The Fillmore East — Bill Graham's New York Temple of Rock

The Fillmore East at 105 Second Avenue in the East Village was the preeminent rock concert venue in New York City from 1968 to 1971 — the East Coast counterpart to Bill Graham's Fillmore West in San Francisco. The venue, a converted Yiddish theatre seating around 2,600, hosted the Allman Brothers Band (whose At Fillmore East is one of the greatest live albums ever made), Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Jefferson Airplane, Miles Davis, and virtually every significant rock act of the late 1960s. Graham's production standards — Joshua Light Show visuals, impeccable sound, double and triple bills — set the template for how rock concerts would be staged.

Bill Graham operated the Fillmore East from March 1968 to June 1971, when he closed both Fillmore venues, citing the increasing commercialisation of rock music and the impossibility of maintaining the idealism of the 1960s. The final night featured the Allman Brothers Band and the J. Geils Band. During its three years of operation, the Fillmore East was the venue where rock transitioned from ballroom curiosity to full-scale theatrical production, and the shows staged there influenced every arena tour that followed.

The building at 105 Second Avenue has been through several incarnations since the Fillmore East closed, including a stint as the Saint nightclub in the 1980s. A bank now occupies the ground floor. The facade retains some of the original architecture, and a small plaque marks the site's musical significance. The Fillmore East is consistently ranked among the most important concert venues in rock history.