Larry Magid has used music as a vehicle to heal, to help, to cure, and to bring about change.
Larry Magid, Co-founder of Electric Factory Concerts, and Derek Gillman RETURNS, Distinguished Teaching Professor for Art History and Museum Leadership at Drexel University, and the Executive Director, University Collections and Exhibitions which will mount ELECTRIFIED: 50 Years of Electric Factory, an exhibition celebrating and exploring the impact that Electric Factory and Electric Factory Concerts had on American culture September 21 through December 31. We discussed Philadelphia’s music scene and the rise of Electric Factory Concerts which has now put on almost 17,000 concerts, including major international events like The Atlantic City Pop Festival, Live Aid and Live 8. Larry reminisces about staging these spectacles and talks about Philadelphia’s unique ability to present these live performances. He remarks on its many venues and local artists and his founding of the Philadelphia Music Alliance to honor them. We discussed Drexel’s programming for the music business, one of the reasons Larry is supporting this retrospective. Derek discussed the thrill we’ll get in viewing these cultural touch stones; iconic images and objects from events that shaped generations of music tastes and created today’s concert experience. We talked about the exhibition that will include a reproduction of The Electric Factory’s psychedelic limo, the Buckminster Fuller stage design that revolutionized sets, original posters, photographs, archival graphics, and concert apparel from superstar artists. Instruments on display include Bruce Springsteen’s Fender Telecaster, played in Philadelphia more than any other celebrated guitar; the 6-string electric bass Jack Bruce used to record Fresh Cream and the Gibson Les Paul played by Mick Taylor at the Spectrum in 1972, seen on the cover of the Stone’s album Get Your Ya Ya’s Out. The free exhibition can be at Peck Center Gallery and Bossone Research Center at Drexel with the public opening on September 22.