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Barbeque 67

  Tulip Bulb Auction Hall

       Spalding.           

May 29th 1967.

  • Jimi Hendrix
  • Cream
  • Geno Washington
  • Pink Floyd
  • The Move
  • Zoot Money
  • Sounds Force Five

     Rather appropriately called Barbeque 67 , as the shed was hot and sticky . Not the best place to hold a rock concert , the venue for this one day show was a cattle auction hall, which was packed to the gills . Acoustics were probably vile.

retouched poster courtesy Joe 'Dzsanesz' Kovacs

How good to find Barbeque '67 on your website!
I've told the tale of this festival so many times, and as the years go by, I get a distinct feeling that people do not believe that Jimi, Cream, Pink Floyd, the Move, Geno and Zoot could ever be on the same bill, and no-one seems to believe that it would cost as much as £1! Well, let's face it, it doesn't sound credible, does it? Here are my memories.

Three of us (Martin Willmott, John Percival and Ivan Willis) were aged 16, pals and music fanatics at Royal Grammar School in Worcester. In the days when council house kids had the privilege of attending Grammar Schools free of charge. John saw an advert for Barbeque '67 in NME, and tickets were available at £1 each. We telephoned the number and were told that tickets would be reserved for us, and we could pay when the tickets were printed. We were sent posters - not the one posted on your site! No mention of 'Pay At The Door'! We were sent six posters, and distributed them in school and in 'Youth Clubs' (a generation thing) and gave Ivan's phone number. (In those days, telephones were in red boxes outside a Post Office. Most people dreamt of winning the Pools and having one in their house. So Ivan was unusual in having his own phone. Can anyone believe that now?)

We got enough interest to arrange a coach and duly booked it, giving a deposit of £10. This was a more than a week's wages for our pals who had left school the year before. It was a lot of money to drum up, but we couldn't fail, so we decided it was no risk. Until we found that the tickets were not available after all. With the wisdom of hindsight and experience, the organisers were incompetent. They had underestimated demand and could not cope with the requests for tickets, and couldn't cope with the volume of phone calls. We rang for hours and hours, then got a timid voice telling us that the tickets would come in the post. We waited day after day and nothing arrived. We phoned and got no reply. Then we shit ourselves. We had taken deposits and ticket money from a coachload of people much older and bigger than ourselves, and no tickets arrived! We decided to tough it out, as we had no way of contacting anyone. There were no phone numbers, e-mails were science fiction, and no-one could afford to put an advert in the paper. We turned up in the Cornmarket in Worcester at 7 am and we all boarded the coach, full of smiles and fun. Except we three organisers, who were close to incontiinence all the way. And what a long way, across the Midlands and the East of the country before 'A' roads were fit for purpose.

The offending advert..... thanks to Joe 'Dzsanesz" Kovacs for restoring this item !


It was a gorgeous May day, hot and sunny. I took my guitar, and played 'Purple Haze', 'Hi Ho Silver Lining', 'Day Tripper' and 'Colours' over and over again until I could hardly talk. Then, to our eternal gratitude, our coach was trailed by Zoot Money and some of his band in a car. We recognised him and flagged him down. The three organiseres got out and quietly explained our predicament. He said he'd try and help and told us to meet him at his hotel - I think it was called the Red Lion. We arrived in Spalding and he met us, but he could not find the organiser, so no luck on tickets - but told us we could pay at the door. As per the 'poster'! Not the one we had! We panicked, but were sent to the front of the queue, gave back the £1 to every coach traveler, and we duly all got in early.

The first support group were awesome. I believe they started with a Joe Tex number, 'Show Me'. They played a mix of Soul and Rock and were very competent. Their set was very good and the sound was better balanced than the majority of the following acts. Sound balance in the sixties was terrible in big venues - the comments of other contributors are accurate, but that is how it was routinely in the sixties. You relied on memory for the lyrics, 'cos you could never hear them at a live gig in a large hall or outdoors. The visuals were king !

