My first memory of Winterland is that of a little girl going to a Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies show, getting all dressed up in the finery of the time, which included white patent leather shoes, a dress that had prickly underpinnings that made the skirt stick out and white cotton gloves. That was how one dressed when one went to The City. My whole family was dressed in their Sunday best. I don't remember much about the evening before or after the Ice Follies show, whether or not we went out to dinner or falling asleep in the Olds station wagon on the way home, but I'm sure those things happened. But I do remember walking down the aisle to our seats, which were about three or four rows away from the edge of the ice and feeling like I had walked into a snowy, sparkly, brilliant land of Ice Fairies. Fairy Land, a small enchanted park across the Bay in Oakland, was another favorite place of mine as a little kid, but Winterland was otherworldly and magical, you could just feel it. You entered a realm that just didn't exist in the outside world. This must have been the first time I'd ever been to a live show, because my excitement could hardly be contained. My parents had built this adventure up so my brother and I were tingly with anticipation. I could barely keep my seat. I remember the lights, the glitter, the reflection off of the ice and how beautiful the women skating were, like pink, sparkly floating queens and princesses. At one point in the show, they came around with a little sleigh and took kids from the audience for a ride around the rink. I wanted to be chosen so badly, I squirmed as I raised my hand high. Alas, it was not to be and yes, I was disappointed, but was still agog with all the splendor. I also remember Frick and Frack, skating clowns who were very funny and not the least bit scary. It seemed like their limbs were made of rubber and they never fell down unless it was on purpose. I'm not sure how many times we went to the Ice Follies, but it seems like we went every year for a number of years. Those memories colored the experiences to come.
The most memorable time I had at Winterland was October 20th, 1974, the Dead show that was billed as "The Last One". My family had been up in the Sierras that weekend, and I was very late getting over to SF, but my friend was saving me a place in line. I got there about 6:30pm, there were probably 50 people in line, I got a ticket at the box office for $5.50. Willy was there, guarding all of us, making sure we were safe from the real world. We both dropped a full four-square windowpane each and waiting for the doors to open, soaking up the last fading, warm rays of the sun as it set over by the park and the derelict Haight. We were very mellow. I had never seen the Dead before.
As I walked into Winterland, the memories of that five year old girl swept over me. I couldn't believe it was the same place, but it felt like it. Walking down the aisle to the floor, I could still see the floating princesses and remnants of the sparkles and glitter; I could still smell the ice. The magic of the Ice Follies lingered in the rafters. We went to the mezzanine area on the left, which in those days was Garcia's side, later to become Phil's Lounge. There was the Harley on stage over by Keith's piano and lots of Angels milling about. As time wore on and the windowpane blasted open, I turned to my friend and tried to form the words to ask him why did that guy jump onto stage and scream, "I'm at a Dead show, so I'm going to be dead!", then pull out a gun and shoot himself in the head. The Angels just pushed his ass back into the crowd. My friend didn't understand a word I was saying, his ears were perhaps not working all that well for specific words, but ultimately I found out several days later, there was a guy that jumped on stage, but there was no gun, or gunshot or blood or any of that. Boy, they don't make it like they used to.
The Dead were fabulous, as we all know. I stood on that wobbly folding chair, carefully balanced, and just boogied with my bones. The music fit like a soft faded pair of jeans, with a twist. I had never heard any sound so beautiful, melodic, so rockin', so absolutely fucking weird - the cacophony was immense, the intricacies twining around the neurons and snapped. Whoa! And that was just the first set! During the break, the hookers came on to the floor to drum up business. There was one in particular that had me mesmerized. She was dressed all in blue, from the blue suede high platform boots that draped above her knees, the blue fishnet stockings, the blue suede mini skirt to the blue, shiny halter top - all the same royal blue, which looked electrified under the black lights. She had long brown hair with bangs and looked like she owned the world. I was in jeans and a big fuzzy sweater. We were clearly from two different worlds, but we were both there breathing the same air.
That night was the beginning of a love affair with the Dead that lasted 21 years and nearly 200 shows. I still have the paper Ticketron ticket stamped with "The Last One" in big blue letters. Over the years, I saw other bands at Winterland: Jefferson Starship, Steve Miller Band, Santana, Joe Walsh, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Diga Rhythm Section, all the other Dead offspring, culminating with the closing of Winterland with Blues Brothers, NRPS and the Dead. That night defies description. Greensleeves never sounded so poignant.
