Memphis soul-legend Booker T and the MGs were scheduled to play this concert, too, but begged off to attend the funeral service for Dr. Martin Luther King who'd been killed just a week before on the balcony of the Motel Lorraine. The Thursday concert of this three-performance event was held at the Fillmore Auditorium, and the unrest precipitated by King's death coupled with growing unease over the steady deterioration of the Fillmore's neighborhood advanced Bill Graham's plan to move his productions to another venue in the area.