Pink Floyd were the first big band to start, and were pop artists at that time. Impossible to believe almost, but they had had two recent hits and were thought of as a psychedelic pop band. They were really terrible. The light show was truly pathetic, although credit where due, they were pioneers of the art form. Someone with an overhead projector had sheets of acetate with globs of oil on them, making the globs roll about on the plastic. The globs were projected onto a bed-sheet. You couldn't hear the vocals and the volume was too low to hear the instruments. It didn't quite attain the standard of amateurish. I think The Move came on next, and were one of the best bands on the bill for impact and sound. They got a bit of life into the audience and impressed me more than I expected.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience- Barbeque 67 . Thanks to Pennie Limming for the pic and cuttings.

Pink Floyd and Move were classed a the two 'psychedelic bands' on the billing. Next came the two 'Blues Bands'. I think Hendrix started first and was loud, vocally incompetent, irritable and a male Diva! Everyone loved him though. He played his guitar with his teeth on 'Hey Joe', stuck the headstock of his Strat throught the mesh of his Marshall stack, threw a guitar into the amp and created a bue flash and smoke, and generally gave a show to remember. His sound balance was dreadful. This was normal at the time. Cream came on next, I think. Eric Clapton had been eclipsed by Jimi recently in the musical press. However, he was miles better than Jimi on that day. He was competent on the guitar, you could hear his playing clearly, and the vocals were good from my standpoint. This was the first time I had seen him play his psychedelic SG and it was visually stunning. He played 'Sunshine Of Your Love' (pre release?) and it was awesome. This was also the first time I had seen him with a perm and with Hippie garb. The bass was inaudible but Jack Bruce had a striking presence. They may not have been at their best in audio quality, but their personal presence was immense. They were some band. Not eclipsed in any way!

Then Zoot came on. The Big Roll band were so professional, Dusk was setting in, and the atmosphere was great. They were so much more professional than the previous bands and you could hear what they were doing. I didn't like their stuff really - it belonged to a half-a-generation before. But you can tell quality when you hear it. And Zoot had tried to help us with the tickets!

Then Geno. I had really come for Hendrix and Cream, but I have to say that Geno stole the show. He was awesome and created an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. Everyone was silent in his quiet moments, and went wild in the loud passages. Everyone sang, shouted and tried to dance in the melee. They pointed their hands into the air. Hard to believe that Geno is not a major star today. He had the audience in the palm of his hand.

What a great gig! And all over by 11!


Martin Willmott


Stuart Colkin writes

this show had Jimi Hendrix, Geno Washington wearing a Night Owl T-shirt from a gig a few weeks prior, Move, Pink Floyd (they were only a support band and played in a corner of the shed (Must have been in Tulip Sheds!!) with a white sheet behind them with the coloured oil shining onto it, I remember them doing Arnold Lane and See Emily Play !! so Sid Barrett could have been with them.

I will try to find the other bands that were on! we took a bus from a disco at the Engineers Arms in Coalville, Leicestershire we had started and were running called SOULFINGER (that is another story) and remember on our way home from the festival getting dropped off at the Night Owl in Leicester for the All nighter.

advert courtesy

Patrick Wensor.

Local Lad Robert Goodhand has sent this recollection .


I was typing in names of local bands in the Spalding Area from the 60s and 70s and up comes your website. Yes I was there, a local lad 16 years old, not quite believing that 6 of the top UK bands at that time were descending on a rural backwater like Spalding. No idea who set it up it was certainly no B B Q or festival - just everyone packed into the bulb auction which looked approximately like a large cattle shed and nothing special for the day as I remember apart from taking the cattle out.

I never saw Pink Floyd as I was still queuing to get in and they were first on. Between being booked and appearing they had certainly become much more famous but maybe the running order was already set and in the contracts. I also regret I can recall nothing of Geno Washington or Zoot Money. Certainly Geno would have been very popular because that was the local culture then.

