Seattle's all-ages music scene has been thriving lately. Ever since music fans pressured the city to pass the All Ages Dance Ordinance in August of 2002--a law that axed the prohibitive Teen Dance Ordinance and its insurmountable Catch-22 regulations on clubs doing all-ages shows, like hefty insurance requirements--there's been no shortage of underage entertainment. (There's also been no outcry about sexual predators harming underage fans--upending former Seattle City Council President Margaret Pageler's alarmist concerns about mixed-ages music shows that had kept the TDO in place for over a decade.)

On Sunday, November 21, Neumo's--a Capitol Hill club with a balcony level bar for the grownups who want to drink, and plenty of space on the main floor for the minors--held a packed all-ages show (with over 500 music fans filling the club) featuring Minus the Bear, Idiot Pilot, the Fall of Troy, and Mon Frere, a lineup of stellar local talent, with the three opening bands all under the legal drinking age. Were the TDO still in place, this show never could have happened.

"[At the show] there was a lot of youthful energy in the room," said Fall of Troy singer and guitarist Thomas Erak. But if the Seattle Police Department gets its way, and convinces the Washington State Liquor Control Board to approve a new statewide rule that's a virtual back-door TDO, shows like the Neumo's gig would become rare.

The proposed rule would force clubs to turn their bar area into a separate room, or keep minors out of the venue entirely, after 10:00 p.m. The Stranger has obtained a letter that Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske sent to the liquor board earlier this year, where he stumps for the new policy--a policy that would de facto undo the city council's pro all-ages policies. "The Seattle Police Department maintains its position that the mix of minors and adults after 10:00 p.m. substantially increases the likelihood of youth access to alcohol," the chief wrote in his March 5 letter.

The proposed change would force clubs to stop doing all-ages shows unless they radically alter their floor plans, completely walling off the bar area from minors. Certainly, most clubs wouldn't go for it because their over-21 patrons would object to a bar area with no view of the show they paid to see. "The Showbox wouldn't be able to comply [with the new rule]," says Showbox owner Jeff Steichen, where about a third of the shows--about seven each month--are all ages, with the bar open for those over 21.

Bottom line: A dramatic drop in all-ages shows. Given that clubs aren't likely to comply, the new policy would mean shutting underage music fans out of clubs that serve alcohol at 10:00 p.m. (when the band lineup is just warming up), severely curtailing show options for minors. Though clubs with alcohol could technically "double book" shows, hosting an all-ages crowd before 10:00 p.m., followed by a 21+ lineup, it would be logistically awkward and unprofitable to do so.

People under 21 would be limited to seeing shows at exclusively all-ages places like Paradox and the Vera Project, while they'd likely be barred from clubs such as Neumo's, Graceland, the Showbox, Chop Suey, and the Premier--clubs that frequently host shows open to everyone with a separate bar area for those over 21.

Those clubs operate under the liquor board's current "10:00 p.m. policy," a compromise that dictates that clubs with live entertainment after 10:00 p.m. have to separate minors from drinking adults with a reasonable four-foot high barrier. The policy allows the over-21 crowd to drink--a setup that means the club can make enough money off of drink sales to keep offering all-ages shows, which don't make much money in their own right.

The harsh new proposed rule was drafted by the Seattle Police Department, along with 127 other law enforcement agencies from around the state. Cops are concerned that letting kids into a show where adults are drinking is a recipe for minors abusing alcohol, says WSLCB's off-premises license manager Karen McCall.

Chief Kerlikowske wrote: "The Seattle Police Department is opposed to allowing any mix of minors and adults in any licensed alcohol establishment providing entertainment after 10:00 p.m. Foreseeable problems include adults purchasing alcohol drinks and passing them over the barrier to minors, and minors entering the alcohol service area. It would be very difficult for a licensee to ensure that alcohol-imbibing adults are not providing alcohol to minors."

Chief Kerlikowske pointed toward WSLCB data indicating that 253 out of the 394 total statewide liquor violations last year involved minors. But the chief did not have data indicating that all-ages shows are the source of problematic underage drinking. In fact, it's unclear if any of these violations involving minors occurred in clubs during all-ages shows. Look at the liquor board's frequent press releases, which tout their busts of people and businesses that provide minors with alcohol: The underage drinking "problem" is at mini-marts, casinos, and grocery stores--not on the other side of barriers and security guards at all-ages shows.

"I haven't heard of any violations or underage drinking since we started doing mixed-use nights," says Steichen, who's been hosting mixed-use shows at the Showbox since January 2000. "Generally the kids are there to see the concert and they could care less about the drinking."

The fact that the SPD is calling for special rules for clubs isn't surprising. The Seattle Police were leading obstructionists two years ago when the council worked with youth advocates to eighty-six the TDO and replace it with the dance-friendly AADO. At that time, the SPD argued that mixing age groups--with or without alcohol present--was dangerous because adults would prey on kids. The police wanted to force all-ages shows to hire off-duty police officers as security (a provision from the TDO that was overturned by the AADO, since cops could simply refuse to provide security at the show, effectively shutting it down). Now, the police are apparently taking a new tack, spinning kids as the problem. Since the police weren't able to undermine all-ages shows via restrictions in the AADO, they're trying to undermine them through the liquor board.

McCall, at the liquor board, says the rule is a long way from being enacted. The board is still analyzing the impact of a possible rule, and plans to hold public hearings about it next year. Since word of the possible rule change made the rounds in the all-ages scene, though, McCall's been getting plenty of comments. "We're getting all kinds of complaints," she says. "A lot of them aren't even from [liquor] licensees, they're from promoters and things like that."