The closing of the Fillmore West was a huge milestone in the history of the San Francisco scene, and this David Singer design is one of the most collectible in the series.
Although this poster is a commemorative poster, as it was printed after the concerts, it is agreed upon by lovers of this material as the original FINAL Fillmore West poster and is a MUST-HAVE for collectors. Nearly 2/3 of page 144 in THE ART OF ROCK book by Paul Grushkin was devoted to a full-color image of this landmark concert poster artwork.
David Singer remembers the task of wrapping up all the Fillmore Years: "I saw the dark cat as the expression of the unconscious and the white cat as symbolic of the conscious. The two images were very different; one was light and playful while the other was mysterious and somewhat sinister. This interplay, I felt, was exactly right for what the mood and music of the time were all about. Then, to bring the dark and the light together, I chose the image of Saturn, with its halo of rings. Saturn is a heavy planet, associated with the metal lead. The presence of Saturn implies confrontation, especially in the material world. Saturn relates to that actual and made real, and to the seedtime and the harvest. The Saturn photo came out of a January 1953 National Geographic.
All this, of course, just evolved as I went along. I thought about it, but it also felt right. It all fit together, and that is what I was interested in. I wanted a design that was highly evocative, rather than intellectual, but I also wanted it to have depth. It was a gift for Bill Graham, and it is the only one of the Fillmore series that is a commemorative piece, as far as I know. It is special because I was able to do a meditation, to linger over it, and that's why I think the lettering flows so smoothly into the overall design, and why the piece is so integrated.
For me, the Fillmore always was a beautiful mystery, how it could work so well to bring so many people together to celebrate themselves. My poster doesn't try to explain the experience. I think it works because it leaves the interpretation of the Fillmore essentially open. The poster has a lot of pathways, but it leaves out the directions."
--CRITICAL DETAILS--
--TITLE: BG-287
--GRADE: 8.5
--PERFORMERS: Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Hot Tuna, Boz Scaggs, and Santana
--VENUE: Fillmore West
--CITY: San Francisco
--DATE: 06/30/71
--PRINTING: OP-1; Original Pre-Concert First Printing Poster
--SIZE: 21.8 x 27.8
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