Wow. It really is the Decline And Fall Of Northwestern Civilization around there lately.
I'm a Texan who lived in Seattle for 20 years. I think I spent my 21st birthday at The Crocodile, though I did have a very convincing fake I.D. that allowed me to see some legendary performances before that (sorry Croc, I was in it for the music and not the booze). I hung out with Kurt Cobain there a week before he died. I saw a great show The White Stripes played moments before they hit it to arena rock status. I saw Wild Billy Childish with Thee Headcoats there. I wrote my first music article for a 'zine there, probably ten years ago. It was that annual music fest they did with great bands like Mudhoney, Gas Huffer, Girl Trouble, and the rest of the classic and dedicated Seattle mainstays. A particularly fun night was when Charles Peterson had a book release party for his coffee table photo book "Touch Me, I'm Sick". All the, as I referred to them at the moment, "old timers" showed up. Kelly O, assistant art director at The Stranger at the time, and I were working as "coat check girls". We decided that our boss, Joe Newton from Gas Huffer, was the only one who hadn't aged a bit. He said it was from "clean living". Hey! We weren't just saying that to get a raise either.
Shoot! I think I fell in love with a boy there one night in 1999. I remember stopping short in the little passage way between the show room in the front and the back bar and my jaw kind of dropped, and I froze in place. That's the only time that's ever happened to me. I don't believe in love-at-first-sight just like I don't believe in ghosts or the Zodiac, but it happened For Real! To Me! At The Crocodile!
Some of the best bartenders in Seattle worked at Crocodile too, like Theodore and Eddie (whom I'm still friends with). I actually bought Eddie a box of Cracker Jacks at the convenience store around the corner the first time I met him and my friend and I both wrote on the box: "To Eddie, the best bartender in The World!". Regardless of how the rest of the alcohol consuming public feels, I have never met a better bartender since.
Most importantly, my career as a photographer was based very much on the shows I shot and the people I met there. I remember a very special night when my friend, Neko Case, played and had asked me to take photos of the show. The Crocodile had developed a rather strict photo policy at that point, and somehow I had not been cleared for permission to take photos though I had a good repetoire with everyone who worked there. The bouncer, in this instance, was new and was trying to kick me out when Neko shouted over the microphone, "Where's Victoria?!?!? Does anyone know where Victoria is?!". She stopped the show, dropped her guitar, walked off stage to come and find me and when she did, read that poor bouncer the Riot Act. That's a true friend for you.
The last show I saw at The Crocodile was Calla, on my birthday. Not too long after that, I came back to Austin (my hometown) where people love and support the local live music scene above any other city in the U.S. I always thought Seattle was second in position for that honor, but between the closing of The Crocodile and the gentrification of lower Capitol Hill quite recently, I'm beginning to wonder what's next for the Seattle independent music scene? It needs a venue with history, dirt on the walls, some old guarde and some new guarde values and experience to give emerging bands a chance to become a recognizable talent. I do have to say that nearly every band I've seen as an opening band for a major act beginning 10 years ago at The Crocodile has gone on to do something reputable and eventually make a mark for themselves in the grand scheme of the music world. What venue will fill it's shoes now?
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TheVicFox! said on December 17, 2007:
Wow. It really is the Decline And Fall Of Northwestern Civilization around there lately.
I'm a Texan who lived in Seattle for 20 years. I think I spent my 21st birthday at The Crocodile, though I did have a very convincing fake I.D. that allowed me to see some legendary performances before that (sorry Croc, I was in it for the music and not the booze). I hung out with Kurt Cobain there a week before he died. I saw a great show The White Stripes played moments before they hit it to arena rock status. I saw Wild Billy Childish with Thee Headcoats there. I wrote my first music article for a 'zine there, probably ten years ago. It was that annual music fest they did with great bands like Mudhoney, Gas Huffer, Girl Trouble, and the rest of the classic and dedicated Seattle mainstays. A particularly fun night was when Charles Peterson had a book release party for his coffee table photo book "Touch Me, I'm Sick". All the, as I referred to them at the moment, "old timers" showed up. Kelly O, assistant art director at The Stranger at the time, and I were working as "coat check girls". We decided that our boss, Joe Newton from Gas Huffer, was the only one who hadn't aged a bit. He said it was from "clean living". Hey! We weren't just saying that to get a raise either.
Shoot! I think I fell in love with a boy there one night in 1999. I remember stopping short in the little passage way between the show room in the front and the back bar and my jaw kind of dropped, and I froze in place. That's the only time that's ever happened to me. I don't believe in love-at-first-sight just like I don't believe in ghosts or the Zodiac, but it happened For Real! To Me! At The Crocodile!
Some of the best bartenders in Seattle worked at Crocodile too, like Theodore and Eddie (whom I'm still friends with). I actually bought Eddie a box of Cracker Jacks at the convenience store around the corner the first time I met him and my friend and I both wrote on the box: "To Eddie, the best bartender in The World!". Regardless of how the rest of the alcohol consuming public feels, I have never met a better bartender since.
Most importantly, my career as a photographer was based very much on the shows I shot and the people I met there. I remember a very special night when my friend, Neko Case, played and had asked me to take photos of the show. The Crocodile had developed a rather strict photo policy at that point, and somehow I had not been cleared for permission to take photos though I had a good repetoire with everyone who worked there. The bouncer, in this instance, was new and was trying to kick me out when Neko shouted over the microphone, "Where's Victoria?!?!? Does anyone know where Victoria is?!". She stopped the show, dropped her guitar, walked off stage to come and find me and when she did, read that poor bouncer the Riot Act. That's a true friend for you.
The last show I saw at The Crocodile was Calla, on my birthday. Not too long after that, I came back to Austin (my hometown) where people love and support the local live music scene above any other city in the U.S. I always thought Seattle was second in position for that honor, but between the closing of The Crocodile and the gentrification of lower Capitol Hill quite recently, I'm beginning to wonder what's next for the Seattle independent music scene? It needs a venue with history, dirt on the walls, some old guarde and some new guarde values and experience to give emerging bands a chance to become a recognizable talent. I do have to say that nearly every band I've seen as an opening band for a major act beginning 10 years ago at The Crocodile has gone on to do something reputable and eventually make a mark for themselves in the grand scheme of the music world. What venue will fill it's shoes now?