Celebrate The Summer Of Love With A Psychedelic Light Show And A Surrealistic Summer Solstice Jam!!!

Flowers will power the night this summer as the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park becomes the canvas for an elegant light art installation to honor San Francisco’s city-wide celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. 

Developed in partnership with San Francisco Recreation and Parks by Illuminate, the nonprofit arts group behind The Bay Lights, and Obscura Digital, a world-renowned creative studio specializing in large scale light-based art, the installation will use gobo projectors to transform the all-white landmark with a series of exquisitely illuminated scenes inspired by the rare tropical flowers within, and the legacy of San Francisco’s flower children.

“The Summer of Love was always about an energy – a spark – bringing love and light at a time when the world needed it,” said Ben Davis, Director of Illuminate. “We are bringing that light back to where it all began in Golden Gate Park fifty years later with an electrifying, contemporary tribute.”

“Obscura has done projections on iconic buildings around the world, and we’re thrilled to be using Golden Gate Park’s architectural crown jewel as our latest canvas, here in our hometown,” added Chris Lejeune, CEO of Obscura Digital.

Davis and the Obscura team promise a nightly spectacle of spinning flower mandalas, animated butterflies, and much, much more. The free public installation will be on view nightly from sundown until midnight throughout the summer, June 21 through October 21, 2017.

Surrealistic Summer Solstice Jam

The opening night on 21 June – which coincides with the Summer Solstice – will include a musical celebration from members of the best jam bands San Francisco has to offer, featuring most of the surviving band members of the great bands of 1967.

“The Surrealistic Summer Solstice Jam will combine the music of 1967 with an epic Illuminate and Obscura Digital light show on the Conservatory of Flowers! It will be the most monumental light show the city of San Francisco has ever seen! Dan Lebowitz is music director. The house band will include members of ALO, Moonalice, and other great SF musicians. Jack Casady, Lester Chambers, David Freiberg, Linda Imperial, RonKat, Norman Greenbaum, Barry Melton, Steve Kimock, Dave Getz, Peter Albin, Darby Gould, Joli Valenti, Melvin Seals, Paula Frazer, Leslie Grant, Mark Karan, Jay Lane, Jason Crosby, Steve Adams, Grahame Lesh, Alex Jordan, Greg Loiacono, Lech & Johnny ... and many others are scheduled to perform. The concert and light show are free … no tickets are required, and it's the longest day of the year,” explained Moonalice’s Roger McNamee.

There will be three free posters for those attending, by leading poster artists Alexandra Fisher, John Mavroudis and Darrin Brenner, members of the Haight Street Art Center collective.

"We're really excited to be a part of this thing," Roger continued. "It's part of the on-going Summer of Love Festivals in San Francisco. We encourage you to attend or to watch the live stream, because it'll be fun!" How much fun? This video from the Surrealistic Superjam SF Summer Of Love 50th Anniversary Concert earlier this year gives a taste of musical treats to come on 21 June!

Logistics

Folks with mobility challenges are encouraged to either be dropped off or park near the Nancy Pelosi and Bowling Green corner - or - park in the Music Parking lot under the De Young Museum. Public transportation is HIGHLY recommended!

The following items are not allowed at the event:
No Tents, Canopies, Tables, or other structures
No Unpermitted Vendors
No Coolers larger than 9”x12”
No Barbecues or cooking equipment
No Amplified Sound Equipment
No Generators
No Glass
No Backpacks larger than 9 x 12

Please take the public transportation to the event if possible:
The closest MUNI bus is 5 Fulton bus which runs until the event ends and beyond. You can catch the bus at Fulton Street and 6th Ave, and it is also the closest bus stop to the event.
For Bus Schedule: https://511.org/…/schedules-ag…/agency/363/schedules/route/5
Or Plan Your Travel with Public Transit: www.511.org

However, if you must drive, you can park at Golden Gate Park’s Music Concourse Parking Lot, entrance at Fulton Street and 10th Ave:
Parking will available at the Music Concourse Parking Lot as it will be open late until 11 pm to accommodate parking for the event.

Cars can enter at Fulton Street and 10th or at Lincoln near the Academy of Science. Please note JFK Drive will be closed from 8th to Kezar Drive staring 5AM on Wednesday, June 21st, it will be one of the closest locations for parking.
For maps how to enter – please go to: http://goldengateparking.com/. Cost is a flat $17.

Street Closures -- starting 5AM Wednesday, June 21st until 9AM Thursday, June 22nd the following streets will be closed to vehicles traffic:
JFK Drive between Kezar Drive and 8th Ave
Nancy Pelosi Drive between JFK Drive and Bowling Green Drive
Arguello Street at Fulton Street (entrance into Golden Gate Park)

Surrealistic Summer Solstice Concert and Grand Lighting!

Wednesday, June 21, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (PDT)
date Outside of the Conservatory of Flowers
100 John F Kennedy Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118
Organized by Conservatory of Flowers

Any Song. Anywhere. Anytime. Six Years Of Live Broadcasts For Live-Streaming Pioneer Moonalice

Moonalice live broadcast on an iPad

Six years ago this week, San Fran psychedelic roots jam band Moonalice began live satellite broadcasts using HTML5. What began with iPads and iPhones streaming without an app has now extended to Android, PC, you name it. “The system is surprisingly inexpensive,” Moonalice front man and founder Roger McNamee commented at the time. “We paid a guy to write an HTML5 API and we found a carrier willing to provide bandwidth and storage at cost. The satellite system offers more bandwidth than alternatives at the same price.” 

