It was like having rock history in my backyard. Every sixties group imaginable played in this theater. The promoter of this theater was Bill Graham, and he opened it on March 8, 1968. He had another one like it in San Francisco, and he booked the same bands over there. There were two-night concerts several times a week. Originally, it had mostly been a Yiddish theater.

Some of the groups that had played there were: The Grateful Dead, The Who, Quicksilver Messanger Service, The Allman Brothers, Derek and the Dominos, Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe and the Fish, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Humble Pie, Led Zepplin, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Pink Floyd, Procal Harum, John Mayall, The Byrds, The Doors, and Jefferson Airplane (just to name a few).

The Allman Brothers played there so many times, that they started to be called “Bill Graham’s House Band”.

Many of these artists recorded their live shows as albums, such as, Jimi Hendrix and “The Band of Gypsies” (what a great album, I still listen to it), John Mayall’s, “The Turning Point”, The Grateful Dead also recorded their performance there called, “Ladies and Gentlmen” , and The Mothers of Invention also did some live recorded music there.

Bill Graham closed down The Fillmore East on June 27, 1971. The artists in the final concert were, The Allman Brothers, J. Geils Band, Albert King, Edgar Winter, Mountain, The Beach Boys, and Country Joe McDonald in a performance that was by invitation only.