Scene report: Seattle

Danny Brawlins - September 1, 2016

We had the opportunity to check out the Seattle punk scene this past week. With a little help from the ever-resourceful Cascadia Punx, we found out about a few spots in town to check out. On our first day we headed over to Singles Going Steady, a punk-centric record store in the Belltown neighborhood. After digging through crates upon crates of crust records, we picked up a few and went to check out. The clerk chatted with us a bit and told us about the Black Lodge, a well-established DIY space in town. He did us a favor and jotted down directions to the space on the back of an old Sheer Mag flyer. We were in town a week too late to catch G.L.O.S.S. and a week too early to see RVIVR at the Black Lodge but we did manage to catch Urochromes from Massachusetts, Mommy from NYC and locals Mysterious Skin, Kid Chrome and the enigmatic Red Skull AKA Mr. Node.

Singles Going Steady

Sign at the entrance of Singles Going Steady

The venue itself is unlike most DIY spaces in Chicago. It is a well-kept, yet somewhat dilapidated hall not far from downtown. It is not discreet and with a bunch of punks hanging outside, per usual, it is not hard to find. With its own door crew and soundperson, Black Lodge proves to be a well-managed institution. The venue hosts all-ages shows and judging by the flyers on the wall, they seem to host them on a pretty regular basis. It is BYOB, although we showed up with a twelve pack of Rainier and they checked our IDs before entering. The show area has about enough room to fit 100+ punks comfortably but with the wide hallway that serves as a merch area and a front room that serves as a hangout space, I’m sure they can pack in quite a bit more.

Kid Chrome

Kid Chrome at Black Lodge

The flyer for the show we were attending said 8:30 so we showed up to the near-empty venue about an hour later. We cracked open a beer and before we could finish them the space filled up, the lights went dim and a nicely-dressed man wearing a skull mask walked on stage, pressed play on a backing track and began shuffling around awkwardly to what was mostly feedback. What followed was a ten minute set of danceable dark wave mixed into intense bouts of hardcore with Red Skull performing it as if he were singing show tunes at a cabaret. Shortly after, Kid Chrome took the stage with his guitar. Also performing to a backing track, the kid played a quick set of Reatards-esque rock n roll and hopped off. At this point the room had filled in nicely, especially considering it was a Sunday night.

Mommy

Mommy at Black Lodge

A drum kit was finally set up on stage for the two touring bands. Mommy played a manic set of hardcore punk with snarled vocals, exchanging only silly pleasantries with the crowd between songs. Urochromes set up quickly after Mommy and got the rather placid Sunday night crowd moving a bit with their aggressive yet fun take on hardcore. Closing out the night were hometown heroes, Mysterious Skin, a power violence band with an extra strong dose of punk. Building on the energy of the rest of the bands, Mysterious Skin ended the evening leaving us feeling obliterated yet craving more.

Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin at Black Lodge

Since we were in town for such a short time, it is impossible to give an all-encompassing report on Seattle’s multifaceted punk scene. What I can tell you is that the city is home to some pretty solid bands, a few great record stores and at least one solid DIY space.

Urochromes

Urochromes at Black Lodge