Slog
News & ArtsThursday, August 9, 2012
Arts / Film / Theater Update: The King Cat Theater Is Closed
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 11:36 AM
Update: In an email, King Cat manager Amaani explained that the block is part of the coming Amazon world headquarters, so yup, the theater (and a hotel and Toyota dealership) soon will be torn down. Amaani may be opening another venue and will keep us posted. And now to yesterday's post...
The phone number for the King Cat Theater downtown has been disconnected, the calendar of events has nothing since a July 14 show with Screeching Weasel and The Queers, and according to artist/composer Korby Sears, the 1974-vintage cinema is boarded up, with a land-use sign tacked to it that says a 38-story office building will be constructed on the site.
Sears writes,
A quick eulogy: I loved this strangely neglected theater. I don't know why it didn't get more use, more love, more mindshare on radar screens in people's heads. It filled a void in Seattle event-space scene: a frickin' 1800 capacity theater, with raked amphitheater seating, a weird pit in the middle between the stage and the seats that you could have all sorts of fun with (see the floor plan here), use of spotlights in the basic rental fee, and a huge 1700 sq ft green room area (bigger than any apartment I've ever lived in).
You could breathe in that space, play in that space, really expand your show to meet the perimeter of that space. Usually, Seattle venues elicit the exact opposite architectural response.
Above all, it was affordable: for a Tech event I held there three years ago, they wanted $3k for the rental: we talked them down to $2k . That's nuts. By comparison: rentals for the 1200 capacity Showbox Sodo - which is just a flat floor - start at $8k on a weeknight.
Plus - some history:
Nirvana played there.
Pearl Jam played there.
And, you know - Nelson.
And The Skrillex kid played the techno music there just last year.
After outgrowing CHAC years ago, "Ignite: Seattle" eventually found a home there - a series I also adored.
There was the infamous Hunchback of Notre Dame musical flop that played there over a decade ago, which people still talk about. ...
Who else has King Cat stories to share?
1
Saw CASABLANCA there. First time I ever saw it on a huge screen. Grateful I did. And grateful it was at the King Cat.
2
I remember when Julian Hatfield was playing there and she was shocked at how quiet and immobile the Seattle crowd was during her sets.
Other than a few amongst us who were originally from other areas, nobody danced or moved during some really rocked out sets.
But that area has always been a bit scuzzy. Replace it with 40 story tall buildings and ground level retail, throw in a streetcar extension, and pop in a few bike-friendly libraries, daycares, and a dive bar that gets constant noise complaints and you're good.
It was also a good place for electronica, as I recall, so not surprised about Skrillex.
Other than a few amongst us who were originally from other areas, nobody danced or moved during some really rocked out sets.
But that area has always been a bit scuzzy. Replace it with 40 story tall buildings and ground level retail, throw in a streetcar extension, and pop in a few bike-friendly libraries, daycares, and a dive bar that gets constant noise complaints and you're good.
It was also a good place for electronica, as I recall, so not surprised about Skrillex.
3
I remember when Juliana Hatfield was playing there and she was shocked at how quiet and immobile the Seattle crowd was during her sets.
Other than a few amongst us who were originally from other areas, nobody danced or moved during some really rocked out sets.
But that area has always been a bit scuzzy. Replace it with 40 story tall buildings and ground level retail, throw in a streetcar extension, and pop in a few bike-friendly libraries, daycares, and a dive bar that gets constant noise complaints and you're good.
It was also a good place for electronica, as I recall, so not surprised about Skrillex.
Other than a few amongst us who were originally from other areas, nobody danced or moved during some really rocked out sets.
But that area has always been a bit scuzzy. Replace it with 40 story tall buildings and ground level retail, throw in a streetcar extension, and pop in a few bike-friendly libraries, daycares, and a dive bar that gets constant noise complaints and you're good.
It was also a good place for electronica, as I recall, so not surprised about Skrillex.
4
Saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind there at a time when people were still lining up around the block to see Star Wars at the UA 150/170 across the street.
5
It's one of the blocks Amazon bought up to build its new towers. I'm an aged enough queen to have seen "The Man Who Would Be King" there during its original run. Fantastic moviegoing experience, just magical.
6
Oct 2001: Sigur Rós. I was standing in the line outside and I remember it still being sunny and warm, but perhaps I'm misremembering that part.
