The Red Dog Saloon is a bar and live music venue located in the isolated, old-time mining town of

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

which played an important role in the history of the

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

music scene.

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

enthusiast Mark Unobsky bought the old

Henry Comstock Henry Tompkins (or Thomas) Paige Comstock (1820–1870) was a Canadian miner after whom the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada, was named. The Comstock Lode was the richest silver mine in American history. Referred to by history books various ...

house in Virginia City and decided to open a folk club together with Chandler A. Laughlin III (1937-2012), a one-time folk club owner, and Don Works in the early 1960s. In April 1963, Chandler established a kind of family identity among approximately fifty people who attended the traditional, all-night Native American peyote ceremony. This ceremony combined a psychedelic experience with traditional Native American spiritual values; these people went on to sponsor a new genre of musical expression at the venue. During the summer of 1965, Laughlin (better known in media as ''Travus T. Hipp'', a disc jockey and news commentator,) recruited much of the original talent that led to a mix of traditional folk music and psychedelic rock. He and his friends created what became known as "The Red Dog Experience," featuring previously unknown musical acts —

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...

, The Charlatans, The Wildflower and others — who played in the refurbished saloon during 1965 - 66. There was no clear delineation between "performers" and "audience" in "The Red Dog Experience," during which music, psychedelic experimentation and

Bill Ham Billy Mack Ham (February 4, 1937 – June 20, 2016) was an American music impresario, best known as the manager, producer, and image-maker for the blues-rock band ZZ Top. Ham also gained prominence in the country music world by discovering and man ...

's first primitive light shows combined to create a new sense of community. Laughlin and George Hunter of the Charlatans were termed "proto-hippies", with their long hair, boots and clothing inspired by the aesthetic of Indigenous peoples. The poster for the first six-week stint of performances from The Charlatans beginning in June 1965 is a rare psychedelic poster. It is known as "The Seed".

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

manufacturer

Owsley Stanley Augustus Owsley Stanley III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American-Australian audio engineer and clandestine chemist. He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role ...

lived in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

during 1965 and provided much of the LSD that became a part of the "Red Dog Experience". At the saloon, The Charlatans were the first psychedelic rock band to play live on LSD. Today the venue features Open Mic on Wednesday evenings and live performances on the weekends.

Notes

External links

Official website
{{Hippies Drinking establishments in Nevada Buildings and structures in Virginia City, Nevada Hippie movement Music festivals in Nevada Counterculture festivals History of subcultures 1960s in Nevada 1970s in Nevada 1960s in the United States 1970s in the United States