The Fillmore
The Fillmore in 2010
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| Former names | Majestic Hall |
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| Address | 1805 Geary Boulevard |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′03″N 122°25′59″W / 37.784098°N 122.433132°WCoordinates: 37°47′03″N 122°25′59″W / 37.784098°N 122.433132°W |
| Owner | Kortz/Bregan Family |
| Capacity | 1,150 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1912 |
| Website | |
| thefillmore |
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The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California, made famous by Bill Graham. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954 when Charles Sullivan acquired the master lease from the building owner, Harry Shiffs, and renamed it for the neighborhood rather than its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard." It is situated in the historical center of the Western Addition neighborhood, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fillmore (lately known as Lower Pacific Heights). From the 1930s through the 1960s, before redevelopment, this location was considered the heart of the San Francisco Fillmore District.
Graham also opened a Fillmore East in New York City in March, 1968. In July, 1968, he opened an additional venue in San Francisco under the same brand. Formerly known as The Carousel Ballroom at Market Street and South Van Ness Avenue, he called this the Fillmore West.
The building which became The Fillmore was built in 1912 and initially housed the Majestic Hall and Academy of Dancing. Its name was changed in 1936 to the Ambassador Dance Hall. From 1939 to 1952 it operated as the Ambassador Roller Skating Rink. In 1954 Charles Sullivan, one of the most successful African-American businessmen in San Francisco at the time, started booking bands and renamed the venue The Fillmore Auditorium. In December 1965, Sullivan let Bill Graham use his dance hall permit to book a benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and after that Graham continued to book shows there. Sullivan was murdered in November 1966 at the age of 57.
On May 27, 28 and 29, 1966, The Velvet Underground and Nico led by Lou Reed played the Fillmore Auditorium as part of Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable avant-garde, multimedia show premiered in New York City. Their light show engineer Danny Williams, who pioneered many of today's standard practices in rock music light shows, built a light system at the Fillmore that included stroboscopes, slides and film projections onstage. Conceived by Andy Warhol, Danny Williams and using some of film maker Jonas Mekas's ideas (Mekas pioneered film projections during concerts at The Cinematheque in New York), the show also included wild, free dancing both in the crowd and onstage. At Bill Graham's request Danny Williams soon came back to the Fillmore to build more. These innovations were to become part of the Fillmore Auditorium's prestige and image and were also used at the Fillmore East and Fillmore West venues, both opened in 1968.
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