I was planning to write a piece on Foss and Zak's, but I knew something funny was happening with the bar and wanted to wait until things cleared a bit. And then last Wednesday, April 30, Foss sent an e-mail to bands and members of the Northwest Punk List saying Zak's is canceling all shows booked after June 7 due to uncertainty about the survival of the bar. In his note, Foss lamented, "Zak's is closing. I don't want to go into the details, but... we could close anytime." Two days later, Holly Pfeifer, head bartender at Zak's for five years, claimed things were changing again, saying, "All hope is not lost--there are currently negotiations underway and I'll keep you all updated. In the meantime, let's keep our fingers crossed. We're all trying to keep it together."
So now it looks like Zak's may not be closing after all--a good time to give the place and Foss the props they're due.
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Zak's is located next to McDonald's and across from some of the biggest tourist traps in the city--the Space Needle, EMP, and the world's most depressing collection of carnival rides. But the charm of Zak's lies in its unpretentious appearance. This is one bar that has not been tarted up for tourists: The inside walls look like they were painted on a bad acid trip (images of mushrooms, mountains, and music staffs crowd into blue-black skylines), and neon beer signs and sports advertisements angle for space with posters for bands like the A-Frames. There's no stage at Zak's, just a drum riser that often lies unused in the corner. Zak's also has a small fenced-in patio, equipped with a basketball hoop on one end and a view straight up the Space Needle on the other. It's a grimy, smoky place with no hard alcohol, and if there's a show that night, you'll find Foss there, chain-smoking hand-rolled Drum cigarettes.
Before becoming the booker at Zak's, Foss booked at Gibson's and Industrial Coffee. It's because of Foss that Zak's has become a destination for local and touring punk bands alike--either the kinds that couldn't pull enough of a crowd to fill larger spots like Graceland or the Crocodile, or ones that want to play closer to their audience. Zak's was the first venue I went to the night I arrived in Seattle and I've found myself going back again and again. I've seen some excellent lineups at Zak's, from the sludgy metal of Theory of Ruin to the Gloryholes' garage rock to the synth punk of Hint Hint to the anthemic punk of the HollowPoints. Foss also gave DJ Ken Dirtnap (AKA Ken Cheppaikode, of noteworthy punk label Dirtnap Records) a place to work the turntables on a weekly basis.
"[Foss] is filling a hole," says Cheppaikode. "Once he started booking Gibson's, the whole punk scene went off as its own separate thing. Before that it was more commonplace for punk bands to play at like the Crocodile with indie rock bands, but it seems like the whole punk scene as we know it now kind of solidified.... A lot of that has to do with Brian."
Foss fell into booking almost by accident. While trying to raise money for a pirate radio station he was working on a few years ago, he pulled together a show at the old Off Ramp (now Graceland), which led to future fundraisers at Gibson's, among other places, and eventually a stint booking there for nine months. When Gibson's shut down after the Nisqually earthquake, Foss moved to booking shows at Industrial Coffee.
"I was just trying to help out bands," says Foss. "To me there's nothing more fun than putting together a really good show and seeing it happen. I just love it."
In August of 2002, Foss moved to Zak's, booking shows Thursday through Saturday, with the occasional earlier weeknight gig for touring bands. ("I'm a sucker for helping bands out on the road," he admits. "I've been on tour with Kent 3 a few times and I know how it is to come to a town where you don't know anybody.") Since then he says he just books what he likes (mostly punk bands, with some "straight-up MC5 shit" in there too), and has put together shows for local bands and acts from as far away as Amsterdam, cultivating dedicated crowds who trust Foss' taste and are happy to pay five bucks for a rowdy, good ol' fashioned bar show.
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Most music fans in Seattle have never seen a show at Zak's. They weren't there to see members of Tractor Sex Fatality climb onto the tables for their guitar solos, or to step away from the blood when Playing Enemy's bass player accidentally smacked a fan in the nose with his instrument. Some folks who avoid Zak's give lame excuses about how the place has too many fights, or bring up the bar's dated reputation as a skinhead hangout. But in a city top-heavy with medium- and large-sized venues, Zak's has become an important fixture in the punk world. Along with the Comet, 2nd Avenue Pizza, the Lobo Saloon, and the Monkey Pub, Zak's is one of a small cluster of spaces where you can trade another night at a club for the controlled anarchy that being in a dive allows--and even encourages. That wild-card appeal is a big part of Zak's charm.
"One factor that can kill almost anything is if things get too big," says Foss. "I like things to be smaller... on a human level, on a friendly level. Then you're more apt to make personal connections. I don't like big shows. The best memories I have of seeing bands are of seeing them in small places, when you can literally spit on them. I go to a huge show now and it actually kind of depresses me."
Because of the steady trail of solid lineups that have set up on its checkered floor, Zak's and Foss are important parts of the local punk scene. If would be a shame if the club shut down--a possibility that seems less likely today than it did early last week. Foss sent out another mass e-mail on Northwest Punk List last Friday. "Things aren't as grim as I thought and Zak's will be open through May, and possibly the next few years," he wrote. Let's hope so. Because if Zak's closed, this city wouldn't just be losing a treasure of a dive bar. It would lose Foss' talents for booking great punk bands.
As Cheppaikode says, "I think it's not so much about the club, I think it's about [Brian] personally. Wherever he books is going to be good."
