Fillmore East

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Coordinates: 40°43′39″N 73°59′18″W / 40.727509°N 73.98846°W / 40.727509; -73.98846

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)
Fillmore East

signpost in front of Fillmore East site, 2007.
Opened March 8, 1968
Location Second Avenue at East Sixth Street, New York City, New York, United States
Closed June 27, 1971
Former name(s) Village Theater
Capacity 2,700

Fillmore East was entertainment promoter Bill Graham's late 1960s – early 1970s rock palace in the East Village area of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.

Contents

[edit] Pre-Fillmore East history

Located on Second Avenue at East Sixth Street and known as the Village Theater for most of its previous existence, the venue had been a mainstay of the Yiddish-theatre circuit; it had also been a cinema and had fallen into disrepair before Graham's acquisition. Despite the deceptively small marquee and façade, the theater had a capacity of 2,700 seats.

[edit] Fillmore East years

The venue provided Graham with an East Coast counterpart to his existing Fillmore West establishment in San Francisco, California.[1] Opening on March 8, 1968, the Fillmore East quickly became known as "The Church of Rock and Roll," with two-show concerts several nights a week. Graham would regularly alternate acts between the East Coast and West Coast venues.

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 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows until early 1971.

[edit] Notable acts highlights

The Allman Brothers Band played so many shows at Fillmore East that they were sometimes called "Bill Graham's House Band". Along with The Allman Brothers Band, Jefferson Airplane performed six shows and Taj Mahal performed eight shows at Fillmore East.[2]

The Joshua Light Show, headed by Joshua White, was an integral part of many performances, with its psychedelic art lighting in a backdrop behind many live bands.[3]

[edit] Live albums

Many live albums were recorded at the Fillmore East, notably:

[edit] Frank Zappa and the Mothers June 1971 live album

Shortly before the Fillmore East closed, the album Fillmore East - June 1971 (1971) by Frank Zappa and the Mothers was recorded there. The live performance included The Turtles' two lead singers, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The album Some Time in New York City (1972), by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, included the live tracks recorded with the Mothers at the Fillmore East from that same night when they jammed together. After The Mothers finished playing "Happy Together," better known as The Turtles' most-famous song, Zappa said:

"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."

[edit] Closing

Because of changes in the music industry and exponential growth in the concert industry, Graham closed the Fillmore East. Its final concert took place on June 27, 1971, with the billed acts: The Allman Brothers Band, The J. Geils Band, B.B. King, and special guests — Edgar Winter's White Trash, Mountain, The Beach Boys, and Country Joe McDonald — in an invitation-only performance. The concert was broadcast live by WNEW-FM with between-set banter by many of the station's then-trendsetting disc jockeys — Alison Steele ("The Nightbird"), Dave Herman, and Scott Muni among them. The Allman Brothers Band set was released as the second disk of the deluxe edition/remastered version of their Eat a Peach (1972 and 2006) album.

[edit] After Fillmore East

In 1980, the former Fillmore East site became The Saint, a private gay club. As of 2007, the former entrance lobby is a branch of Emigrant Savings Bank. The rest of the interior has been demolished and replaced with an apartment complex.[4]

Live Nation resurrected the Fillmore East name by rebranding a renovated Irving Plaza as The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza on April 11, 2007, with English pop-music singer and songwriter Lily Allen as the opening act. [5]

[edit] Notable acts

(not a complete list; plain alphabetical - e.g., Neil Young under letter "N")

[edit] See also

Live at the Fillmore East albums

[edit] References

  1. ^ Shelton, Robert. "7,500 Attend Concerts at the Fillmore East." The New York Times, April 1, 1968, p. 56.
  2. ^ "Show Listings". Fillmore East Preservation Society. undated. http://www.fillmore-east.com/showlist.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2007.. 
  3. ^ Del Signore, John, Joshua White, "The Joshua Light Show", Gothamist, April 2, 2007.
  4. ^ Garbarine, Rachelle (March 7, 1997). "Apartments Rising on Site Of Fillmore East and Saint". The New York Times. . Accessed February 25, 2009.
  5. ^ Huhn, Mary. "Get on the Bandwagoner", New York Post, March 30, 2007. Accessed May 29, 2009.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillmore_East"
Personal tools