The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. This four-woman band has released top hits including Walk Like an Egyptian and Manic Monday. On May 14, 1986 the Bangles performed at the San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre.
Theater chain owner Marcus Loew built the Warfield at 982 Market in San Francisco’s Tenderloin[1] that he named after famous San Francisco stage actor David Warfield. The Warfield, which opened on May 13, 1922, is an office building with the theater located on its lower floors. It was the 300th theater in Loew’s national theater chain and was one of six grand theaters located on Market Street[2].
The Warfield is an ornate theater featuring marble, chandeliers and a grand staircase. In the theater itself there is a mural with images of matadors with celestial angels painted on the ceiling. Greco-Roman busts line the upper walls. Everything is decorated in red and gold, similar in style to the other theater that remains on Market: the Orpheum[3]. Below the 2,657 seat theater was a huge subterranean basement with 20 dressing rooms, a green room and offices. Most of this subterranean space was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Civic Center BART[4] station. What remains are a few dressing rooms, the green room and the autograph room, a narrow space covered with signatures and drawings by celebrities who performed there.
In its early years dancers, comedians and magicians were regular performers, though the Warfield was primarily used as a cinema. During the silent film era there was a pipe organ.
In 1979 the Warfield changed from a cinema to a rock music venue when Bill Graham Presents took over the lease. Graham’s first booking was Bob Dylan, who played a 2-week run. Soon thereafter, the Grateful Dead played 15 sold-out shows and made it their home: the Grateful Dead[5] with lead singer Jerry Garcia would play 125 concerts between 1980-1995. In 1988 the theater installed six bars and a food counter and removed the main floor seats for general admission and dancing. As of 2022, the Warfield has hosted 1,084 concerts[6].
[1] Tenderloin: story coming November 3rd [2] Market Street: story coming July 26th [3] Orpheum: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4740 [4] BART: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3533 [5] Greatful Dead: story coming August 9th [6] Visit them at http://www.thewarfieldtheatre.com