The Move were an excellent band. They were using Orange Amps, the heads wider than the cabinets so it all looked a bit ungainly. They'd had just two hits by then "Night of Fear" and "I can hear the grass grow". Carl Wayne did a few disgusting impressions with the microphone while curling his bottom lip but the set was a real highlight.

For the Cream I remember two local girls beside me, one turning to the other after the third number and saying "so who's this then, Mavis?". Clearly comprehending 6 bands was over their limit. It was an interminable set of long instrumentals that were boring even then played by statues (except Ginger) - it was all so uninspiring. They hadn't really done much at this time "I Feel Free" would be the only known number outside LP tracks.

Of course the real highlight should have been Jimi Hendrix but he was in a foul mood. There was a long delay and Mitch and Noel looking fairly uncomfortable on their own. You'd have thought by then that they'd have worked out a little routine while waiting for the Man but no such inspiration. He then appears and plays a really vicious opening instrumental saying "we're just jamming" and then starts to complain that he's just come over from Germany as if that was all our fault.

Eventually the set did settle down and I think "The Wind Cries Mary" might have been a high spot - his new release. But it was all over in half an hour (that set) and we were trudging out having a distinctly cheated feeling about the whole thing. Nothing much was said at school next day (my calendar tells me it was a Monday night).

Sounds Force Five was the local band - guitarist Rob Munton in my year at school and I think now living in Australia, and drummer Fred Ward (sorry can't remember the others). They were crammed on the side of the stage with the unenviable job of filling in as each band's equipment was lugged on and off.
They did a game job but didn't have the equipment to fill a venue that size and it didn't seem like the organisers were prepared to let them use the house pa.

Curiously I can never remember asking Rob afterwards what it was like and did he get any autographs etc? It all seemed such a non event. The local hotel, Red Lion now has a plaque "Jimi slept here" - not clear if that was while waiting to be served a pint of beer or that he actually stayed there overnight.
Sorry to be so negative but that's the impression it left.

Robert Goodhand


Found your site regarding Barbeque 67.
Unfortunately, I missed the support cos the queue was so long. But I do remember hearing these amazing sounds coming from inside.
The heat was terrible and poor Jimi Hendrix had a terrible time tuning his guitar. While he struggled the crowd grew restless and a pratt (me) shouted out "Give it to Eric."
Eric, as you know, was "God" at the time before he discovered Armani suits.
That was not my 15 minutes of fame, more 5 seconds of infamy.


Adrian


Hi,

Here are my memories of that weekend:

I drove to Spalding with four of my school friends in a station wagon borrowed from one of the boy's father. It was my first big Pop concert. I don't remember it being called a Barbeque, it was just a chance to see and hear some great pop groups. I was seventeen and we started from Chemsford, Essex on a lovely summer's day. The car had a Union Jacked taped to the bonnet and we all thought we looked pretty cool in out semi-hippie attire. We stopped off at a pub for lunch and picked up a couple of girl hitch-hikers who we also from Chelmsford and going to the concert in Spalding.

When we arrived at Spalding, we found the car park near the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall and parked the car among thousands of other cars. There were huge crowds of people and the first thing I remember when we got out of the car was to see a "rocker" on his motor cycle ride in to the car park accompanied by derisive jeers from this sea of peace loving hippies who immediately set about the poor guy and beat the crap out of him. "A nice peace loving place", cracked one of the boys I had traveled up with.

Whoever was "organising" the event, started letting the huge crowd into the hall sometime before the concert was about to start but it was a complete schamozzle. There were thousands of people who were being let in one at a time through a single entrance door. We queued for ages but got nowhere. We could hear Pink Floyd play Arnold Lane and See Emily Play but have no idea if it was live or from a record, we never got in to see them. We gave up and went over to the pub with the two girls.

