Quicksilver Messenger Service; Miller Blues Band; Daily Flash; Moscoso, Victor; Hillyard, Roger; van Meter, Ben

Original Concert Poster: Quicksilver Messenger Service, Miller Blues Band, Daily Flash ("Peacock Ball," March 10-11, 1967)

San Francisco, CA: Family Dog Productions, 1967. First Edition. Single Sheet. A poster (appx. 14" x 20") announcing a "Peacock Ball" dance concert with performances headlined by the Quicksilver Messenger Service, along with the (Steve) Miller Blues Band & the Daily Flash, during March 10-11, 1967 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The great Spanish-American artist Victor Moscoso (b. 1936) created the artwork & graphics reproduced here, & "Moscoso" in orange facsimile cursive handwriting is found at lower black margin within image, near lower left corner (see image). Also credited for "Lights" are (Roger) Hillyard & (Ben) van Meter. Hillyard (b. 1942) was highly involved with the exemplary psychedelic light shows of this era, later became the proprietor of a popular coffee shop, & most recently the practicing resident of a Zen Buddhist center- all in San Francisco. Van Meter (b. 1941) was also a major light show producer & experimental filmmaker at this time, & still engages in cutting-edge creativity as of this writing. According to the (particularly in this case) Talmudic scholarship we have consulted regarding this poster (which is similar in its depth to that of our underground comix from this period), we believe this copy is one of two variations of the first printing, one apparently following the other in the same entry, the second considered a "reprint" by King. We can't be certain if this is the first or second run of the first-second printing, some elements (pink Family Dog Logo, very dark nearly black background) indicate it is the first printing of the entry, but the width (slightly narrower in the second run/printing) seems to indicate it is the second, & King advises that "...the width should be used as the distinguishing factor." King, FD-51-OP-1, pg. 111. King writes: "The central image is a drawing of a peacock with the lettering worked into its feathers...the artist who created this poster (Moscoso) told me he did not print black on this poster. The way the black was generated was by over-printing the dark pink with the blue and the green. Since these are all darker and richer on the original, the combination of overprinting them came out darker on the dark pink logo original than it did on the dark pink logo reprint." (pg. 111) To further complicate this, there is the slight possibility that this poster is part of a third pink-logo contemporary reprint (FD-51-RP4, pg. 111) in which "The black of this variant is more of a dark gray than a black," & the dimensions most closely resemble those of this copy. Our wearied eyes could not detect much if any gray, the dominant colors appear black & brown, but again we don't have all three specimens in order to compare & determine exactly which one this is. We warned you this was especially Talmudic, & we don't have a specimen of the other variation to compare this with- so you be the judge. In any case, this is an iconic exemplar of the psychedelic style that was about to reach its apex just a few months later that year during the "Summer of Love," in its ultimately, or we believe at least penultimately, rarest contemporary form. From the collection of Dion Wright (b. 1937), a most respected artiste & sculptor who was at the center of the scene that produced this & the many other mind-blowing posters that symbolize a legendary time & place (see Wright's memoir, Tempus Fugitive, item No. 5008). In our sharp-eyed & devoted (if a bit dazed) estimation, this poster is in relatively very fine condition with only a touch of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/near edges & corners (entire bordered image appears bright & substantially mint). This item is too delicate to be rolled & must be shipped flat to assure no damage, therefore extra shipping costs will be required. Very Fine. [Item #5626]

Price: $300.00