Built in 1911 as the Colin Traver Academy of Dance, the Avalon Theater was open from 1966 to 1968, and then again in 2003.
In the 60s, bands that played the Avalon included Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Steve Miller Band, Moby Grape, The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators, The Butterfield Blues Band and Big Brother and the Holding Company, which impresario Chet Helms organized around singer and performer Janis Joplin in the spring of 1966.
Joplin traveled to San Francisco to audition with the band at the Avalon on June 10, 1966. Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company were the house band at the Avalon for much of 1966-67.
