Concert setting in Southern California desert
Lone Pine, CA 1965

Possibly the strangest performance arena Harry ever encountered: he had been invited to give a concert in the Deepest Valley Theater in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine. Partch agreed hesitatingly, attempting to link it with making a move (with the instruments) to a new location in Venice, CA. Despite the spectacular setting -- an open-air stage in the hills, lit by kerosene lanterns hoisted high on poles -- the concert was at best an ordeal. The promoters had sent an open, flatbed truck for the instruments, the sound system was poor, the musicians had a difficult time hearing, and the performance was not a great one. It was about this time that Partch expressed being tired of doing one-shot performances and guest lectures: "My decades of wandering about the country with five thousand pounds of instruments have finally ended"

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