Wednesday, June 21st, 1967

Ralph Gleason, early rock critic and co-founder of the Monterey festival, denounces The Who in the San Francisco Chronicle: "This decadent, destructive, cynical ending (they use the same amplifier to hit on every show and smash a special cheap guitar) is really a Roman Circus spectacle and has nothing at all to do with music. In fact, it is really anti-music and disgraceful."

 

Transcript:

THE repercussions of the Monterey International Pop Festival last weekend are really only now beginning to be felt and there will be discussion and re-evaluation for a long time.

The weekend went out in a blaze of glory with Ravi Shankar's moving performance Sunday afternoon which received a standing ovation, the crowd insisting that he return for bows three times. It was a beautiful moment when he stood and threw flowers to the audience.

Sunday night opened with a good set by the Blues Project, the best portion of which was "Wake Me Shake Me." Tom Smothers opened the evening as emcee, saying he was used to working with his brother as straight man and there weren't very many straight people at the festival!

* * *

THE GRATEFUL DEAD did a fine set with some marvelously exciting and interesting guitar solos by Jerry Garcia and a great demonstration of their tightness and swing.

The British group, The Who, are all but indescribable. The lead singer, Roger Daltrey, dresses in long flowing robes and swirls and poses on stage and Peter Townshend, the lead guitarist, was the tallest person at the festival. Their music is hard driving and wildly performed. The songs are interesting, being kind of electronic fairy tales. Their act is climaxed by the release of smoke bombs from the drums, while the drummer throws sticks into the audience and the guitarist smashes his guitar on the amplifier, finally demolishing it by pounding it on the stage.

This decadent, destructive, cynical ending (they use the same amplifier to hit on every show and smash a special cheap guitar) is really a Roman Circus spectacle and has nothing at all to do with music. In fact, it is really anti-music and disgraceful.

Jimi Hendrix, the young guitarist from Seattle who came from London with his new group, is a remarkable guitarist and a good singer but his act, like The Who, is show biz. He sang some unoriginal material, did "Like a Rolling Stone" rather badly, and ended HIS part of the show by pouring lighter fluid on a cheap guitar and kneeling on the stage while it burned. I yawned.