R.I.P. - The Crocodile Cafe

It's very appropriate that Seattle is suffering through an especially dreary day given the news that the Crocodile Cafe has shut down. For those that joined me in the corner booth in the back bar (you know who you are), glasses are being raised in respect. The place was a glorious dump. Everyone went there. The owner (Stephanie Dorgan) recently divorced what was assuredly the club's cash cow (Peter Buck from R.E.M.). Stories earlier this month chronicled how they were bouncing checks and losing valued employees. It's sad. Really. I remember too many shows there over 5 years in the 90s. I remember seeing Tad passed out in another corner booth. I remember the Lovely Diane flirting constantly with my friend Bob over months and months of inaction. I remember the time I saw some dude blow a guy on the stage just before the exhaltant, impromptu end of a set (the above pictured bassist for "The Dwarves"). Said blowing amounted to my last live show in Seattle before moving to Dallas, Texas where I believe seeing a guy get blown by another guy is still a capital offense. Then I remember seeing The Hold Steady there a year ago after I'd moved back to Seattle, intermingling with the friendliest crowd I can remember since, well, ever becoming a part of a crowd in a music venue. It was as if nothing had changed. But it's now obvious that something changed. I remember the Croc. I'm sure I won't be the only one who can't - or won't - forget.

Hope your own venues are booked for the foreseeable future. Rock on.