The Warfield Theatre, colloquially referred to as The Warfield, is a 2,300-seat

music venue A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Ty ...

located in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was built as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

theater and opened as the '' Loews Warfield'' on May 13, 1922.

History

In the 1920s, The Warfield was a popular location that featured

and other major performances, such as

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, and

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

. The theater opened as the Loews Warfield, named after

David Warfield David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American stage actor. Life and career Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in San Francisco, California, to German-Jewish parents, Louise and Sigmund Wohlfeld. His first connection wit ...

. It later became known as the Fox Warfield. New Life came to the Warfield in 1979 when

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

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. The venerable hall has been rocking ever since. 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 John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

once refused to play unless the first two rows of seats were removed to allow for dancing.The Clash, Tough But Tender, They're Taking America
James Henke in

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

4/17/80, Retrieved 4/4/08 It is a favorite venue for performance among many entertainers.Frogs & Oysters: A Les Claypool Interview
Mike Powers, ''jambase.com'', 1/26/01, Retrieved January 26, 2008 In 1980, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

played 15 sold-out shows there, featuring both an acoustic and two electric sets. The shows were a celebration of the band's fifteenth anniversary and done as a show of appreciation for their loyal fans. These, along with a sold-out 8 night run at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

were recorded for release as two double albums; one, all acoustic called '' Reckoning'', the other, electric, called ''

Dead Set ''Dead Set'' is a British zombie horror miniseries written and created by Charlie Brooker and directed by Yann Demange. The show takes place primarily on the set of a fictional series of the real television show '' Big Brother''. The five epi ...

''.

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

also made the Warfield a second home, performing a record 88 times there with his various side bands, when not touring with the Dead. On May 9, 1991,

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

performed the first of a few "secret warm-up theatre gigs" prior to the official opening of their

Use Your Illusion Tour The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 19 ...

Current use as music venue

In 2001,

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

recorded the concert film ''

War at the Warfield ''War at the Warfield'' is a concert video by Slayer which was released on July 29, 2003, through American Recordings. Recorded at Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, California, on December 7, 2001, it is the band's second video album. The DVD's ...

'' (2003) there. On November 12, 2003, hard rock band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

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 Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a German-American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death in 1991 in a helicopter crash. On July 4, 1939, he was sent from German ...

performance by

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...

ran until 3:30 AM, May 19, 2008. The venue was closed pending renovations by new lessee, Goldenvoice/

AEG Live Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

. It was scheduled to reopen in September 2008, with

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rec ...

to give the first performance. In September 2011,

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

played their first U.S. show with

Mike Mangini Michael Anthony Mangini (born April 18, 1963) is an American musician and current drummer of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has also played for bands and artists such as Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai. Befor ...

on the Dramatic Turn of Events Tour at the Warfield. This was their first show in the U.S. without founding drummer

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departur ...

References

External links

The Warfield Official WebsiteHistoric Photos of the Warfield in the SF Main Library collectionMore Historic Photos of the Warfield
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warfield, The 1922 establishments in California Music venues completed in 1922 Music venues in the San Francisco Bay Area Theatres in San Francisco Music venues in San Francisco Landmarks in San Francisco Loew's Theatres buildings and structures Market Street (San Francisco)