Why the broadcasts? “People couldn’t have cared less about Moonalice, so we had to use technology just to get off the ground. We figured out Twitter, Facebook, live streaming. It’s not that nobody had ever done it, but nobody had ever been dependent on it the way we were. Instead of a manager or publicist, we spent money on technology and social media. Technology was a lot cheaper and we have built a whole community was around this,” Roger elaborated.

“Moonalice is more like a tribute to a style of show,” Roger explained. “That communal, artistic, very hippie-driven model we grew up with. Technology allowed us to do it. Before buying a ticket or an album, fans could listen to our music online and decide if they liked it. I don’t understand why younger bands aren’t aggressive around this. If your audience was 18-25, this would work 100 times better than it does for us.”

Poster by Chris Shaw

"The original decision to use HTML5 was economic: it was obvious from day one that native apps on iOS and Android would be more expensive and would leave us at the mercy of platform vendors who would never give us the time of day. The app market has been a train wreck for all but a few players, yet almost everyone still makes them," said Roger.

Fast forward to today. "How time flies ... this week is the 6th anniversary of MoonTunes^TM  the HTML5 player that enables Moonalice to stream concerts live to PCs and smart phones,” Roger reminisced. “We have broadcast many hundreds of shows since then, including the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Weather-permitting, we will broadcast today's show from the Good Old Days Festival in Pacific Grove at 1pm PT in HD on http://www.moonalice.com."

Moonalice was also the first band to broadcast all its shows via Facebook Live. Below is the first set from the band's show at Paciaifc Grove yesterday. The benefit of these live broadcasts on Facebook is not only that fans can make comments and communicate with each other during the broadcasts, but the reach is orders of magnitude higher than sharing via link or even an upload. How much larger? Moonalice's reach is regularly in the region of 300- 500K, which translates to a lot of very happy fans!

"Thanks to our amazing Moonalice team, MoonTunes^TM remains the highest performance and lowest cost streaming platform on earth. Thanks to our fans, it has an enthusiastic following. We're proud of it," Roger concluded.

Any song. Anywhere. Anytime. Yesterday I watched the three Moonalice sets from the Good Old Days Festival in Pacific Grove, from a park, on the Interstate, and from my favorite Indian restaurant. Rock on, Moonalice!

Re-Live The Summer That Rocked The World

"The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll" reception last night at the de Young Museum saw Partner, Enthusiast, Sustaining, Supporting, and Contributor Members celebrating the 50th anniversary of the colorful counter culture that blossomed in San Francisco, as they enjoyed an exclusive first look at the exhibition before it opens to the public on Saturday 8 April. 

The experience immerses you in the sights, sounds, and cultural achievements of a summer that rocked the world. Turn back time as you enjoy music, film screenings, art-making, artist-led tours and more while helping celebrate the 50th anniversary of San Francisco's 1967 Summer of Love. Highlights include screen-printing demonstrations by poster art activists, live music from San Francisco Airship and a community-led Human Be-In(volved).

Photograph by Marc Margolis

Featuring a wide array of iconic rock posters, period photographs, interactive music and light shows, “out-of-this-world” clothing, and avant-garde films, this exhibition celebrates San Francisco’s rebellious and colorful counterculture that blossomed in the years surrounding the 1967 Summer of Love. This immersive experience explores, through a succession of themed galleries, the visual and material cultures of a generation searching for personal fulfillment and social change. Presenting key cultural artifacts of the time, San Francisco’s Summer of Love introduces and explores the events and experiences that today define this dynamic era.

“This show is incredible!!! It tells a wonderful story, including, art, music and clothing. The archives of the Haight Street Art Center and Center for Counterculture Studies are well represented," commented Roger McNamee of Bay Area psychedelic jam band Moonalice. "There are 25 or 26 pieces ... keep your eyes peeled!!!” 

Photograph by Marc Margolis

Check out the full program for opening day, and use the hashtag #SummerofLoveSF to share your thoughts and photos during the day via Twitter and Instagram, and watch out for a special Summer of Love geofilter on Snapchat.

All activities are free and open to the public. Pop-up tours require an exhibition ticket. Seats for ‘REVOLUTION’ and 'Berkeley in the Sixties' are free and offered on a first come, first served basis. Fees apply for admission to the special exhibition, ‘The Summer of Love Experience.’

The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion, and Rock & Roll runs April 8th through August 20th at the de Young Museum. Tickets can be purchased at deyoungmuseum.org.

Venue: de Young Museum

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive

San Francisco , CA 94118

Website: http://deyoung.famsf.org/

Moonalice - The Dream Continues

Image: Bob Minkin

Flashback to an interview that Roger McNamee, founder of American folk/roots-with-jam band Moonalice gave in 2015:  

“What I would say to anyone who is reading this is just remember…if you’ve got a dream, never let go. Not ever. You’re gonna have setbacks. I’ve had dozens of them. Some of them have been really horrible. You just, you don’t ever really want to let go because there’s always a chance to have an up after a down. And, in my case, each down has lead to a more interesting up. I don’t know what the next one will be, be, but I look forward to it whatever it ends up being,” he said.

Following your dreams is a recurring theme for both Moonalice and Roger, who has commented about fan favorite, ‘Nick Of Time’ saying, “The song is deeply optimistic, which reflects my philosophy.”

High tech. meets high touch

Moonalice is unique for both its tech. and its tribe - The Tribe is how Moonalice fans describe themselves - with nearly half-a-million fans on social media. 

“We were consciously created to apply technology to the music industry. Being our age, and playing original music and not being a tribute band, we had to use technology to reach people. So the combination of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and then, especially, the video broadcast of every concert. That has been transformational. What’s been really funny is it turns out it wasn’t that expensive to broadcast all the shows,” Roger explained.

