Doxologist ContentSeattle’s Beloved Crocodile Cafe Closed
I heard yesterday, by word-of-mouth (which was later confirmed by the evening news) that The Crocodile Cafe closed suddenly closed with no explanation. Check out the Seattle Times article here. A photographer buddy of mine unknowingly took photos at the last show ever featuring Dave Bazan (of Pedro the Lion fame) and J. Tillman. I have personally rocked and been rocked at the Crocodile many a time since ‘93, just a couple years after it opened. I have a whole lot of good time memories of that place and it’s a venue that will be sorely missed.
I have a particular stand-out memory of the Crocodile which can be read here. Anyone else have any stories?
sad. i was planing on going to a show there on jan 21st. and i am sure i would of had a great story.
Funny but not-so-great memory:
The band I moved to Seattle with in 1998 was comprised of all 18 year-olds and we had trouble getting shows in the city because there weren’t any all ages clubs. The Crocodile was the first place that actually listened to our demo and called us back. We couldn’t go to shows there and we were new to town, so we didn’t know that it was a fairly prominent venue. Suddenly I was talking to guys at school and they were all saying jealously, ‘The Crocodile?!! My bands’ been playing in town for years and we haven’t gotten a gig there!!’ The anticipation was building…until finally we played and ‘headlined’ on a Tuesday night. We were pretty let down when we found out that due to our age, we couldn’t eat, drink, or exist inside the building until right before we played - and we didn’t go on until 1AM! There were about 3 really drunk people left by the time we played…afterward the owner came stumbling over to us (she was quite tossed herself) and asked us why no one was there to see us. We told her that we didn’t know anyone over the age of 21 and she said, ‘that isn’t something you want to tell the owner of a bar you want to play at.’ Needless to say, we never played there (as that band) ever again.
This is terrible news. One of the greatest venues in the area. I don’t have any great stories but I did meet one of my best friend there at a Two Gallants show.
something like that recently happened here in Wichita. This guy I know is desperatly trying to get money for a place where he can host all age shows though. It really sucks being under 21 sometimes.