Fillmore Auditorium

Located on the southwest corner of Geary and Fillmore, the Fillmore Auditorium was the site of Bill Graham's first non-benefit concert on December 10, 1965. Graham's early productions at the Fillmore featured live bands and poetry readings on the same billing, dancing, balloons on the floor and apples in the lobby for hungry patrons. The crowd was young, the ticket prices low and "... the only people sitting down were the ones worn out from dancing." The neighborhood's decline, propelled by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, caused Graham to look for another venue nearby. The closing show in July, 1968 featured Creedence Clearwater Revival and Steppenwolf. Graham always had a soft spot in his heart for his first venue, and the nightclub wing of his production company returned to the Fillmore from 1988 until the1989 earthquake. Graham's sudden death in 1991 prompted Bill Graham Presents to complete Bill's pet project and restore the Fillmore to its glory days as a house of top-flight musical productions....more