The dream continues

After a winter hiatus, Moonalice fans were thrilled to see the announcement of 2017 tour dates which include a SoCal tour, a number of festivals as well as the highly popular and regularly sold-out "Gathering Of The Tribe" at Slim's in San Francisco.

“The 2017 Moonalice tour begins on March 30 with four shows in SoCal with our friends, Cubensis- Grateful Dead Music Experience,” Roger recently posted on Facebook. “Click through to see the dates through early May ... including 4/20 at Slim's!!! Please bring your dancing shoes!!!”

Moonalice is a psychedelic, roots-rock band of seasoned musicians mixing a variety of genres with extended musical improvisations that evoke a sense of adventure and exploration. Everyone is a part of the experience and the music inspires dancing and other acts of self expression.

Every show has an original art poster created by a well-known artist memorializing that event and given to all attendees…each poster has its own Moonalice legend. All concerts are broadcast live in HD and available in archive shortly after their set.

Moonalice plays mostly original material mixed with several covers, and during their extended freeform jams the band moves as one, drawing from many musical genres honed from years of experience playing with various major acts. Their single "It's 4:20 Somewhere" has been downloaded over 6 million times.

Moonalice is:

• John Molo: Drums, Vocals. (Bruce Hornsby & The Range, John Fogerty, Phil Lesh & Friends, The Other Ones, David Nelson Band).
• Barry Sless: Lead Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Bass. (Phil Lesh & Friends, David Nelson Band, Kingfish, Cowboy Jazz).
• Roger McNamee: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Bass. (Guff, The Engineers, Random Axes, Flying Other Brothers)
• Pete Sears: Bass, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals (Sam Gopal Dream, Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Jerry Garcia, Hot Tuna, John Lee Hooker, David Nelson Band, Phil Lesh & Friends).
• Big Steve Parish: Road Scholar/Medicine Man/Storyteller. (Grateful Dead crew for 26 years, co-founder of Jerry Garcia Band)

Fun fact - Moonalice's first show was in May, 2007, which means that the band has a milestone birthday in 2017!

Daydream Doodling Inside The Box

I spent a fascinating morning in The Pfister Hotel's Pop-Up Gallery today. 

Artist Jeanne Nikolai Olivieri’s INSIDE THE BOX exhibit invites you to literally step inside the boxes entitled The Lounge, The Drawing Room, and my personal favorite, The Retreat. The immersive environments invite you to leave a mark on the world, to share part of your self.

"This project is a metaphor for that inner place we go to when we take creative risks.  It also represents the playful creative spaces we built as children, like a tent made of blankets, or a shelter made of branches, places where we felt secure and free to express ourselves."

"It was a knee-jerk reaction to the phrase ‘think outside the box.’ To me, it’s trite and empty.  I mean, every brushstroke, every creation, is a risk.  When we take our biggest risks, we go inside.  That’s why this is called ‘Inside the Box,’ because it’s like getting inside the self."

Jeanne Nikolai Olivieri

Inner playful places to go when we take creative risks? That also offer an emotional oasis? That could only mean one thing...and with a mental hop, skip and a jump it was down the rabbit hole for me, and a happy couple of minutes spent daydream doodling about Moonalice - my favorite band, and about to start their 2017 tour.

What good is a doodle without the requisite Instagram to record it? Which of course involved a further few happy minutes as I fussed to get the shadows just right for my handiwork.

"I don’t like the word ‘should.’  It’s a difficult word.  I’d prefer ‘I could do ___.’  This is all about letting go of ‘should’ so that people have the freedom to create what they want.  These are safe spaces, then, with no requirements.  I ask people to try to refrain from using the word ‘should’ while they create in the boxes."
Jeanne Nikolai Olivieri

I like to think that Jeanne Nikolai Olivieri would have smiled if she could have seen me daydream doodling and having so much fun inside her art today.

Jeanne Nikolai Olivieri’s INSIDE THE BOX exhibit runs through March 4th 2017 in The Pfister’s Pop-Up Gallery.  

The Moonalice 2017 Tour begins 30 March. Fans of San Fran psychedelic rock can find details of their tour here. 

Mark. Your. Calendars. Moonalice 420 Gathering Of The Tribe Returns To Slim's In SF On 20 April!

In a year that marks the 50^th anniversary of the Summer Of Love, the psychedelic scene lives on in the band Moonalice. Formed in 2007, Moonalice reverberates the essence of rock music and is composed of Barry Sless on lead guitar and pedal steel (Phil Lesh & Friends, David Nelson Band); Pete Sears on keys, guitar and bass (Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Hot Tuna); John Molo on drums (Bruce Hornsby, Other Ones, Phil Lesh & Friends) and Roger McNamee on rhythm guitar and bass (Doobie Decibel System, Flying Other Brothers, Guff, The Engineers). 

“We are a psychedelic roots-rock band of seasoned musicians mixing a variety of genres with unexpected musical improvisations," said Roger McNamee describing how Moonalice began when T Bone Burnett approached him and others to form a new band not a heritage act. “What initially was simply a project to make an album of songs, then turned into a force of music all its own,” said McNamee.

What intrigued McNamee and the other band members was the emphasis on making new music, not simply repeating the same material over and over. "Psychedelic lends itself to what is happening today, in terms of technology and social media. Even back in the 1960s and 70s, psychedelic was truly 'a multimedia event' even before that term was being used,” said McNamee. “The light shows, the art work and as far as social networking…back in those days when psychedelic was new and emerging, it was mostly all word of mouth. That was the original social media/networking thing," he explained.

Moonalice streams all its shows live in HD via satellite on its website and also on its Facebook page to its more than 420,000 fans. "With the new technology said McNamee, people can take a peak at the music - our previous performances and decide whether or not they want to come see a show. That way they will know what they are paying for." He emphasized that what they will get is a complete experience. “The live music, the lights, the art work, and the stepping into new horizons of music-expression. It’s kind of like a stew,” he said, “It is experimental, it is meant to be fun, and with the audience being there, it all ties together."

