Newport 69 concert poster Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, CCR, Ike & Tina Turner, Jethro Tull & more
In 1969 there were two separate events staged in the late 1960s that are commonly referred to as the “Newport Pop Festival.” The first, a two-day event took place at the Orange County Fields in Costa Mesa, California over the weekend of August 3-4 1968. This Newport 69 concert poster advertised the second festival which was held over the three-day weekend of June 20–22, 1969 at Devonshire Downs in Northridge, California.
The Newport 69 poster was created by an unknown artist. It depicts an outline image of Jimi Hendrix and his red Fender Stratocaster set against a blue landscape and yellow sky with a sun peeking out from behind white clouds. Inlaid into Hendrix’s body are watercolour renderings of other acts performing at the festival. Newport 69 is written in a reddish brown hand drawn lettering, a superb ‘groovy’ 60s style. In curved blue letters beneath the wording, the text reads ‘At Devonshire Downs’. in the top right-hand corner is the long list of artists that had already been booked to perform at the festival when the poster was printed.
The Newport 69 concert
The festival attracted a large crowd, with 200,000 fans turning up to watch a lineup of prominent rock and psychedelic bands and artists, headlined by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The festival was the largest pop concert up to that time and is considered the most famous of the two Newport Pop Festivals. It was also the most expensive to put on.
The Newport 69 festival was organised by the 25-year-old Mark Robinson who reportedly spent $282,000 for the acts. A massive amount of money considering the entire band budget for the Newport Pop Festival just a year earlier came in at under $50,000. It was reported that the Jimi Hendrix Experience alone was paid $100,000 an unheard amount of money for a rock act at the time.
Over the course of the three-day weekend, a total of thirty-five acts graced the stage, captivating a crowd of 200,000 attendees. Concertgoers paid $6 per day in advance or $7 at the gate. A three-day ticket was just $15. The festival boasted an impressive lineup:
Friday, June 20, 1969: The event got underway with performances from renowned artists such as Ike & Tina Turner, Albert King, Edwin Hawkins Singers, Joe Cocker, Southwind, Spirit, Don Ellis Orchestra, Taj Mahal, Jerry Lauderdale and headlined by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Saturday, June 21, 1969: The festival continued on the Saturday with a stellar lineup featuring Albert Collins, Brenton Wood, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Charity, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Burdon and War, Friends of Distinction, Jethro Tull, Lee Michaels, Love, Steppenwolf, and Sweetwater.
Sunday, June 22, 1969: For the final day, the crowd witnessed electrifying performances by Booker T. & the M.G.’s, The Chambers Brothers, The Flock, The Grass Roots, Johnny Winter, Mother Earth, a jam session with Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon and Mother Earth, Poco, The Byrds, The Rascals, and Three Dog Night. Regrettably, Marvin Gaye was scheduled to appear but pulled out because he missed his flight.
Despite its name, the festival did not take place in Newport. Instead, it was held in Northridge, located in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. Northridge is renowned for its vast expanses of tract homes set in a scorching hot valley. Worse still the facilities were unable to cope with the amount of concertgoers. Hundred-foot queues formed outside an insufficient number of smelly, overflowing portable toilets. Traffic to and from the venue was virtually impenetrable and parking was severely limited, forcing thousands to park on distant residential streets. A lack of camping facilities led to local residents complaining about the number of young people using their pools and camping overnight in their flower beds. Gatecrashers trespassed the hurricane fencing instead of paying the admission cost. Outside the festival, teenagers threw bottles and rocks, and damaged property. Northridge was decimated with litter and vandalism purported to include $50,000 in damaged property. People travelling to the concert on Sunday found no public restrooms open to the public in the area due to trashing done in the previous 2 days.
The trouble started on the first day when teenagers outside the fence surrounding the backstage area threw rocks at the Don Ellis Orchestra as it was preparing to go on. Three members of the band had been injured. One suffered a broken leg, another escaped with cuts and bruises but lead sax player, Sam Falzone ended up being hospitalised.
An inadequate sound system was totally unable to project the music to the $50,000 or so present each day. Overhead a police helicopter constantly circled the event, sometimes two. This coupled with a droning public address system echoing through the nearby market stalls of temporary psychedelic shops simply drowned out the sound of the music. The event even suffered from poor visibility. Concertgoers close to the 10-foot high stage struggled to see clearly due to overcrowding, the stage’s height and lighting, and camera towers further obstructed views. Even for those close enough to see and hear, the quality of some performances was disappointing. Jimi Hendrix, in particular, delivered a lackluster set. He disparagingly labeled the audience a “teenybopper crowd” and left the stage to a lukewarm response, leaving many unimpressed.
In total an estimated 300 were injured, 15 of them were police officials and 75 people were arrested. The festival organiser, Robinson reportedly spent around $600,000 for the festival, which grossed over $750,000, but because of the violence, he claimed to have lost $150,000.
