Loew's Commodore Theater
105 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
105 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10003
15 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 149 comments
I scanned pages of a booklet issued by The Saint, and some photographs – you can see them in my album at Photobucket
Here is a website dedicated to The Saint, with pages of history and photographs as well as streaming videos:
http://www.saintdisco.com/
I can also confirm that The Saint’s dome had been sold well before the destruction. After the official 2 day “Closing Party”, the Dome was sold off by the owner. Several months later, the Saint reopened periodically for special event parties sans the dome. It closed for good (I believe) in 1991 (could be 1990). It wasn’t the same without the dome, but it was still an incredible place! The Commodore deserved better.
I remember The Saint had a huge (at least 8 foot tall) golden winged Angel as you were climbing the steps to get to the orchestra section where the dance floor was. It was very impresive.
the dome was added as part of the saint….the dome was later sold off before the building was vacant again….i got that info from bob herman, the guy who tried to save the fillmore east. when i went into the building a few years before it was torn down, the place was stripped…black walls, a lot of dancefloor left…debris everywhere.
the 1st balconey had been removed…the upper balconey had a set of spiral stairs leading up to it….the upper balconey had been stripped down to the concrete risers….the facade of the upper balconey was black….the only original thing left inside i saw was the procineum ? arch artwork around the outline of the stage….i was alone, and i didn’t feel like getting killed that day, so i got out.pretty dark in there, and homeless were in there…
Was that dome a part of the original Commodore design elements? Photos I’ve seen of the interior from the Fillmore East days reveal a Colonial motif that I wouldn’t have imagined capped with a dome. I can’t recall seeing any images of the Fillmore’s ceiling.
Yes, Warren. That too is part of the legacy. I’m one of the lucky ones.
WOW! Thanks, shoeshoe14! That brought back a rush a fabulous memories. It really was an incredible place and was my absolute favorite disco (and I got around to most of them in my day!) Just like I lament the fact that today’s youth will never truly know what it was like to attend movies regularly in the wide array of palaces that we had in our youth, I also lament the fact that they will not have the elaborate discos that we had as well (many of the most prominent in former movie palaces like The Palladium, Studio 54, Xenon’s, Club USA and, of course, The Saint!
The clubs kept these theaters open a few years longer than they might otherwise have been. Unfortunately, only Studio 54 was spared the wrecking ball and arguably, it was the least worthy of this elite group of theaters. Nonetheless, I’m greateful that we still have it and has been returned to the public as a legitimate Broadway House.
On another note: The introduction to this page should include The Commodore’s history as palying home to The Saint for over 10 years. As the link provided by shoeshoe14 shows, The Saint was an incredible club that was both historic and culturally influential. It should be ackowledged.
Pictures of the dome. http://www.saintdisco.com/
The Saint was probably one of the greatest discos New York ever had and kept the Commodore from being torn down back in the early 80’s. While most of the interior was painted black, it was not “gutted” for The Saint. It was quite beautiful and will not ever be replaced. The dome over the dance floor with stars projected above was a sight to behold and an experience to remember. Even better: there were only 4 entrances to the dance floor and no drinks were allowed to be brought inside the dome! The entrances were carefully monitored. It’s a shame that The Commodore didn’t make it into the 21st Century. It will be truly missed.
saw a lot of shows at the academy on 14th st….my first was electric hot tuna in ‘73….the downstairs bathroom was like an opium den…came out of the late show and saw a car burning in the street…went to a lou reed show, grabbed a dealers bag and got punched in the face before the show….we rolled on the ground in front of the place….i remember muddy waters, johnny winter, kinks, lou reed, hot tuna, jeff beck, allmans, …lots more….i can’t beleive they tore it down….it was classic…
i went down to the old fillmore in the 90’s before it was torn down..the steel doors that led behind the stage area were open so i wandered in…..through the tunnel and around the back side…all the doors were open. i went in at ground level and saw that the floor for the saint was raised up even with the first balcony…i climbed up the rickety old fire escape and checked it out…it was full of debris…you could see the artwork around where the stage was..the dance floor for the saint was still there. a set of spiral stairs led to the upper balcony. where the entrance was in the front was a pile of debris…the whole interior was painted black..it was what was left of the saint, not the fillmore….those saint guys gutted that building before they moved in….i took a lot of exterior shots, it was too dark inside….i bought some tickets and a program on ebay for bachman turner overdrive in january 74 at the new fillmore east…does anybody know the history of that incarnation of the fillmore ? i heard it burned at some point…i think kiss played there too.
