Fillmore East
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fillmore East was promoter Bill Graham's rock palace in the East Village area of New York City, USA.
Previously known as the Village Theater, it opened March 8, 1968, to give Graham an East Coast counterpart to his Fillmore West establishment in San Francisco, and quickly became "The Church of Rock and Roll," with two-show concerts several nights a week. For most of its existence, the venue had been a mainstay of the Yiddish theatre circuit; it had also been a cinema and was falling into disrepair before Graham's acquisition. Despite the deceptively small marquee and façade, the theater had a capacity of 3,664 seats.
Graham would regularly alternate acts between the two theatres; some of those acts included the Grateful Dead, The Who, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Allman Brothers Band, Derek and the Dominos, Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Pink Floyd, John Mayall and many more. It was not unusual for a band to be booked to play two shows both Friday and Saturday nights; nearly all bands were contracted to play matinee and late shows until early 1971.
The Allmans played so many shows at Fillmore East that they are sometimes called "Bill Graham's House Band".
Many live albums were recorded at the Fillmore East, the most notable of them being At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band, considered by many to be one of the best live albums of all time. Jimi Hendrix also recorded a live album at Fillmore East with the Band of Gypsies. John Mayall's The Turning Point was also recorded here. Grateful Dead released a 4-disc set taken from their 5-night stint at the Fillmore East in April 1971, appropriately titled Ladies and Gentlemen… The Grateful Dead: Fillmore East — April 1971.
Shortly before the venue was shuttered, Frank Zappa and the Mothers recorded a live album in June 1971, entitled Fillmore East — June 1971. It was done with The Turtles's two lead singers, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. After The Mothers of Invention finished playing "Happy Together", better known as The Turtles's most famous song, Frank Zappa had this to say:
"I know that in a way it's sad that Bill Graham is closing down the Fillmore, but I'm sure he'll get into something better. It's been lovely working for you this evening, good night boys and girls."
Due to changes in the music and exponential growth in the concert industry, Graham closed down the Fillmore East, with its final concert taking place June 27, 1971, with the Allman Brothers, The Beach Boys, and others in performance.
In 1980, the former Fillmore East site on Second Avenue in the East Village became the trend-setting private gay club The Saint. As of 2007 the former entrance lobby is a branch of Emigrant Savings Bank. The rest of the interior has been gutted and rebuilt as an apartment complex.
It was announced that Live Nation, a subsidiary of Clear Channel, will bring the Fillmore name out of mothballs by opening up "The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza" at the nearby site of the former Irving Plaza on April 11, 2007. British songstress Lily Allen will be the opening act.[1]