The 2017 annual Moonalice Gathering Of The Tribe will take place at Slim’s in San Francisco on Thursday 20^th April. Doors are at 7:00pm with the show starting at 7:20pm. Tickets are $10 advance, $15 at the door, and $34.95 for dinner.

In addition to the fine music, psychedelic light show and sundry surprises, attendees can expect an amazing display of poster art and to take home a pack of posters which in the past have included more than 20 posters by legends of poster art. Many of the artists will be present and be happy to sign their work!

Roger McNamee Free Super Bowl Tailgate Party Show At Sweetwater Music Hall 5 Feb. 2017

Roger McNamee, founder of San Francisco jam band Moonalice and acoustic duo and band Doobie Decibel System, will be performing at Sweetwater Music Hall on 5 February in a "Super Bowl Tailgate Party." For fans on the "Couch Tour," the show will be broadcast live, starting at 12.30pm PT, in HD, on the Moonalice website as well as to Moonalice's more than 420,000 fans on Facebook.

"My solo concert at Sweetwater Music Hall will begin at 12.30pm PT. Jason Crosby will join me for a Doobie Decibel System duo reunion, too," said Roger. The show is free, the food is great and I would love to share my music with you!!!"

Roger, who spent the majority of his career in the emerging tech industry and is a regular contributor to broadcasts like CNBC’s Squawk Alley, has returned to his roots as a musician. He described his inverted path to the stage in a recent interview, “Here’s how it worked. When I was in college, I was in a really awesome band called Guff.  I think we really had a real shot.  It was 1980 and we were playing really at the intersection of the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and punk, and it was a good time to be playing that kind of music.  We were a quartet and the guy who wrote the songs fell in love and ran away.  I had been supporting myself through all of this and I had all these student loans and then, suddenly, the notion of going off and trying the band thing without our core songwriter just seemed really risky.  So I went off and got a day job.  By a series of total miracles…it worked out really, really well!”

He elaborated, “What was weird is the fact that I was a musician turned out to be the key to it.  I got involved in the personal computer industry when it was just starting out, and the thing that was so funny was that everyone that was in that business was my age.  We all listened to the same music, we all liked the same drugs, and at the trade shows and conferences people would bring instruments and we would have jam sessions…and I knew more songs than everybody else.”

Chuckling, he continued, “So I was sitting there paying with Paul Allen from Microsoft and the head of R & D from Apple, and I got to know all these people as musicians, and if you know somebody from playing music you know them a lot deeper than from just a conversation.  I just…I was just really lucky.  I showed up in the right place at the right time.  The only place a hippie could be successful in business was the tech world.  Steve Jobs, bless his heart…famously said “Never trust someone who hasn’t taken acid.”  And that WAS the personal computer industry.  And that felt pretty normal to me, weirdly enough right? I’m not really a business person, but I did have a really lucky run in the tech world and that allowed me to get back to playing on my own, being able to play in bands. I’m blessed.”

Roger is the lead vocalist and plays bass and guitar with Moonalice, playing 90-100 shows a year since 2007. Moonalice has been a pioneer in leveraging technology to build a national audience and has one of the most engaged fan bases on social media with more than a half a million fans. The Moonalice Couch Tour™ on Moonalice.com enables fans to watch any show on a smartphone or PC without an app. Moonalice works with a group of more than 24 poster artists to produce a unique poster for every concert. In 2014, Roger and Jason Crosby (Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Susan Tedeschi Band) formed a duo, Doobie Decibel System that has since expanded to a band including Dan Lebowitz, Pete Sears and Jay Lane. A special version on the band will be performing at this year’s BottleRock Napa Festival.

Attendees at the Sweetwater Tailgate Super Bowl Tailgate Party can expect an acoustic show with a of a range of original ballads as well as covers, like this rendition of The Beatles’ “Here There And Everywhere” that he recently shared via a live Facebook broadcast – and to take home memories of a jolly good time out as well as a commemorative poster by Moonalice art director, Chris Shaw.

Moonalice's New CD - HIGH 5 - Will Help You Live A Little

As Moonalice fans who call themselves "The Tribe" will affirm, Moonalice is more than a band - it's lifestyle lived in tie-dye technicolor as glorious as the video wall which makes its appearance at many Moonalice shows. Fans check the sepia of everyday life at the door of Moonalice concerts, and enter an emotional oasis where for a few hours the world seems like a kinder, happier place - an oasis that they can then access and relive at will on the band's social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - or on the band's own radio station, Moonalice Radio. 

Moonalice is Roger McNamee, Pete Sears, Barry Sless and John Molo -  a seasoned ensemble of talented jam and rock scene musicians blending evocative lyrical prowess with blistering instrumental mastery. Everyone, both the band and audience are part of the experience - feeding off each others' energy while the music inspires dancing and other acts of self expression.

Roger McNamee recently talked to Digital Journal about the band's new CD called "HIGH 5" which was officially released with a concert at the Terrapin Crossroads' Grate Room on October 6th. He said, "Even though we have released CD's before, this is where we went back to the full-album LP style. In our previous CD's we didn't have much rhyme or reason, thought or input. It was just getting songs out there."

He added, "With 'HIGH 5' it is much more. In this CD we have something deeper. In my mind, 'HIGH 5' is a notion of breaking out of the usual routine in the hopes of making things better. The songs on this CD could have been written when we were young," noting that, "In youth the goals are more about simple things. But in maturity life has more complexity. This new CD forms the core of our repertoire, in that we want to help make a positive impact." 

