PMARTIN@SRI-AI.ARPA (07/15/85)
From: Paul Martin <PMARTIN@SRI-AI.ARPA>
I was out of town, so this message is a bit less current than it would have been.....Paul
---------------
Return-Path: <ANDY@SU-SUSHI.ARPA>
Received: from SU-SUSHI.ARPA by SRI-AI.ARPA with TCP; Tue 9 Jul 85 15:03:05-PDT
Date: Tue 9 Jul 85 15:01:15-PDT
From: Andy Freeman <ANDY@SU-SUSHI.ARPA>
Subject: Frost concert
To: pmartin@SRI-AI.ARPA
Please forward and edit as appropriate.
-andy
The following was the lead story in the Stanford Daily Volume 187A,
Number 4 (Tuesday July 9, 1985 for the rest of us). The author is
MARSH McCALL, the opinions editor. The obvious typos are mine; other
features are the price of a tax supported newspaper. For those of you
who haven't had the pleasure of reading it before, this is a fairly
representative article, although more factual than usual.
Two concerts by the Grateful Dead, scheduled for July 27 and 28 at
Frost Amphitheatre, were canceled early last week after a
misunderstanding between the shows' organizers.
The canceled performances, originally to be presented by the ASSU
Concert Network in conjunction with Bill Graham Presents, would have
marked the Grateful Dead's second series of concert dates at Stanford
in recent months.
A recorded message on the Grateful Dead hotline had announced the
upcoming concerts, but the message was changed last week to say the
shows had been canceled due to ``changes at Stanford University.''
Senior Patrick McCrystle, director of of the concert network, said the
confusion stemmed from a misinterpreted conversation between himself
and Bill Graham representative Bob Barsotti.
``The Grateful Dead had expressed an interest in doing a show, and I
had been in contact with Barsotti,'' said McCrystle, ``I agreed to get
in contact with him [last] Monday to discuss particulars. He took
that as a go-ahead and announced the show on the Grateful Dead
hotline.''
Representatives of Bill Graham could not be reached for comment
yesterday.
McCrystle said it simply turned out to be a ``bad idea'' to have a
July Grateful Dead show.
``The police were very reluctant,'' said McCrystle. ``And the
University was reluctant. It would have been inconvenient to many
special-interest groups on campus right now to have had the show.''
McCrystle added that the Grateful Dead would have been unable to
perform at least one of the two planned shows in any event, due to a
scheduling conflict at Frost.
Concert network advisor Suzanne Becker acknowledged that both
organizations were to blame. ``The enthusiasm of the personnel at the
concert network led to a misunderstanding,'' she said. ``They didn't
follow through to the extent they should have. But Bob Barsotti was
premature in putting the message on the hotline.'' Becker said she
doesn't consider the incident a cancellation ``because it was never
confirmed.''
Regardless of the misunderstanding, there was only a slim chance the
Grateful Dead would have been able to perform, Becker said, echoing
McCrystle's statement that previous scheduling at Frost made the
original plan improbable.
``Putting on a Grateful Dead concert requires efforts above and beyond
the call of duty,'' she said. ``One a year is enough.''
``If we went ahead and pushed for a show right now, it would
jeopardize the chances for a spring show, when more students are
here,'' McCrystle said. He added that there would be no rescheduling
of the concerts for this summer.
``The whole thing was a misunderstanding,'' agreed Don Dickson,
chairman of the concert network adfixory board. ``We had put together
a highly successful Dead concert last spring and very badly wanted
them back. We were indicating everyting was `go' to BIll Graham
Presents, but we had not signed a contract and had not authorized
ticket sales.''
[end of article]
The Concert Network is a resume padding student organization that
controls access to Stanford facilities. I may know Dickson, I'll ask
him what really happened. I'm sure glad to know it's nobody's fault.
An editorial in the same issue of the Daily noted ``While Frost is
being used this summer for a few scattered concerts and for business
executives' picnics, the Greek Theater will host .... Judging from
past experience, this should result in `hundreds of thousands of
dollars' profit for the school, according to David Dial of Cal
Performances.''
``While not all would agree that this type of programming has
significant cultural benefit, Cal Performances, the university
department charged with operating the Breek, will use the profits to
fund productions by dance theaters, chamber orchestras, ballets and
the like. Very few should go unsatisfied with that broad spectrum of
entertainment.''
``We hesitate to say it aloud, but Stanford should follow Berkeley's
example. Opening up Frost to more concerts and other events holds
potential benefit not only for student fans of popular music but for
the entire campus community. The Grateful dead, a guaranteed sellout
in the Bay Area, could have helped to open the gates of Frost much
wider - gates that remain mainly closed for now.''
-------
-------