Hunter Motto, current program director at Mount Baker Theatre and co-booker at the 150-capacity Shakedown in Bellingham, is now a talent buyer at the Crocodile and will work with the esteemed Melissa Darby, who has become senior talent buyer.

"[Neumos] pursued Eli pretty hard," says Crocodile owner Marcus Charles. "We matched on money, and at the end of the day he made a choice."

If you remember that in 2006, Charles sold his share in Neumos to Jason Lajeunesse, Steven Severin, and Mike Meckling, who now run Neumos, and that Crocodile public relations director Kerri Harrop just left the Crocodile, you'd think there's something deeper going on, but both parties insist there's no bad blood. "It was totally amicable," says Charles, "but I'm sad because [Eli and I] became friends over the years and now I won't be able to work with him."

Harrop, who recently announced on Facebook and Twitter that she was also leaving the Crocodile, corroborates and says the moves were unrelated and that she was hired at Neumos only to handle PR for Eli's transition there. "I want to emphasize, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say it, that we loved working with everyone at the Crocodile. It's just a new year, with new changes."

Anderson's first task will be putting Neumos' under-construction, as-of-yet unnamed 200-plus capacity basement venue on the radar. Anderson says he's excited to work with a lower overhead, which will provide more flexibility in booking local and up-and-coming acts, and he feels the Neumos extension will fill a niche on Capitol Hill. "There was so much stuff I had to pass on or send somewhere else at the Crocodile. It's hard to justify a show that 75 people show up to, because it's an expensive room. And there's a reason it's expensive—it sounds great and it's beautiful," he says. He'll also be helping with Capitol Hill Block Party and Lajeunesse's production concern, Sealed with a Kiss Presents, according to a press release issued on Monday. "Eventually, I see Eli replacing Steven [Severin] and I as senior talent buyer at Neumos," Lajeunesse said in the release. "It's a bit down the road but definitely part of the plan."

While Motto will still handle some booking duties at the Shakedown, he's leaving Mount Baker Theatre, moving to Seattle, and focusing on the Crocodile. Motto and Charles believe the connections up north will provide an advantage to touring bands. "When it makes sense, we're giving artists the opportunity to play two shows— one at the Crocodile in Seattle and one in Bellingham," Motto says.

"We're not really gonna change what we're doing. So for, say, that 200-person show that's coming to the Northwest, [acts] have some options for where they want to play. And we're going to be competitively priced, so people will have a choice: 'Do I want to play that new space under Neumos or play the Crocodile,'" Charles said, adding that they also intend to stay competitive for their bigger shows as well.

Anderson's acumen is already proven, and he'll be working mostly with an unproven venue (the lower level at Neumos), and Motto is the relative unknown, moving into the proven venue. Both are potentially very strong moves for the clubs, which have seen increased competition since the similar-sized Neptune opened late last year. Good luck to all. recommended

This story has been updated since its original publication.