I had an extra ticket and some cute girl was looking for one. I sold it to her at face value, but she gave me at least $5 more and waved off my attempt to give her change. I think she told me to buy a beer with the extra money. The way she did the waving, while smiling, during the setting sun is a snapshot I'll associate with the King Cat.
I had an extra ticket and some cute girl was looking for one. I sold it to her at face value, but she gave me at least $5 more and waved off my attempt to give her change. I think she told me to buy a beer with the extra money. The way she did the waving, while smiling, during the setting sun is a snapshot I'll associate with the King Cat.
7
I saw Mike Watt play there in May 1995, with Eddie Vedder on guitar. Some guy in the crowd wore a hand-lettered "Fuck Eddie" t-shirt. Mike Watt invited the kid onto the stage so he could kick his ass.
Dave Grohl's "new band" was the opener. What was their name? Oh, yeah, the Foo Fighters. I wonder what happened to those guys...
Dave Grohl's "new band" was the opener. What was their name? Oh, yeah, the Foo Fighters. I wonder what happened to those guys...
8
I remember seeing Super Deluxe's Christmas Show with the Screaming Santas there back in high school in 96 or 97. That was a fun night.
I was also at the Sigur Ros show, absolutely awesome.
I was also at the Sigur Ros show, absolutely awesome.
10
I saw Throwing Muses there, must have been mid-'90s, long past the Tanya Donnelly/Leslie Langston days. I think TM was a trio at that point, very spare. It was a disappointing show - I've seen Kristin Hersh in concert several times since then and those shows have always been so much better. I chalked it up to the band having outlived its original raison d'etre.
11
I've only been there once, to see Nick Cave, and was really impressed with the sightlines and the acoustics. I've often wondered, too, why it's not more popular!
12
I remember getting into R-rated movies at the King Cinema, when I was TOO YOUNG! Then it was nothing. I didn't even know what The King Cat Theater was when Bettie Serveert, a Dutch band I loved, showed up in Seattle in 1997 and played there. I had pleasant flashbacks. Who knew?
14
The first show I ever got to see there was a concert by progressive rock heavies The Flower Kings about 10 or so years ago. A more recent visit there brought me to see Baroness who were just about to release The Blue Record playing a fantastic set that consisted of lots of epically long songs.
17
Steve Earle & Allison Moore did a show there a few years ago after he released Washington Square Blvd. Amazing show, great venue. "Is anybody out there listenin' now on the Satellite Radio..."
18
I played my first real concert there in high school with our band Mister Frithers this girl rented it for her birthday and invited all these bands. I remember seeing neds atomic dustbin and mazzy star on the same bill when i was a teenager. i also saw coco-rosie there recently. sad day
19
I played my first real concert there in high school with our band Mister Frithers this girl rented it for her birthday and invited all these bands. I remember seeing neds atomic dustbin and mazzy star on the same bill when i was a teenager. i also saw coco-rosie there recently. sad day
20
I, too, saw Coco Rosie there for their first time in Seattle. And also enjoyed the Ignite series, where once we used that weird pit space to form teams and build playing card towers.
RIP King Cat...
RIP King Cat...
21
Liz Phair, Sebadoh, and Throwing Muses...I think there might have been a couple other shows I saw there, but those 3 I know for sure.
22
I saw two shows there just this year: NOFX and Reel Big Fish. Prior to that, it'd been 12 years since I'd been to the venue, shortly after I moved to Seattle. Funny enough, it was Reel Big Fish then as well, the first time (of many) that I saw them.
It was a shitty music venue - the size of the stage and the screen dwarfed the bands, and the sound quality was SoDo-level mediocre. But it's kinda cool that my experiences with it started and ended with the same band, even though that first experience got me hooked on live shows and the last led me to finally write-off RBF.
@9/16 I believe it was a crazypants church for much of the past decade, but they still booked the occasional show.
It was a shitty music venue - the size of the stage and the screen dwarfed the bands, and the sound quality was SoDo-level mediocre. But it's kinda cool that my experiences with it started and ended with the same band, even though that first experience got me hooked on live shows and the last led me to finally write-off RBF.
@9/16 I believe it was a crazypants church for much of the past decade, but they still booked the occasional show.
23
I saw Warren Zevon there in 2001--the very last of the dozens of times I saw his shows. He got sick a few weeks later, played a few last shows, then stopped touring for good. I'll always remember saying goodbye there--though we didn't know it at the time--to a one-of-a-kind talent. RIP, Warren Zevon, and RIP, King Cat Theater.
