Another week, another end of an era, as Electric Avenue, the
mostly free weekly held at CHAC’s Lower Level for the past 16 months,
hangs it up. The closure has nothing to do with the city’s alleged War
on Nightlife; rather the promoters are losing their space, as
CHAC has decided to not renew their lease on the 12th Avenue venue.
The product of promoter/DJ crew United House Front, Electric Avenue
has been a solid Friday-night option for the past year plus, quietly
showcasing Seattle’s talent along with guests from abroad. The
dependence on locals and the sheer regularity of the night often left
EA as a prime prefunk or fallback spot, but despite that, the
night had a cadre of regulars.
“We wanted to have a regular Friday-night party that had a real
community feel to it,” says UHF’s DJ Jizosh. “EA is as much about
hanging out and playing foosball as it is about dancing.”
Even with that laid-back approach, the promoters still occasionally
booked larger names, including DJ Assault, Justin Long,
Starski, and MSTRKRFT—the last booking and show put
together in a matter of hours. The nights were met with mixed
attendance, but UHF maintains a big-picture view of the situation.
“Seattle is starting to get ‘big city’ treatment when it comes to
promoting EDM [electronic dance music] artists, but it still doesn’t
have a big-city interest base to pull from,” says Jizosh. Still, he
says, “I don’t care if 10 people show up or 1,000. We just want
to bring out someone whose tunes we love.”
With that attitude, it’s fitting that EA is closing out their run
with Austin’s Bird Peterson and Ocelot, a duo that has yet to
hit household-name status.
“They are virtually unknown to anyone who doesn’t invest a ton of
time reading music blogs,” says Jizosh. “But they are amazing talents,
and it’s only a matter of time until they are featured artists in
XLR8R and on the big European tours.”
And that’s just the EA way.
“We’ve always been in front of the curve, trying to bring the best
and newest shit to town.”
The last Electric Avenue with Bird Peterson and Ocelot is Fri
June 13, CHAC Lower Level, 10 pm–2 am, $10, 21+.
•••
A notable exception in the long list of Friday the 13th events is
this month’s installment of art and music mashup Artifakt,
headlined by former Tacoman Eliot Lipp. Lipp’s latest, The
Outside, is an exercise in chillectro, a retro-futuristic
album full of delicately programmed beats and synths. Lipp’s obvious
hiphop influence should play well in Artifakt’s urban-themed
environment.
Eliot Lipp plays Artifakt Fri June 13,
Lo_Fi, 9 pm–2
am, $8 adv/$10 DOS, 21+.