Icarus - 1967

This poster featuring Icarus flying way too close to the sun could be a gridded representation of what staring at the sun with your eyes closed looks like. Well, maybe on LSD, but regardless, it’s an arresting image above some extremely psychedelic lettering for the Avalon Ballroom and the Charlatans and bluesman Buddy Guy. 

The Charlatans were an influential folk rock and psychedelic rock band that played a role in the development of the San Francisco music scene during the 1960s and are often cited by critics as being the first group to play in the style that became known as the San Francisco Sound. Exhibiting more pronounced jug band, country and blues influences than many bands from the same scene, the Charlatans' rebellious attitude and distinctive late 19th-century fashions exerted a strong influence on the Summer of Love in San Francisco. Their recorded output was small, with their first album, The Charlatans, not being released until 1969, some years after the band's heyday. The Charlatans' drummer, Dan Hicks, went on to form the successful country rock band Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks.

Artist Robert Fried was in Brooklyn in 1937. While not considered one of the San Francisco School’s “Big Five,” Fried was valued for his technical skill and creative application of the abstract to a commercial execution. Like Victor Moscoso, he was one of the rare SF School poster artists who was formally trained as an artist and graphic designer. From 1967 through 1970 Fried created 18 rock concert posters for the Family Dog, Bill Graham and others.