The Ark

The pretty town of Sausalito was a favorite R&R [relax and refine] spot for bands playing dance concerts in San Francisco. Bands would slip over to Sausalito after finishing their gigs, play an after-hours set at The Ark (popular in part because it was one of the only clubs around and open), and then crash nearby. In fact, Sausalito became a regular 'staging' area for bands booked or hoping-to-be in the bigger concert halls, and The Ark benefited early on as both a rehearsal and 'test' site for new or re-worked numbers. Moby Grape used the venue as a practice site as early as 1966, and other bands including Big Brother & the Holding Company, The Steve Miller Band, Santana and Styx played there through 1969. Although The Ark generated a considerable inventory of posters, their design and execution are generally dismissed as unsatisfactory by contemporary cognoscenti. The Art of Rock calls them "... detested by most collectors," and those who do seek them value them as landmarks on a particular band's timeline rather than as works of art.