From Hendrix to Bowie: the trippiest music concert posters – in pictures
American Folk Blues Festival ‘65, 1965
The American Folk Blues Festival toured Europe annually from 1962 until 1972, and then again from 1980 to 1985, bringing some of the biggest US musicians across the pond. Some of the artists who performed were Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Big Mama Thornton. Günther Kieser created the posters, programs, stage sets, and occasionally the album cover art for each festival, often in collaboration with Hans Michel. Each poster featured an acoustic guitar with various symbols of American culturePhotograph: Courtesy of Poster House
Workin’ Together / Ike & Tina Turner Show, 1971
Kieser created this poster for Ike and Tina Turner ahead of their 1971 West Germany tour, a year after the release of the album Workin’ TogetherPhotograph: Courtesy of Poster House
Deutsches Jazz Festival Frankfurt, 1999
This Kieser poster symbolizes the deconstruction and reinvention of jazz during performances, with musicians playing off each otherPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Berlin Jazz Festival, 1975
Kieser used this poster to encapsulate Martin Luther King Jr’s essay written for the inaugural Berlin Jazz Festival in 1964. The artist aimed to illustrate King’s message that jazz and blues were a way for Black Americans to express their struggles against oppression and find hope. He wanted to show Black Americans dismantling stereotypes through the tears in the images around the men’s facesPhotograph: Courtesy of Poster House
BMW Museum / Zeitsignale, 1979
Kieser designed the poster for the opening of an exhibition titled Zeitsignale at the BMW museum. The exhibit highlights the major turning points of the company’s history. For the poster, Kieser made a model of the German actress Marlene Dietrich from a scene in the 1930 film The Blue Angel.He swapped the barrel she sits on in the movie for the hood of a BMW 328, a model produced between 1936 and 1940Photograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
A Festival of American Folk & Country Music, 1966
Kieser created this poster to showcase a festival organized by concert promoters Lippmann + Rau in March 1966, which brought folk and country singers together to perform. Artists came from America to play music that originated from the mountains of Appalachia and the Southern swamplands. Kieser’s poster depicts these performers in a black-and-white collage of vintage photographsPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
James Brown Show, 1967
This poster was made for James Brown’s first-ever show in Europe, held in Germany. It was estimated that 90% of the tickets for his concerts in West Germany were sold to Black American soldiersPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
David Bowie, 1983
David Bowie began his Serious Moonlight tour in 1983, which consisted of 96 performances and drew 2.6 million fans. It became the largest tour by any musician that yearPhotograph: Courtesy of Poster House
Diana Ross and the Supremes, 1968
In September 1968, Diana Ross and the Supremes released their hit single Love Child, which became the group’s 11th No 1 single on the US pop charts. They had become global phenomena, releasing numerous number-one singles, appearing on television, and selling out concert venuesPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Ball ‘67, 1967
Kiesermade the poster for a Lippmann + Rau concert honoring Carnival, a primarily Catholic celebration held annually in Germany on the Sunday before Lent. Notable American big jazz bands, including the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans and the Grammy Award-winning group Woody Herman And His Orchestra from New York City, performedPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Wege aus Zwang und Angst, 1983
This poster is part of a series Kieser designed for Hessischer Rundfunk, one of the nine regional public broadcasting corporations in Germany. Kieser’s design was for a psychotherapy documentary focused on ‘ways out of compulsion and fear’Photograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Wings, 1972
After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Paul McCartney formed a new band with his wife, Wings. From 9 July to 24 August 1972, they went on their Wings Over Europe tour, driving across Europe in an open-topped double-decker bus. The poster, which was used for the German leg of the tour, also became the cover art for their live album Wings over SwitzerlandPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Jimi Hendrix, 1969
Arguably, Kieser’s most famous poster was designed for Jimi Hendrix’s West German tour. The poster features an image of Hendrix taken by Donald Silverstein. Since 1969, the poster has been reproduced at least three timesPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster House
Fleetwood Mac, 1970
Kieser would often play the music of the bands he designed posters for to inspire his work. He created this poster by sewing and stuffing a plush doll. The name of the band is embroidered on its chest and crowned with a black hat that became a signature of the group’s drummer, Mick Fleetwood. Fleetwood named the doll, Mr Wonderful (the name of the band’s second album), and kept it in his personal collection. By May 1970, founding member Peter Green left the group and the band moved away from its roots in British bluesPhotograph: Robert Feliciano/Courtesy of Poster HouseKioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.