Velvet Underground - Shrine Expo, 1968

This fanciful piece sneaks in through the back door with the names of performers and dates squeezing, expanding, and spreading into your kitchen. It’s notable for lettering that is so psychedelic as to be almost unreadable. Advance tickets must have sold extremely poorly as a result, and in fact, a last-minute handbill was rushed out, with “This Weekend” and the band names and venue in very bold clear type. The poster, however, is a classic of psychedelic design, and highly sought after. Note that Velvet(s) Underground appears to be misspelled.

Neon Park (born Martin Muller, 1940 – 1993) was an American artist and illustrator, best known for the images that graced every Little Feat album except for the band's self-titled first album. He created the cover of Weasels Ripped My Flesh for Frank Zappa, as well as covers and graphics for David Bowie, Dr. John, and the Beach Boys and illustrations for Playboy, National Lampoon, Glass Eye, and Dreamworks are also among his claims to fame.

Pinnacle Productions promoted and ran the late 1960s concerts at “the Shrine,” a large Moorish structure built in 1926, which consisted of the Shrine Auditorium itself and the adjoining Shrine Expo Hall. Almost all Pinnacle shows (December 1967-November 1968) were held in the Expo Hall. The Expo Hall show floor didn’t have seats and so events were San Francisco-style dance concerts with the audience gyrating along with the music. Original press runs for the Pinnacle concerts were 2,400 but it is anyone’s guess as to how many have survived in good condition like this one.