Aretha and Ray Kick it Out

“THE PARTY’S JUST BEGINNING -WE GOT THE WHOLE NIGHT YET!” starring Tower of Power, King Curtis and the Kingpins, and Aretha Franklin

Bill Graham’s Fillmore West. At one end is a fairly large stage, the sides littered with sound equipment. Behind it hangs the light show scrim. In front of the stage, just for tonight, is a runway. Above, and scattered across the ceiling, are boxes that light up with the word “ARETHA.” San Francisco ballrooms are tired and creaking, but Fillmore West is beyond even that. It is decrepit. The other ballrooms have a balcony, and therefore thirty foot ceilings, giving a sense of space. At the Fillmore West (ne Carousel), a dirty, silver-sprinkled, gold canopy hangs ten feet above your head. The resultant claustrophobia is oppressive. This is not the usual Fillmore crowd. It is mostly black, with a large scattering of older people among the teeners. They are smoking the Fillmore Special brand of dope, however, heavily sugared, with lots of seeds.