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The
neighborhood that housed the Fillmore East (previously known as "The
Village Theater") was originally known as the Lower East Side,
a melting pot of Jewish, Ukrainian and other European immigrants mixed
with the artist and bohemian types who populated Greenwich Village immediately
to the west. In the early '60s the balance shifted further to the bohemian
side, and the area became known as The East Village, a colorful and
somewhat seedy neighborhood populated by young, hip bohos and beatniks
who sustained a
thriving cultural community.
In the late '60s the East Village became the epicenter of the hippie movement in New York, and the Village Theater began presenting the "new music." Following a Cream show in 1967, the building (at 2nd Ave & 6th St) went up for sale, and Bill Graham-already a big player in the San Francisco scene with The Fillmore West and Winterland, was persuaded to buy it. A big part of Graham's vision was making sure the visuals and the audio sound system were top flight all the way. Technical Director Chip Monck (later known as 'the voice of Woodstock'), reveals that "Graham had already started this bit of brilliance. Which was, 'I'll build the best sound system available. For the visuals, Graham signed on the Joshua Light Show, formed in 1967 by Joshua White, who had a background in film and attended both Carnegie Tech and the USC film school. Though later replaced by an outfit known as Joe's Lights, the Joshua Light Show will always be integrally linked with the venue. With
staff, sound and lights all in place, Graham launched the Fillmore East
on March 8th, 1968, with a show featuring headliners Big Brother &
The Holding Company (with Janis Joplin) supported by folksinger Tim
Buckley (father of Jeff) and blues legend Albert King. If Woodstock seemed the beginning for some...it apparently signaled the end of something else for Bill Grahm. On May 6, 1971, a letter from Bill Graham appeared on page 45 of the The Village Voice which included this announcement: ":The scene has changed and, in the long run, we are all to one degree or another at fault. All that I know is that what exists now is not what we started with, and what I see around me now does not seem to be a logical, creative extension of that beginning. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to announce the closing of the Fillmores, and my eventual withdrawal from producing concerts. The process will commence with the formal closing of Fillmore East on Sunday, June 27, 1971." The site became home to "The Saint" during the eighties..but the grand facade is now a bank..and the stage is now luxuary condos. |
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Fillmore
East Opening: March 8, 1968
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Bill
Graham
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Fillmore
East Closing: June 27, 1971
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Backround
image: Mark Rothko "no. 14"
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