Fillmore

The concerts held at both of the Fillmore auditoriums (West and East) are filled with such legendary tales and 'you should have been there' stories that one wonders if the utopian visions of what really (or supposedly) happened are true of were just chemically enhanced memories.

In any case, the venues were legendary and housed some of the most fabled shows in US Rock history.

Run by Rock’s most famous (or infamous) promoter, the late Bill Graham, the Fillmore (West) closed its doors on Independence Day in 1971 (it would re-open years later) with a legendary blowout and captured on the film, FILLMORE: The Last Days.

Out of print for many years, the film has been fully restored on DVD (thanks to Rhino) and shows some of the highlights of that heady night.

The often spotty Grateful Dead were on fire this night and rip through hot versions of 'Casey Jones' and 'Johnny B. Goode.' Dead leader, Jerry Garcia, also opted for a solo slot and jams through on 'Noodle,' and we also get to see him on a rehearsal jam with New Riders of the Purple Sage.

A duo of tunes from then bluesman Boz Scaggs ('Hollywood Blues' and 'I’ll Be Long Gone') show how puritan he really was before his Silk Degrees days made him a Top 40 pop rocker.
And the movie ends on a high note with Santana’s 'Incident At Neshabur' and 'In A Silent Way.'

To some, having Santana end the movie may seem strange, but Carlos Santana and his co-horts were managed by Graham so it was not surprising Graham gave them the climactic ending slot (for the movie anyways).

FILLMORE: The Last Days is a great glimpse into the days of one of rock’s most ballyhooed and storied venues.