Balance rules this poster, not only in the geometry of the rectangles but in the ying-yang symbol solemnly presented by Wilson's maiden. All roads converge on, or perhaps emanate from, the all-seeing eye, and Moby Grape was in its heyday.
Both 1st printing variations were printed before the concert.
1st printing A (see BG040-1A) has a yellow background and blue ink. There is a good deal of ink and stock variation throughout this run, but the yellow/blue combination denotes the 1st printing A handbill. It measures 4 7/16" x 7 9/16".
1st printing B has a light olive green background and blue ink. There is a good deal of ink and stock variation throughout this run, but the green/blue combination denotes the 1st printing B handbill. It measures 4 7/16" x 7 5/8".
When the Avalon Ballroom and Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium began to hold weekly dance concerts, Wilson was called upon to design the posters. He created psychedelic posters from February 1966 to May 1967, when disputes over money severed his connection with Graham. Wilson pioneered the psychedelic rock poster. Intended for a particular audience, "one that was tuned in to the psychedelic experience," his art, and especially the exaggerated freehand lettering, emerged from Wilson's own involvement with that experience and the psychedelic art of light shows.