 The Band playing at the Winterland Arena on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. | |
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| Location | 2000 Post Street at Steiner Street, San Francisco, California |
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| Coordinates | 37°47′06″N122°26′06″W / 37.785036111111°N 122.43488888889°W /37.785036111111; -122.43488888889 |
| Owner | Bill Graham (1971–1978) |
| Capacity | 5,400 (1971–1978) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | June 29th, 1928 |
| Renovated | 1971 (Converted exclusively to music venue) |
| Closed | December 31st, 1978 |
| Demolished | late 1985[1] |
Winterland Arena (more commonly known asWinterland) was anice skating rink andmusic venue inSan Francisco,California, United States. The arena was located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street. It was converted for exclusive use as a music venue in 1971 by concert promoterBill Graham and became a popular performance location for many rock acts. Graham later formed a merchandising company calledWinterland Productions, which sold concert shirts,memorabilia, and official sports team merchandise.
The venue was opened on June 29, 1928, as theNew Dreamland Auditorium.[2] It served as anice skating rink that could be converted into a seated entertainment venue. Sometime in the late 1930s the building's name was changed toWinterland, and it successfully operated through theGreat Depression. It was built in 1928 for $1 million (equivalent to $18.3 million in 2024).[3] The New Dreamland was built on the site of the Dreamland Rink (midway on the west side of Steiner between Post and Sutter) andSid Grauman'sNational Theatre (on the corner of Post and Steiner).[4]
In 1936, Winterland began hosting theShipstads and Johnson Ice Follies.[5] Impresario Clifford C. Fischer staged an authorized production of theFolies Bergère, theFolies Bergère of 1944, at the Winterland Ballroom in November 1944.[6] The Ballroom hostedopera, boxing andtennis matches.[7]
Starting on September 23, 1966, with a double bill ofJefferson Airplane and thePaul Butterfield Blues Band, Bill Graham began to occasionally rent the venue, which had an audience capacity of 5,400, for larger concerts that his nearbyFillmore Auditorium could not properly accommodate. After closing theFillmore West in 1971, he began to hold regular weekend shows at Winterland.
Various popularrock acts played there, including such bands and musicians asBruce Springsteen,the Rolling Stones,the J. Geils Band,the Who,Black Sabbath,James Gang,Kansas,Mahogany Rush,Quicksilver Messenger Service,UFO,REO Speedwagon,Queen,Slade,Boston,Cream,Yes,Fleetwood Mac,Kiss,the Doors,Jimi Hendrix,Steppenwolf,Lynyrd Skynyrd,Styx,Van Morrison,the Allman Brothers Band,Grateful Dead,the Band,Big Brother and the Holding Company (withJanis Joplin), Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Neil Young,Jethro Tull,Pink Floyd,Ten Years After,Wishbone Ash,Rush,Electric Light Orchestra,David Bowie,Genesis,Santana,Jefferson Airplane,Sons of Champlin,Sex Pistols,Traffic,Golden Earring,Grand Funk Railroad,Humble Pie,Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band,Robin Trower,Emerson, Lake & Palmer,Sha Na Na,Loggins and Messina,Lee Michaels,Heart,Journey,Deep Purple,J.J. Cale,Spirit,the Chambers Brothers,Alice Cooper,Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention,Foghat,Mountain,B.B. King,Montrose,George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers andElvis Costello.Led Zeppelin first performed their song "Whole Lotta Love" there.
The Tubes headlined New Year's Eve 1975 withFlo and Eddie.
Many of the best-known rock acts from the 1960s and 1970s played at Winterland or played two blocks away acrossGeary Boulevard at the originalFillmore Auditorium.Peter Frampton recorded parts of the fourth-best-selling live album ever,Frampton Comes Alive!, at Winterland. The Grateful Dead made Winterland their home base, andThe Band played their last show there onThanksgiving Day 1976. That concert, featuring numerous guest performers includingNeil Young,Eric Clapton,Bob Dylan,Joni Mitchell, and many others, was filmed byMartin Scorsese and released in theaters and as a soundtrack under the nameThe Last Waltz. Winterland also hosted theSex Pistols' final show, on January 14, 1978.[8]
During Winterland's final month of existence, shows were booked nearly every night. Acts included theSex Pistols,the Tubes,[9] theRamones,Smokey Robinson,Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and on December 15–16, 1978,Bruce Springsteen and theE Street Band. Springsteen's December 15 show was broadcast on local radio stationKSAN-FM.
Winterland closed on New Year's Eve 1978 / New Year's Day 1979 with a concert by theGrateful Dead,New Riders of the Purple Sage, andthe Blues Brothers. The show lasted over eight hours, with the Grateful Dead's performance — documented on DVD and CD asThe Closing of Winterland — lasting nearly six hours, beginning at midnight with Bill Graham's favorite Dead song, "Sugar Magnolia". After the show, the crowd was treated to a hot, buffet-style champagne breakfast. The final show was simulcast live on radio stationKSAN-FM and the localPBS TV stationKQED.[10]
Winterland was eventually razed in 1985 and replaced by apartments.[11]
A number of films and recordings were made in whole or in part at the Winterland Arena.[12]
Compilation of Published Sources
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