At its peak, the Old Fire House teen center in Redmond was
open six days a week, hosting drop-in programming after school and
all-ages shows on the weekends. In recent years, it’s been forced to
cut back to only four days a week, Wednesday through Saturday, due to
budget cuts. Now, on the eve of its 16th anniversary, things are
once again looking up for the OFH.
Last month, the city’s voters supported an initiative to allot the
program more funding, allowing the OFH to reopen its doors on Mondays
and Tuesdays. On the additional days, it will host workshops for the
city’s youth, such as self-defense sessions by Home Alive,
college-prep courses, and job-assistance programs. The Old Fire
House has a long history as a kind of punk rock academy, and now, with
its doors reopened for the entire school week and offering even more
educational programming, it can really live up to that reputation.
But the OFH has always been less schoolhouse and more rock, and on
October 10, the place is having its biggest show in months, one well
worth the trip out to little old Redmond. With a setup that continues
to blow the minds of even the geekiest gearheads—and a
genre-bending debut album, Tea Parties, Guns and Valor, under
their oversized belt buckles—America-lovin’ electro rebels (and
Eastside descendants) Truckasauras have taken over the city of
Seattle. Tonight, they’ll likely trade in their traditional bottles of
whiskey for beverages more teen-center appropriate, but that doesn’t
mean their synth squawks and 808 drum blasts will be any less wild.
Their video-game grooves have the potential to create a mind meld of
youthful energy strong enough to rattle the entire premises. There’s
reason to celebrate at the OFH, and if Sasquatch and Hempfest have
taught us anything, it’s that there’s no better party partner than
the Truck. 
Fri Oct 10: Truckasauras, No-Fi Soul
Rebellion, the Physics, Fighter X, DJ Trev at the Old Fire House,
8 pm, $6.
Fri Oct 10: Grynch, J.Pinder, Chev, Solstice, DJ
Rise at Vera Project, 8 pm, $6.
Sat Oct 11: New Faces, Analog Destroyer, the Lost
Episode, the Batteries at Ground Zero, 8 pm, $5.
Sun Oct 12: The Helm, Ramming Speed, Enemy Camp at
the Greenhouse, 8 pm, $5.
Mon Oct 13: Protect Me, Seahouse, Masters and
Johnson at Fusion Cafe, 8 pm, $6.