The Fillmore Philly opens in style with Hall & Oates and a hit-packed set

The Fillmore Philly | Photo by Kate McCann | katemccannphotography.com

“We’re in Fishtown, right?” Daryl Hall asked the crowd at the opening night of The Fillmore Philly. “I used to be scared to come up here.”

Many concertgoers, clad in suit jackets and pumps, arrived to the venue wet after having parked their cars beneath I-95. Warm, colorful and even swanky, The Fillmore felt like walking into a high-end club after trekking through the pothole-filled streets of Fishtown on the first night of October.

With 50-feet stone bars on each floor, and a small, separate club donned “The Foundry,” The Fillmore has the potential to bring in acts big and small with fans looking to indulge in over 16 draft beers and a wide range of food options.

Despite the industrial interior with metal beams and exposed brick, the venue has well-dressed furniture and décor reminiscent of the flower power days of the original Fillmore in San Francisco.

It was a night to be proud of Philadelphia. Mayor Nutter introduced Philly’s own Hall & Oates and fans sported Phillies’s jerseys and Temple t-shirts. The staple mural in the Ajax Hall goes by the “Betsy Ross flag,” and the LIVE sign upon entering honors the mural in LOVE Park. It was only fit that Hall & Oates opened the venue in the city where they first formed.

The audience was enthralled by favorites, “Sara Smile” and “Rich Girl,” through a predictably solid set by the band. Besides those up in the front, most of the audience spent the night adding to the hundreds of images already on Instagram under The Fillmore geotag. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house, and the photos prove it.

The state-of-the-art sound system, the spot-on whitewashed lights and the finesse of the security really made the opening evening a magical affair. Of course one can only imagine the drastic change in feel during tonight’s Frank Turner show, destined to bring in a rowdier crowd on night two of the Fillmore.