Moonalice is about having fun and sharing music but as Roger pointed out, "The songs on this CD are reflective of a full lifetime; a life that has matured and come to an understanding of things." 

He mentioned that in society right now, there is "lack of trust, people are really struggling just to survive (financially and for some emotionally). There is an uncertainty about the future. These are things that are effecting everyone." 

As a musician, he said, "It is not everyday where we can write songs like this. And, as I see it, it is our opportunity to share these songs, their meaning and to see how our audience/fans receive them."

A GratefulWeb review of HIGH 5 describes CD highlights: "McNamee’s vocals on the opening track “Live A Little” are reminiscent of the finest classic Eagles and Byrds singles. The next track “Summer Rain’ yearns for those beautiful memories past, evoking and provoking imagery in the vein of Bruce Cockburn’s early material. The Pete Sears led tracks “Unsung Heroes” and “Lady of the Highlands” show off the modestly understated vocal range of the multi-instrumentalist. The album’s title track is a remarkable Barry Sless composition, inspired by Joe Morello/Dave Brubeck’s canonical original “Take 5.” Always consistent as the rhythmic heartbeat of Moonalice is John Molo who takes each unalike track with such precision that no other percussionist could realize."

"Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" is a personal favorite. One of the best-known American songs of the Great Depression, it is a bittersweet reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

The HIGH 5 CD is available for $10 in the Moonalice Store.

Track Listing:

Live A Little (That's Right)

Summer Rain

You

Unsung Heroes

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Lady Of The Highlands

High Five

Paradise

I Can't Help But Wonder (Where I'm Bound)

A live performance of "HIGH 5" by Moonalice at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, 2014.

Doobie Decibel System – Tight Harmonies Create Harmonic Resonance

Improvisational ‘friends night’ evenings featuring local up-and-coming bands have revitalized the Bay Area music scene. "Says Roger McNamee, reflecting on the formation of Doobie Decibel System, “Those of us who live in the Bay Area are blessed to have venues by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. San Francisco hadn’t been interested in up-and-coming bands for a long time, but Sweetwater and Terrapin Crossroads completely changed that.”

It was in this context that Roger first met Jason Crosby (Assembly of Dust, Robert Randolph, God Street Wine, Lesh, Weir), who had recently relocated from the East Coast. He invited Jason to sit in with Moonalice at Sweetwater. This, in turn, led Jason to Roger’s home, where they shared a revelatory moment after they opened a book of Beatles sheet music and arbitrarily performed “Two of Us.” During this impromptu porch performance that Roger’s wife, Ann, who has a Ph.D. in music theory, noticed was there was something about the pairing of Roger’s voice with Jason’s, where a harmonic resonance was created that the ear heard as a third part.

That casual porch session led to a new, more formal musical partnership. The name of their duo, a riff on the library classification system, was Jason’s own term for the method he employs to keep track of the songs he performs with so many different acts.

While Doobie Decibel System began as a two-piece, the group performed at this year’s Lockn’ as a quintet, with ALO guitarist Lebo, longtime Weir drummer Jay Lane and Bay Area mainstay and multi-instrumentalist Pete Sears. (DDS also gigs as a Trio with Lebo.) The band’s shows are archived on its website and, as Roger notes, in all three iterations, “Tight harmony is an essential part of what we do. The fundamentally acoustic foundation of the music is quite distinct from Moonalice, which is pretty clearly a jamband.”

The crowd at a sold out show at Sweetwater last night got to rock out to Doobie Decibel System perform as a Trio as they supported Tom Hamilton's American Babies – who were joined by Bob Weir. The show was broadcast live on the web as well as on the Moonalice Facebook page. 

Those that missed yesterday’s off the hook show can watch the video below, and can also catch a second show that will be broadcast live tonight, 19 November, at 9pm PT. Those that attend in person are not only guaranteed good food and a fun time at a great venue, they will also receive the beautiful poster shown above from well-known Bay Area poster artist, Alexandra Fischer, a member of the Haight Street Art Center.

Steve DeAngelo: Prop 64 not perfect, but a really essential next step

Mill Valley community gathering place and venue icon Sweetwater Music Hall last night rocked to a “Get OutThe Vote Concert” to raise awareness on Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act(AUMA), with a show headlined by Moonalice and also featuring Lorin Rowan and the 420 Waldos. The show was opened with a talk by Steve DeAngelo, one of the founders of the Harborside Health Center in Oakland, CA, followed by Lindsay Robinson, director of development of the Marijuana Policy Project, answering questions about Proposition 64 and AUMA.

A survey released by Field Poll and the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California suggests that 57% of likely voters support Proposition 64. As reported by the Huffington Post, that’s similar to the 58% support that the University of Southern California’s Dornslife College and the Los Angeles Times found in a poll released earlier this week.

Roger McNamee, cannabis reform advocate and Moonalice founder, whose "first and driving motivation on Prop 64 is about civil rights," started the evening by explaining why he is so strongly supportive of Prop 64, saying, “This is California and this year on November 8th there is at least one really good thing that can happen. That is that we can pass Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. This is something that is long overdue and absolutely I think essential to the welfare of our state."

Describing the negative impact of the black market in cannabis, Roger said, "As you know, we have an enormous black market in cannabis in California. It takes place outside the economy. It has huge negative environmental consequences. It has huge negative consequences for employees. It has huge negative consequences for everybody who's involved because it's a felony. We have a chance to fix all of that. We have a chance to address the civil rights violations of people of color who are arrested and incarcerated at three times their rate of usage. We can do a lot of really good things.”

