Monterey was also the first high-profile event to mix acts from major regional music centers in the U.S.San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, Tennessee, and New York Cityand it was the first time many of these bands had met each other in person. It was a particularly important meeting place for bands from the Bay Area and L.A., who had tended to regard each other with a degree of suspicionFrank Zappa for one made no secret of his low regard for some of the San Francisco bandsand until that point the two scenes had been developing separately along fairly distinct lines. Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane said "The idea that San Francisco was heralding was a bit of freedom from oppression."