The Fillmore Auditorium: The Psychedelic Rock Temple

Why is it significant?

Pause outside the grand entrance of The Fillmore at Geary Boulevard and Fillmore Street, one of the most hallowed concert halls in the history of rock and roll.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Pause outside the grand entrance of The Fillmore at Geary Boulevard and Fillmore Street, one of the most hallowed concert halls in the history of rock and roll. Originally opened in 1912 as the Majestic Hall and later known as the Ambassador Roller Skating Rink, this historic venue was transformed in December 1965 by visionary concert promoter Bill Graham. Graham introduced a revolutionary concert format combining live improvisational rock music with mind-bending psychedelic liquid light shows, free apples in the lobby, and surreal concert posters designed by master artists like Wes Wilson and Rick Griffin.

Between 1966 and 1968, The Fillmore became the undisputed launching pad for the global counterculture rock explosion. Legendary bands including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, Santana, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience honed their legendary stagecraft on this very stage. Audience members and musicians were not separated by security barricades; they danced together in an electrifying communion that defined the Summer of Love.

Look up at the building's distinctive arched windows. Inside the second-floor lobby hangs the famous Poster Room, covered floor-to-ceiling with hundreds of authentic psychedelic concert handbills. To this day, concertgoers exiting a sold-out show are presented with a complimentary custom-designed commemorative poster, preserving a beloved Bill Graham tradition. Every surrounding viewpoint, historic brick facade, and open-air plaza tells an essential chapter of California's ongoing transformation from a rugged frontier town into a world-renowned Pacific metropolis. Every surrounding viewpoint, historic brick facade, and open-air plaza tells an essential chapter of California's ongoing transformation from a rugged frontier town into a world-renowned Pacific metropolis. Every surrounding viewpoint, historic brick facade, and open-air plaza tells an essential chapter of California's ongoing transformation from a rugged frontier town into a world-renowned Pacific metropolis.

Notice the wooden barrel of crisp fresh apples set near the entrance, maintaining Graham's signature hospitality gesture from 1966.

Cross Geary Boulevard using the pedestrian bridge or crosswalk and walk one block east along Post Street into Japantown Peace Plaza.