I Regret Killing All-Ages Music

Dept. of Music

by Eric Grandy

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James Yamasaki

Regrets

The Stranger's Year in Regrets by A. Birch Steen, Stranger Public Editor and OSHA Board of Governors Member (Retired)
All the Mistakes of 2007 by Stranger Staff
We Regret Mentioning Suicide, Publishing Essays about Suicide, and Placing Visual Depictions of Suicide on Our Cover: Dept. of Public Accountability by Christopher Frizzelle
That Sculpture Is a Stain on Our Reputation: Dept. of Public Art by The Iron-Carbon Alloy Commonly Known as Stainless Steel
Please Allow Me to Set the Record Straight: Dept. of Closets and Stalls by Larry Craig's Right Foot
I Regret that Pit Bulls Find My Face So Delicious: Dept. of Pets by A Baby
I Regret Killing All-Ages Music: Dept. of Music by Eric Grandy
I Regret Pitching the Fake Regrets Item, "I Regret Sassing Off to My Intoxicated Husband, then Walking into That Door, by Marlaina Kiner-McIver”: Dept. of Internal Affairs by David Schmader

On June 28, The Stranger published an article called "Atlas Clothing's Covert Concerts," detailing the all-ages music venue in the back room at Atlas Clothing and the shop's professed effort to make its venue legit. (Atlas was already advertising shows and its owner told me he welcomed the publicity.) The next day, Atlas Clothing was visited by the fire department and told to stop doing shows until it got its would-be venue up to code. Instead, Atlas simply gave up on doing shows.

It didn't stop there. The day after that, Mayor Greg Nickels and the city council reinstated the Teen Dance Ordinance, forcing venues like Neumo's, Chop Suey, and the Crocodile to stop hosting all-ages shows. Megan Seling's long-running Underage column was cut from The Stranger, and Seling was summarily fired for her well-known all-ages sympathies. Seattle's all-ages nonprofit the Vera Project was raided by the SPD and shut down; several volunteers were injured by rubber bullets and Tasers before being arrested. As of this writing, basement shows have been effectively abolished, and all homes caught hosting live music are being seized by the state and sold at auction. A strict curfew has been enacted, allowing only those of legal drinking age out after 8:00 p.m. Music-education programs have been stripped from the public schools and iPod sales are now restricted to state-owned liquor stores, valid ID required. All-ages music in Seattle is dead. I sincerely regret this turn of events.