On This Day: Jefferson Airplane Made Their San Francisco Debut at The Matrix

On August 13, 1965, Jefferson Airplane made their San Francisco debut, forever changing the scope of rock music by ushering in a new LSD-fueled genre of “acid rock.” The fast-rising stars of the San Francisco scene served as the house band for The Matrix, a former pizza parlor turned nightclub.

So, how did a previously unknown band get a gig as the latest club’s new resident artist? Easy—the vocalist was the owner.

The Jefferson Airplane Debut at The Matrix

When Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin became tired of the folk and poetry circles common in his native San Francisco, he decided to find a new venue that could foster a new type of music: social blues. In a 1965 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Balin described how this genre differed from the existing music of the times. 

“Social blues [are] our time and place,” Balin told the newspaper. “We feel what we’re doing. In pop music today, you can’t just present melody and a beat. It’s gotta be saying something and hit people inside. Adults are getting hip, and the young people are not so young. They can see what’s happening. Adults repress emotion, but kids are more innocent, and the blues are more easily felt. It may sound corny, but teenagers DO feel the blues.”

“It took nine months to bring everybody together,” Balin said. “I used to sing rock ‘n’ roll and then folk with the Town Criers. But I knew I wanted my own group to go on in my own way. We’re still rehearsing new things.”

This type of socially self-aware blues music was The Matrix’s bread and butter, and Jefferson Airplane delivered three nights a week, Thursday through Saturday, along with a list of other guest performers. The club’s August 13 opening would mark Jefferson Airplane’s first public flight.

A New Gem of the San Francisco Scene

Jefferson Airplane’s San Francisco debut was noteworthy for more than just their contributions to rock and roll. The opening of The Matrix was also a significant moment in music history, particularly within the growing San Francisco rock scene. The venue would go on to host countless iconic acts, including Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Grateful Dead, the Quicksilver Messenger Service, and many, many more.

The San Francisco Chronicle described The Matrix as “exclusively dedicated to music, both from the listener’s and the performer’s standpoint.” From its simple furnishings that allowed ample room for the audience to a massive collage wall featuring Marty Balin’s paintings of folk and blues artists, The Matrix celebrated creativity from all sides.

Although the club closed less than a decade later, in 1972, its significance to the musical world is incredible. The Matrix not only served as the locale for the Jefferson Airplane’s debut. It also helped build an entire genre and social movement that would help lay the groundwork for the Summer of Love two years after the club’s opening—not bad for an ex-pizza shop.

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