Prop 64 – Not perfect, but a really essential next step

In introducing Steve DeAngelo, Roger said, “Folks have sent us a ton of questions on Facebook and on Twitter saying, "Hey, we don't understand this thing." There's been a lot of disinformation in the marketplace. The guys on the other side of this thing are people in the opiate business, people in the hard liquor business whose businesses are threatened by the legalization of cannabis. They've spread a lot of disinformation.”

Steve DeAngelo began by saying that to him Prop 64 was also a compromise, but one that needed to be made, “Let's think about what is this thing 64 in the first place. It's a law. It's a law that's going to be passed by the people as opposed to the legislature, but it's a law. Like most laws, it's a compromise. There were many, many different groups who got around the table to help draft Prop 64. Some of them had interest A or interest B. There were a lot of different opposing interests that needed to come together around that table to put together a team that could get this initiative on the ballot, and compromises were made in the process of drafting.”

Steve continued, “The result, from my point of view, is there is stuff in there that I love. One of things is that people like me who have felony cannabis convictions will be able to be licensed in the legal cannabis industry under Prop 64. There's things in there that I really, really, really don't like, like the power of local governments anywhere to overrule the will of the voters of California and say that, "Just in our little city, in our little town, in our county, we're not going to allow a legal cannabis industry. Even though the voters of California approved this law." Is there stuff I like? Yeah. There's stuff I like. Is there stuff I really find distasteful? Yes, absolutely.”

“That's generally the way it is with almost all laws in a democratic society,” Steve said. “That's what we do. We come around a table. We have disagreements. We have different interests. We trade things off, and we come up with compromises. Prop 64 is very much a compromise. We need to understand that it's not perfect, but it is a really essential next step. It comes at a really, really critical time in our country. We can disagree from now until eternity about the details of Prop 64, what you like, what I like. The reality is we are in the midst of an election season that we do not know how it's going to turn out.”

With the results of the election on November 8 uncertain, Steve stressed the importance of not losing the vote on Prop 64, saying, “If we don't pass Prop 64, to the only west coast state where cannabis is still illegal under state law, they will come to California, and they will unleash a reign of terror on the Emerald Triangle and in our cities and on our manufacturers and on our patients that will make what happened in 2011 look like a practice rehearsal. We can't afford to lose this one. This is not an election where we know what is going to be the outcome.”

“Best thing ever for small growers of the Emerald Triangle”

Many of the concerns that people have about Prop 64 are about the impact that it will have on small growers. Steve addressed this saying, “I've heard questions from folks like: What will happen to small growers? Is Monsanto coming? Is there going to be a corporate take over? The answer to most of those really, really scary questions, in my opinion, is mostly no. Mostly no.”

Talking about the need of “letting go” and “one last sacrifice” that needed to be made by the community of cannabis growers, Steve said, “We won't do it alone, we're not going to do that alone. There's not enough hippies in northern California, there's not enough of us, our arms aren't long enough to reach all around the world. We need to welcome new people who have just heard this call that we've called for so long, that we followed for so long into this community, and allow them to help us carry this plant forward.”

Set the cannabis culture free

Steve stressed that there is “enough room in the new cannabis industry for everybody who wants to be there,” and that Prop 64 will be “the best thing ever for the small growers of the Emerald Triangle who are the folks that are probably the most nervous about Prop 64 right now.”

Talking about the multi-generational community in the Emerald Triangle that is centered on the production of cannabis and that has developed a culture that “lives by the lessons and the values that the plant teaches us,” Steve said, “Set that culture free. Let that culture have wings. Let us bring an avalanche, a river of tourists from all over the world. Let's bring them into our communities, let's show them what a community that lives by these lessons and values actually looks like. That's what 64 can do for the Emerald Triangle.”

Lose Prop 64 – Lose the national market

Steve concluded his talk by describing what would happen if Prop 64 did not pass, saying, “What happens if we don't pass 64? Two things. One, the federal crackdown that I was talking about before. Two, other states are moving forward. They're not going to stop. Today California has cannabis as it's number one cash crop. Number one cash crop. We outproduce every single other state in the country by far. If we don't pass 64, those states are going to start gaining on us. Colorado, which has legal cannabis. Alaska even, Washington, Oregon, they're not waiting. They will start claiming ever larger parts of that national market. 90% of the cannabis in California is grown and sent out of state. We all know that. We don't talk about it much but we know that. We don't want to lose that market. We lose 64 then what happens is we also lose ... start eroding our share of that national market"

Perfection can't be the enemy of progress

Lindsay Robinson from the Marijuana Policy Project began her talk by reinforcing what Steve had said about Prop 64 not being a “perfect law,” saying, “As Steve was saying this is not a perfect law by any means. It took many many months. Advocates were at the table, business leaders, concerned parties, patients. There was a huge group represented that tried to come together to make something that would work for California that would recognize the long and incredibly diverse history that folks in California have with the cannabis plant but also make something that could actually be passed.”

“We needed to find a middle ground between voters who live in conservative areas and growers in the Emerald Triangle,” she continued, “I think we have found that. One of the good things is that Prop 64 there are portions of it that can be voted on again in other ballot initiatives. It is the will of the people and parts of it can be changed. I think that we can't have perfection be the enemy of progress. I really do believe that this is a step forward.”

Addressing concerns

Addressing some of the concerns around Prop 64, particularly those about corporate take-over, Lindsay said, “There are going to be 19 licensing options moving forward with Prop 64. They will work on cultivation, processing, retail, testing, et cetera. One of the things that I think is really interesting is that for the first five years the law will not allow really large cultivation and it also won't allow those cultivations to be vertically integrated. I think that will help with some of the concern of really large businesses and really large monopolies forming in California. I know that is a concern for a lot of people. There is some wording in there that I think will help with that.”