When we came out several hours later, the queue at the entrance door was at least moving and we queued up again. When we finally got in, we found ourselves in a huge hall and I think Zoot Money was playing. I somehow managed to worm my way near to the stage and remember Cream playing Toad. I thought I was a bit of a drummer in those days and stood entranced as Ginger played Toad exactly drum beat for drum beat like the record. The only thing I remember about the Jimi Hendrix Experience was Jimi trying to get some feedback from the amps and a roadie trying to stop them crashing like a pack of cards. The scene was very similar to the photograph on the cover of the Jimi bootleg "Listen To This Eric".

After the concert, we drove to the coast somewhere and slept in the car. The two girls had long since disappeared. We spent Sunday morning in some seaside fun fair eating candy floss and chips. When we got back to the car, my friend was greeted with a parking ticket on the windscreen. The only thing left was to drive back to Chelmsford. What a week end!

If anyone has the Cream "Tulip Bulb Auction Hall" bootleg CD, I would love to trade. You can contact me at:
stevetrusler54@hotmail.com


 This is amazing and thanks to Google I found it. We came up from Abingdon and a school friend's Dad took us all up in a van of some kind. This was my first ever gig and I can recall coming in to see Pink Floyd playing on a small set at the back of the room. We saw the whole  of the rest of the set from up at the stage and strangely I had forgotten that Cream played. My biggest memory is that Jimi kept us waiting for ages and he irritated everyone so much that he received the slow hand clap. When he came on his mood was awful and he played a short set and finally pushed all the amps over and stormed off!
 
It is fascinating to see the ticket as I didn't save this one but have a collection from most other gigs I have been to. I have often wondered why apart from the line up we all went miles to Spalding and now I see it was the flower festival. I recall the big "cow shed" and remember at the time being concerned about the use of UV strip lights.
 
An amazing experience and the next time I saw Jimi was at the Isle of Wight !
.
 
Martin Eagle

Great to find your site...l was "Fred Ward" in the supporting band SOUNDS FORCE 5...the other members were Stuart (Len) Doughty on guitar/organ, Rob Munton on Guitar/vocals, Alan Turnell on bass/vocals and Mick Peacey on lead vocals.

Our job was to play the most at Barbecue 67, by playing in between everone of the top name bands. So the audience saw more of us than anyone else. we had been down to Carnaby Street for our outfits just for the event.

The first band on was Pink Floyd, and believe it or not hardly anyone wanted to know them...the place was empty....and l dont think anyone understood what they were about.

Theres so many stories to tell on the "gig"....like how the audience pushed forward and people became trapped UNDER the make shift stage. We could see hands and fingers poking through the cracks in the stage floor, it was weird.
Another story is how the early crowd were somehow let out through the side doors...due to sheer capacity, and the crushing....many of these people went round to try and get back in but were charged £5.00 by ticket touts in the car park.

You must remember thart this event predates Woodstock, and The Ilse of Wight Festivals etc...this was really THE first ever Glastonbury, and it attracted massive crowds, all of whom wanted to get in but couldnt, so they took their anger out on local shops.

The most popular bands were Geno Washington, Cream and of course Jimi Hendrix Experience....l sat and chatted with Jimi who seemed to be alone, and separate from his bass player and drummer.
Suddenly the dressing room doors (actually it was a large trailer), burst open, and crowds of people shouted THERES JIMI, and grabbed my yellow frilly shirt, which they thought was his. They ripped it up between themselves and ran back into the Car Park waving the shirt in the air saying...."we've got Jimis Shirt"

Jimi was in a bad mood though and was late going on....the sound was awful, so he took it out on his equipment smashing his amps and setting fire to his guitar....l've no idea what happened to the guitar, but chances are it ended up on the town dump with all the rubbish. Can you imagine its value nowadays?????
l will never forget the event. Later Sounds Force 5 went on to play all over the East Midlands with many of the top bands of that era, the Yardbirds, Amen Corner, The Small Faces etc. We later changed our name to TUESDAYS OUTCOME.

