July 1968 photo of marquee at Fillmore West
 

Just spotted the photo on the linked webpage this afternoon. It's Bill Graham on a ladder outside the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1968. Looks like he's putting up letters on the marquee on the building but it could just be posed for the photo (would Graham have been putting up the letters himself?). The marquee lettering advertises "BUTTERFIELD," "TEN YRS AFT," and "EETWOOD M."

This photo is certainly from the official opening weekend of the Fillmore West after Graham moved his venue from the original Fillmore Auditorium to the new spot that had been known as the Carousel Ballroom (good reason for a Bill Graham photo-op outside his new place). Fleetwood Mac had played at the Carousel from June 20-23 - on a bill with Big Brother & The Holding Company and Dr. John. The Fillmore West opening weekend from July 5-7 featured the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Ten Years After. Is it possible that there were no shows at the venue between those two, and the "Fleetwood Mac" lettering on the marquee is being taken down from the previous shows? Or - as I've seen suggested - was Fleetwood Mac added to those July 5-7 shows? Anyone here have any further insight into this?

Incidentally, check out some of the other photos you can scroll through on this page - they're from the 1975 "SNACK" benefit concert at San Francisco's old Kezar Stadium. There are photos of Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana...plus Marlon Brando and Willie Mays!

http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2...e-kids/#3681-8

Quick follow-up...I found that the Steve Miller Band, Buddy Guy, and Initial Shock are shown to have played the Carousel Ballroom from June 28-30, 1968. So I think that's a very good indication that Fleetwood Mac was indeed added to the bill for at least one of those early July shows at the Fillmore West, replacing the band Truth, which had originally been on the bill.