The Warfield

Mat Kearney | March 10, 2015 | San Francisco

By Kimberly Maroon

The Warfield

I like to think I am a master of theatre architecture from frequenting so many musical venues, mostly historical. The Warfield’s proscenium arch was a dead giveaway—1920s, probably movies at some point, definitely dramatic theatre, a stage at about chest height, sweeping balconies, heavy curtains. The proscenium arch creates a window around the scenery and performers, an invisible wall forms between the stage and the audience, and it is related to the phrase breaking the fourth wall where performers would directly address the audience. The Warfield was originally build as a vaudeville theater, home to a variety of big names like Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplan, and then later The Grateful Dead.

The Warfield is the ultimate diamond in the rough.

The theatre is located in heart of The Tenderloin, boasting a reputation as the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco. Especially at night, it’s not the brightest idea to be hanging around. From the outside, the theatre is just a regular marquee plopped between store fronts and a gentleman’s club. From the inside, I was amazed at the shape it’s in for being so old. Just a bit rough, but not falling apart like The Palladium in Worcester, MA. It even seemed like all the original seats upstairs in the balcony were intact. All the venue staff I met were super friendly sharing stories, pointing out details (like the secret catwalk hidden in the ceiling and behind the west wall) and even allowed me to walk upstairs between sets to take photos. In short, this is a dazzling jewel of a place and better yet, I can tell someone really cares about it.

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Leaning back upside down under the proscenium arch between sets.

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THE LOBBY

I loved all the show posters and photos of bands in the lobby! It’s always fun to see the history of a music venue. There were chandeliers and mirrors everywhere, big ones. I had too much fun messing with them. One of the other photographers caught me and joined in.

Rule #1- a venue is only as good as the bathroom. hello HUGE ladies lounge!

Mat Kearney

Ok ok. Here’s the actual photos from the show. The photos were originally published on QRO Mag.

Mat Kearney was phenomenal. I watched from the balcony as he jumped off stage and sang and danced with the crowd—breaking that fourth wall. I will never forget how the crowd leapt from their seats during Black Sheep and the lights lit up the theatre. By the end of the night, I couldn’t decide on what I enjoyed more, The Warfield’s sounds or its looks.