We had many chances of stardom.....by way of recording opportunities, overseas tours, national tours etc....but we were young, and 5 people can never agree.....Alan Turnell was the first to leave the band...he left to go and live like a hippy in St Ives, Cornwall, which was all the rage at the time.....l then left to work with other musicians, concentrating on writing new orginal material.

My second band which was unnamed at the time created a major interest with MCA Records, and a Regents Street based agency, headed up by some-one called Bernard Lee who used to work for NEMS with Brian Epstien. His partner was Michael Grade, and the company was called Grade Lee Productions....they had great plans for us, but argueing amongst these new musicians blew it.

l still have my drums....but now l am a promoter.

Hi, I along with a couple of friends were asked by Brian Thompson to serve drinks. Cokes cost 1s 6d and we sold thousands, it was non stop for hours & hours. We only had hand held bottle openers and our hands were raw by the end of the night. We couldn't see the bands and all took it in turns to have a break to see some of the action, I chose to watch Jimi Hendrix an EXPERIENCE I will never forget. For all the hours of hard slog we got paid £5 +a lift to and from Grantham but hey I was there.
Fran T



A recording was made of Cream's set , which suffers from lack of bass and weak sounding vocals . The tape is around 40 mins . However, we were surprised at how good the sound is on this show, despite the sound flaws. Eric in particular is well in the fore , delivering a blistering Stepping Out , and overall the set is a very good one. This is remarkably free of audience noise and is one of the better Cream recordings of this era ( if you don't mind having the vocals in the background.
)

Set List

N.S.U., Sunshine of Your Love, We're Going Wrong, Steppin' Out, Rollin' and Tumblin', Toad, I'm So Glad

05/29/67: Spaulding, UK, Tulip Bulb, CDR40.
Live at the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall, Spaulding, England, May 29, 1967
Sound: Very good soundboard
Time: Approx. 45 Minutes
Set List:
N.S.U., Sunshine of Your Love, We're Going Wrong, Steppin' Out, Rollin' and Tumblin', Toad, I'm So Glad
Comments: This was a gig called the Barbecue where Cream shared the bill with Hendrix and Pink Floyd. This show is powerful and LOUD in front of a
wild crowd. Unfortunately, Cream doesn't stretch the songs out as long as they started too by year's end, because the playing here is incredible! Clapton is
incendiary and the recording really picks up Ginger's thunderous drumming. The beginning is low on bass and Jack's vocals but this fixes itself soon.
Good sound on such an old show too!


The Tulip Bulb Auction Hall, was a cattle auction shed. It was a gig put together by the all-too-common rip-off promoter. The venue was not suitable for such
a purpose and the number of tickets had been massively oversold. It was packed, hot, stuffy and very tense. The tension between the band and the audience is
quite clear. Equipment problems were rife including a faulty or, at the very least, inadequate PA. The combination of circumstances, unsurprisingly, produced
a hesitant and distracted performance. Ian Sippen set up to record the band and unfortunately, like them, he had equipment problems resulting in a recording
with almost non-existant bass guitar and distant vocals, unlike his superb Ricky Tick tape.

Live at Barbecue ‘67, Spaulding, Eng., 29th May 1967.

Ian Sippen set up his quality equipment to record Cream. Unfortunately the left mike failed and the recording

is dominated by the guitar and the drums. The loss of bass is partially compensated for by the magnificent, very present sound of the drums.

Jack’s vocals are largely heard by direct acoustics rather then through the PA.
  "NSU" is hesitant as they try to sort out the gear on the fly with the PA dropping out and
the guitar amps being adjusted. "Sunshine" follows and is no better with: Eric starting way
too fast and pulling back, Eric & Ginger struggling to hear Jack’s vocals and Ginger laying
down a very basic beat ? one can see him glowering at the roadies as they desperately tried
   to sort things out.


