The Music History Hall Foundation, a local nonprofit dedicated to preserving American music, will celebrate the music, fashion and culture of Southern California Music Festivals from 1968 to 1971 in a special one-night-only event at the Rivian South Coast Theater on May 3.
Through never-before-seen personal photographs by Laguna Beach resident Jan Nichols, a unique story unfolds about the Southern California festival experience at the height of the counterculture movement.
Nichols, who just returned from Coachella, has attended every music festival and “happening” in Southern California and a few up north, like the famous Altamont festival, during California’s counterculture explosion.
With the eye of an artist, Nichols captured intimate and arresting photographs of concertgoers, musicians and not-so-undercover police officers as the country grappled with the youth-led counterculture movement of the time.
“During that time, I noticed the same people attending these festivals,” Nichols said. “We didn’t socialize, but they weren’t threatened by me at all. Some of these pictures are of people who I’ve shot twice or three times over those few years. They were practically ready to pose for me; they weren’t threatened. They thought it was fun. They didn’t know what the pictures were for, but they knew I wasn’t a cop.”
The never-before-seen images, meticulously high-resolution scanned from slidefilm, are a rare glimpse into a transformative era.
“All of these kids were making a huge break,” Nichols said. “Rather, it was their discussion about the Vietnam War, or music or long hair or no bra, whatever. They were all coming from families that were shocked, most of them not buying into it. So they were finding like-minded people at these festivals. That was a big part of it, too.”
This one-time event will display a curated collection of Nichol’s photos and an accompanying discussion led by Nichols, Music History Hall Foundation Executive Director Patti Compton and local fashion photographer Zach McDuffie.
“We’re going to talk about music. We’re going to talk about fashion. We’re going to talk about the political and cultural climate at the time,” Compton said. It was a very poignant time and there was a lot going on. It was very emotional. So I think this is going to be an emotional evening.”
Nichols added that the word to describe that era was “heady.”
“It was a very heady time,” he recalls.
Nichols recently chatted about his festival experiences with Compton on her KXFM radio show, “Play Something Sweet, episode #82, The West Coast Roots of Woodstock.
Tickets to California Happening are $25 and offer a unique chance to experience the counterculture era through art, music, and discussion. They include light hors d’oeuvres and one drink. Additional drink tickets are available for pre-purchase. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Festival attire is encouraged.
To purchase tickets to the May 3 event, visit musichistoryhall.org/events.
