The Jerry Garcia Amphitheater is an outdoor concert venue located in
McLaren Park in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, opened in 1971.
Its maximum capacity (as of 2022) is 1,200 people.
It is named after
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...
of the rock band
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
,
and is the site of the annual Jerry Day event, at which various musical groups perform.
History
The multi-purpose outdoor amphitheater was constructed in 1970 by the San Francisco Recreation Department and named the McLaren Park Amphitheater.
In 1997, it was noted the amphitheater had not seen many shows, possibly because of the limited stage, storage facilities, dressing rooms, and parking.
[''John McLaren Park Master Plan'' (1997), p. 16]
The first "Jerry Day" celebration on stage in the amphitheater was held in 2003. In July 2005, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission passed a resolution officially renaming the venue the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater.
Garcia had grown up in the nearby
Excelsior District neighborhood not far from the park, at 87 Harrington Street.
The amphitheater was officially re-dedicated on 29 October 2005 during a ceremony featuring performances by
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight RIAA certification, gold or Music rec ...
, Jefferson Galactic Family Reunion, Mystery Cats, Grapefruit Ed Acoustic, The Little Wheels Band, Jerry Rigged, Michael John Ahern,
David Gans and
Ben Fong-Torres.
See also
*
List of contemporary amphitheaters
This is a list of Amphitheatre#Modern amphitheatres, amphitheatres in use today with a capacity of at least 1,000.
Amphitheatres by capacity
See also
* List of concert halls
* List of jazz venues
* List of opera houses
* List of Roman amphithe ...
References
External links
Official websiteFriends of Jerry Garcia Amphitheater
(Facebook page)
Music venues in San Francisco
Amphitheaters in California
John McLaren Park
Jerry Garcia
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