The Fillmore
There are few music venues with as much cultural impact as the Fillmore. Live Nation now owns and operates a number of Fillmore’s around the U.S. Fillmore is a brand, a brand that has not only endured, it is flourishing.
The Fillmore, once known as the Fillmore Auditorium, is a historic venue in San Francisco. Bill Graham opened it in 1968, at the original location of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard. If you’re good with music history, you know that this intersection in San Francisco was ground zero for the aftermath of the infamous 1967 Summer of Love.
In the mid-1960s, The Fillmore Auditorium became the focal point for psychedelic music and counterculture in general, with acts such as Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Cream, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Big Brother and the Holding Company performing at the venue. Besides rock, Graham also featured non-rock acts such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Lloyd, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding as well as poetry readings.
After two years there, because of a deteriorating neighborhood and the modest capacity of the hall, Bill Graham moved the venue in July 1968 from the original building at 1805 Geary Boulevard to the Carousel Ballroom at 10 South Van Ness Avenue, at the corner of Market Street and South Van Ness Avenue (now the location of an automobile dealership), which was renamed Fillmore West (in contrast with Graham’s Fillmore East auditorium in the East Village in New York City). The distinction between the original Fillmore Auditorium and the later Fillmore West is often lost on many music fans especially millennials who came long after the fact.
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 were 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.
Live Nation has since taken ownership of the Fillmore and opened others around the U.S. Remodeling efforts were put into place that insured that the traditional elements of the Fillmore experience remained intact. The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theatre does a wonderful job of maintaining the rich history and tradition. The chandeliers, the acoustics, the large tub of free apples for concert goers positioned near the entrance. It’s all still there in painstaking detail.
Live Nation now owns and operates Fillmore’s in Detroit, Philadelphia (Fillmore at the TLA), New York City (Fillmore at Irving Plaza), Denver and Miami Beach. The Fillmore Charlotte is scheduled to open in summer 2009.
Sacre Bleu Wine is proud to be the Featured Wine of the Fillmore Miami Beach. Our wine bar is open prior to and during every concert and has become a mandatory stop for fans before shows.
