The International Live Music Acid Test

It may be sort of weird, man, that Martin Hopewell and his Merry Pranksters should theme ILMC’s 20th anniversary on the Summer Of Love and the ’60s when half the delegates weren’t even born then and it’s questionable whether the other half will be able to remember it anyway.

It’s doubtful it could have been more appropriate for the event to kick off with the new delegates’ "orientation session," whatever that may involve, if they’re suddenly going to be thrust back to a time when a generation reinvented a language and some even went as far as reinventing themselves by legally changing their names to such things as "Starchild" and "Wavy Gravy."

It promises to be a proverbial trip – or even a flashback – to the older ILMC-goers’ half-remembered days, way back before the aging of Aquarius, when you could spot a loony by his loon pants, a drag was an unpleasant experience (unless it was a drag on a joint), and people who listened to the same band for weeks on end were unsurprisingly referred to as Dead Heads.

Those who dabbled in marijuana often had long and meandering conversations with each other or giggled uncontrollably about not very much, which means communication must have been similar to ILMC’s Talking Shop.

The ’60s were wild and heady times of music, drugs and civil protest but the world survived them.

Even though the lifestyle has claimed a few high-profile rock ’n’ roll casualties, most of the so-called hippies returned to a normal (straight) existence.

The latest National Institute on Drug Abuse survey in the U.S. revealed that about 100 million Americans – well more than 40 percent of the adult population – have smoked marijuana at least once in their lives.

Most young potheads don’t stick with the drugs or the lifestyle and the vast majority go on to become responsible and hard-working adults.

Some have gone on to be agents, promoters, or high-ranking record company execs. Others have become congressmen, high court judges, and one even became President of the United States – although he says he didn’t inhale the marijuana in the first place.

The ILMC organizers will be getting their thing together at London’s Royal Gardens Hotel March 7-9. They’re still trying to suss out what all the panels and meaningful conversations will be about.