With respect to what is legal under Prop 215 and new felonies, Lindsay said, “If they are right now legal under 215, they will stay legal under Prop 64. That's really important to know. No new felonies will be created.” She continued, “I think probably having a large quantity of marijuana on you, that currently you could face six months in jail if you had over an ounce. In almost anywhere in California realistically you could face six months in jail, that will not happen under Prop 64. That's really exciting.”

She stressed that sales tax would not need to be paid by medical card users saying, “There will be a new 15% sales tax on recreational or adult use marijuana. That will not apply to people who still have medical cards, they will be exempt from that sales tax.”

Regarding use of the tax fund, Lindsay said, “Annually basically we're looking at ten million dollars going to the University of California to study legalization, see its effects, understand the wide scale issues that folks are dealing with, how the regulations are working, how they're not. This is an interesting piece, 15 million dollars over five years will go to studying and creating DUI protocols. That's a huge issue right now. One that I don't think has been currently worked out in Prop 64. That's something that's going to continued to be studied and worked on. We're looking at 2 million dollars a year to medical marijuana research. That is incredible.”

She continued, “60% of the remaining money in the tax fund will go to youth prevention, education, and treatment. Environmental restoration, that's another one that's going to be receiving money from illegal grows. Hugely devastating to certain areas. There is going to be money that goes to that. There is going to be money that goes to law enforcement in helping to enforce these regulations.”

With regard to losing Prop 215 protection, Lindsay said, “Prop 64 is not going to touch the protection that folks have under 215 now. This is also incredible and super exciting. Upwards of 50 million dollars over the next five years is going to go to grants for communities that have been disenfranchised by this war on marijuana. That is bad ass so I hope that you guys are exciting about because as an activist that is really meaningful.”

Lindsay concluded by taking about the benefits of Prop 64 to veterans, saying, “One thing I think is also really exciting is that right now most veteran doctors, anyone going through the VA, they don't talk to their doctors about medical marijuana. There is a huge stigma with vets and the doctors are actually not allowed to recommend that veterans use medical marijuana. Now vets don't necessarily have to talk to their doctors about it or they can, but it will allow people who are suffering from ailments to receive medicine even if they're not necessarily getting a recommendation from their doctor. I think that's huge as well and really exciting.”

Watch the whole "Get Out The Vote" concert below:

Roger McNamee, Pat Nevins and Jordan Feinstein join Paige Clem at the Bazaar Café on Nov. 15

Remember those times when you sat in front of your record player playing your favorite records, again, and again, and again? Fast forward to your first car, road trips and playing those 8-tracks over, and over, and over? And then there were the cassette tapes and now mp3s… There were always those songs that you could never hear enough of…

Roger McNamee (Moonalice, Doobie Decibel System and solo artist) writes those kinds of songs. Songs that have you hitting “replay” because they reach in and squeeze your heart – because you know that there’s a back story.

Songs like “I’m Glad You Think So,” about relationships that get out of balance, or “Nick Of Time,” which is a letter of support to a friend struggling with life changes, or “Angle Of Repose” written in memory of a dear friend that passed too soon.

Roger’s songs reflect his very positive outlook on life – and his desire to make the world a better and a happier place for his fans – even if it is only for the duration of a show. As he describes in this interview, “I was raised by parents who taught me to try and make a positive impact on the world.  I’m a dyed-in-the-wool hippie who happened to get really lucky, okay, and I just try and share that good fortune with everyone I meet.”

On November 15 Roger joins Pat Nevins (Shakey Zimmerman), Jordan Feinstein, and San Francisco singer-songwriter Paige Clem for a highly-intimate song-sharing session. As part of her third Bazaar Café Songwriters Residency, every Tuesday in the month of November, Paige is leading legendary local songwriters “in the round” as they perform original music in an unplugged, acoustic setting. All ages and no cover charge!

Good news for fans in the Bay area that can attend this show, is that as Roger describes it, “I will be including some songs I don't play as often as I would like.” My fingers are crossed for “I’m Glad You Think So” – a personal favorite since the very first time I played it!

Roger McNamee - My First And Driving Motivation On California Proposition 64 Is About Civil Rights

Roger McNamee, musician and advocate for cannabis reform in the United States, recently shared his thoughts on California's Proposition 64 and his support for #YesOn64. Here are some of the highlights from his recent live Facebook broadcast. Scroll down to see the video. 

Roger began, "I'm here to tell you, on November 3rd, Thursday, November 3rd, Moonalice is going to be playing a concert at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California. That's the venue owned by BobWeir of the Grateful Dead. We're going to be there on November 3rd for a Proposition 64 awareness concert. We're going to be joined at that show by Steve DeAngelo, the founder of the Harborside Health Center, which is the first, the largest, and in my opinion the best medical dispensary in the state of California. He's going to be there to answer all your questions."

He continued, "There is a tremendous campaign being waged by people who are coming out of industries like the pharmaceutical opiate industry, the hard liquor industry, for-profit prisons, and other people who are trying to protect the status quo, to keep our state from making what is a really, really, really important next step in the battle to free people from just the hell that has been the war on drugs. I want you to understand a few things. Proposition 64 is just a step. It's one in a long line. It's not perfect, but we're going to fix what's wrong with it, and it is so much better than what we have now that I want to encourage you to listen to the arguments that I want to make right now so that you can appreciate why I'm so enthusiastic about this."

It's a matter of civil rights

"My first and driving motivation on Prop 64 is about civil rights," Roger said. "I don't know if you know this, but did you realize that people of color are arrested and incarcerated for marijuana at three times not just the rate of the population but thee times the rate of usage of marijuana? Essentially the drug laws are the foundation of the new Jim Crow. This is the way that white supremacists, one of the core ways for controlling people of color. It's really horrible. It's a tremendous waste of law enforcement resources. The people who are caught in the cross-hairs of this, it's so, so hard to recover. The only way, the only way we can help them is by taking this important step to legalize cannabis in the state of California."

