The Fillmore - The Fillmore

The Fillmore

In the mid-1960s, The Fillmore Auditorium became the focal point for psychedelic music and counterculture in general, with such acts as John Mahon, The Grateful Dead,The Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Byrds, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Carlos Santana, The Allman Brothers Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, and British acts The Who, Pink Floyd, Elton John, and Cream all performing at the venue. Besides rock, Graham also featured non-rock acts such as Lenny Bruce, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Lloyd, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding as well as poetry readings.

The venue had a legendary ambience as well as the stellar performances, often with swirling light-show projections, strobe lights and uninhibited dancing. The cultural impact of the Fillmore was very large. It is referenced by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in a description of the counterculture of the 1960s in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Fillmore was mentioned in the film Dirty Harry.

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