Original color 18 x 24.5 poster for "The Final Concerts" of New York's famed Fillmore East music venue in May and June of 1971, which lists the following dates and performances: Leon Russell and Taj Mahal on May 20-23; Lee, Michaels, Fanny, and Humble Pie on May 28 and 29; Laura Nyro on May 30; Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and Head Over Heels on June 4 and 5; Bloodrock, Glass Harp, and Alice Cooper on June 11 and 12; B. B. King on June 18 and 19; Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter's White Trash on June 24; and the Allman Brothers Band and the J. Geils Band on June 25-27. The background of the poster features the large assortment of musical acts that Bill Graham had perform at the venue. Rolled and in fine condition, with a small tear to upper right edge.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the closing of the now legendary Fillmore East. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, The Band, Derek and the Dominos, the Allman Brothers Band and so many more performed at the Fillmore, most on several occasions. Unlike its counterpart the Fillmore West in San Francisco, which was a ballroom (it was a former dance hall) like most music venues were at the time, the Fillmore East was a theatre and it was a totally different experience for both the artist and the audience. Going to the Fillmore East was going to the theatre... a theatre that was built originally for vaudeville shows, which was perfect acoustically and seating wise for rock concerts. With the addition of a custom-made sound system and the visually mesmerizing Joshua Light Show (Joe's Light's later), it was a concert experience like no other. The Fillmore East itself is gone now, though its legend lives on and anyone who was ever fortunate enough to perform or attend a concert there can attest to the magic that occurred in that much missed theatre.