Flash forward to early June, 1989. A friend of mine and I decided to spend the day in the city, tripping around. We started in the Rose Garden in GG Park, but then decided to head over to Kirby Cove on the Marin Headlands. When we got back to his car, it was dead and wouldn't start, so the only thing we could do is walk to the nearest BART station (not much of a bus rider, I guess), which would have been down on Market Street somewhere. So we had a long walk ahead of us. We meandered around, stopping off at bars every so often to get fortified with a Guinness or two, then on our way again. Needless to say, we did not travel in a straight line, we wandered wherever our minds took us. We ended up at a BART station about 8 hours later, exhausted. But somewhere in the middle of that journey, we were walking down this somewhat quiet street, the paisley sky pulsing, the sidewalk undulating, a certain stillness in the air and I suddenly stopped in my tracks. I looked around, trying to get my bearing without falling over, and said to my friend, "I think Winterland was around here somewhere", and I got my eyes to focus on the street signs just above me, Post and Steiner. The vibe was still there.
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The first time I paid money to see the Grateful Dead, as opposed to the free Golden Gate Park gatherings, was at Winterland during their “Steal Your Face” tour. It was the “wall of sound” setup and sounded fantastic. It was like no other sound at any other live performance I ever saw anywhere to this day.
The guy sitting next to me, front row left center 1st seating in the balcony, had this huge reel to reel tape recorder with a few mics attached to various seats. Yes, they let people into Winterland with tons of different sound tape recorders to record the shows. Many of those shows eventually made it to vinyl bootlegs, the medium of the day.
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Lightshows, projected behind the band on stage, were displayed to visually enhance and augment the psychedelic music. Unlike standard stage lighting, which was generally static and non-interactive, lightshows utilized liquid dyes, overhead projectors, color wheels, slide projection and 16mm film to produce not just a light show, but a live multi-sensory musical experience. By using vibrant liquid oils in a unique “visually percussive” interpretation of the music, the lightshow groups produced this truly American breakthrough multimedia art form. One company used six overhead projectors for liquids, three movie projectors, and sixteen slide projectors (some slides were hand painted) behind rotating color wheels. Groups that ‘performed’ this visual effect included Jerry Abrams Head Lights, Brotherhood Of Light, Dry Paint, Earth Light, Heavy Water, Bob Holt, Holy See, Light Lives Co., Little Princess 109, Glenn McKay’s Head Lights, Optic Illusion, Pablo Lights, Pot Liquor, San Francisco Light Works, and Spontaneity.
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While researching the groups that played Winterland, one that peaked my interest was 'Joe Frazier & The Knockouts'. Yes, the boxer. On 3/8/71 "The Fight of the Century" - Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali. On 5/2/71 'Joe Frazier & The Knockouts' performed at Winterland. There is a photo of the ticket in “Links”.
From a Sports Illustrated dated May 17, 1971 (article can be viewed in "Links")
"Joe Frazier and the Knockouts, with a $5,000 guarantee and another $5,000 in expenses, played a date last week at Winterland, an auditorium in the heart of the San Francisco black community. Less than 100 people paid their way in to see the heavyweight champ sing and, more embarrassing even than that, only eight of 30 people with free passes cared enough to come.
The Winterland management wanted to cancel the show, but Frazier refused, so then Winterland canceled its scheduled May 22 appearance of Muhammad Ali on the questionable theory that if the winner can't draw, then certainly the loser can't."
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Journey made their first public appearance at Winterland, New Year’s Eve 1973.
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The infamous Allmans/Marshall show in Sept 1973, “Brothers and Sisters” tour, what a night - hot as hell. I'm pretty sure they oversold the place. We weren't even sitting on the seats of our chairs, we were sitting on the tops of the chair backs. I remember that I did not even have an entire chair-back to myself, that's how crowded it was. A packed/steambath that night.
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First time I heard Marshall Tucker and they killed -Toy Caldwell belting out “Can't You See”. The Allman Brothers Band brought the house down. It was an amazing show and I think the Brothers were happy to be in such an intimate venue after playing nothing but large arenas on that tour (including Oakland Coliseum the night before).
They used the Bill Graham introduction and the opening song “Wasted Words” on their ‘Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas’ live album - "I'd like to introduce some southern musicians...."
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October 4 1973. It was a Stephen Stills and Manassas concert, until a few very special guests showed up. Neil Young was on the Tonight's the Night tour with the Santa Monica Flyers, Stills with Manassas and Crosby & Nash were on the road as well. Neil, Crosby and Nash joined Stills for a few songs. CSNY hadn't played together for about 2 years.
