The Warfield Theatre, colloquially called The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat music venue located in the Theatre District in downtown San Francisco, California, United States. It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the Loews Warfield on May 13, 1922.[1]
New life came to the Warfield in 1979 when Bob Dylan played 14 shows at the start of his first Gospel Tour in November 1979, and again 12 shows in November 1980 during his "A Musical Retrospective Tour". The Warfield had an appeal as a rock concert venue because it has more intimacy and better sound quality than an arena, yet has an occupancy of over 2,000 persons.
Like many historic theaters, its main floor had the seats removed in the 1980s for general admission and dancing. Prior to the removal of the seats, Joe Strummer of The Clash once refused to play unless the first two rows of seats were removed to allow for dancing.[2] It is a favorite venue for performance among many entertainers.[3]
In 1980, the Grateful Dead played 15 sold-out shows there, featuring both an acoustic and two electric sets. The shows were a celebration of the band's 15th anniversary and done as a show of appreciation for their loyal fans. These, along with a sold-out eight-night run at New York's Radio City Music Hall were recorded for release as two double albums; one, all acoustic called Reckoning, the other, electric, called Dead Set. Jerry Garcia also made the Warfield a second home, performing a record 88 times there with his various side bands, when not touring with the Dead.[citation needed]
On May 9, 1991, Guns N' Roses performed the first of a few "secret warm-up theatre gigs" prior to the official opening of their Use Your Illusion Tour.[4]
The venue was closed pending renovations by new lessee, Goldenvoice/AEG Live. It was reopened in September 2008, with George Lopez giving the first performance.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warfield Theatre.
The Warfield Official Website
Historic Photos of the Warfield in the SF Main Library collection
More Historic Photos of the Warfield
January 01, 1970
warfield, theatre, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Warfield Theatre news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message The Warfield Theatre colloquially called The Warfield is a 2 300 seat music venue located in the Theatre District in downtown San Francisco California United States It was built as a vaudeville theater and opened as the Loews Warfield on May 13 1922 1 Warfield TheatreLoews WarfieldFox WarfieldAddress982 Market StreetSan Francisco CaliforniaUnited StatesCoordinates37 46 58 N 122 24 37 W 37 782667 N 122 410268 W 37 782667 122 410268Public transitPowell Civic Center Market and 6th Street Market and Taylor StreetOwnerDavid AddingtonOperatorGoldenvoiceCapacity2 300Current usemusic venueOpenedMay 13 1922Websitethewarfieldtheatre wbr com Contents 1 History 2 Current use as music venue 3 References 4 External linksHistory editIn the 1920s The Warfield was a popular location that featured vaudeville and other major performances such as Al Jolson Louis Armstrong and Charlie Chaplin The theater opened as the Loews Warfield named after David Warfield It later became known as the Fox Warfield New life came to the Warfield in 1979 when Bob Dylan played 14 shows at the start of his first Gospel Tour in November 1979 and again 12 shows in November 1980 during his A Musical Retrospective Tour The Warfield had an appeal as a rock concert venue because it has more intimacy and better sound quality than an arena yet has an occupancy of over 2 000 persons Like many historic theaters its main floor had the seats removed in the 1980s for general admission and dancing Prior to the removal of the seats Joe Strummer of The Clash once refused to play unless the first two rows of seats were removed to allow for dancing 2 It is a favorite venue for performance among many entertainers 3 In 1980 the Grateful Dead played 15 sold out shows there featuring both an acoustic and two electric sets The shows were a celebration of the band s 15th anniversary and done as a show of appreciation for their loyal fans These along with a sold out eight night run at New York s Radio City Music Hall were recorded for release as two double albums one all acoustic called Reckoning the other electric called Dead Set Jerry Garcia also made the Warfield a second home performing a record 88 times there with his various side bands when not touring with the Dead citation needed On May 9 1991 Guns N Roses performed the first of a few secret warm up theatre gigs prior to the official opening of their Use Your Illusion Tour 4 Current use as music venue editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message In 2001 thrash metal band Slayer recorded the concert film War at the Warfield 2003 there On November 12 2003 hard rock band Korn performed during a small club tour which is a rarity for the band In May 2008 The Warfield changed management The final show with Bill Graham Presents performance by Phil Lesh ran until 3 30 a m May 19 2008 The venue was closed pending renovations by new lessee Goldenvoice AEG Live It was reopened in September 2008 with George Lopez giving the first performance In September 2011 Dream Theater played their first U S show with Mike Mangini on the Dramatic Turn of Events Tour at the Warfield This was their first show in the U S without founding drummer Mike Portnoy References edit Joel Selvin 2008 07 03 Battle of the Bay Area concert promoters San Francisco Chronicle The Clash Tough But Tender They re Taking America James Henke in Rolling Stone 4 17 80 Retrieved 4 4 08 Frogs amp Oysters A Les Claypool Interview Mike Powers jambase com 1 26 01 Retrieved January 26 2008 GNRontour com GN R Setlist Almanac 1991 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warfield Theatre The Warfield Official Website Historic Photos of the Warfield in the SF Main Library collection More Historic Photos of the Warfield Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Warfield Theatre amp oldid 1205851190, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
