Page "Winterland Ballroom" Paragraph 2

Starting with a 1966 double bill of Jefferson Airplane and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Bill Graham began to rent the venue occasionally for larger concerts that his nearby Fillmore Auditorium could not properly accommodate.

After closing the Fillmore West in 1971, he began to hold regular weekend shows at Winterland.

Various popular rock acts played there, including such bands and musicians as Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The J. Geils Band, The Who, Queen, Boston, Cream, Yes, KISS, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, The Band, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Rush, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, Golden Earring, Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Sha Na Na, Loggins and Messina, Lee Michaels, Heart, Journey, Deep Purple and Elvis Costello.

Led Zeppelin first performed their song Whole Lotta Love here.

Many of the best-known rock acts from the 1960s and 1970s played at Winterland or played two blocks away across Geary Boulevard at the original Fillmore 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 and The Band played their famous last show there on Thanksgiving Day 1976.

That concert, featuring numerous guest performers including Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and many others, was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released in theaters and as a soundtrack under the name The Last Waltz.

Winterland was also host to the Sex Pistols ' final show on January 14, 1978.