humped the amplifiers with his guitar. He thrashed around, knocking over mike stands. He wasn’t Hendrix but he put on a great show. The Black Panther doorman came in to check out “Hendrix.” “Janis” joined him for the second number: “Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire.” “Jimi” and “Janis” onstage at the same time! It was loud enough that some were using the free ear plugs that were available.

During “Hey Joe” “Hendrix’” guitar strap broke. A middle aged guy came out and struggled to fix it while “Hendrix” played on. It was a bit comic. The older roadie scurried around picking up mike stands. The big finish was “All Along the Watchtower.”

Singers and musicians from the earlier bands danced in front of the stage. More people in the audience were dancing, shaking it. No, it wasn’t the original Rock icons onstage, but this crowd was having fun. With seven acts, the show was long. It was getting late. This was definitely an older Baby Boomer crowd. Some of the crowd had drifted out. I don’t think it was because they were bored. We just don’t stay out that late anymore, but we had to stay to see Shred Zeppelin.

Hernandez came back onstage: “How about Carleton Powell?” Applause. “He really paid his dues.” Hernandez told us the drummer for most of the other bands that night was sixteen years old!

We had been promised a special treat, an encore bonus: Shred Zeppelin! They belted out “Good Times Bad Times.” The singer did sound like Plant! The band rocked. An older drummer was Bonzo, playing the drums.

About half the crowd stayed for Shred Zeppelin. It was a bit bizarre. We found ourselves laughing. “You’re not supposed to laugh.” “Communication Breakdown” Then the big finale: “Whole Lot of Love.”

Would enough tourists pay to see this? There were people in the audience tonight reliving their past. The show could be changed every night. Not only can they do different songs, they can do different bands. Past shows had a Doors segment, which they didn’t do tonight. There will be a “Woodstock Night” in November and a New Year’s Eve Show. If they could get somebody from the Sixties to make a cameo appearance, it would be huge. It was a fun night for us, especially with free tickets.