Hooray for Hippies

The Rock Hall pays tribute to the Summer of Love in the Monterey International Pop Festival exhibit. Curator Craig Inciardi says there’d be no Woodstock, Lollapalooza, or Coachella without the original hippie fest. “It was a watershed event that changed the course of rock and roll,” he says.

The display features tons of memorabilia from the daylong music festival, which took place in California in June 1967. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and the Who all got their big breaks there. Artifacts include photos, instruments, and clothing from the concert -- all contributed by participants. “The spirit of the festival 40 years ago carried over,” says Inciardi. The Byrds, Otis Redding, and Simon & Garfunkel were among the dozen or so acts that performed at the show. The concert was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker for a 1969 movie, which screens at the Rock Hall throughout the exhibit’s run. “A lot of what occurred at the festival seems like a cliché now, but at the time it was new,” says Inciardi. “Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire, the Who smashing their instruments -- this is where it first happened.”
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Starts: Aug. 2. Continues through Sept. 30, 2007