Those of you who use this Fillmore East sight have probably dropped in on the Academy of Music listing here at the Cinema Treasures sight. If you have, than you may know that I’m trying to create the only comprehensive list of performnces at the Academy of Music ever assembled. Input welcome.
Despite all my harsh works about the Academy, its attrocious conditions and aweful sound, Howard Stein DID succeed at attracting the best of the best in the industry, while fighting the same financial battles that persuaded Bill Graham to get out of the business. In the end, we should all be appreciative of any promoter who had the balls to get into the music promotion business, taking the kind of financial risks they took, while suffering the intolerable behavior of those self-important prima donna rock stars, who lived to bite the hand that fed them. And in spite of the often huge profits that motivated the promoters, most of them (intentionally or otherwise) helped add structure and integrity to an otherwise lawless industry, getting the bands out of the college gymnasiums and into theaters and halls designed to enhance the concert experience.
To somoman…you are very correct. Bill Graham endeavored to provide the best sound possible. He didn’t have a lot to work with. Young people will find it hard to believe that in the 60’s professional sound reinforcement equipment barely existed. Take it from someone who heard(?) the Beatles play at Shea in 1966. But Bill’s efforts notwithstanding, I still believe the building takes a lot of the credit. Acoustics is a very hit or miss science. Ask any sound engineers or architects who have ever worked on Avery Fisher Hall. A sound disaster from day one.
Meanwhile, thanks for the heads up on the sweet spot at the Beacon. I sat in those seats in 1988 for GTR. Your secret is safe with me. LOL.
I’ve never experienced a show at the Fillmore, but when I saw the Garcia Band at the Palladium or Phil Lesh at the Beacon, the sound was pretty damn good down on orchestra level or in the 1st balcony. Perhaps that’s because the Dead family cared so much about providing good sound. There was definitely a fall off in the upper reaches of the Beacon balcony (and I never sat far back at the Palladium), but it is certainly preferable to MSG or other arenas. The Capitol in Passaic might have had the best sound of any venue that size that I can recall… perhaps because it was deeper than it was wide, which definitely supports your acoustical theories.
I guess it’s all relative. The Beacon sounds great to me because I’m used to MSG and the like. Somoman – I love sitting in that 1st mezzanine – and sound in the building is definitely at its best up there. My ears aren’t trained enough to pinpoint it to the center 9 seats in the 5th row, however… Anything towards the center in any of the 10 or so rows that exist up there works fine for me!
Al, a few thoughts…the Fillmore had great acoustics, probably for the reasons you described, and largely because Bill Graham was deeply commited to providing the highest quality of sound possible, and at a time when live rock and roll sound was a new science.. Most promoters did everyting they could to AVOID reaching into their pockets to make any kind of improvements to their venues. Bill was no philanthropist, but when it came to improving the concert going experience, he hardly withheld. Read any of his biographies and you’ll see just how dedicated he was to solving the sound problem..
Th sound at the Academy sucked. Plain and simple.
The Beacon is also aweful BUT, if you can get the 1st balcony, center section about 5 rows back, the audio in that group of 9 seats is absolutely perfect. And so is the view of the stage. But don’t tell anyone.
I would like to put forth the opinion that the Fillmore had much better acoustics than the Academy of Music or the Beacon. Perhaps the best of any theater that I’ve been in that featured rock music. My theory is that the Fillmore was long and skinny (when you sat in the last row, you were pretty far from the stage). This enabled the low end, acoustically speaking, to properly “sound out."
In contrast, the Academy was more wide than long, and the acoustics for amplified music suffered. This is even more true of the Beacon, which seems even shorter, front to back, than the Academy was. When someone tells me that the Beacon has good acoustics, I just laugh.
Yeah Al, that’s the wall lantern, one of several, I’m guessing there were 3 or 4 on each side. Wonder what happened to the rest of them being from what I read the place was gutted.
I also seem to remember a small room maybe in the basement that had a small pile of cast iron seat sides that were maybe a dark red color with a small face profile medallion in the center as part of the design, and I seem to remember some marquee letters, I took home one of the seat sides.
