San Francisco's historic Fillmore Auditorium has seen more than its fair share of legendary artists and performances since it first opened its doors in 1912.
Standing defiantly on the corner of Geary and Fillmore, the 1,300 capacity venue abuts three very different neighborhoods of the city: the oft-disparaged Western Addition, the Fillmore District, and tiny Japantown.
While there isn't a lot of parking, locals regularly take San Francisco's Muni bus to the beautifully renovated theater by riding either the 22 Fillmore bus or the 38 Geary.
The grand jewel box went through several incarnations before becoming the home of the San Francisco sound of the late '60s, beginning when it was venue for dancing called the Majestic Hall through the 1930s, before eventually transitioning into including a roller rink from 1939 to 1952.
It was in the mid '50s that Charles Sullivan took over the lease. A shrewd Black businessman, Sullivan turned the spot into a place for all races to dance together during a time when such a venture was... tricky.
He changed the name to The Fillmore and booked jazz and R&B stars from James Brown and Ike and Tina Turner to Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Success struck the theater and it had some calling it The Harlem of the West and Sullivan was dubbed The Mayor of the Fillmore.
About 10 years into his run, Sullivan was approached by a man who would emerge as one of the all time greatest concert promotors, Bill Graham.
In early 1966 the gentlemen worked out a deal where Graham could book the Fillmore on nights it would otherwise be dark. Part of the contract stipulated that if something terrible happened to Sullivan, Graham could take over the lease on his own for four years.
On August 1, 1966, after returning from Southern California with over $6,000 in cash from receipts from gigs down there, Sullivan took an unusual route after exiting the Bay Bridge and was found dead at 57 in a neighborhood far from his home and from the Fillmore.
Although officials ruled it a suicide, there was no note, and the gunshot wound seemed very suspicious. Decades later Senator Dianne Feinstein tried to re-open the investigation but the case is still cold.
In the mid-'60s jazz was experiencing a decline in popularity and the acid rock psychedelia of the Bay Area was exploding. Graham booked the Grateful Dead for 51 concerts at the Fillmore from 1965 through 1969.
When he gained full control of booking the hall, it was a steady stream of California's finest rockers: The Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, the Doors, the Byrds, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, and the Steve Miller Band, to name a few.
He was also able to sign guitar heroes like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Frank Zappa.
Graham also booked British giants like The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd to the Fillmore.
Graham and the Fillmore were so successful right off the bat that in 1968 he opened the Fillmore East in the Lower East Side of New York City.
Sadly in 1971 both locations on each coast were closed as big-name rock and roll acts graduated from the 1k seat theaters to basketball arenas 10x-20x their size. A documentary was made called Fillmore or Last Days of The Fillmore.
In the early 1980s punk rockers claimed the Fillmore and acts like Black Flag, Bad Religion and The Dead Kennedys packed them in.
Graham reopened the venue to more traditional bands in the mid-'80s only to be forced to close it again in 1989 due to the 6.9 magnitude 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that cause massive destruction in the Bay Area and even postponed the World Series being held between the SF Giants and the Oakland A's.
Graham died just two years later in a helicopter crash. He was just 60 years old.
In 1994, acting on Graham's final wish to one day reopen a remodeled and earthquake-resistant Fillmore, rock returned with a surprise show by the chart-topping Smashing Pumpkins who were on their Siamese Dream Tour.
In 1997, a few years after the place had re-opened, Tom Petty agreed to perform a 20-night residency at the Fillmore.
Not only were all the shows slightly different, but greeting fans as they walked out onto the street were staffers handing out free posters designed by Jim Phillips.
Each night there was a different poster. A set of four on eBay are currently going for $700.
In 2022, five years after Petty's death, Warner Bros released a four-disc box set featuring the best recordings from that residency.
Petty's album joins the ranks of some of his heroes who also recorded live records at the venue that's still rocking:
Aretha Franklin – Aretha Live at Fillmore West (1971)
Grateful Dead – Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings (1969, released in 2005)
Jefferson Airplane – Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)
Santana – Live at the Fillmore 1968 (recorded in 1968, released in 1997)
Humble Pie – Performance Rockin' the Fillmore (1971)
The Byrds – Live at the Fillmore February 1969 (recorded in 1969, released in 2000)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Live at the Fillmore West 1970 (recorded in 1970, released in 2009).
If you feel like you've heard of other venues named Fillmore, you're not hallucinating.
There are currently eight other U.S. theaters using the Fillmore name including The Fillmore Detroit, The Fillmore Miami Beach, and The Fillmore Charlotte. So if someone tells you they're playing at the Fillmore, make sure they tell you which one.
Get your tickets to Fillmore shows on Do The Bay.
Other Venue Spotlights: The Apollo Theater, Aragon Ballroom, The Bluebird Cafe, Carnegie Hall, Chain Reaction, Commodore Ballroom, First Avenue, The Fillmore, The Gorge, The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood Palladium, KIA Forum, Madison Square Garden, Massey Hall, The Metro, Nippon Budokan, O2 Arena, O2 Academy Brixton, Pappy & Harriet's Palace, Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks, Royal Albert Hall, The Ryman Auditorium, Slane Castle, The Sphere, Staples Center, Stubb's Bar-B-Q, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena, The Viper Room, The Whisky, 9:30 Club
