Publicola 1 year party at The Crocodile

Last night Publicola held their 1 year anniversary party at The Crocodile. We didn't stay for the headliners Thee Satisfaction, but we had a free drink, called the informal poll they were pimping and had some dinner at Via Tribunali. So much to talk about, lets start with The Croc.



I started going to The Crocodile Cafe about a year after it opened. I had moved back to Seattle after living for a year in Newberg, Oregon doing an internship at a mobile recording studio. Friends from college had started bands in Seattle and were playing at a new club that had a connection to the old Central Tavern in Pioneer Square. Not long after I started a band with some other friends from college and we were playing the same club. I was also a live sound engineer and befriended the house sound engineer. Years later I would take a job working for him at The Crocodile. Long story short I spent some quality time in the club.



The new design is quite different from the club it takes it name from. The sound system sounds a little muted, and the club looks like a smaller version of Neumos on Capitol Hill. I only heard half sets from 2 of the bands last night so I won't go on too long about it. Onstage monitor system looks great and the stage has about the same amount of space, with what looked like an ample dressing room, something that was missing from the Croc before. I did see a poster advertising one of my old bands shows on the wall, so that was nice. The entrance has moved which causes a bit of a back up getting to the bar/showroom. The upstairs bar made for easy drink access since no one was going up there. Overall its not the club I grew up in, but it look a whole lot prettier now.



Via Tribunali has some good pizza. We had the Salumi misto for an appetizer and the Quattro Formaggi pizza. The Grana Padano cheese was amazing in the misto, and the salami was quite good as well. The pizza cheeses complimented each other and wasn't too greasy. The crust was very tasty as well. I like the Quattro at Tutta Bella better, but Via Trib's is a close second. The only problem is it is so dark in the room I couldn't read the menu at first. Not to mention the wait staff was dressed all in black like ninja servers, appearing at our table out of the shadows.

Publicola ran a poll with questions about how often you visit the site and some others I could barely hear because they were asking people to call a poll in a loud club. Goofy? Yes!!! After we had some pizza we caught the end of CMYK. Reminiscent of Black Kids, they are a fun dance band. Thumbs up for sure, if you like that genre you need to check them out. Then Josh Feit got up and talked about stuff, the only part that stuck with me is, everyone hates Erica C. Barnett. Its almost like in pro wrestling, she plays the heel. I agree I didn't agree with her when she wrote for The Stranger, but I still come back for more. I like her style a little more now and though we don't see eye to eye, I respect her views.

I don't think I will be going back to The Croc any time soon, but I hope Publicola is around for years to come. Listen to CMYK and visit the ninjas at Via Tribunali if you get a chance.

Crocodile Cafe closes without a bang

So, for the people who read this who don't know me I spent 15 years working as a independent sound engineer in the Seattle area. Some of that time I worked on the road, touring with bands, some from my home town and some from out of state. The first Seattle club I worked for on a regular basis was the Crocodile Cafe.

My band had played a few shows there in the early 90's and I had become friends with the house engineer from coming in to mix for some of my friends bands. He had worked for years only taking one night a week off, and during the holiday seasons no days off for months in a row. He asked if I could cover a couple of nights for him. Then he asked if I could cover a few more. Then he got sick and I came in for a few months while he recovered. It was a great place to work, I loved the sound system. I got the chance to both play some great shows and mix some great shows. I got the chance to meet some great bands and make them sound great in that room. I also worked for a great sound engineer who really cared about the bands and making them sound good, even when they didn't deserve it.

I woke up this morning and checked the news and saw they closed this weekend. I knew that they were in financial trouble, but I hoped they would make it.