Jerry everard seattle

That was pretty intense to see in that venue. Right there, talking to Eddie Vedder. Before the festival, there would always be secret shows at the Crocodile with some of the bigger bands from the festival. I was down there, and Live was playing. The thing was, the Pearl Jam and Soundgarden guys, and some of the Alice in Chains and Mudhoney guys, they were everywhere. They went to shows. I never saw them get bothered. They were just people at the bar, and they were treated as such.

For Stephanie and I, our vision of what we wanted to do there diverged at a certain point. She was really focused on personal relationships with folks and really pushing hard in that direction, and I wanted it to be just the best venue for musicians.

All musicians — not just stars or that sort of thing. So, we had sort of a different vision about how to keep moving forward. It was way easier for me to say, this is yours.

You make it your legacy. I learned how people interact in a gathering place, and designed the new place around that. I used the split as an opportunity, rather than something to be angry and pissy about. In the early days, whoever we got to cook at the time, the menu would be driven by whatever they felt they could cook. That was a necessary evil to allow us to be able to have a liquor license and do the shows. The space requirement that we had to dedicate to the restaurant was always a drag on business for us, but we tried to do the best we could with it.

The bar was not just separate from the music room, but it was physically far away. It amounted to two clubs in one, so it could accommodate more people than the capacity of the venue. It was a social hub. They had very generous pours laughs and very respectable bartenders, as opposed to clubs where the drinks are overpriced and no good. There were so many opportunities for everyone to interact. Everybody was in the mix together. That made a huge difference on the vibe.

It was collegial. It had these separate spaces where you could have distinct experiences. There was something about the sensation when you walked into the showroom that was distinct. The bar was its own world, transporting you to another whole scene. That was one of the greatest things about it. It was more about the crush of people trying to see around each other and the pole, and the heads of the musicians on the very low stage, and always waving at Jim the sound guy.

It was a party atmosphere and an eclectic environment. There was nothing uptight about the Crocodile. I spent a lot of time at the Off Ramp, which was pretty dirty and rough and tumble.

The Crocodile was a lot more warm right off the bat. The first thing I did almost every single time was hug Kevin, the door guy. That was one thing the Croc provided that virtually no other club in town had.

The way Stephanie conceptualized it was virtually three different venues wrapped in one. It was unusual, but it was the right thing for the right time and the right place.

Why did the big bands play there? Capacity was so minimal. How did it make sense to play such a small room? Well, they were paid well, or they did multiple sets. The room was more horizontal, so you had actually had really good sight lines from everywhere. Even when it was packed, it still felt really intimate. It played into this idea that there was no separation between the audience and the band. Seattle became a place where it was all VIPs. Everyone was famous. It was a great breakfast place too.

We figured out a way to open up the room into the cafe, which expanded the capacity a little bit. I think the legal capacity was laughs , and we usually had or people in there. We could have gotten busted at any moment by the fire department. There was no backstage really.

Peter Buck! The size of the showroom made the Croc special. That modular quality was very handy. Also, lots of the staff were playing music and trying to create their own success. There was a lot of really positive co-hype.

We met downtown and had a bunch of margaritas and some Mexican food. We were walking back to the studio afterwards and we walked by the Crocodile. Let me introduce my friend Peter. He and Stephanie started seeing each other, so then he started spending a lot of time in Seattle. Eventually, he became a citizen of Seattle, got married to Stephanie and had kids and all that stuff. I became part of the R.

She was very capable. I moved from Athens, Ga. He used to call occasionally, just to talk about stuff. But it was so overwhelming.

The Athens scene is so laid-back. Even when R. In Seattle, it was heavy duty. It was really hard for everybody to deal with. Peter was there to help. Can you get them a night? It probably lifted up the reputation of the club a bit, but the club was already a pretty happening concern before then. The scene was exploding.

Peter used to come into Sonic Boom fairly often. We were almost a bit nervous not to bother him. At some point later, Patti Smith was coming through to do a reading. It was probably a benefit for something. It was one of the greatest nights ever. I definitely remember one night that Kevin Costner walked in with two blonde L.

Generally speaking, that was frowned upon. But [R. We went out to dinner with them afterwards and it was just amazing. It was one of the greatest moments of my life to get up and play with her. I have very fond memories of Peter. I like his style and the way he treated everyone. Scott introduced Peter and Stephanie and then they got married. Hanging out at the Crocodile in many ways led to me playing in R.

If the Posies were still active in — we had disbanded — I never would have ended up playing in R. My band had disbanded and my songwriting partner had quit, so I was a free agent, and off I went. I feel like some version of the Minus 5 might have opened that show, or maybe we were the billed act. Mike Mills and I did some acoustic songs and then it turned into a full R.

We were all just having fun and taking requests. How does this go? It was absolutely unbelievable. It was the right venue for it and the right circumstances. It was a three-night stand where Cheap Trick played each of their first three albums in full — a different one every night.

My band the Young Fresh Fellows opened the first night, Supersuckers opened the second one and then Pearl Jam opened the third. That was incredible. Only at the Crocodile could you see three nights of Cheap Trick where they did a different album each night.

