It's mind-boggling that in 1970 you could have heard BOTH of these performances on the SAME ticket.

[Miles Archer]

March 7, 1970: Miles Davis opening for Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the Fillmore East. This was Wayne Shorter's final live appearance with Miles before leaving the band.

[DFW]

1. The shows there would have been unthinkable today.

In 2 nights there in 1970/71, I saw (I forget which bands were on which night):

Country Joe and the Fish
Pearls Before Swine
The Electric Flag /Miles/Bloomfield)
The Grateful Dead
The Allman Brothers
one other which I temporarily forget

[postulater]

2. In 1970/71 I saw lots of bands that I forgot.

I know what you mean.

[annabanana]

4. I was fortunate enough to be there on New Years for Hendricks, Havens & Simone.

(The late show, not the one recorded..)

high as a kite

such fun

[DFW]

6. THAT would have been one to see!!

I saw Hendrix in the spring of 1968 in Washington DC. The only time I ever saw him, unfortunately.

[panader0]

3. I saw Jethro Tull open for Creedence at the Fillmore West in '69

My buddy was impressed by JT's clothes and when CCR can on he was disappointed because they wore
blue jeans and flannel shirts. I was way in the back getting stoned and watching the Family Dog do the
light show. I saw quite a few shows back then at the Fillmore. I saw Bill Graham introduce Santana
before their first album came out. Lots of fun...

[Mendocino]

5. Allman Brothers

February 1971 at the Eastown Theater in Detroit. They opened for Wishbone Ash and Ten Years After. It was the second rock concert I ever saw, went with my older brother and his friends. WA was meh, TYA ok. The Allmans, this was with Duane and to this then 14 year old, mind blowing. Once you've been to the mountaintop, you never look back. Duane died about 7 months later.

[Miles Archer]

7. Some of the great "opening acts" are pretty jaw-dropping, too...

...it sort of begins and ends with Jimi Hendrix opening for the Monkees, but The Allman Bros opening for Wishbone Ash? To my knowledge, "Argus" was the big one. It still holds up reasonably well, but it also has a certain "dated quaintness" around the edges. "Live Dates" was a popular live album around the time when "double live albums" were becoming the rage, but beyond that, their stuff is largely "fan favorites," no real heavy hitters left in the catalog.

Like most rock fans who grew up in the area, I loved TYA's "A Space In Time" and "Cricklewood Green" but I'd have to say that strictly on the evidence of the live material I've heard, they DID have some "OK" nights. I'm sure that there were times when Alvin & Co had some particularly inspired nights and burned, I just don't think those nights made it to vinyl or CD (and I'm not counting "I'm Going Home" from "Woodstock" as a "burn" moment...it's hot, yes, but it's also Rick Derringer-style showboating).

I've shared this on DU before, but the late Bill Graham would occasionally show up at San Francisco's KSAN and do a "guest DJ" spot on the weekends. One time he discussed the famous / infamous Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys New Years Eve concert. In the first set, Jimi pulled out all the "showmanship" stops, all of the sexual stuff that apparently inspired Prince to have a career, all of the playing behind his neck stuff and every "Whoo, shucks, FOXEY lady" move. And when he came off stage for his victory lap, Graham pissed him off by saying "I wonder what you'd sound like if you'd actually PLAY and sideline the rock star bullshit for five minutes?" Well, the second set yielded the LEGENDARY "Machine Gun," so we know the answer to Graham's question. According to Graham, Jimi finished the second set, walked off stage, approached a beaming Graham, looked him in the face and said "Happy NOW. motherf*cker?"

It's only rock & roll, but yeah...I DO like it.

[GreatGazoo]

8. a great read -- Bill Graham Presents My Life Inside Rock and Out

http://thrasherswheat.org/rns/graham.html

In Bill Graham Presents:, the egos of CSN&Y are revealed in an almost hilarious - but revealing - account on how a Persian rug should be properly placed onstage prior to a concert. There is also an interesting recount of the bickering between Crosby, Stills, and Nash over which order they would play. Since no one wanted to play after Neil Young, Neil always ended up coming out last during the CSNY shows.

Bill Graham was involved - either directly or indirectly - in just about every major event in rock: Woodstock, Altamont, the Band's Last Waltz concert, Live AID, and the Amnesty International tour. After Graham died in a helicopter crash on the way home after a Huey Lewis and the News show, there was really only one way to pay tribute to the man who invented rock promoting: a giant benefit concert.

Nearly 500,000 fans came to pay their respects to Bill Graham at the memorial concert held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The concert featured many of the acts Graham had promoted and nourished over the years including Jackson Browne, Santana, CSNY, the Grateful Dead and many others. In the end, it was the song which Neil Young dedicated to Bill Graham that day that said it best for so many - "Long May You Run."