Diamond Head Crater Festivals

[kimo55]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Hey, I found ANOTHER Sunshine Festival poster for sale on eBay.

this is currently living at da antique shop in chinatown.
go there in person with a handful of green and pic it up. negotiate. Money talks.
the poster is original. The san fran rag shop "poster" is a new color photocopy.

[kimo55]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Hey, I found ANOTHER Sunshine Festival poster for sale on eBay.
The Sunshine Festival poster is not the Tom Sellers 1974 version,

The one in this ebay auction is a 1975 tom sellers creation.

The Wahine hovering above D.H. crater poster, an original, is available this weekend at a collector's show at da HIC. a vendor has one there in mint condition, looks like, for 3 hunnert clams.

[arcticbear]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

I just happened to stumble across this site, what caught my attention was the mention of the crater festival. When I left Vietnam in February 1971, I was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Hawaii. Shortly after I arrived they were having what was called a Crater Festival, located inside Diamondhead. Not to be out done by the locals, a few of us Marines decided we would sneak in with them. This proved to be quite a climb and at times was about to give up. Six of us started out and four turned back about half way. We had left the main trail that snaked up the side and started a direct climb. Later we found out that at the last concert, some one had slipped and ended up being rescued off the same ridge we had climbed. Please take note that we were pretty high on wine and Mescaline. I neither condemn or condone such fool hardy attempts but it was at a stage of my life that I had to over come.

After making it to the top we watched lighters being flicked on and off all around the top and listened to people hollering across to one another. After sleeping for an hour or so inside one of the bunkers I was awakened by a young guy who said I had to see the sun rise. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen and when I turned to face the crater I could see people making there way down the inside. I’m not sure why we weren’t caught, it was almost like we were invisible as we descended the inner slope of the crater. We had gotten down to an area were there were several trucks being unloaded. Guys were scurrying around taking equipment up to the stage. One of them handed me a box of wiring and told me to take it to the backside of the stage and stay out of sight. We remained there until the people started showing up.

I can not remember who all was playing at the concert . For some reason I had always believed Jethro Tull may have been there but I really don’t remember for sure. What I do remember is it was unlike any concert I had been to. We sat on the ground in front of the stage about twenty yards back. I remember feeling the ground shake. To this day I’m uncertain if it was the reverberation of the music through floor of the crater or the mescaline or both.

I was just a few months away from completing my four year enlistment in the Marine Corps when I went to the concert and though it was not the first or last concert I ever attended it is one of my most memorable life events.

A couple of years ago I was trying to put some of my feelings and life experiences down on paper and I came up with the following poem. I’m just an amateur writer and this probably means more to me than anyone else. Except for a handful of locals that went over the top of Diamondhead that night without being caught.



Basalt and Mescaline
By Doug Sims 12/12/2000
I drank the nectar from the mescal. Just enough to wet my whistle,
Maybe a bit more.
At a two to one inclination one has to be sure of foot and of hand.
The climb was cluttered but once past the brush it became a barren land.
Half way to Diamondhead’s top the journey nearly took a stop
as every step forward, two slid back.
So I sat and stared with unobstructed view down upon moon lit waters.
I drank again the nectar from the mescal. Just enough to wet my whistle.
Maybe a bit more.
Now visions appeared on the sand like ink stains on a blotter.
My days of the ten thousand day war, washed out on the shore.
The gaunt blood stained bodies joining the patriots of folklore.
My mind whirled my head hurt now was the time to be done with that damn war.
I drank again the nectar from the mescal. Just enough to wet my whistle.
Maybe a bit more.
Now I could hear voices like angels from above only the songs were not of joy.
“If you don’t move you will never see the inside” it was not an angel just a boy.
Then I remembered it was a festival I had come to see,
So I drug myself to the top and left my war, to wash endlessly out to sea.
And I shared the last of nectar from the mescal, with a boy who had large aboriginal hair. It was just enough to wet our whistle. Maybe a bit more.

[Miulang]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Good news for the younger generations who were jealous of the recollections of the older generation about the good times that were had at Diamond Head Crater Festivals in the 1970s.

The Diamond Head Crater Festival will return in 2006 (April 22). Only 7,500 tickets will be sold, so this will be one of those "scalp with impugnity" events unless everyone respects the spirit in which it is being held.

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

I'm toying with the idea of assembling in one place as much info about the old Diamond Head Crater Festivals as I can.

After seeing how easily and wonderfully a wiki solution worked for collaboratively and openly building a resource for the Hawaii Music Scene, I thought I'd launch a project for the Diamond Head Crater Festivals.

