Live at the Fillmore?

By David Reichley

“Oh !@#$, man.  I forgot.  Who’s playing here tonight?”

“What’s the difference?  It’s the FILLMORE.”

[— Conversation between two concertgoers (Fillmore West, San Francisco, circa late 60’s).]

If that verbal exchange were to take place today, it might go something more like, “What’s the difference?  It’s the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza”. 

LIVE NATION, the huge concert venue syndicate that bought the Fillmore name from promoter Bill Graham’s estate, announced recently they will start up a Fillmore live music franchise similar to the House of Blues chain they acquired last year, changing the name of venues in New York, Detroit and Philadelphia (with others to follow) to carry the Fillmore brand name. 
What exactly does that mean? For if a concert venue could define an era, Graham’s Fillmore auditoriums fit the bill.  Fillmore West in San Francisco and Fillmore East in New York City were rock culture’s musical Meccas, beginning with Fillmore West’s first show in 1966 to the closing of both halls in 1971. 

They had that indefinable quality that made people feel like something special was going on.  And there was:  Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Santana and the Allman Brothers are just a few of the artists who made their names playing there.  When the Who, Cream and Led Zeppelin first crossed the Atlantic, playing the Fillmores was practically mandatory in order to break through in the States.  The original Fillmore auditoriums were comfortable and intimate places, the sound systems were excellent for the day and the visual element in the form of light shows was pioneering.  To both performer and audience, they were not merely a venue: they were HOME.

So that sound you hear may be the collective moan from all those old enough to remember the magic of those Fillmore nights:  Does LIVE NATION think they can piggy-back on that special era just by putting up chandeliers and slapping some vintage concert posters on the wall?  Will the Fillmore concert experience be just a commodity now, like Jimi Hendrix refrigerator magnets?

The quick answer is yes – LIVE NATION probably will try and run the Fillmores like any other business chain – they’re a giant business.  Although Bill Graham was an entrepreneur, he was one of the very few promoters back then who actually cared about making the concert experience something to remember.  Running the Fillmores like a supermarket chain is the antithesis of Graham’s vision.  And even if LIVE NATION was well-meaning, the real answer to the question is no, because they can’t bring back 1969.  But we will always have the music.

Take a look at the cover of Neil Young’s recently-released Neil Young and Crazy Horse Live at the Fillmore 1969 and you’ll see another reason why the Fillmores were important:  it’s a photo of the Fillmore East marquee for that night, showing legendary trumpeter Miles Davis as the opening act.  By pairing rock bands with jazz, blues and soul artists, Graham’s concerts exposed the predominantly rock audience to music they might not otherwise have heard.They also occasionally pointed out to the listener the sources some of their favorite rock groups drew from.

Imagine going to hear the Grateful Dead, but opening for the Dead is Miles, who had the Deadheads dancing in the aisles (and according to Miles’ percussionist Airto Moreira, wriggling on the floor) with his cutting-edge brand of incendiary rock ‘n jazz.  Before Jefferson Airplane landed on the stage, passengers took a trip with saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who treated them to a one-set history of jazz. Or jazz drummer Buddy Rich’s Orchestra (complete with band uniforms!) coming on before Ten Years After. For some reason, the latter’s drummer didn’t take his usual 30-minute solo that night . . . .  Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Big Mama Thornton, Muddy Waters, Cannonball Adderly, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Charles Lloyd and countless other non-rock artists were greeted by an audience with open minds and ears. After all, it was the Fillmore, and on a given night, anything might happen.

There’s a wealth of recordings from the Fillmores, but several stand out as classics:  Aretha Franklin’s Aretha:  Live at Fillmore West caught her in the spirit (when was she ever not?), with stellar backing by R&B saxophonist King Curtis’ group and featuring a guest appearance by none other than Ray Charles. Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, an album many consider the starting point for the melding of funk & rock, saw Hendrix drop most of the original Experience repertoire and personnel to focus mostly on jamming with old army buddy Billy Cox on bass and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. His explosive sound poem “Machine Gun” is an anthem for its time, expressing the horrors of the then-ongoing Vietnam War in a way words could not. Finally, the Allman Brothers’ The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East features the band hot out of “Hot ‘Lanta”, at the peak of their road-tested powers and proving why some consider them the ultimate in live rock performance.

After Bill Graham tragically died in a helicopter accident in 1991, holders of the Graham estate fulfilled his wish to reopen the original Fillmore West. Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are just a few of the artists who have played there, perhaps hoping some of that Fillmore magic will rub off.  Now, LIVE NATION’s got the ball: will their venues have the mojo?  Time will tell. In the meantime, download these tracks and let the doors open for you to a special time and place: Live at the Fillmore!

Tracks:

1. Love the One You’re With (Aretha Franklin:  Aretha at Fillmore West) (1971)

2. Spirit in the Dark (Aretha Franklin:  Aretha at Fillmore West) (1971)

3. Dark Star (Grateful Dead:  Fillmore East:  April 1971) (1971)

4. Spanish Key (Miles Davis:  Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970):  It’s About That Time) (1970)

5. Machine Gun (Jimi Hendrix:  Band of Gypsies) (1969)

6. Tribal Dance (Charles Lloyd:  Love-In:  Live at the Fillmore Auditorium) (1967)

7. Hot ‘Lanta (Allman Brothers at Fillmore East) (1971)

8. Down by the River (Neil Young & Crazy Horse:  Live at Fillmore East) (1970)