 Eric tells the audience to quiet down before they perform a quite superb
 "We’re Going Wrong".  It really worked quite well live once they had got it
 sorted out. The longer gestation time definitely helped with this one.
 A short "Stepping Out" is performed but with amp problems for Eric
 followed by "Rollin’ & Tumblin" with a just audible harp (well the drums are
 nice and clear!).
 Obviously it is "Toad" that benefits with the very audible drums. It is
 comparatively short - Baker clearly didn’t want to hang about. "I’m So Glad
 closes the set but by this time Eric’s Marshall is really breaking up and he
 just manages to finish before it totally cracks up

This show can be found here .

 

 


Thanks to Pennie Limming for the cutting


At Spalding I saw Jimi Hendrix standing there, singing and playing as well as he ever could have done in his life. Foxy Lady was a treat, The Wind Cries Mary close to perfect, but by far the best was Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Just imagine the soaring guitar riff between each verse in Jimi's hands, note perfect, with the man totally enjoying what he was doing. I can see and hear it now.

We were standing about 6 back from the stage. As we knew what we were doing at big gigs we never gave up this prime site. One of us would go all the long long way back to the bar for refills when needed, and of course we'd take turns going for a pee. The sound system was about normal for the time (inadequate for most people in that huge space) and we had it about perfect. I also saw all of the bands close up and cannot remember any of the histrionics other people are reporting.

Then again, aged 19. I was organising 'socials' at Lanchester College, Coventry (about 1200 people in on a Saturday night for The Kinks or Soft Machine). Cream were regular visitors (they played a good set at Spalding - up to their usual quality). We knew that Roy Wood's Move, Geno and Zoot would be very good value, which they were, and Pink Floyd? Still a new band with a 'light show', but interesting. They gave a performance which would have gone down fairly well in almost any student union bar at the time. Stadium rock was still a very long long way away.

But Hendrix, for anyone who knew what they were doing at the time, was what made this one impossible to miss. After - what is it? - 41 years, I know I made the right decision to go.


Keith Glazzard


© J Pocock

I was there too, aged 16, and still at school. I lived in Bourne and, because it was a Bank Holiday Monday, there were no buses so I decided to hitch. Well, I walked all the way there and all the way back! I remember that I got there really early and managed to get in about halfway back from the stage. It was really just a big tin shed, with awful acoustics. I remember the security men, such as they were back then, pushing through the crowd to pull people down who had climbed into the rafters. I really enjoyed Zoot Money and Geno Washington (I was a Mod back then) and the Move, despite Carl Wayne, were one of my favourite groups. I wasn't and never have been a Pink Floyd fan. Cream I remember as being very enigmatic, no expressions, statue-like, except for Ginger, who was like a crazy man. I seem to remember that every time he hit his drums hard a cloud of white powder was set airborne - can't think what it might have been!

I was very disappointed with Hendrix who was late coming on, couldn't tune his guitar, played a few songs indifferently and went off. Funnily enough, I was in Peterborough Services just the other night and some young lads were playing Hendrix very loud on their car stereo (about 2am) and I told them I liked the music. I told them I had seen Hendrix and they said Germany?, France? No, Spalding and they were simply gobsmacked. When I told them it cost £1 to see 6 bands, they were even more gobsmacked. I did explain that £1 in 1967 was a day's wages! They drove off shaking their heads in disbelief. I'm not always sure I believe it myself!

Paul Johnson


Just a quick note to say what a great site with some fantastic contributions. I am promoter Brian Thomson's godson and although i didn't go to the event due to the small issue of not having been born at the time, my childhood was filled with stories of the event and it brings a smile to my face when i read the contributions by people because it reminds of happy days gone by. Sadly, for anyone who has posted that knew him, we buried Bryan to day in Burton Joyce cemetery Notts, he died in an accident two weeks ago. i wish i had found this site before because he would be made up to know their was a site about his gig. Thanks again to the founders of this site, you've shone a light on an otherwise somber day!
Lee Mardle


went to the Spalding Festival with my older brother's college bus from Burton.

