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859 O'Farrell (at Polk) San Francisco, CA 94109

415-885-0750 

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  • Live Entertainment
Description

An exquisite mid-size room with grandiose antique ornamentation, a large stage, and an atmosphere of ornate historical luxury. Perched between the Tenderloin, Civic Center, and Polk Gulch neighborhoods, this hall first opened in 1907 and has been everything from a bordello to a jazz club to its current incarnation as one of the city's best places to see both old musical favorites and rising young stars.







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  • 2012 | Best Place to Imbibe Local History While Taking in a Great Show

    Every concert at Great American Music Hall feels like a special event. The place exudes genuine historicity: Opened in 1907, 859 O'Farrell Street was originally built to serve as a symbol of San Francisco's rebirth from the cataclysmic 1906 earthquake. The French architect who designed the place certainly fulfilled that order: Great American's marble columns, intricate rococo balconies, and ornate ceiling work produce an atmosphere of indulgence and luxury even today. The building's first... More »

  • 2008 | Best Place to See Live Music

    The mother lode of all San Francisco music venues is none other than the Great American Music Hall, which was a bordello in a previous life. You can tell bands truly love to play here -- it has a reputation for treating musicians well and actually feeding them. With its gilded mirrors, ornate cornices, and a pre-show "dinner" available to showgoers -- wild mushroom and goat cheese tamale, anyone -- this joint is not only the best venue in a city overflowing with great venues,... More »

  • 2000 | Best Subliminal Pot Endorsement

    There are many good reasons to take in a show at the Great American Music Hall. Standing outside the venerable venue is a treat in and of itself -- the full flower of Tenderloin nightlife is there for the viewing, and of course there's the voyeuristic pleasure of watching men exit the Mitchell Brothers Theater next door, a little shaky on their feet and trying to smile through their embarrassment. If you'd rather stay inside, though, and find the opening act is boring, or just need to... More »

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  • sfweeklybestof
       (0)    (0)

    sfweeklybestof | San Francisco, CA | 74 Reviews

    | Wed, May 6, 2009

    The mother lode of all San Francisco music venues is none other than the Great American Music Hall, which was a bordello in a previous life. You can tell bands truly love to play here — it has a reputation for treating musicians well and actually feeding them. With its gilded mirrors, ornate cornices, and a pre-show "dinner" available to showgoers — wild mushroom and goat cheese tamale, anyone? — this joint is not only the best venue in a city overflowing with great venues, it's also one of the best places to see live music in the entire country. The place holds 600 people, which, by our reckoning, satisfies the Goldilocks Standard: not too big, not too small, but just right. Oh, and the sound is pretty lush, too.

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