The Fillmore

The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California.

Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954.^[1] It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fillmore neighborhood.

Since 2007, it has been operated by Live Nation, which has since named new clubs and renamed existing ones after the Fillmore.

The building which became The Fillmore was built in 1912 and initially housed the Majestic Hall and Academy of Dancing.^[3] Its name was changed from the Majestic Hall in 1936 to the Ambassador Dance Hall. From 1939 to 1952, it operated as the Ambassador Roller Skating Rink.

"In 1954, Sullivan took over the lease on a dilapidated dance hall and roller rink named the Majestic Ballroom and christened it the Fillmore Auditorium, hosting integrated dances and booking the biggest names in Black music."^[4] - SFGate

In 1954, Charles Sullivan, one of the most successful African-American businessmen in San Francisco at the time, started booking bands and renamed the venue The Fillmore Auditorium. He was the first to allow black attendees there. Charles became the most successful concert promoter on the west coast introducing the biggest black acts to the San Francisco concert scene, such as James Brown, Ike & Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, and more.^[5] In December 1965, Sullivan let Bill Graham use his dance hall permit to book a benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe. After that Graham continued to book shows there on dates Sullivan wasn’t using the space.^[1] In their contract agreement it was stated that Graham would take over the Fillmore if anything unforeseen happened to Sullivan. Sullivan was found shot to death in the early morning hours of 2 August 1966, at the age of 57,^[6] the case was never solved even after Senator Diane Feinstein’s attempt to reopen the investigation.^[7]

On May 27, 28, and 29, 1966, The Velvet Underground and Nico played the Fillmore Auditorium as part of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitableavant-garde multimedia show. 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. The system was partially inspired by Jonas Mekas' earlier film projections at concerts held at The Cinematheque in New York. As conceived by Warhol and Williams, the show also included wild, free dancing both in the crowd and onstage. Although The Velvet Underground's proto-punk aesthetics failed to resonate with the incipient San Francisco counterculture, Graham retained Williams to build additional light systems. These innovations were to become part of the Fillmore Auditorium's prestige and image and served as the basis for the systems subsequently used at the Fillmore East and Fillmore West venues.

In the mid-1960s, the Fillmore Auditorium became the focal point for psychedelic music and the counterculture in general, with such acts as the Grateful Dead, the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Byrds, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Frank Zappa's the Mothers of Invention, and British acts the Who, Cream, and Pink Floyd all performing at the venue.^[8] 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 played a total of 51 concerts at the venue from 1965 through 1969.^[9]

B.B. King's well-received performances at the venue served to introduce many fans to the authentic sounds that inspired the blues rock subgenre. He subsequently became a countercultural icon, appearing at many rock festivals.^[10] Albert King also played a series of well-received shows here in 1968, with one of them being released as his first live album Live Wire/Blues Power. Eventually, two additional shows would be released as Wednesday Night in San Francisco and Thursday Night in San Francisco.

The venue was known for its ambience as well as for the musical 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 his 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in a description of the counterculture of the 1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the summer of 1968, the continuing socioeconomic deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood and the modest capacity of the venue compelled Graham to abandon the Fillmore Auditorium only two years after his famous association with the venue commenced. That July, he assumed ownership of the Carousel Ballroom at nearby 10 South Van Ness Avenue. The venue had been previously managed as a cooperative venture for several months by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and other Bay Area groups. The Carousel subsequently operated as the Fillmore West, paralleling Graham's Fillmore East in New York City's East Village. However, both venues were shuttered by Graham in July 1971 as arena bookings on popular music tours became increasingly prevalent.

For an indeterminate period from 1969 to 1970, the Fillmore Auditorium was operated by new management as the New Old Fillmore; during this period, the Grateful Dead and The Stooges performed notable engagements at the venue.

El local original de Fillmore se convirtió en un lugar llamado The Elite Club . Durante varios años a principios de la década de 1980, los promotores de punk Paul Rat y Wes Robinson programaron conciertos de punk rock en este lugar. Las bandas de punk que actuaron en The Elite Club incluyen Crucifix , Discharge , 45 Grave , FEAR, DOA , Verbal Abuse , Social Distortion , Bad Religion , ^{[ 11 ]} Black Flag , Bad Brains , Dead Kennedys , Red Rockers , TSOL , Flipper , Gang of Four y Public Image Ltd. ^{[ 12 ]}

El Fillmore reabrió sus puertas bajo la dirección de Graham a mediados de los años 80, pero resultó dañado y tuvo que cerrar tras el terremoto de Loma Prieta en octubre de 1989. Tras la muerte de Graham en un accidente de helicóptero en 1991, sus allegados decidieron cumplir su último deseo: restaurar y reabrir el Fillmore original, lo que requirió importantes trabajos estructurales. El Fillmore reabrió el 27 de abril de 1994 con un concierto sorpresa de The Smashing Pumpkins , seguido por el primer concierto oficial de reapertura de Primus la noche siguiente. El Fillmore se ha convertido de nuevo en un lugar de moda en San Francisco, con una programación musical frecuente. Para un concierto estándar, el Fillmore tiene una capacidad para 1315 personas.

Desde 2007, el Fillmore es arrendado y operado por Live Nation . ^{[ 13 ]}

Live Nation ha nombrado desde entonces varios de sus clubes existentes y nuevos en honor al Fillmore. Esto incluye clubes en Denver , Detroit , Filadelfia y el Fillmore en el Jackie Gleason Theater en Miami Beach, Florida . El Fillmore Charlotte abrió en junio de 2009. ^{[ 14 ]} Un Fillmore en el suburbio de Silver Spring, Maryland , Washington, DC , comenzó su construcción en 2010 y abrió a finales de 2011. El Fillmore New Orleans, con capacidad para 2000 personas, abrió en 2019 en el segundo piso del casino Harrah's New Orleans . ^{[ 15 ]} El local Central, Minneapolis Fillmore abrió en febrero de 2020. ^{[ 16 ]}

La marca Fillmore también estuvo asociada al Irving Plaza en la ciudad de Nueva York desde 2007 hasta 2010.

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 curated 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!"

• House of Blues

• Sitio web oficial de "Fillmore San Francisco"
• Cronología del rock de San Francisco 1965–1969