On what will surely be the first of many hectic evenings, the Fillmore is set to open in just under a month with their sold out Hall and Oates show on Thursday, October 1. While around 2500 people pour into the venue’s entrance on Canal Street, just a short walk to the north, thousands more people will be hitting Girard and Frankford for The Food Trust’s Night Market.

The Hall and Oates show will certainly be an explosive way to burst onto the scene, but the Fillmore is doing a lot to make every night of operation run as smoothly as possible for ticket-holders and the venue’s neighbors.

The Fillmore is Philadelphia’s newest live music venue. It’s not being run by a bunch of newbies either: Live Nation is bringing their experience to bear on building this venue. They have kept a serious eye towards issues they say are concert-goers major complaints: small bathrooms, poor air circulation and obstructed sight-lines.

I’m not an HVAC expert so, I won’t speculate on its quality, but I’m told it will be multi-zoned and overpowered. Hopefully that means an overall less-sweaty GA experience. Like the ventilation control room, the bathrooms were not part of our tour, but they will be large. Like, stadium large. One woman’s room has about 26 stalls.  As for the sight-lines: the wide open architecture, large stage, horseshoe shaped balcony and well placed graduated platforms seem like they will offer a great viewing experience. They also assured me PBRs — or another similar drinkable beer — will be well priced at around $4. That should put plenty of residents at ease.

The Fillmore is also taking steps to make the music hall a good neighbor. A lot of the nearby property is commercial or industrial, but there are still many nearby residents. Kevin Finch, one of Live Nation’s representatives said,

“We recognize that not everyone will be ecstatic about having a music hall moving into the neighborhood, so our goal is to be proactive and reach out and do our best to be a good neighbor.”

The “most direct neighbors” will have exclusive access to one of those proactive measures: the “Friends of the Fillmore” club. Members of the club will receive venue news, special offers and, most importantly, special advisories. These advisories should give neighbors a heads-up regarding upcoming shows and any potential traffic issues they might face. The Fillmore will be sending postcard invites for club membership.

The Fillmore is still in the finishing stages of construction, but The Spirit got a chance to walk through the new venue on a press tour. Here are some photos of what’s in store when they open their doors October 1.