Saw
Fillmore - The Last Days (1972) the other night. Culled form the final week's perfs form the Fillmore (West) on Market and Van Ness. It closed in 1971, and even then people (mainly Bill Graham) were reminiscing about the golden age of hippiedom, even thought the Summer Of Love was only four years before. Good document of live music from the period (but as a history nut I wanted more historical footage of SF back then).
The acts back then mainly just plugged in, sang and played without on unadorned stages. Your talent had to be there, no hiding behind an effects box or clouds of fog and strobe lights. Of course, playing to a stoned audience was prob in your favor.
Can't say I was that taken with the music from Cold Blood, but I understand they were faves of Bill Graham (he signed them to his SF Records label). The singer, Lydia Pense, channels Janis' bluesy voice well enough, but I was distracted by the attention she seemed to give her lovely hair while on stage. In an era where many of the performers were rocking the hippie look, someone so conventionally attractive and seemingly aware of it tended to stick out. We f-fwd'd through some of their songs after deciding the music it self was kinda meh. There seemed to be a lot of meh stuff (for me) in that film. Like the tunes from Hot Tuna. Oh dear, Jorma sang like he was holding his nose... IMO, the best music on this movie came from the Dead, Elvin Bishop and Santana. Fun document, though, and a close look at the ornery and dynamic Bill Graham, who spends a considerable amt of time yelling into the phone at Santana's management, trying to get them to stop being divas about their slot as the final act on the Fillmore stage.