24
I saw Sebadoh there in 1995. I remember Lou Barlow yelling at a guy in the crowd between songs for trying to mosh around like a dick when most people just wanted to enjoy the music.
25
Music Box
Coliseum
UA 150
King Cat
this is a very bad trend.
Last show i saw there was fucking GRINDERMAN, and it was good.
Coliseum
UA 150
King Cat
this is a very bad trend.
Last show i saw there was fucking GRINDERMAN, and it was good.
26
@4 That was me in the Star Wars line!
Saw Rancid there, just when they were getting popular. I was there to photograph the band, and got a great one of Tim Armstrong flipping off the camera (or me, I guess). Show ended early, so we went to another show at the Lake Union Pub. It was my birthday, so my friend gave me a white leather jacket that became the butt of jokes for years (and still occasionally comes up). At the LUP, another friend gave me a cigar, which I smoked in its entirety inside the Pub, and then puked.
Saw Rancid there, just when they were getting popular. I was there to photograph the band, and got a great one of Tim Armstrong flipping off the camera (or me, I guess). Show ended early, so we went to another show at the Lake Union Pub. It was my birthday, so my friend gave me a white leather jacket that became the butt of jokes for years (and still occasionally comes up). At the LUP, another friend gave me a cigar, which I smoked in its entirety inside the Pub, and then puked.
27
I've seen bands there twice and absolutely hated the place.
Plus they have the worst beer line/ corral situation that I've ever seen. Maybe like it for nostalgic reasons, but for me it was one of the worst venues I've ever been to.
Plus they have the worst beer line/ corral situation that I've ever seen. Maybe like it for nostalgic reasons, but for me it was one of the worst venues I've ever been to.
28
I saw that Mike Watt show. I remember it was jammed--the kids all knew who was in Hovercraft and Foo Fighters already. And security was making people with chain wallets throw away their chains to get in--and in 1995 every Pearl Jam fan had a chain wallet.
29
The worst bartenders in all of Seattle and a barely functioning projector.
It's still a loss, and one not easily replaced. Where are they going to show all the new ski and snowboard movies this year?
It's still a loss, and one not easily replaced. Where are they going to show all the new ski and snowboard movies this year?
30
Yet another piece of Real Seattle is razed for a shiny office tower.. great.......
I still miss the Doghouse...... :(
I still miss the Doghouse...... :(
31
uh, BACK WHEN IT WAS LIKE LIKE LIKE an actual like like like movie theater like like like I saw like Close Encounters there, and on the other side of the street was the awesome UA 150, and it deep curved screen and golden dome showing star wars, like....
32
I have so many memories of having few memories after having way too many beers with pro snowboarders at the King Cat during the annual fall blitz of shred movie premiers. It's a lot easier to swallow a $4 Session or a $8 cocktail when you've already had more than you can count on one hand (thanks C3!).
In all seriousness, the King Cat is where I first glimpsed the beginning of Brain Farm + Red Bull's progression of snowboard movies into something much more with their groundbreaking flick, 'That's It, That's All'. As an AMZN employee I'm sad to see the place go, but after all, the company has to grow (they're slowly turning our meeting rooms into offices - where the fuck am I supposed to meet? At the bar?)
In all seriousness, the King Cat is where I first glimpsed the beginning of Brain Farm + Red Bull's progression of snowboard movies into something much more with their groundbreaking flick, 'That's It, That's All'. As an AMZN employee I'm sad to see the place go, but after all, the company has to grow (they're slowly turning our meeting rooms into offices - where the fuck am I supposed to meet? At the bar?)
33
The only show I ever saw there was The Residents in 2002. Good show, but not a revelatory as their 1999 Showbox appearance.
I remember there being a lot of shows that I was interested in checking out, but didn't for lack of strong desire to see any of them.
I remember there being a lot of shows that I was interested in checking out, but didn't for lack of strong desire to see any of them.
35
Like many others, it's where I first encountered the third kind and met the man who would be king. I also went in there to go out of africa. But my fondest memory is of seeing Sigur Ros there for the first time!
36
I saw Crash Worship and Super Geek League there, and for those kind of shows, King Cat sucked. Too big, ceiling too high, and the ramped floor fucked up the mosh pit. Nowhere near as good as seeing them at Mo's, Neumos, and the Weathered Wall.
