Cirkus opens for Jefferson Airplane - Photos courtesy Jeff Allen
Jeff Allen, bass player in the band Cirkus sent along this note and another couple of photos. Judging from the comments there is enough interest in the subject to add to the conversation. If you missed the original post Acid Rock Lights Up the Night and a few extra photos in a followup post Acid Rock Flashback.
Hi David
A friend forwarded me a copy of your SLO psychedelic rock scene (Jan 9, 2010), and it was fun to remember, having been a part of it. I’ve attached a couple of photographs that went right in there with the rest of it all. One is taken inside the Establishment of the band I played in: Cirkus. Our lead singer was a guy named David Riordan who owned that Fender 12 String that you referred to in your article. The light show that played all over town and at Cal Poly was called the Light Brigade. The next picture is of our band when we opened for Jefferson Airplane when they played at Cal Poly in the main gym, and the last picture is a promo shot taken behind the Establishment at the back door where members of the Standells once made a quick exit to their limo, having helped themselves to more than their share of the money taken from admission receipts of customers coming to the club that night. Those were the days…
If you look at the picture of the band on the stage, Jeff Allen on the left playing bass. Dennis Pierce, lead guitar (kneeling down in front of the amplifier), Garth Redfield, drums, David Riordan sang most of the leads, and Rich Kruse (far right), rhythm guitar, and sang leads.