Denver Pop Festival

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The Denver Pop Festival was a three-day music festival June 27-June 29, 1969 which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock two months later. Unlike the free-form happening in upstate New York, the Denver festival had the full support and local resources of a major city, taking place in Denver Mile High Stadium. There were high expectations for the Festival; it was commonly called the "First Annual" Denver Pop Festival. The peak attendance was estimated at 50,000.

Contents

[edit] Performers

[edit] June 27

  1. Hungry Freaks Daddy
  2. Downtown Talent Scout (long version, called "The Heat's Out Every Night")
  3. The String Quartet
  4. Some Ballet Music
  5. Zappa conducts the audience

[edit] June 28

  1. Rollin' & Tumblin'
  2. Help Me
  3. Leland Mississippi
  4. Going Down Slow
  5. Mean Town Blues
  6. I'm Not Sure
  7. It's My Own Fault
  1. Dolphins
  2. Gypsy Woman
  3. Buzzin' Fly
  4. The Train

[edit] June 29

  1. Tax Free
  2. Hear My Train A Comin'
  3. Fire
  4. Spanish Castle Magic
  5. Red House
  6. Foxy Lady
  7. Star Spangled Banner
  8. Purple Haze

[edit] Trivia

  • Ticket prices were $6 per day, or $15 for all three days (Fri, Sat, Sun). On Sunday, after all possible tickets had been sold, the promoter announced from the stage that he was declaring it a "free festival".
  • Frank Zappa is credited by some with inventing the audience wave during his set. He actually selected sections of the stadium (audience) to each make different odd sounds and gestures. He then composed a "tune" on his "crowd instrument".
  • On the second (and third) days the battle between the gatecrashers outside and the police suddenly affected those inside the stadium. With a combination of shifting wind and thrown canisters, tear gas suddenly swept over the crowd. The seats emptied into the concourses and onto the field this was happening during the Jimi Hendrix Experience set when they tried to play Voodoo Child (Slight Return).

[edit] References

Colorado Rocks!: A Half Century of Music in Colorado by George Brown

[edit] See also