He added passionately, "To me, this is a civil rights issue. For me, it's not an investment opportunity. For many people it will be. My focus is, if I have anything I can do about this, I want to make sure that people of color get special advantages to come into this industry and be successful, because frankly they're the ones who've been abused by these laws all the way along, and they deserve a chance to be part of whatever success comes. Let's not kid ourselves. This is a humongous industry today. It's $50 billion. The notion that this isn't dominated by big business? It is. It's dominated by big crime. Our job is to get this into the legitimate economy so that it can help everybody."

Continuing, Roger said, "I'm sitting there going, look, you're free to vote any way you want, but if you want to vote in a way that you can feel really good about, just ask yourself the following question: How often do you get to make a vote that directly impacts the civil rights of people in our state? How often do we get to do that? I'm involved in this because I grew up in a family where civil rights was a big deal. My parents were super active in the '60s in the civil rights movement. I was raised to believe that that stuff really matters, so I'm doing everything in my power to try to fix the great wrong that has been done to people of color in the name of the war on drugs. I'm inviting all of you to join me."

Other reasons for saying #YesOn64

Roger elaborated on other reasons for saying #YesOn64, "There are lots of other reasons to do this. Let me just list a few of them. The first thing to understand is that California has a gigantic black market today, and the black market for marijuana is somewhere between $20 and $70 billion a year. The folks at Harborside would tell you somewhere between $50 and $70 billion is probably the correct number. A lot of this is in the hands of people who are growing illegally in state parks and national parks with enormous environmental consequences. None of the people who work in that industry get health insurance. They don't get social security. There is no labor protection. There was a story in The New York Times this week about people who are being abused, I mean physically abused working in that industry because everything is currently illegal. That's just wrong."

He continued, "The key thing here is that the state of California needs to accept the fact that marijuana is the largest cash crop in our state, and that having it outside the legitimate economy, it's just crazy. This is a commonsense thing that we're trying to do here. Again, it's a step along the way. Prop 64 does not do anything about bringing the black market into the legitimate economy, but it sets the basis for it. It sets the next step that essentially creates and normalizes the cannabis industry in our state. It allows a bunch of really important things to happen. The first thing that it does is that it's going to begin to create a real industry, so the folks who've labored so hard during the medical era have a chance to also address the portion of the market that is, if you will, adult use."

"Why is that important? The reason it's important is that we want this inside our economy. We want to regulate it," said Roger. "We would like to tax it, because the state needs more money for education. It needs more money for mental health care. It needs more money for infrastructure. The reality is, if you had a 10% tax on cannabis all the way through the industry and somehow you were able to get two-thirds of the black market to be part of the real economy, it would literally change the economics of the state of California dramatically. Effectively it would be as important to California as oil has been to the state of Texas. I think that would be a really, really good idea. I think in many ways marijuana is that important to the state of California. Let's make it part of the mainstream economy."

Opponents' disinformation campaign

Describing the plethora of #NoOn64 memes on social media, Roger said, "There have been a ton of complaints that this is going to be bad for smaller farmers, that it's going to create new crimes that currently aren't crimes. All of that stuff, all the stuff you've been reading on Facebook, it's coming from people who profit from the status quo, and it misses some points. There are clearly some things wrong with the bill. I think it is stupid to have misdemeanor for certain kinds of growing at home. That's nuts, but let's remember, today it's a felony. This is clearly a step in the right direction."

He continued, "Is it perfect? Not even close, but I am now working more or less full-time trying to get this done, trying to help our state get this right. I'm working with the Lieutenant Governor's Office. I'm working with other people in our state government. I'm working with people in the federal government. Why am I doing this? I'm doing this because people of color have been victimized by these laws for ages. Our state needs the tax revenues. The people who work in this industry need better protections. It's not going to go perfectly. We're going to make mistakes. We're going to fix them. We've got to do this   together."

  

"Here's the thing. The disinformation campaign being waged by the people who make opiate pharmaceuticals, by the people who make hard liquor, by the for-profit prison companies and all that, their disinformation campaign has caused the polling to get much tighter," said Roger. "It shouldn't be that way. This is a core part of our economy. Let's just do the right thing and treat it with the respect it deserves. Let's treat the people with respect. I want to protect small business."

Rocking the prop

Roger described the show (embedded below) of his band Moonalice in support of Prop 64, saying, "On November 3rd at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California, Moonalice is going to be playing a show. We've invited Steve DeAngelo, the founder of the Harborside Health Center, the largest, the first dispensary in the state of California, to come and answer your questions. Come and meet Steve. Come and meet the other people from Harborside. It's going to be a fun show, but we're going to learn a lot, and we're going to bring the tribe together to do something for civil rights that we can all be incredibly proud of." 

He concluded by saying, "I will tell you, I don't pretend that Prop 64 solves the whole problem. In politics it never works that way. In politics you make small steps and you make lots of them, and you keep at it and you're determined and you fight for the right thing. If you're really lucky, you live to see the finish line. I look at all my friends in the LGBTQ community and the incredible job they did on marriage equality, and I admire them for just hanging in there and fighting the good fight. Look what's happened. They've been really successful. If we elect the right person President this year, we're going to keep all of those gains. Now is the time to do the same thing for cannabis. Join me. Vote "Yes" on Proposition 64 on November 8th."



Everyone who attends the Prop 64 awareness concert at Sweetwater Music Hall on 3 November will receive a set of 11 #yeson64 posters, including these posters by Dennis Loren, Carolyn Ferris and Wes Wilson and Wendy Wright, Moonalice artists from the Haight Street Art Center collective.