38
Saw Jonathan Richman there 2001 or thereabouts. I remember when he was done, he was leaving, but a small child walked onstage and asked him to play I Am a Little Airplane. Magic!
39
i saw "Tommy" on opening night with my best friend, then came back the next night to see it with my dad and his wife, who hated it. i loved it. also saw 'all that jazz' and the first tim burton batman film.
40
The King Cat Theater has looked to be closed for years. Here's my favorite memory:
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives…
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives…
41
@24 I was also at that Sebadoh show. Saw Rancid, The Melvins, revival screening of Spartacus, and I believe the shitty Masters of the Universe movie there.
42
This is amusing. The King is an ugly concrete box that opened in the seventies. It has no architectural significance and removing it would be a blessing. There are plenty of old theaters worth saving in Seattle that no one ever talks about, or even know exist.
43
I remember going to see movies there once upon a time, but it was sure a long time ago. My strongest memory is when a kinky acquaintance who went by the name of C.C. Sadist (or 'Caped Cru-Sadist) promoted some kind of kink festival there, and brought in Genesis P. Orridge to play.
I don't remember much about the festival part, but I remember going to see P.Orridge (who I was not familiar with) and realizing after about 20 minutes or less that his schtick was basically trying to drive people out of the venue with excruciating high volume. I don't remember any music as such, it was mainly just tones played at braincrushing decibel levels. You seriously had to be a masochist (and indifferent to ever being able to hear again) in order to stay. I guess P.Orridge figured he got to play sadist to a bunch of masochists or something...
Anyway, my experience of it was short but memorable, and that's the last time I can remember being at the King Cat...
I don't remember much about the festival part, but I remember going to see P.Orridge (who I was not familiar with) and realizing after about 20 minutes or less that his schtick was basically trying to drive people out of the venue with excruciating high volume. I don't remember any music as such, it was mainly just tones played at braincrushing decibel levels. You seriously had to be a masochist (and indifferent to ever being able to hear again) in order to stay. I guess P.Orridge figured he got to play sadist to a bunch of masochists or something...
Anyway, my experience of it was short but memorable, and that's the last time I can remember being at the King Cat...
44
A couple of my earliest Seattle memories were there, though I didn't remember the name of it. I am pretty sure that's where I saw Jello Biafra do a spoken word about...well, the stuff he usually talks about, in the early-mid nineties, probably. Also it was one of my first weeks after moving to Seattle I went to the premiere (?) of the 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues' movie (two hours which have since been mercifully scrubbed from my memory) and I thought it was a big deal that Tom Robbins himself was going to be there! I was a hayseed just in from Nebraska, so I didn't know any better.
45
Seems like Seattle has to rebuilt itself every 40-50 years. No one could save the Fox Music Hall/Emerald Palace from destruction even though it won historic landmark status in the 1970s. In 1992, down she came. Money, you know. Couldn't keep it operating. Phil Donahue came and did a week of shows there to help save it back in the 80s, but eventually even the owners wanted it torn down. Worth more to the family as real estate than as a city treasure.
And again I lament that almost all of the Seattle I know and love has disappeared. If it isn't careful, Seattle is going to turn in the Bellevue - or Dallas.
And again I lament that almost all of the Seattle I know and love has disappeared. If it isn't careful, Seattle is going to turn in the Bellevue - or Dallas.
46
Would that "weird pit in the middle between the stage and the seats" be the orchestra pit? Do kids these days not know about those?
47
I remember going there once when Cinematic Titanic came to town to promote and perform live some of their new riffs! I was so excited, and surprised at what occurred that night! I got to meet some of my comedic heroes from my younger days watching MST3K at my grandmother's house in Texas, I watched one of those plastic receptacles for cigarette butts turn into a melty smoky mess, and I still hold those tickets to this day, with the signatures of all who performed that night. I remember thinking, damn, why don't I come here more often.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/te…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/te…
51
Saw Richard Thompson, Jonatha Brooke and the California Guitar Trio there about ten years ago (three different shows). Good fun each time.
After that, I thought it closed down a couple times, then got taken over by some cult church.
After that, I thought it closed down a couple times, then got taken over by some cult church.
52
@49 wins are only allocated when you win. Even a stuck clock is right twice a day, unless it's digital.
