Music

My Philosophy

Tom Carr: Fuck This Dude

by Larry Mizell Jr.

Halloween suure is scary (no, no it's not), but what's scarier than that—if you're involved with or are a fan of local music at all—is a city that's hostile to nightlife. Helluva segue! Tom Carr, city attorney for the last eight years, is responsible for such shenanigans as Operation Sobering Thought—the bullshit 2007 nightclub-sting op that arrested more than 20 bar staffers but resulted in zero convictions. Think of it as the political equivalent of Geraldo bum-rushing Al Capone's vault. Bravo, dickface—you're no Mark Sidran, sir! As you might've seen in last week's cover story, now his office has the punk po-lice grilling drunkasses in the street so he can shut down the bars they came from. He aggressively prosecutes weed smokers even though it's the SPD's "lowest law-enforcement priority." Fuck this dude.

One local promoter calls him "the most destructive individual in Nickels's anti–nightlife/youth culture regime" and says, "He's known as the most feared man in the club industry, with a comic-book-villain-like vendetta against nightlife. His exploits speak for themselves, but where I come from he's known as the Karl Rove of Seattle." Look, you know I don't get too political in this motherfucker—but I know if you're reading this, then you care about local music, in particular hiphop. And maybe you're like me and enjoy the occasional cocktail—well, the clubs and venues where all of the above happens need you to vote for somebody who isn't trying to shit down their necks at all times. November 3, vote for Pete Holmes, holmes. (Also: nightlife proponent Dow Constantine for King County exec, if you're still listening. My name is Larry, and I approve this message.)

That said, there are plenty of places to get your nonpartisan party on this week. October 29 at Nectar is looking crazy with a bill headlined by Candidt, with Helladope, Clockwork, Double Hockey Sticks, and DJ Marc Sense—expect a performance of Candidt's new Tay Sean–produced heater "Imaginary Stereo," Helladope owning, Clockwork getting 'em nuts. That same night, Israel's four-man DJ crew Soulico (aided by MCs Axum) hit Chop Suey with Mr. Chatman aka DJ Collage and WD4D. October 30, the War Room lets Mad Rad back in—for a Zombie Apocalypse Halloween party they're headlining with Champagne Champagne, Sap'N, and DJ Swervewon. If you need some chilling listening, grab that new Avatar Young Blaze mixtape, From Russia with Love, up for free download on Halloween.

But back to the politics—'cause I'd like to cap this one off with a big fuck-you to the UK border agents at Heathrow who detained Gabriel Teodros for eight fuck-ing hours before denying him entrance and shipping him back to the colonies. Sheer fuckery.