Rock photos emerge from past

Local photographer Andy Marquez recently found a box of film deep in the crawl space at his home, and opened up a treasure trove of memories.

It contained concert images, unopened for four decades. It had all the makings of a new gallery show for Marquez and it will open March 30 at 4 p.m. until about 9; March 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 1 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in his new gallery space at 1307 Bannock St. in Denver (former home of Camera Obscura Gallery).

Marquez calls it “Forty years ago, remember how we rocked?” Following opening festivities, it will continue during regular hours.

From his new window, he sees the Denver Art Museum, Native American Trading Company next door, the Byers-Evans House Museum, the Clyfford Still Museum and more of this lively area.

About the new show, he wrote: “These pictures I will be presenting are from the rock years 1970-1972. For me, it was the beginning.

“I moved from Bayside, New York, to Columbia, South Carolina, to attend the University of South Carolina. When I arrived, the local music was The Tams and The Drifters, still in 1969. Coming from the big city, I was groovin’ on music from the Woodstock days.

“I joined the concert committee and since I was taking a photography course for my journalism major. I was asked to shoot the concerts we brought to town.

“Returning home to New York for the summers, I was able to shoot some of the Central Park concerts and the Randall’s Island Music Festival (where Tull and Funk shots were taken.) I was actually offered a job by promoter Sid Bernstein to work for ABBA in New York, but declined to remain in Columbia.

“Who knows where I would be today if I had accepted that offer?”

Marquez goes on to say that the rock era declined as disco came on strong and the film went into the box that was found in the crawl space in February. It had moved with him as his career brought him to Colorado.

It includes images of Johnny Winter, James Taylor, Ike and Tina Turner, Judy Collins, the Allman Brothers, Carole King, Jackson Browne, Gordon Lightfoot, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad and over a dozen more.

Marquez’s gallery is at 1307 Bannock in Denver’s Museum District. Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. 303-797-6040.