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I saw the unscheduled CSNY reunion show in 1973. It had been on bay area radio that the reunion might take place. I think Sal Valentino opened. The place was 1/2 empty. Stills never was a draw in those days on his own. Chris Hillman said as they were heading to intermission that "You guys are in for something special". First Stills did a few solo songs then Crosby and Nash and then Neil. Neil also came out during the electric "Carry On". Stills also played the next night but only Crosby and Nash showed up. The place was packed that night. A very special time and place for music.
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One of the great shows I saw was the Jefferson Starship, Papa John Creach's band Zulu and a Sacramento band Steelwind.
The Starship had just released Blows Against The Empire and nobody knew who was going to be in the band. So rumors swirled about. Steelwind played a killer set (if you can find the song "Caveat Emptor" do it) then Papa John's band tore it up. Papa John played with Steelwind and Craig played with Papa John's band.
We all took a bunch of Orange double domes I think that night. We had an almost endless supply of them around that time so I am guessing that is what we did. Man was I high. We had a huge group there maybe 20 friends all meeting right under the ball.
The Starship came out. Paul and Grace. Craig and Papa John. Spencer Dryden on drums and David Frieberg (Quicksilver). They played some Airplane songs. Then they went into the "Blows" stuff.
Fucking incredible. The place was peaking almost simultaneously.
The band got the XM part and the ball started spinning. Faster and Faster. The music sounded just like a starship taking off. Everyone that was there that night will tell you that at that moment, Winterland lifted off the ground, hurtled through space for a couple of hours and somehow landed back on the corner of Post and Steiner Streets. One of the all time great moments.
For me, this was the peak of the Airplane/Starship experience. Craig became a full time member and the band made some great albums for a while, but they never topped that night.
(Editor's Note: this show took place on 4/20/74 :)
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I remember going to a show in 1974 to see Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Savoy Brown. They were the only artists listed when I bought the ticket, but when I got there there were a ton of girls who looked like Playboy bunnies with black sequined knit tops with letters spelling "KISS" on them.
I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, and I thought the quality of roadies had gone up considerably. My recollection is one of being very surprised by the opening act. The other two bands were, well, Earthy. The band that performed first looked like a really bad Halloween joke gone too far. I was pretty far from the stage, but when KISS came on, people in the audience started throwing cans and shit onto the stage. To their credit, Kiss soldiered on and I think the cans and bottles stopped pretty soon after they were into their first song. I thought it was probably the most mis-matched booking of all time. I enjoyed it though.
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One show that will forever stick out in my mind: I went to see Manfred Mann's Earth Band because I loved “Quinn the Eskimo”. What I wasn't prepared for was the opening act . . . KISS. OMG!!! WTFWT!!!
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“Frampton Comes Alive”, one of the best selling live albums was recorded at Winterland.
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Winterland for me, was always a special place after my first time there in September, 1974. I was deploying overseas in a few days after I saw Santana and Journey play there. I was a nineteen year old U.S. Navy crewmember aboard the aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE over in Alameda across the bay. Eight months later, after participating in the evacuation of Saigon, South Vietnam I was back at Winterland in March attending a Peter Frampton show. Little did I know it was being recorded for his big selling Live album that came out the following year in 1976.
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The Who in 1976. I was out here on spring break. I heard that The Who were playing and went down to try to find a ticket. The ticket price was an exorbitant $10 and the scum-of-the-earth ticket scalper wanted $30! I had a hard time convincing myself to part with that much money, but in the end I did. I remember being in awe of finally being in the infamous 'Winterland' and decided I'd need to enhance the experience appropriately. When I got settled on the floor about 15 yards back from the stage I noticed a glow to everything and realized it was because the ceiling had an array of colored lights, but the only ones lit were ultraviolet lights. That created a nice effect on the small square pieces of paper I had with drops of liquid on them. :-)
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Who Tickets were sold by drawing and I was lucky enough to get 4 of them. I spent many years going to shows around the Bay area and saw The Who several times. This show was my all-time favorite.
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We were seniors in high school and drove over from Carmichael (Sacramento). The chance to see The Who with the original line-up in what was formerly an ice skating rink was phenomenal. All of the craziness up close. It must have been our lucky night because we got pulled over on the way home and were let off the hook!
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A real gem of a concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd and I believe the Outlaws opened for them. I remember we were standing next to the side door stage entrance when a limo with Alan Collins and Gary Rossington pulled up and they got out and went through the door. I shook hands with Alan Collins as he went by. That never happens anymore these days. We could hear them doing their sound check through the walls.
