The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, Alexander Palace, London, April 29 1967

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• published: 16 Oct 2015
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Man Alive - What Is A Happening?, BBC Two, England, Broadcast, May 17 1967 (The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, Alexander Palace, London, April 29 1967). (Look Out For The Band's 'Tomorrow' & 'The Flies') - 'Tomorrow' At 11.06, Playing 'Three Jolly Little Dwarfs' & 'The Flies' At 20.05, Playing 'Purple Haze') It is also it is great to see the 'Freaks' dancing to The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows' at 4.15. Plus the guy, at 14.21 is a true 'FREAK', to have that 'Mohawk' hairstyle in 1967, must have 'Blown' Everybody Away! 1967 0r 1977! A weekly programme which focuses on people and the situations which shape their lives Reporters: Angela Huth , Jeremy James John Percival , Trevor Philpott Desmond Wilcox This week: WHAT IS A HAPPENING? ... and who are the Beautiful People? What is it like to live-and not sleep — a ' fourteen-hour Technicolour Dream '? Seven thousand English people went through a night of psychedelic experience at Alexandra Palace finding out. So did three Man Alive film crews and their reporters. There were never less than three pop groups playing; there were inflatable plastic events; mountains of bananas; concerts of coloured lights. The organisers made a profit and the message of love, beauty, peace, and gentleness was spread. Whether you are square or groovy, way out or mellow yellow, you ought to try and understand-it seems there are going to be more. Directors: JULIAN JACOTTET , RICHARD THOMAS Edited by DESMOND WILCOX and BILL MORTON. At the time, The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream was described as a multi-artist event, featuring poets, artists and musicians. Pink Floyd headlined the event.Other artists billed included: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, The Move, Tomorrow, The Pretty Things, Jimmy Powell & The Five Dimensions, Pete Townshend, John's Children, Alexis Korner, Social Deviants, The Purple Gang, Champion Jack Dupree, Graham Bond, Savoy Brown, Ginger Johnson and his African conga drummers, The Creation, Denny Laine, The Block, The Cat, The Flies, Charlie Browns Clowns, Glo Macari and the Big Three, Gary Farr, The Interference, Jacobs Ladder Construction Company, Ron Geesin, Lincoln Folk Group, Mike Horovitz, Poison Bellows, Christopher Logue, Robert Randall, Suzy Creamcheese, Sam Gopal Dream, Giant Sun Trolley, Simon Vinkenoog, Jean Jaques Lavel, The Stalkers, Utterly Incredible Too Long Ago To Remember Sometimes Shouting At People, Barry Fantoni, Noel Murphy, Dick Gregory and Yoko Ono.In the audience watching Ono's performance art that night was John Lennon who attended the event with his friend John Dunbar.Lennon had met Ono a year earlier when he attended a private preview of an exhibition of her work entitled "Unfinished Paintings and Objects" at Dunbar's Indica Gallery. There were two main stages inside the hall, with a smaller central stage designed for poets, performance artists, jugglers, dancers including The Tribe of the Sacred Mushroom), Philippine dancer David Medalla and The Exploding Galaxy Dance Troupe. The largest stage for the main events, constructed along the rear wall, was flanked by the large glass windows of the Palace. Light shows and strobes lit up every inch of available space from a massive light tower at the center of the hall. Underground films, (most notably the Flaming Creatures) were screened on white sheets taped to scaffolding. The center piece was a helter skelter which was rented for the night. Pink Floyd appeared right at the end of the show, just as the sun was beginning to rise at around five o'clock in the morning. The details of the set-list are rather sketchy; however, one source suggests that they played "Astronomy Domine", "Arnold Layne", "Interstellar Overdrive", "Nick's Boogie", and other material from their then unreleased debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.Apparently, Pink Floyd members were exhausted from playing another gig in the Netherlands that same night and arrived at Alexandra Palace at around three in the morning. On 21 April 2007, the 40th anniversary of this event was celebrated at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. A number of the bands who originally played were there, including The Pretty Things and Arthur Brown; in addition, there were showings of rare films and talks, with questions and answers, from several of the original sixties faces and attendees of the Alexandra Palace event. In the spirit of the original event, there was also an all-night after-party in a secret location organised by promoters Sleep All Day Drive All Night.