I was a bit sceptical about the groups who were said to be appearing as they seemed too "big" for a small place like Spalding and Hey it was only a pound!!

I had no trouble getting a ticket and don't remember having to queue.

I remember getting in and wandering over to where a group called Pink Floyd were playing. They had all sorts of weird lights and sounded good to me.

I made my way to the main stage and stayed there for the whole of the show!!!

I recall a man with a hammer and nails coming on and nailing a huge drum Kit to the stage, then Cream came on and were INCREDIBLE!

Hendrix came on last and was in an obviously foul mood. He kept messing with his guitar which he could not get in tune to his satisfaction, then I remember him swearing at the crowd (maybe this was acceptable later in the punk days but I was never into that.) He played a few songs, then smashed his guitar into the amp and walked off having fused a lot of the lighting system.

A sour end to what was a brilliant day but a lifetime of memories for me to bore folk with!


Regards

Steve Moss

© J Pocock


Hi,
I remember the night very well. Paddy Hamilton and myself drove down from RAF Waddington and got there early, our main aim being to pick up girls (well, we were both aged 20) We were among the first fifty or so to get in and headed for the stage. Pink Floyd were, as many have said, very amateurish with the white sheet and the crap "psychedelic" oil bubble light show. Hendrix spent ages tuning his guitar until he got the slow hand clap and eventually started his set by winding up Cream, playing the intro to 'Sunshine of Your Love'.

Ginger Baker stuck his head round the wings curtain and shouted "Oi!" then Jimi went into his own world, eventually losing his temper and smashing the amp with his guitar. His playing was as usual, pure genius and I was standing right at the front - I'd be behind his legs in the photo you show of him on stage. He could play with just his fingering hand and when doing that 'playing with his teeth' thing, he actually played with his right hand on the finger board and his mouth was a good two inches from the strings. I know because I was at the side of the stage by then and could see him from the side.

Cream came on after him and their sound balance was terrible, but that meant we heard Eric's playing very clearly. Magic as ever. Despite all the well recognised names, the stars of the night were without question Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band. How they never became a worldwide megaband I'll never know. They nearly brought the house down as the crowd went wild.

The Raven Club at RAF Waddington was a major venue in Lincolnshire and all the top bands played there - The Bee-Gees brought in fans from all over UK, even Wales and Scotland - but I remember Barbeque 67 as the best night out during my time there from 1966 to 1969 - and not just for the girls.
Cheers,

Frank Bowron


Hi, just found your website on ‘Barbecue ‘67’ and thought I might add my ‘limited’ memories of that day. I’d be 19 at the time and, if I remember correctly, drove my car with three friends to Spalding. There was a huge crowd trying to get in and I’m sure we got in without paying because they couldn’t control the queues. I recall that Geno stole the show, and that Jimi Hendrix pulled over two tall amps that were stacked one on top of the other. I have only faint recollections of Floyd, Cream, and Zoot Money but it did bring memories back of seeing Clapton playing in the Yardbirds and Ginger Baker playing for the Graham Bond Organisation at the Il Rondo in Leicester. Boy, what a drum solo! We were fortunate in those days because most of the big groups and other artistes were so accessible and often appeared in the local dancehalls, Spalding was, I suppose, the icing on the cake because it was the forerunner of many a festival.

Brian Smith


Bulb Auction Hall, Spalding – May, 1967

I was 17 at the time and in the 6th form at St Joseph’s College Stoke-on-Trent. I had not long passed my driving test and was the proud owner of a minivan. As the only one in the year who had a vehicle, I was quite popular!

