Credit: Kyle Johnson

Redmond’s Old Fire House is one of the longest-running all-ages
venues on the West Coast. Since Kate Becker founded it in 1992, the
venue has been more than just a place to see great local and national
actsโ€”it’s also been a mecca for underage Eastsiders, serving as a
place to hang out after school, skateboard, read zines, record music,
and make and display art.

To celebrate Old Fire House’s impressive longevity, the staff is
throwing one hell of a party on Friday, September 25, with amazing
local talent, including Schoolyard Heroes, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Loving
Thunder, and Tradewinds for Zephyr.

Visually speaking, Sleepy Eyes of Death have the most exciting live
show in the city. A choreographed light show dances against a thick
cloud of fog, while the band members busily tend to stacks of keyboards
and synthesizers, guitars, and drums. But it’s Sleepy Eyes’ music that
will really floor you. For some songs, their heavy shoegaze rock
is beefed up with thunderous live drumming and atmospheric guitar.
Others sound like the soundtrack for maniacal robots formulating their
plan of attackโ€”precise, repetitive, and racing.

By comparison, Seattle duo Loving Thunder are much more stripped
down, but their combination of drums and bass will rattle your core
just the same. Bassist Colin Roper (formerly of Cobra High) has one of
the best bass tones I have heard in a long timeโ€”thick with
satisfying amounts of buzz. And you’re probably familiar with Seattle’s
all-ages all-stars Schoolyard Heroes’ theatrical, bombastic rock,
right? The show starts at 8:00 p.m. and it’s $10 at the door. It’s
exactly the kind of locally focused, stellar show this Northwest
landmark deserves.

Recommended all-ages shows

Sat Sept 26: Colonies, Kids and Animals, To the Sea
at Piecora’s, 10 pm, $6.

Sat Sept 26: Escalator Fest: Wooden Shjips, Eternal
Tapestry, Cloaks, Prince Rama of Ayodhya, Midday Veil, and more at the
Vera Project, 5 pm, $15/$14 with club card.

Sun Sept 27: Little Teeth, iji, World History, Your
Heart Breaks at Healthy Times
Fun Club, 8 pm.

Megan Seling is The Stranger's managing editor. She mostly writes about hockey, snacks, and music. And sometimes her dog, Johnny Waffles.

One reply on “Underage”

  1. better shows were ones with bands like the blood brothers, gas huffer, fastbacks and mxpx.

    ground zero had the best show when they had sunny day real estate.

    the old firehouse lost its luster mainly after it stopped letting teens smoke there (not saying I’m promoting this but after that happened a lot of kids got pissed and stopped going) which caused a lot of shows to be crappy after that.

Comments are closed.