A metallic plaque commemorating the Fillmore East — some of the storied venues in music historical past — vanished from the positioning of the long-shuttered Decrease East Facet live performance corridor a couple of week in the past.
And native preservationists need it again.
“We had been clearly very upset to listen to it was gone,” Andrew Berman, government director of the nonprofit group Village Preservation, instructed The Publish on Monday. “We don’t know if someone stole it … we simply don’t know for positive.”
The group — based 44 years in the past to protect the architectural and cultural heritage of Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo — collaborated with the Two Boots Basis and mounted the $2,500 plaque exterior what was then an Apple Financial institution on Second Avenue close to East Sixth Avenue in October 2014, Berman mentioned.
The constructing, which was a sister venue to a different iconic dwell spot in San Francisco, had a rock’n’roll previous that solely lasted from 1968 to 1971 however had an outsized influence on music historical past.
Throughout that quick time, famend music impresario Invoice Graham lured to the Fillmore essentially the most well-known acts of the day, together with John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Elton John, B.B. King, the Allman Brothers Band and Led Zeppelin, in response to the e book “Fillmore East: The Venue That Modified Rock Music Eternally.”
“Among the most legendary performances by a number of the greatest names of that period befell right here,” Berman mentioned. “So it actually was the place to see dwell music, definitely on the East Coast. And its legend lives on within the hearts of 1000’s and 1000’s of individuals.”
Particularly, the Allman Brothers’ March 1971 exhibits stand out — and a 2015 Rolling Stone article listed the following dwell album because the second-best of its sort to ever be recorded.
“That album captured the band in all their glory,” fabled music producer Tom Dowd mentioned in a 1998 interview. “Right here was a rock ‘n’ roll band enjoying blues within the jazz vernacular. They usually tore the place up.”
The plaque sought to commemorate the hefty weight of such historic performances in a quick little bit of prose, which was unveiled in the course of the “fantastic, touching” dedication ceremony a decade in the past, Berman mentioned.
“Followers of dwell rock, folks and blues music streamed via this entrance in the course of the transient however memorable lifetime of the Fillmore East,” the plaque learn, noting the venue was “beloved by artists and audiences alike for its intimacy, acoustics and psychedelic gentle exhibits.”
However now it’s gone lacking.
“It’s an indication of the instances,” mentioned Bud Courtney, a 74-year-old basic rock fan and neighborhood resident who was, regrettably, by no means capable of see a present on the Fillmore. “I feel there’s little or no respect for individuals’s property or belongings.”
Margaret Soto, an 85-year-old retired trainer who’s lived on the Decrease East Facet for 5 many years, was shocked and saddened in regards to the little bit of vandalism.
“It was very well-known at the moment — Jimi Hendrix was there, Janis Joplin was there,” Soto mentioned. “It was thrilling. I bear in mind seeing the crowds … I obtained lots of avenue credit score for residing right here!
“I really like that plaque and I feel it’s a shame.”
“I’m not going to lie, it’s sort of annoying — it’s a chunk of historical past,” added Fabio Palao, a 26-year-old warehouse supervisor who wasn’t conscious the constructing was that well-known.
“Historical past ought to all the time be preserved,” he continued. “And music is one thing that ties individuals collectively.”
Some suspect {that a} employee from the newest financial institution to occupy the constructing took the plaque with them on their approach out.
However Berman isn’t satisfied — principally as a result of the financial institution left this spring, however the piece appears to have disappeared simply days in the past.
“I’m uncertain that’s the reason for it, however we simply don’t know for positive,” he mentioned. “They’re bolted in … we make them in order that they’re not simple to take away.
“The truth that it might disappear and probably be stolen is simply significantly disheartening and bewildering.”
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