Photo by Ken Regan
Memories of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the sounds that influenced music for generations come roaring back through Electrified: 50 Years of Electric Factory.
The exhibit celebrates both the iconic venue that opened on Arch Street in 1968 and Electric Factory Concerts, which became the largest popular music promoter in the United States.
Featuring original posters, photographs and concert apparel from the club and shows mounted elsewhere, the exhibit was assembled by Drexel curators, in partnership with Larry Magid, co-founder of Electric Factory. A talent agent known in New York for promoting upcoming rock and blues musicians, Magid returned to his native Philadelphia in 1967 to join brothers Allen and Herb Spivak in opening a hip underground club.
The exhibit includes sections on the early years of Electric Factory, Live Aid, concert sound systems (with a scaled-down stage), and the psychology of rhythm underlying much of the era’s music. An interactive section will close the show, inviting guests to decorate guitars virtually.
“For many Philadelphians, Electrified will evoke treasured musical memories, stretching back over decades,” says Derek Gillman, the executive director of University Collections and Exhibitions, and distinguished teaching professor in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.
Sponsored by Ciright, Comcast-Spectacor, the Frank Barsalona Family, Philadelphia Music Alliance, Brian Communications, Red Spruce Capital, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, and Alan Kessler and Duane Morris, the exhibit runs through Saturday, Dec. 30 in the Paul Peck Alumni Center Gallery and the Bossone Research Center.