A friend Richard Day told me one day about a concert in Spalding, (where’s that?) featuring an amazing guitar player called Jimi Hendrix and that we must go along. At the time I had never heard of Jimi Hendrix. Anyway in a weak moment I agreed though my parents weren’t too happy about it. Richard sorted out the tickets in advance and we pooled our resources from weekend jobs for the petrol.

It was a fair cross-country drive from Stoke but we found the place and managed to park in a side street. We were there relatively early so had no trouble getting in.

I can remember thinking that it was an eclectic mix of bands (or groups as we called them then) of soul, psychedelia and blues/rock. The crowd was also eclectic. Apart from Richard, I was standing next to a young girl and her middle-aged (she seemed middle aged to a seventeenyearold) mum. Whilst the girl was enjoying herself immensely, the mum didn’t seem sure about things.

I can vaguely remember the soul bands but more detail about Pink Floyd and Hendrix. Floyd I thought were a bit pedestrian though their light show was quite something for the time. It comprised a white bed sheet hung up behind them with moving coloured bubbles projected onto it.

Eventually Jimi Hendrix appeared on stage and it was a bit of a shambles at first. He was struggling to tune his guitar for a while and the crowd didn’t have much patience by this time and started slow handclapping. Jimi then launched into some of his trademark guitar pyrotechnics and the crowd, who were clearly not expecting it, were gobsmacked and strangely quiet. I can’t remember exactly what he played but I remember him playing some of it with his teeth. Eventually he set fire to his guitar and started smashing things up on stage. The next band struggled to follow that!

Personally I found the experience truly amazing; I feel very privileged to have been there and have been a fan ever since relentlessly boring friends and family about Hendrix.

Richard and I slept in the van that night and made our way home the next morning. Back to reality!

I lost touch with Richard until we found each other on the Friends Reunited website a while ago. At that time he was a high court judge in Hong Kong. He has since passed.

I may have contacted you before, but anyway. I did attend that concert , and there is a photo of me in the  3rd or 4th row, along with my brother, along with someone called Jimi Hendrix !

Andre Millcombe


I was 15 and I went in the back of a Austin Mini Van from Burton Joyce in Nottingham, if I got in a Mini Van now I would probably fill it!!. I remember all the groups,, but Cream were my favourites, and I enjoyed the Move.

Nowadays Pink Floyd floats my boat! Geno Washington were a band who I had seen many times , along with Zoot Money.

My memory seems to tell me that a Brian Johnson organised it , and I definitely used to play football with him , in the local village club team. 

Happy Days!

P.S. in my 71 years I have seen over 120 popular pop groups or solo artists, a complete mix of genres.


Thank you

David Wright


I was there
I was a mod
One day after my 20 birthday .Now on my 75th I remember the day vividly ,very exciting.
5 of us set out on lambretta scooters all with passengers from Lincoln.
When we arrived Spalding was heaving. we got into the massive building it was like a sauna.
Didn’t think a lot of pink floyd .Cream were great Hendrix was loud set the guitar on fire smashed an amp not really impressed.
Zoot Money was great ,but Geno was excellent ,really got the place rocking ,wonderful atmosphere.unforgettable.
We left spalding  went down to Skegness spent the night on the beach.


Some one mentioned the Raven club at R.A.F. Waddington our local venue .Saw some great top groups there.Zoot Money included, we were quite spoilt in Lincolnshire with the Gliderdrome at Boston.Saw the best there little Steve wonder. Otis Redding . Unforgettable time never to be repeated ..
Really enjoyed the article.many thanks.

Chris Morris


We wish to contact people who attended Barbeque 67 in Spalding, as part of research and development for a new stage play being written about the event. I would be very grateful if you could publicise it on your website and/or contact anyone you know who might be interested.

Kind regards,
Tilly Branson
Associate Director (Engagement)
New Perspectives Theatre Company
Direct line 0115 973 9120

Who can help flesh out the festival with reviews , information, recordings and photographs ?

Contact us if you can help.

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