 In the 1960s, at the Avalon, two bands typically performed two sets during the evening beginning at about nine o'clock.Many local bands, such as Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Steve Miller Band, served as backup bands, as did the early Moby Grape and headliners such as The Doors, the 13th Floor Elevators, the Butterfield Blues Band and Big Brother and the Holding Company, which Helms organized around singer and performer Janis Joplin in spring 1966.The Grateful Dead played at the Avalon twenty-nine times from 1966 through 1969, and recorded two live albums, entitled "Vintage Dead" and "Historic Dead", in the autumn of 1966.