Back in those days, it was the original Skynyrd and they put on a SHOW. That place was ROCKED OUT! At the end of the regular set after the band left, the place lit up with real matches and lighters (none of that cell phone crap), I mean, you brought a lighter just for that. Everybody in the place had a lighter or match going, I’m not exaggerating, and I still have never seen anything like that. The inside of the place took on this ghostly aura as it slowly appeared out of the dark with it’s 20’s decor as people started to light them up, till it was lit in there with the stage still dark. Then, the pounding began as the crowed called for more. The place literally vibrated. No wonder the plaster eventually started to fall.
Then the band slowly made its way back to the stage and stage lights went back on and the place faded back into the dark. Free Bird starts with that whining organ music and all the Bill Graham guys abandoned their posts and ran onto the floor to see it. Then the place really started to rock! The energy of the crowed as they left the place was unbelievable, shouting, hollering, real energy. That whole concert was a real experience that I could never forget if I tried. Winterland was the backdrop and the venue for it all.
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The Band’s farewell gig “The Last Waltz” – Thanksgiving 1976 – was a historic 4 hour concert that included some of biggest names in rock as guest artists. I read that Bill Graham originally wanted to host the show at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre for $7.50 a ticket. After poor ticket sales he rescheduled the show to be played at Winterland at $25.00 a ticket, which also did not sell very well. When he ‘leaked’ who else would play with The Band that night it sold out. He served dinner as the 38-piece Berkeley Promenade Orchestra provided background music. He also transformed the old hall by hanging three chandeliers, designed for "Gone with the Wind", above the stage. Several classical statues were borrowed from the prop department at 20th Century Fox and SF Opera’s sets to “La Traviata” were rented for the stage. An unbelievable cast supported The Band that night and was captured on film, one of the all time best rock concert films.
Besides The Band members Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel the guest artists included Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Mac "Dr.John" Rebennack, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronny Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ron Wood and Neil Young. I did not attend the show but the film captures the spirit, as well as the wonderful music, of the night.
Neil Young performed a beautiful version of “Helpless” with The Band. Prior to playing the song he said "It's one of the pleasures of my life to be on the stage with these people." What made this performance so moving was Joni Mitchell’s angelic vocal accompaniment, off stage, during the “sing with me somehow” portions of the song.
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My girlfriend and I hitch hiked from Boulder Colorado in the freezing cold in time to catch the March 19 and 20, 1977 shows by the Grateful Dead. On the 20th we wanted to get up front for this show and were only 3 or 4 people from the very front. Just before the show started a group of young girls came on stage carrying a very long daisy chain of flowers. They stretched it out and laid it at the very front of the stage, between the back of the vocal monitors and the crowd. Back at this time there was no buffer zone between the crowd and the stage. If you had the "rail" you were resting your arms on the stage floor. When those flowers hit the floor the crowd surged forward and it was like we were being locked and loaded for the show! These shows were special because they were the first times the Dead played “Terrapin Station” and “Estimated Prophet”.
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The Sex Pistols. At the time I thought it was the end of the world. I went in full blown tie dye and everyone else was all in black with all this angry energy. Piercings everywhere. People with huge safety pins sticking through every part of their faces. Everyone had no respect for the house and that really pissed me off. They were all bent on destroying Winterland and the band radiated this total negative energy. But Bill Graham calmed them down and nobody really did any damage, thank God.
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I believe a ticket to the Sex Pistols "Never Mind The Bollocks" tour was something like $3.50!
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My last show there was The Ramones and The Dictators in 1978. I remember it was a different crowd, and with rumors of the building closing soon, it just wasn't the same atmosphere anymore. The place was really run down, and some punk rock fans were getting a little violent.
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I saw so many shows at Winterland from 1976 thru 1978 (as a 16 to 18 year old). A Les Dudek, Pat Travers, Dicky Betts & Great Southern show was one of the BEST shows of my lifetime. I will NEVER forget standing a few feet in front of Dicky Betts as he played like no one I have ever seen before or since. There was something magical about that performance that still gives me chills when I think about it.
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I only went to Winterland during it's last year, my first show being 38 Special, Kingfish & Dickie Betts & Great Southern in early 1978.
That show sold so poorly that the balcony was closed so my first impression, after hearing so many raves about the place, was that it was just a big, drafty old building with an odd smell.
Later that year, I saw Sammy Hagar there (when he was still good, playing with the amazing Montrose band) and the place was PACKED and simply bursting with that one-of-a-kind Winterland energy. It was one of the greatest rock concerts I've ever seen...... and I was hooked.
