Love love love going to see live music. period. But The Fillmore makes me love it even more! If your hungry you can order food upstairs earlier in the night. There's plenty of room there and the bartenders seem pretty fast and attentive! Sound is great! And the posters! It's awesome having a collection of posters from shows you went to! And there also are always the apples at the end for anyone to take! A nice little snack!

* Yet another reason that the Filmore is so great - the staff is incredibly nice. Last night I went to see Camera Obscura with some out of town friends, one of whom had a foot in a cast. The guy whose job it is to say "Welcome to the Fillmore" (I love that they have a guy whose job it is to say "Welcome to the Fillmore") saw the cast, and got us table passes so she could sit during the show. Even the guy that patted me down for weapons and / or bottles of booze on the way in was super nice. I love the Fillmore. *

My favorite live music venue, anywhere.  It's a classy venue, with big velvet curtains, high ceilings, and great sight lines.  I love how the serve oranges by the crate in the upstairs bar. Browse the Fillmore's walls and you'll note that just about every musician worth a salt has played this venue.

If only we could go back in time to those thrilling days of yesteryear when the Fillmore Auditorium was a bare bones venue (reminiscent of a high school gym) where teenage hippies (and old beatniks like me) danced to the sounds of Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding Company or Quicksilver Messenger Service (and there was room enough on the floor for dancing) as the walls melted and the smell of mother nature permeated the atmosphere. Picture a giant banner on the back wall of the stage depicting Batman and Robin swinging on their ropes towards the audience; the caption reading: MAKE LOVE NOT WAR!

Fast forward to the '90s, and we get tacky chandeliers, purple velvet drapes and strip-searched at the door. Not quite the same experience.