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

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Fillmore East

signpost in front of Fillmore East site, 2007.
Type	Concert Venue
Genre(s)	Rock Music
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)	Commodore Theater, 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 1 Pre-Fillmore East history 2 Fillmore East years 2.1 Notable acts highlights 2.2 Live albums 2.3 Frank Zappa's Mothers June 1971 live album 2.4 Closing 3 After Fillmore East 4 Notable acts 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Pre-Fillmore East history

Originally opened in 1926 as the independently operated Commodore Theater, this movie house/Yiddish theater was taken over by Loew's Inc. and later became known as the Village Theater. It can credit Lenny Bruce as appearing on its stage.

In March 1968 it became the Fillmore East concert venue. 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, including:

• The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East (1971)
• The Allman Brothers Band - Fillmore East Feb 70 (released 1997) on Grateful Dead Records
• Buffalo Bob Smith - Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore East ; creator of Howdy Doody (recorded April 4, 1971)
• The Chambers Brothers - Love, Peace And Happiness a double album with one studio disc and one live disc recorded at Bill Graham's Fillmore East
• Derek and the Dominos - Live At The Fillmore ; recorded October 23-24, 1970 (released 1994)
• Virgil Fox/Heavy Organ - Bach Live At Fillmore East ; recorded Dec. 1, 1970 (released on LP 1971, on CD 1989)
• Jefferson Airplane - Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)  ; this album was split between the Fillmore East and Fillmore West.
• Jefferson Airplane - Live at the Fillmore East (recorded 1969; released 1998)
• Jefferson Airplane - Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1969 (released 2007)
• Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys (1970) & Live at the Fillmore East (1999)
• Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen - The Complete Fillmore East Concerts - March 27-28, 1970 (released 2006)
• Love - Studio/Live - live tracks recorded at Fillmore East (released on LP 1982, on CD 1991)
• John Mayall - The Turning Point (1969)
• Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield - Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes ; recorded Dec. 13-14, 1968 (released 2003)
• Grateful Dead - Ladies and Gentlemen… The Grateful Dead: Fillmore East — April 1971 (2000) ; a four-disc set taken from their five-night stint at the Fillmore East in April 1971
• Grateful Dead - Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69 (1997)
• Grateful Dead - History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One (Bear's Choice) (February 13-14, 1970) (1973)
• Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Volume Four – Grateful Dead Fillmore East 2/13–14/70 (1996) ; a three-disc set released on Grateful Dead Records
• Lorin Hollander - Lorin Hollander At The Fillmore East ; recorded Feb. 23, 1969
• Humble Pie - Performance Rockin' the Fillmore (1971)
• Taj Mahal - The Real Thing ; recorded Feb. 13, 1971 ( remaster with one more track, released 2000)
• Miles Davis - Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (2001) ; recorded March 7, 1970, in a rare live recording of Davis's so-called '"lost quintet"
• Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (1970) ; recorded June 17-20, 1970
• Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live At The Fillmore East recorded March 6-7, 1970 (released on CD & DVD 2006)
• The Nice - Live At The Fillmore East December 1969 ; recorded Dec. 19-20, 1969 (released 2009)
• Laura Nyro - Spread Your Wings And Fly - Live At The Fillmore East May 30, 1970 (released 2004)
• Quicksiver Messenger Service - Happy Trails live tracks recorded at both Fillmore East & Fillmore West (CD released 1994)
• Ten Years After - Live At The Fillmore East ; recorded February 27-28, 1970 (released 2001)
• Johnny Winter - Live Johnny Winter And ; recorded at Fillmore East & Pirate's World, Dania,FL
• Frank Zappa And The Mothers - Freaks And Motherfu*#@%! ; recorded in 1970 (released 1991)
• Frank Zappa's Mothers - Fillmore East - June 1971 (released 1971)

[edit] Frank Zappa's Mothers June 1971 live album

Shortly before the Fillmore East closed, the album Fillmore East - June 1971 (1971) by Frank Zappa's 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, Albert 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") 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")