The Fillmore

This article is about the pre-1968 San Francisco music venue. For the post-1968 successor venue, see Fillmore West. For the San Francisco neighborhood, see Fillmore District. For other venues named Fillmore, see Fillmore Music venues (disambiguation).

The Fillmore

The Fillmore in 2010
Former names	Majestic Hall
Address	1805 Geary Boulevard
Location	San Francisco, California
Coordinates
Owner	Kortz/Bregan Family
Capacity	1,150
Website
thefillmore.com

The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the "Fillmore Auditorium" in 1954 when Charles Sullivan acquired the master lease from the building owner, Harry Shiffs, and renamed it for the neighborhood rather than its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard. It is situated in the historical center of the Western Addition neighborhood, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fillmore (lately known as Lower Pacific Heights). From the 1930s through the 1960s, before redevelopment, this location was considered the heart of the San Francisco Fillmore District.

Graham also opened a Fillmore East in New York City in March, 1968. In July, 1968, he opened an additional venue in San Francisco under the same brand. Formerly known as The Carousel Ballroom at Market Street and South Van Ness Avenue, he called this the Fillmore West.

Jefferson Airplane Fillmore poster, February 1966. This was the first non-benefit concert held at the venue.

History

On May 27, 28 and 29, 1966, The Velvet Underground and Nico led by Lou Reed played the Fillmore Auditorium as part of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable avant-garde, multimedia show premiered in New York City. Their light show engineer Danny Williams, who pioneered many of today's standard practices in rock music light shows, built a light system at the Fillmore that included stroboscopes, slides and film projections onstage. Conceived by Andy Warhol, Danny Williams and using some of film maker Jonas Mekas's ideas (Mekas pioneered film projections during concerts at The Cinematheque in New York), the show also included wild, free dancing both in the crowd and onstage. At Bill Graham's request Danny Williams soon came back to the Fillmore to build more. These innovations were to become part of the Fillmore Auditorium's prestige and image and were also used at the Fillmore East and Fillmore West venues, both opened in 1968.

In the mid-1960s, the Fillmore Auditorium became the focal point for psychedelic music and counterculture in general, with such acts as The Grateful Dead, The Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Frank Zappa's The Mothers of Invention, The Allman Brothers Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and British acts The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd all performing at the venue. Besides rock, Graham also featured non-rock acts such as Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Lloyd, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding as well as poetry readings. The Grateful Dead were regulars at The Fillmore, having played a total of 51 concerts from 1965 through 1969.

Also, B.B. King's well received performances at Fillmore Auditorium served to introduce many fans to the authentic sounds that had already inspired blues-rockers including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Bob Dylan. B.B. King subsequently became a counter-cultural icon appearing at many rock festivals.

The venue had a legendary ambience as well as the stellar performances, often with swirling light-show projections, strobe lights and uninhibited dancing. The cultural impact of the Fillmore was very large. It is referenced by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in a description of the counterculture of the 1960s in the San Francisco Bay area.

Fillmore West and Fillmore East

Main article: Fillmore West

Main article: Fillmore East

After two years at the Fillmore Auditorium, because of a deteriorating neighborhood and the modest capacity of the hall, Bill Graham opened another venue in July 1968 nearby at 10 South Van Ness Avenue, at the corner of Market Street which was renamed Fillmore West in contrast with Graham's Fillmore East auditorium in the East Village in New York City.

The Elite Club

The original Fillmore location became a venue called The Elite Club. For several years in the early 1980s, punk promoter Paul Rat booked punk rock shows at this venue. Punk bands that performed at The Elite Club include Bad Religion, Black Flag, Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, The Red Rockers, T.S.O.L., Flipper, Gang of Four, and Public Image Ltd.

Reopening and national franchise

The Fillmore reopened under Graham's management in the mid-1980s, but it was damaged and closed by the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 1989. After Graham died in a helicopter crash in 1991, those close to him decided to carry out his final wish to retrofit and reopen the original Fillmore, which required much structural work. The Fillmore reopened on April 27, 1994, with the band The Smashing Pumpkins playing an unannounced surprise show, and Primus playing the first official reopening show the following night. The Fillmore has once again become a San Francisco hot spot with frequent shows. For a standard show, the capacity of the Fillmore is 1,199 guests.

Since 2007 The Fillmore is leased and operated by Live Nation.

Live Nation has recently begun a campaign to expand the Fillmore "brand" by changing the names of a number of established clubs it owns around the U.S. This includes clubs in Denver, Detroit, the Fillmore at the TLA in Philadelphia, the Fillmore at Irving Plaza in New York City, and the Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theatre in Miami Beach, Florida. The Fillmore Charlotte opened in June 2009. A Fillmore in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, broke ground in 2010 and opened in late 2011.

Locations

Current

Venue name	Metro vicinity	Location	Address	Opened	Capacity	Notes
The Fillmore	San Francisco Bay Area	Fillmore District	1805 Geary Blvd San Francisco, CA 94115-3519	1954	1,150	Known as the "Elite Club" during the 1980s
Fillmore Auditorium	Denver Metro	Capitol Hill	1510 Clarkson St Denver, CO 80210-2702	1999	3,700	Formerly known as the "Mammoth Events Center"
The Fillmore Detroit	Metro Detroit	Detroit Theatre District	2115 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI 48201-3469	2007	2,888	Formerly known as the "State Theatre"
The Fillmore Miami Beach	Miami metropolitan area	City Center	1700 Washington Ave Miami Beach, FL 33139-7540	2007	2,713	Historically known as the "Jackie Gleason Theatre"
The Fillmore Charlotte	Charlotte metropolitan area	Greenville	820 Hamilton St Charlotte, NC 28206-2924	2009	2,000	-
The Fillmore Silver Spring	Washington metropolitan area	Downtown Silver Spring	8656 Colesville Rd Silver Spring, MD 20910-3915	2011	2,000	-
The Fillmore Philadelphia	Greater Philadelphia	Fishtown	29 E Allen St Philadelphia, PA 19123-1753	2015	2,460	The smaller venue, "The Foundry", seats 400

Former

Venue name	Metro vicinity	Location	Address	Opened	Capacity	Notes
Fillmore West	San Francisco Bay Area	South of Market	10 S Van Ness Ave San Francisco, CA 94103-1227	1968	1,000	Closed in 1971
Fillmore East	New York metropolitan area	East Village	105 2nd Ave New York City, NY 10003-8380	1968	2,654	Closed in 1971
The Fillmore at TLA	Greater Philadelphia	Queen Village	334 South St Philadelphia, PA 19147-1536	2007	880	Returned to its original name, "Theatre of Living Arts", in 2008
Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza	New York metropolitan area	Union Square	17 Irving Pl New York City, NY 10003-2392	2007	1,050	Returned to its original name, "Irving Plaza", in 2010

Traditions

The Fillmore is also well known for its psychedelic concert posters by artists who in the 1960s included Wes Wilson and Rick Griffin. Copies of the night's poster are given to fans free of charge as they exit selected, sold-out shows. A chronological collection of these posters is on display in the mezzanine level of the auditorium today.

Other traditions are carried on to this day at the Fillmore in San Francisco. One is a large tub of free apples for concert goers positioned near the entrance. Another is a "greeter" who welcomes each guest as they enter with: "Welcome to the Fillmore!"

External links

• "Fillmore San Francisco" official website
• Chronology of San Francisco Rock 1965–1969