The Fillmore is a little concert
venue in
San Francisco,
California. It's at the corner of Geary and Fillmore, a block or so from the AMC
Kabuki Cinemas and
Japantown. Someone told me once that it fits about 1,200 people but it seems way smaller than that.. it's kinda
cozy & '
intimate' (depending on the
crowd, I guess). There's an open
hardwood floor in front of the
stage with tables to sit at around the floor's
perimeter, cushioned benches against the wall.
The bar is situated opposite of the stage and
waitresses walk all around serving drinks to anyone
legal. There's a
balcony upstairs that looks over the entire room from the back and left walls. You can sit wherever you want. Purple lighted
chandeliers hang from the ceiling and yes, there is a
disco ball. The walls upstairs around the balcony and in the hallway just outside the main room downstairs are
covered with years and years worth of
posters of bands that have played there. It's like a
museum of music experience, it is so goddamned cool. There's a
coat check in the hall downstairs and bands sell merchandi$e out there too. I
think the halls are carpeted but I can't remember
for sure. There is always a bucket of apples at the top of the stairs for people to pick up and munch upon on their way down & outside after a show.
In the early part of the
20th century, the building was a
dance hall and a
roller rink.
Bill Graham started running it in
1965 and under him, it
evolved into a forum for concerts,
poetry readings, dances, parties,
political gatherings and so on. It closed in
1971 and the building was used
sporadically for different things. It was reopened again in
1994.
Nearly every act that plays there has a
fillmore poster done and some are
for sale at their website: www.thefillmore.com.
Amoeba Records &
Rasputin On
Telegraph Ave. in
Berkeley & the Amoeba on
Haight street also have Fillmore posters for sale, some
rare ones too.
I'd LOVE to have been able to see the Fillmore in
the sixties but unfortunately I wasn't born yet. It's still pretty
kick ass even now. It's a fun place to see a show,
everyone visiting S.F. should
check it out. But be warned: the bathrooms are a tad bit
uric in scent.