Know anything about the festivals? Remember any of the line-ups, the personalities behind it, or just have a remembrance to share? Check out the Wiki. Once you set up a free account, anyonecan edit, add to, or correct any page. Know a name or company but don't know anything about it? Just [[link]] it - and anyone else who sees it can fill in the blanks. Want to make a new section? Add it! Think the organization could be improved? Just do it.

Working together as a group, the Diamond Head Crater Festivals wiki can grow easily and organically and help collect every last detail we can come up with. Then, after a huge chunk of information is collected, it can then be compiled into a more static and permanent online reference.

Psst, zztype and kimo55... You can start a Sunbums page.

Heck, I just did! Have at it!

[kimo55]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Wow. too cool.
Next stop:
Video Documentary!

[pzarquon]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

All right. I've used up all my Google-Fu. I've prepopulated the Diamond Head Festivals and Sunbums wikis with all the information I could find in a few frantic hours of searching. I added a dozen or so artists to the festival line-ups (though I had a hard time finding specific dates), and added a few organizer/behind-the-scenes names that I could find (some from this thread, of course).

If you were involved, of course, add yourself! And if you just have an observation to share, add that, too, under "Remembrances & Anecdotes."

The rest is up to you. Really!

[kimo55]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Maybe Sunbums should be another thread here?!

from my stack of old Sunbums; a beer ad wit our friends Cecelio and Cuz Henry.
from 1977.


appropriately plastered on the garage beer reefer.



no, the original was not harmed.

[kimo55]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

and if anyone's interested, I just saw at da collector's show, at least one or two booths/vendors that have original Diamond Head Crater Festivals posters in purdarn good condition. go HIC and check um out this sat and sun.

[Rick]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

I worked all of the Crater Festivals from the early 1970s. My first involvement was as a volunteer with the Waikiki Drug Clinic manning the medical tent; lots of bizzare stories there.

From 1976-on I worked the sound stages as a member of the Audissey Sound crew. Worked the small Hawaiian stage, mixing audio from the back of a VW bus, then working up to the Rock stage and eventually the Main stage. The most memorable was the July 3 & 4, 1977 Festival, working with Elvin Bishop, Journey, Styx, Detective, Mackie Feary, Flash Cadillac and others.

Remember the year of the huge brush fire ?

I have an archived collection of most of the original Festival posters and a few other related items, plus lots of memories. I have jpegs of the posters if any one is interested in seeing them. The poster artwork is unique and captures the period. Many posters list the headliners, all the big names of the 70s.

Also did many memorable shows at UH Andrews Amphitheater.

rspaloha@pixi.com

[tlchawaii]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Where do I start... I started Audissey Sound Company in the early 70's, and my first Crater job was the small local music stage.. did that for two years and then made our (all those at Audissey) to the rock stage and the last three years of the crater did the main stage.. Lots of good times and great music... I just loved the freedom that we had in those days... I have some posters (most in good shape) and some old t-shirts as well as lots of pictures.. If anyone out there has any idea about the price the posters are going for, let me know I need some money for medical expences and would be willing to let them good (boo hoo)... Also have a large collection of 60's San Francisco rock and roll posters that is also up for grabs... Will close for now... Aloha Sam Holt

[YoungNeil]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Looks like they're beginning to name acts that will be playing at the Crater Festival...

http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searcha...&Date=04/01/06

[Pomai]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Looks like they're beginning to name acts that will be playing at the Crater Festival...

http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searcha...&Date=04/01/06

Wow.. Steve Miller Band. Looks like it's gonna' have some big names. Perhaps Journey and Styxx will show up as well to relive the experience! Wishful thinking, I know.

Just curious... what's the issue with collateral noise levels around Diamond Head Crater? Do adjacent neighborhoods such as Kahala and Kapahulu-Monserrat areas have a legitimate reason to complain about holding music concerts in the crater?

From a casual observation, it seems the elevated outer perimeter of the crater would contain the noise and channel most sound waves upward into the oblivion of the sky above.

On the other hand, this may actually have a compounding effect and AMPLIFY the sound even louder just outside the crater's edge.

[mel]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

People might want to attend or at least keep track of the Waialae-Kahala and Diamond Head neighborhood boards. Their meeting agendas and minutes are posted here:

Waialae-Kahala
http://www.honolulu.gov/nco/nb3/index.htm

Diamond Head-Kapahulu
http://www.honolulu.gov/nco/nb5/index.htm

The concert proposal for Diamond Head has been discussed at past meetings.

[808shows.com]

Re: Diamond Head Crater Festivals

Had a half day off, really looking forward to this, and so I put something together:

808shows.com/_crater.html


anything to add?




also, a new newsletter came out at midnight... and is also now online:

808shows.com/news.html


ALOHA and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
take care!!!