I saw all three, of course. Getting to play with Cheap Trick was a dream come true. I have been influenced by [Cheap Trick guitarist] Rick Nielsen, who is super important. I throw too many picks out because of him. We were not permitted to have all-ages shows when we first opened. Underage people could be in the restaurant, but the showroom was completely separate. The city gave us that permit, to allow us to do the shows in the banquet room.

The Teen Dance Ordinance was going on then, which basically made it impossible for underage kids to be in the venue.

Seattle had a big backlash against what was happening around the mixing of teens and adults at shows. We played there when we were underage, opening for bands. We definitely did all-ages shows in the s, but it was the sort of messy pivot before the Teen Dance Ordinance finally got repealed in You know those big orange netting gates they use for construction? It was optically hideous. I never felt like those shows were super successful, but what the Croc did set the template for how other people started to approach doing all-ages shows at mid-sized venues in town.

Two years later, Neumos was doing them all the time, so surely it was profitable. I put on a Velvet Underground tribute night show in , which was a benefit for the needle exchange program in the district. I thought that was terribly funny. What a nerd I was. I posted on a bunch of Velvet Underground fan message boards that I was doing this event. The Crocodile was the promised land. It was the best venue in town. It felt like the place you could eventually be headlining just as a local artist.

There was Neumos, but I think only a few Seattle bands headlined there. So the Croc was the place. We were in the front row, me and [Fleet Foxes guitarist] Skyler [Skjelset]. By then, they were doing a lot of all-ages shows, so we were there a lot meeting people. I remember meeting Casey from Fleet Foxes there. I would not have had a problem going to a show there in that era.

We were flat-out competing. At that point though, I also gave up my day job and was living in the basement of the club. The Crocodile was only a couple blocks from a practice place we had at the Institution on Western. My sister Aja would sell screen-printed demos of ours. We brought 40 in for a show there in and they all sold out. I worked there from I missed the initial grunge wave, but that was when Christine Wood was the booker and Frank Nieto was her assistant.

I was stunned, because to me, the Crocodile was, like, untouchable. I was really nervous when I started. I was 21, you know? The Franz Ferdinand show was when I realized kind of what the deal was. I would see that time and time again. It happened with Elbow too. It was fucking insane. They went down Second Avenue with a camera, and they had a screen in the room so you could watch them arrive.

I just remember that blowing my year-old mind. We had some rough nights. We had a gigantic brawl at an Everlast show. It was like a rainforest in there. We had to shut off the water, which meant we had to shut down the show. Fifteen minutes of complete mayhem. As soon as sirens started getting close by, the melee evaporated.

The other side of the coin was the secret show, like the Strokes or the Beastie Boys. Patti Smith. Those stick out. It was a fan club-only Train five-night run. Amongst the bartenders, that was hilarious. I was new, so I think I had to work four out of the five shows laughs. Christine Wood diligently kept booking Death Cab for Cutie. The music scene in Seattle in the mids was vibrant, and the staff at the Crocodile was reflective of that.

Josh Tillman was a door guy there, and a dishwasher. His humor and wordplay was totally intact — the Father John Misty we now know him as. He was just a sarcastic ruffed feather there.

In what ways have you observed Capitol Hill change around the venue since you first opened two decades ago? It was basically warehouses; there was a distribution center across the street for shoe parts and all sorts of businesses like that.

How have things changed for you on the musical side of things over the course of 20 years? I would say there was a period in there where it became much more electronic oriented and I think that mirrored what was happening in the city and across the country; for a period there it was much less live instruments and more electronic oriented.

It really is super hard to pick. Those were great shows. The only show my dad ever went to was a Tad show, and you know it was completely packed and the mosh pit was crazy and Tad had giant guys jumping on them. What are some of the lasting moments you have that have stuck out as amazing or crazy during the course of the venues history? The first time No Doubt came through, there were ten people in the showroom. And next time they came through it was completely packed out and then they went through the stratosphere.

And it was very funny. He was just like trying to ignore us. He recently bought a historical landmark building in Belltown to relocate at-risk pinball bar Shorty's and pizzeria Rocco's. Plusquellec is more sanguine. He fancies himself a Seattle nocturnal flaneur who strolls different neighborhoods to keep tabs on the nighttime vibe and occasionally conducts ride-alongs with police and code-compliance officers.

His bet is on Sodo and White Center as emerging nightlife hubs. White Center, he noted, had a trendy ax-throwing lounge even before Capitol Hill. Dear Stranger readers: YOU are an essential part of what we do. Thanks, we appreciate you!

Features Jun 5, Does Seattle Need a Night Mayor? Actually, we kind of already have one. Meet Scott Plusquellec. Carlos Cruz. Experience Tukwila's vibrant, global food scene during Seattle Restaurant Week. From Oct 24th - Nov 6th enjoy diverse culinary menus at great prices in Tukwila! Support The Stranger More than ever, we depend on your support to help fund our coverage. Support local, independent media with a one-time or recurring contribution.

Thank you! Festival ends at Seattle's sexiest Halloween party. The Stranger depends on your continuing support to provide articles like this one.