54
The only show I saw there was Bob Mould on his "Modulate" tour around 2001. It's memorable because it was the first time I'd seen Mould live (after years of being a fan) and as far as I can recall it was a decent show (even though it wasn't the best album). Just him on stage, solo but electric, with some sort of crazy movie/video playing in the background (something he made I think). Added bonus: a friend was working the ticket window and comped me and a buddy in.
56
Referring to the King as a "treasure" is absurd. It is a blight on the landscape. Its only value is the memory of shows attended there, as with buildings like RKCNDY or the Northgate. Calling it so demeans real treasures like the Moore or 5th Avenue.
58
Jeff Buckley a few months before he died. Joe Jackson 'round 2001. Both great. Opening screening of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - an ocean of entertaining disappointment. And a zillion movies back in the dim and distant days when it showed first-run films. (Yes, old enough to have seen Close Encounters there....)
60
@56 Declaring an affordable venue a blight is absurd too. That's the real loss here, in that smaller events with smaller budgets won't have a place to put them on and will likely just not do it. That's where the real loss is going to be. Eventually we'll have a city of gleaming office towers and much less cultural life.
I'm not too big a fan of the King Cat as a venue except that it was cheap enough to bring in shows and events that otherwise couldn't have happened.
I'm not too big a fan of the King Cat as a venue except that it was cheap enough to bring in shows and events that otherwise couldn't have happened.
63
@61: you made the assertion. as far as i know, there's very few theatres able to host rock shows left in Seattle, let alone downtown. are you counting the Colusseum where Banana Republic now wastes space? or are there unknown gems wasting away in the ID? Ballard? are you counting moldering churches as theatres?
64
@61: "There are plenty of old theaters worth saving in Seattle..." I never said anything about suitable "rock show" venues and I've never heard of the Colusseum. My definition of a theater would be any building originally designed and built for that use. Between WW1 and WW2 every neighborhood had at least one movie theater. Many are gone, but many were adapted for reuse and survive. Some of these buildings have been significantly altered, but others are surprisingly intact.
65
@8: I saw the Super Deluxe/Screaming Santas show, too! I think Gavin Guss opened? He played with them constantly, it seemed. I remember going to the Hurricane after that show for the first time (it was '96, as my ride was a year older and not off at WSU yet) and thinking I was SO COOL. We read the Stranger Sex Survey out loud and made up answers to all the questions.
In the summer of 2001 I saw Jello Biafra speak and swore I'd never see him again, because no human ass can take those uncomfortable seats for three hours straight.
In the summer of 2001 I saw Jello Biafra speak and swore I'd never see him again, because no human ass can take those uncomfortable seats for three hours straight.
66
We (Eleventh Hour Productions) held the national poetry slam finals there in the summer of 2000. In the middle of the show someone walked right through one of the plate glass windows from the lobby to the street. He wasn't drunk (and didn't get hurt, miraculously), there were just no stickers or indication that there was a window there, and the light was late-summer weird. The house manager wanted to shut down the show, to which I said, you'll just piss people off, just let's tape it off. We'll settle the insurance in the morning. He eventually agreed, and I was walking out of the office, when CRASH... someone else walked through a different plate glass window in the lobby (with only a cut finger). "I'll go get the checkbook," said I. The show eventually finished. A lot of yellow tape in the lobby. Our insurance paid the tab, no one sued (vestige of an older Seattle) and the King Cat put some 10-cent stickers on the new windows.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Portland Voters Are Stoopid by Goldy
-
An I-5 Bridge Over the Skagit River Has Collapsed by Paul Constant
-
Rightwing Anti-Gay French Activist Commits Suicide at Notre Dame Cathedral by Dan Savage
-
Why They Break Windows by Unpaid Intern
-
Usually When I'm Sent a Photoshopped Image of a Gun Pointed At Me... by Dan Savage
-
Spoiled Rotten: Star Trek Into Darkness by Paul Constant
-
There Are No Atheists In Foxholes by Dan Savage
-
Tornado Truthers by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Did You Think I Was Going To Tell You Not To Come Out? (PLUS: Help Free Kate!) by Dan Savage
-
SL Letter of the Day: Have You Ever Heard of...? by Dan Savage
Stranger Personals
The Stranger
RSSSeattle Art & Performance Quarterly
A complete guide to Seattle's current art, film, dance, and theater season.
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (66) RSS