1965 San Francisco Matrix
3138, Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA
Opened August 13, 1965
1965 San Francisco Matrix
Venues
Rock venues slowly became part of the music scene and one of the first, before the Fillmore Auditorium, before the Fillmore East or Fillmore West, and before the Straight Theater, there was the Matrix.
1965 San Francisco Matrix
Marty Balin
The Matrix was Marty Balin‘s idea. And a clever idea it was. He converted a pizzeria into a club and used his band, the Jefferson Airplane, as the house band.
1965 San Francisco Matrix
Great Society
One of the other bands that played there at the start of the Matrix was the Great Society. Fans of Grace Slick will immediately recognize the name of the band she left to join Balin and the Airplane. Here she is with the Great Society at the Matrix in 1966 singing a song that would also become a staple of the Airplane:
1965 San Francisco Matrix
San Francisco Sound
The Matrix became the early hub of what would become the San Francisco Sound, but the venue featured bands from all over during it’s relatively brief life until 1972.
Dozens of unknown upcoming bands played there including:
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1965 San Francisco Matrix
After closing
The club re-opened at 412 Broadway, but closed in fall of 1973.
Later new renters remodeled the space the first Matrix occupied and turned it into a nightclub with only a DJ, and no live music.
Today the space is called the Matrix/Fillmore, evoking the glory days of the San Francisco sound, though there is no live music.
According to the Matrix/Fillmore site the venue is “one of San Francisco’s most intimate, boutique-style music venues where you can enjoy handcrafted cocktails, bottle service and premium champagnes while dancing to a range of dance music, from House to 70s, 80s, 90s genre. Located in San Francisco’s Marina district, MatrixFillmore is also a stylish venue for private corporate and social events.”
1965 San Francisco Matrix
