The Warfield

Rob has mentioned this venue a few times in class, and it's one of my favorite places to go see concerts in San Francisco, so I thought I'd give you guys some of its history. The theater opened in 1922 primarily as a vaudeville venue. It became insanely popular in the 70's and 80's due to Bob Dylan performing several of his shows there. Dylan gained a lot of popularity due to his shows at The Warfield, and it is due to his presence there that the venue is now considered one for Rock music. Other than greatly impacting Dylan's career, The Warfield became the primary venue of The Grateful Dead. Many of the band's celebratory shows, like their fifteenth anniversary, were performed at The Warfield. Due to the venue's great acoustics and relatively small size (it fits about 2000 guests), a lot of bands have used the venue as a place for secret shows, Guns N' Roses being a primary example, as they used the venue to perform a few secret shows before launching one of their tours.

The Warfield on Nov 10, 2009

It's incredible how one venue can have such an impact on a musician's career. It's even more incredible when a venue does so for several different bands. The Warfield is an integral part of the history of Rock music in San Francisco, and by association a big part of the beat movement as well. I'll supply a link to their website so that you guys can find more information about their history as well as some upcoming artists and bands performing there. If you haven't been to a show at The Warfield yet, I definitely recommend it. http://www.thewarfieldtheatre.com/