My dad asked if I’d heard about the Oregon State sponsored Vortex I Rock Concert back in 1970. I had not so I read a little and asked a few of the old AV types at work about it. The reason for the event is apparently to draw hippies away from Portland while Nixon was in town.
One of the older AV types said it was more proof that then Governor Tom McCall was the last good Republican, though admitted that he and his family were probably at church praying for said hippies.
The whole thing is rather bizarre and mysterious (especially given its proximity to Altamont in California) and I can’t tell if it was a creative solution by a creative and insightful governor, or a seedy distraction.
I remember something about the concert… my parents and several others all got together, hired a group babysitter and took off for the Vortex Rock Concert for several days. Yes, leaving us behind to enjoy dry peanut butter sandwiches while they experienced this historical event. They weren’t hippies per say, but this was their peer group just the same.
I’d love to see more photographs. Did anyone bother to document the event while it was going on? And, do you know what bands performed?
Thanks!