Comment of the Moment: Winterland Stories & "Greensleeves"

Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA - 1985
photo by Chris Horn (Click photo to enlarge)

Here is a  Comment of the Moment on a TW posting from 2008 on Winterland Stories.

 

The legendary Winterland Arena in San Francisco, CA  played host to hundreds of concerts over the years including the famous "Last Waltz" concert of Bob Dylan and The Band's final performance.

From comment by Eric S.: 

Been a while since I've been to this great site. Glad to see it's still here! 

I've read pretty much everything on Thrasher's Winterland pages over the years, and have a comment of my own earlier in this Guest Book. But one thing I didn't see anywhere (and it could be I missed it...getting older:) ), was a mention of Greensleeves playing over the house system at the end of each concert when the lights came up, when you knew there wouldn't be anymore encores, and whatever you had imbibed/ingested/smoked was starting to wear off. That great orchestral version of Greensleeves, always a little scratchy, always somehow calming you down. 

You'd shuffle your way outta there, through the trash on that dirty old floor, moving along with the other happy blasted zombies, and out into the night air....usually in the wee hours.

To this day whenever I hear Greensleeves (or even What Child Is This around the holidays), I'm taken right back to all those nights at Winterland. Fun, mind-altering, exhilarating nights with my friends, good times, good smoke, and the best music of all time. 

Cheers to all you old fellow Winterland folk! 

Take care now.

Thanks for the memories here Eric!

As background, in the spring of 1985, Chris Horn took some photographs of Winterland Arena, San Francisco, CA, being torn down. The photos were stored for many years and a project developed toward donating copies to the SF Museum and Historical Society.

In addition to the photos, Chris gathered stories from people who attended performances while Bill Graham put on rock shows at the venue (1966 - 1978).

Presented for your enjoyment - photos, stories, links and a complete list of performers during the Bill Graham years.

Check out Winterland Stories. 
"Winterland Stories" author and Rustie Chris Horn was interviewed by the local San Francisco TV station KGO-TV CH7/ABC on the 30th Anniversary of the "Closing of Winterland" 12/31/78.(see http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2008/11/winterland-stories-video-report.html)

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