San Francisco’s baroque Warfield theater, a 1922 vaudeville and movie house that became a prime venue for Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and countless other performers, was looking a little shabby when it closed in May after the lease changed hands. But the Market Street rock palace has a fresh glow after a four-month renovation that spruced up the ornate interior and installed permanent new lighting and sound systems.
Run for 30 years by Bill Graham Presents, then Live Nation, the Warfield, which reopens Saturday night with a show by comedian George Lopez, is now managed by Goldenvoice, a wing of the giant Anschutz Entertainment Group (billionaire Chairman Philip Anschutz owns the San Francisco Examiner). Among the changes: The mixing console has been moved downstairs from the front of the balcony, making space for 30 more prime reserved seats, the lobby walls were painted a deep blue to match the new carpets and the brass chandeliers got a polish.
The matadors and Spanish dancers that Albert Herter painted across the proscenium arch in 1922 were left alone. And a new set of Warfield concert posters, from shows by David Bowie, James Brown, David Byrne, Jerry Garcia and many others, line the lobby walls.
“We’re looking to present a pretty broad range of artists,” says David Lefkowitz, Goldenvoice’s vice president for booking. “Everything from alternative bands like the Kooks to (jazz singer) Cassandra Wilson.” Lefkowitz has also booked dates for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Rancid, the Dandy Warhols and Bullet for My Valentine.
Warfield reopening: With comedian George Lopez. Tickets available for 8 p.m. Monday (Saturday and Sunday shows sold out). 982 Market St. Tickets: $57.50. www.ticketmaster.com or www.goldenvoice.com
Saw “West Side Story” there in 1961
Refurbished Warfield to open Saturday 09/13/2008:
San Francisco’s baroque Warfield theater, a 1922 vaudeville and movie house that became a prime venue for Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and countless other performers, was looking a little shabby when it closed in May after the lease changed hands. But the Market Street rock palace has a fresh glow after a four-month renovation that spruced up the ornate interior and installed permanent new lighting and sound systems.
Run for 30 years by Bill Graham Presents, then Live Nation, the Warfield, which reopens Saturday night with a show by comedian George Lopez, is now managed by Goldenvoice, a wing of the giant Anschutz Entertainment Group (billionaire Chairman Philip Anschutz owns the San Francisco Examiner). Among the changes: The mixing console has been moved downstairs from the front of the balcony, making space for 30 more prime reserved seats, the lobby walls were painted a deep blue to match the new carpets and the brass chandeliers got a polish.
The matadors and Spanish dancers that Albert Herter painted across the proscenium arch in 1922 were left alone. And a new set of Warfield concert posters, from shows by David Bowie, James Brown, David Byrne, Jerry Garcia and many others, line the lobby walls.
“We’re looking to present a pretty broad range of artists,” says David Lefkowitz, Goldenvoice’s vice president for booking. “Everything from alternative bands like the Kooks to (jazz singer) Cassandra Wilson.” Lefkowitz has also booked dates for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Rancid, the Dandy Warhols and Bullet for My Valentine.
Warfield reopening: With comedian George Lopez. Tickets available for 8 p.m. Monday (Saturday and Sunday shows sold out). 982 Market St. Tickets: $57.50. www.ticketmaster.com or www.goldenvoice.com
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