Photos of the early years at Arcosanti
Arcosanti in the early 1980’s.
Photos taken from the trail below the main buildings.
These are stairs that lead to the top of this dome, earth cast structure.
These underground earth casted buildings must be experienced to appreciate them fully.
This is the area where the windchimes are made.
This is one of the festivals that they used to have in the 1970’s. This particular festival was headlined by Jackson Browne.
The ampitheater was located at the base of the little mountains that the buildings and structures of Arcosanti are built on. This photo is not very clear.
This is the stage before Jackson Browne came on. Notice the kicked back security guards in front of the stage. Later that evening they were the ones who stopped three gunmen who tried to create chaos amongst this peaceful group of beautiful hippie people.
At some psychedelic point in the day, I pretty much stayed in one place! You can tell by the photos that I didn’t go far from where I was sitting!
Another photo from the same place, but different head space.
Early years of Arcosanti in black and white.
Balloons.
Musician on saxaphone. These photos were taken when I was a teenager and the names and exact details of the people and events escape me.
05/06/2010 at 6:05 am
I was there that evening that the gunmen were stalking the crowd at the Jackson Browne concert. I still remember how they shut off all the lights except the spotlight on one rifleman walking through the crowd, how we all stayed low, and how the security people crept up on the edges of the spotlight under the rifleman simply stood up and surrendered.
Is that the way you recall it?
05/07/2010 at 11:23 am
YES! That is exactly how I remember it. Oddly enough, many of the Arco people don’t remember that!
08/13/2010 at 5:06 pm
If I remember corectly I saw Jackson Browne twice at arcosanti,I was there with the redneck rifle toters and I was There when the parking lot caught caught on fire. I don’t recall if that was the same year or not. I took a fall that should have killed me, but managed to get back to phoenix and eat a good meal at La Coucaracha with Pat Hickey,Biz Tamar AND Steve WEst
10/15/2010 at 1:13 pm
Jackson Browne is in town tomorrow night doing an acoustic benefit for a local politician. Decided to see if anyone else remembered that arcosanti concert with the gunmen. I remember when all the lights went out except for the spotlight on the hill. Very surreal. Do you recall that Jackson remained on stage and spoke to the guys in this really calm and centered way?
I was also at Arcosanti the day the parking area caught fire. My friends lost their VW van and all their belongings. We had arrived late, parked out on the road and walked in. Have no recollection of who played that day. Total chaos. Does anyone remember the guy with the dreddiest dreds I’d ever seen? Maybe it was you!
10/15/2010 at 9:50 pm
Yes, I remember the guy with the dreadiest dreads! I actually have a photo of him! I will post it when I remember to dig it up. The sniper incident was the year before the fire. The year of the fire, the headliner was Todd Rundgren. Yes, I also remember that Jackson Browne was really calm and mellow even after they caught two guys with handguns trying to get into his trailer. That incident proceeded the redneck on the mountain with the rifle. I had binoculars and Jackson Browne and his band were a little cagey after all of the gun stuff that went on. But, they still played and were wonderful. Remember the jazz band called “The Section” that played earlier on? The bass player was Leland Sklar. He is a long time musician and is currently playing with James Taylor and Carole King. LOVE to see these musicians still going strong. Weird that I can remember these things, but I couldn’t tell you what I did yesterday!
Unfortunately, after these two catastrophic events happened, that was the end of the festivals like those. I think it had something to do with insurance. I hear that some of the cars are buried in what is now the Mind Garden. What interesting times.
01/28/2012 at 5:33 pm
I was there the year of the sniper. I think it was 1976. I think it happened right before Jackson Browne’s set was to start. Not only was he there and calm, but the MC was on stage much longer, and totally calm and talking to the guy. Yes, I remember all the lights being out except for the spotlight and one on stage (talk about being calm when you could be a target!). What I heard (but this was third hand) was that he backed up and an audience member actually grabbed the weapon.
02/03/2012 at 1:03 pm
YES! It was the guy on the hill that the one gunmen was holding the gun on that grabbed the gun. He must have been distracted for a second in order for him to be able to reach up and grab it. I remember the MC telling him “Everybody wants to be a cowboy” ! LOL It was a great outcome. But, right before that was all going on, two guys stormed the Jackson Browne trailer behind the stage. The three guys, all related, were known heroine dealers on the west side of Phoenix by the name of Quinones. We found out later that my brother knew one of the guys and so we got the scoop on him ~ not good guys. But, the concert went on. I could see through my binoculars that the musicians eyes were looking all around and were more than a bit nervous. It was brave of them to continue, I thought.