Hey Luis… Actually, the run of “Cabaret” at the Henry Miller preceded that of “Urinetown.” The excellent revival of “Cabaret” opened at the Miller (which had been re-dubbed the Kit Kat Klub for the engagement) in 1998. It moved over to Studio 54 (which I don’t think was a movie palace – was it?) in 2001 to make way for “Urinetown” – which had to vacate and close up shop when the Miller was shuttered for redevelopment.
I’d also have to beg to differ with your classification of the Hilton Theatre (which opened as Ford Center for the Performing Arts) as spectacular. While I think the exterior renovations to the former Lyric Theatre facades on both 42nd and 43rd Street are indeed spectacular, I find the interior quite cold and cavernous – far too big and uninviting for a Broadway house. I’m kind of disappointed that “Young Frankenstien” will be opening there rather than the more intimate St. James where “The Producers” enjoyed its successful run. The actors will have to play it so big to land the jokes to those in the far reaches of the balcony, that I wonder how it’ll play to those in the better seats.
Anyway… I think I’d have preferred sacrificing the old Apollo so that the Lyric might have survived in all its intact glory.
Salvage. Aah. I just picked up a copy of a nice publication from my friend’s storefront in NYC called “Architectural Salvage News” out of Virginia. They talk about this kind of preservation in all buildings.
I have confirmed that, yes, the Henry Miller did show movies.
Note to Somoman….I never realized that the Jefferson was a dance club that far back. My clubbing days didn’t start in earnest until 1983 at Palladium and Limelight. I’m sorry I never got the see the interior of The Jefferson. At The Palladium, the architect incorporated the old Academy of Music’s decay into the club to amazing effect. It truly was, along with the Saint (Commodore), one of the greatest discos New York ever had.
Commenters above have mentioned The Ritz on E. 11th Street. The NY Landmarks Preservation Society is holding a hearing today on granting landmark status to this Romanesque Dance Hall wich dates to the mid 1880’s. While this structure was never a theater, it does incorporate many of the intricate architectural theatrical details that we celebrate on this site. I hope they approve it.
When I commented previously on theaters whoes lives were extended by becoming discos I omitted a very important one: The Henry Miller theater on W. 43rd Street, though I am not sure if this one ever showed movies. This theater had lain empty for a few years before it became “Xenon’s”, a contemporary of Studio 54. Later on, it became the Rock dance club “Shout”. As Times Square’s fortunes changed, live theater returned with a highly successful run of Urinetown, followed by an ever more successful run of Caberet. Ironically, Caberet moved to Studio 54 which fully returned old movie palace back to permanent legit theater.
The Henry Miller theater was razed a few years back (though the facade was saved) to be replaced by the new Bank of America tower. I am told, however, that significant architectural elements from the theater were saved and stored to be used when a new theater is constructed within the new tower, so in a sense, we’ll at least have some of the old theater back along with the original facade. I believe the same technique was used in the construction of the Hilton Theater on 42nd St. and the results there are spectacular.
Note to Randall, that certainly looks like one of the old wall lanterns. And yes, as incredible as it may seem, the Fillmore sat open and unlocked in 1976. One day in 1976, with flashlight in hand, I went inside through a side door that was ajar (actually a number of them were; that’s where some amount of light came from). I got to stand on the stage (a spooky thrill) and walk up the stairs to the multi-level dressing rooms where all my idols had once hung out. Talk about ghosts. I remember some water damage, a few seats burned, probably by some bum, and some of the marble walls behind the last rows smashed, but at that point it was still way salvageable. The disco came later. And the bank/condos way later.
Sometime around 1976 or even 1975 I found a backdoor to this theater unlocked or it had been pryed open with a crowbar and left slightly ajar. If I remember right and don’t have it confused with the Riviera/Riverside on 96th and Broadway- the basement was totally flooded from the theft of water pipes and vandalism to the flush toilets and sinks in the restrooms.
I removed one of the large brass lanterns that was attached to the wall on the left side near the stage, it was about 5 feet tall made of solid brass supported to a cast iron scrolled bracket that was bolted to the wall. It had frosted glass sides as well. Here’s a photo that shows it a little on the very left;
http://flickr.com/photos/91263176@N00/1662346344/
Hey kc2dhj – you are correct. Up the block from the Academy was a row of brownstones – Luchow’s was in one of them, with their Christmas Tree thru the roof. Another, at one time housed he main office of the NY Schools of Music – which once boasted lessons for $.35 (20 mins)with free practice. They had branches all over NYC.
I used to travel there via 3rd Ave. El for regular test with “Director,” Arthur Crimmins.
bobmarshall