Allen Ginsberg taped the Dylan show here; Stanford keeps the recording. The San Jose Civic at 145 West San Carlos Street opened on 14 July 1936 as the San Jose Municipal Auditorium, a Spanish Colonial Revival hall by Binder and Curtis built with Depression-era Public Works funds on land the Montgomery family gave the city in 1933. The lobby's painted wooden beams carry Native American designs, and the 500,000-dollar building was conceived as a civic everything-hall - opera to circus, basketball to conventions - a mandate its calendar has honoured for nearly ninety years. The concert history is dense with landmarks: Barbra Streisand's first tour in 1963, the Rolling Stones in 1965 with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters in the crowd, and Bob Dylan with the Hawks on 12 December 1965 - plus Duke Ellington, Buddy Holly, Sinatra, Cream and the Grateful Dead across the decades. A 25-million-dollar renovation between 2009 and 2012 rebuilt the venue for the touring era - new sound, lighting, seats, seismic work and an ADA elevator - reopening in October 2012, spending five years branded as the City National Civic before the historic name returned in 2019. Capacity runs 3,036 seated and up to 3,326 general admission, slotting the room between the city's theatres and the SAP Center; Nederlander Concerts books the hall in partnership with city operator Team San Jose. The building faces the convention centre across San Carlos Street with the 500-seat Montgomery Theater sharing its shell - the 1936 civic complex still working as downtown's mid-size live anchor. The renovation kept the building's civic double life intact: graduations, boxing cards, quinceanera expos and cultural festivals still share the calendar with touring rock, Latin and comedy dates, and the flat main floor converts from 2,200 GA standing to full banquet rounds inside a day.

Type: Theater / Concert Hall

Address: 145 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA, United States, 95113

Website: https://sanjosetheaters.org/civic-2/

Cover Charge: 1

Capacity: 3036

Opening Date: 14/07/1936

Accessible