Fillmore

This movie is a precious time-capsule that is, unfortunately, out of print on home video. The terrific performances from the likes of Boz Scaggs, Santana, Jefferson Airplane and particularly the Grateful Dead each at their respective peaks, would be reason enough to celebrate this film... But they almost pale in comparison to the portrait of the magnetic pioneering rock impresario Bill Graham and his immortal magical San Fransiscan rock palace, the Fillmore West.

In 1971, Graham decided the time had come to close the doors to the fabled concert hall (and it's NYC counterpart, The Fillmore East) due to what he candidly describes as the egos of the performers having run amuck. This now-rarely seen documentary gives us a glimpse into the hassles and headaches (and joy) Graham experiences while trying to put together the lineup of acts for this final week of shows at the Fillmore. Footage of Graham doing dances to accommodate the needs of this performer or meet the demands of that agent illustrate his sense of disillusionment with the "business" in fascinating detail.

While the split screen techniques applied here are derivative of the ground breaking work by Mike Wadleigh and company on the Woodstock film project, the subject matter in Fillmore is sufficient to set this movie apart from most other such films of the time. The only question remains is, who owns the rights to this film and why hasn't it been mastered in wide screen for DVD and home video yet?

Never saw the original theatrical release, but this DVD is only 55 minutes or so. There's no Bill Graham interview stuff, he just hops on stage and introduces a few of the bands. The opening credits seem to run forever, sucking up a lot of that minuscule hour of video. Possible the most egregious (to me) error is that during Jefferson Airplane's clip, they show a ton of footage of outdoor scenes (crowds, rallies, concerts) and occasionally closeups of Grace, Paul and Marty. I suspect this was in the original film this way, and probably because the stage footage sucked but they wanted to include the Airplane.

All that's the bad news. The good news is that this DVD has two complete songs by Quicksilver (featuring plenty of guitar work by John Cipollina), most of a song by It's a Beautiful Day, two pieces by Hot Tuna, a rave-up tune by Cold Blood: all this is worth the price of the DVD. The video is extreme wide-screen, mostly split in two parts, sometimes three and sometimes overlapping montage. If you're looking for footage of old heroes, you could do worse than this.

An excellent in your face documentary about 60's rock promoter Bill Graham that chronicles the last days of his Fillmore West which he closed in 1971 along with the Fillmore East a while later. FILLMORE gives us a no nonsense look at the music business after the nirvana of the 1960's had evaporated. The musical groups that flourished in the open San Francisco atmosphere and elsewhere during the mid to late 60's, became "authoritarian", corrupted by power bought with success and money. When love of music became secondary to egos and business interests, Graham decided to get out of the business. And so after watching the daily drudgery of Graham having to deal with prima Donnas, the threat of cancellations and broken agreements, it's easy to see why he wanted out. On the other hand, when talented musicians like Boz Scaggs, Carlos Santana, Elvin Bishop and Jerry Garcia take the stage to do their thing, it's easy to see why he got into the business in the first place.

Yes, friends and IL' hippies, if ever there was a movie begging for an expanded edition wide-screen DVD release, this is the one. I haven't seen it since '72, granted, and my mental awareness at that time was probably a bit...different...but based on the soundtrack CD set I'd wager this is still a great look at the crazy IL' daze, with some wonderful music and a fun backstage look at the music culture of the time. Yes, it's true, I do have the added motivation that I had the astounding good fortune to attend a couple of these shows (the Dead/New Riders/Rowan Brothers show and the Hot Tuna/Quicksilver show), and would thus particularly get a kick out of seeing the film again. Let's hope "Festival Express" does really well; maybe that will punch somebody's button and wake 'em up to the potential market for this film.

Considering so few films exist of this era, this is a must see and I too indeed hope it makes it to DVD. I am at this point searching out a VHS copy. I have the vinyl soundtrack and I enjoy hearing many of the tracks often. Real footage of the workings of a Bill Graham presentation, with the Dead, Quicksilver, Santana, etc is a unique experience.And to see Bill Graham in action. Worth the experience. He was one in a billion. Attending this particular event, most would have died and gone to heaven to be within a bongs smoke cloud whisper of the Fillmore East on this 3 day event. The closing of the Fillmore East in NYC. Luckily here in the Bay Area the Fillmore West still goes on strong.

Truth be told. I saw this as a young teenager when it came out and on PBS once a few years ago. I would love to see it again. The feeling of the era is there and the music stands up well against memory. The Hot Tuna alone is superb. All in all a long hairs dream come true and in the film Garcia, Jorma and Jack and Bill Graham all look forever young. To be there once again in film would do everyone a fine solid.