Will promoter and old-school hippie Boots Hughston ever catch a break? The 68-year-old has been trying to get the city and County of San Francisco to let him produce a free concert in Golden Gate Park to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love and he keeps getting...the boot.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle's Sam Whiting, there was HIGH DRAMA at Thursday's Recreation and Parks Commission meeting where the commish decided once again to turn down Hughston's permit request for his concert.
The commission took umbrage with the fact that Hughston apparently has no plans for security, safety, or crowd control. The hippies took umbrage with the commish being so uptight, man. Behold, the best (and most San Francisco-esque) quotes from the meeting —or at least the ones that made Whiting's piece:
- "If you name five things about our city going back to the beginning, one of them would be the Summer of Love — and these people are original Summer of Lovers." — Hughston’s volunteer counsel Angela Alioto, who gave her speech in English and Italian for reasons only she knows.
- "I'm not going to tell you who we have lined up for our event because you people will just pick it apart." — Kurt "Crowbar" Kangas
- "God forbid that somebody would get hurt." — Commissioner Tom Harrison
- "Sobbing." — Ann Cohen, the widow of Allen Cohen, the founder the city's first underground newspaper, the Oracle.
- "I have no problem with the Summer of Love or the people who run it." — Commissioner Larry Mazzola Jr.
- "Everybody is invited!" Parks and Recreation Director Phil Ginsberg who totally got his concert approved, although it's not a concert. It's a light show, so NBD.
Should Hughston let his dream die or will love find a way? He's only got a few months left before his Summer of Permit Denial is officially over.
Related: Oh Snap. The City Will Throw Its Own 'Summer Of Love' Concert After Rejecting Everyone Else's