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The last night in 1978 was a marathon show, when the Dead, The Blues Brothers and NRPS closed the joint for good. The Dead played until 6AM. The city had gone mad that fall, the Jonestown massacre was followed by the assassination of mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk, then Winterland closed. I got home from the show at 8 AM, slept for a couple of hours, loaded my stuff in a U-Haul with my dad and drove to Oregon to resume college at U of O. I never returned to the Bay Area to live and have been here (Oregon) ever since. The closing of Winterland was the fitting end to the California chapter of my life.
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Dead heads had started lining up, for the closing show, the day after Christmas.
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OK so I'm 16 years old, and going to the New Years show on 12-31-78 because someone else couldn't make it. It was my third Dead show ever. My friends and I smoked a little pot and had a few beers before the show. We are making our way through the crowd on the floor and I bump into someone on the floor. As I stepped over them, I looked down to say I'm sorry and see three ALL naked couples going at it in the middle of the floor, about 30 feet from the stage. There are people standing all around them, no one is really paying attention to the acts of love. They are in sort of a triangle pattern, and don't even break stride as my friends and I step over them and continue to the front. Others are standing in the middle of the triangle just watching the show and doing the Dead Head boogie. A memorable moment for me.
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The Closing of Winterland: Winterland was my house. I spent so many great nights there and for everyone it was like losing a member of your family. NRPS opened the show and were great. Then The Blue Brothers just took the roof off the place. Funny and serious at the same time.
They had a lottery at the BASS ticket outlet and I won tickets while a good many of my friends got shut out.
The show was broadcast on KQED and I bought one the very first video recorders (300 bucks)so I could record the show at my hotel while I was at the show.
The place was all dressed up with banners hanging from the top and the Bill Graham quote "They are not the best at what they do, they are the only ones that do what they do" painted on the sides.
For quite a while someone had a sign they brought to Winterland that said "----- Days since last SF Dark Star". It had been a LONG time since they played one.
The show itself was pretty incredible. The New Years Eve thing with Graham in the giant joint and Akroyd's narration was awesome. Friend of the Devil was incredible. Scarlet/Fire was slow but sublime. As the show wore on the anticipation for Dark Star was building. Would they play it? The rumor was they would , but they had not.
After the second set closed, the buzz was unbelievable. Take more of this, take more of that.
There was a little shop on the top floor of Winterland that sold posters and stuff and I went up there to buy a bunch of stuff, cuz I knew it was the last chance to get a lot of it.
I made my way down stairs and there was this guy playing this instrument that I had never seen. A long pipe thing and the sound in my LSD mind, I thought, sounded just like 'snot". To this day whenever I hear a didgeridoo, it reminds me of snot.
By the time the third set rolls around the whole place apoplectic. ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY IT?
By the time they actually do play it, everyone is out of control. That third set was easily the best NYE set the band ever played. The Dark Star>Other One>Dark Star was incredible.
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I came out to San Francisco after seeing the Dead in San Diego and UCLA on the nights leading up to New Year's eve. I knew many friends who lived in the Bay Area, but they had just barely been able to get tickets for themselves. Neither my girlfriend nor I had tickets. We were coming up to watch the show on closed circuit TV and listen to the KSAN broadcast. But, my friends had staked out places in line to get into Winterland *3 days before the show*! This gave them some collateral to trade. They found someone who had an extra pair of tickets but wanted to be able to get in line with them. So, when my plane landed in SF my girlfriend met me and said, "we have to get to Winterland now! They found tickets for us!".
They started the evening off with showing the movie "Animal House" which was a big hit at the time. I remember Uncle Bobo throwing roses and what looked like confetti on the crowd at midnight, but we were in seats on the side. Then, a Bill Graham Presents usher came around to our seats to hand us all personally some of the same "treats" that Bill was throwing on the crowd. It was some of Humboldt's finest herb. Thanks, Bill!
By the end of the third set, that started with Dark Star, while they were singing the verse of St. Stephen about the "Lady Finger dipped in moonlight, writing 'what for' across the morning sky" there really was a morning sky. We finally stumbled out into San Francisco after breakfast from BGP to the crisp January 1st day.
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I’ll never forget that the final music selection, to announce ‘time to leave’, was always "Greensleves".
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I remember a big sign on the side of the building with the Dead’s ‘steal your face’ logo – red, white and blue with lightning bolt in the skull – and roses. It said “They are not the best at what they do, they are the only ones that do what they do.”
Thrasher's Wheat - A Neil Young Archives