The Crocodile Cafe


Unfortunately, I never made it to the Crocodile, but I know many who did and *loved* this place.

Another sad farewell in the music business:

Seattle's Crocodile Cafe closes

By JOHN MARSHALL
P-I REPORTER

Crocodile Cafe, R.I.P.

Saturday night, the Belltown club was packed once again for sets by Robin Pecknold, J. Tillman and David Bazan, with the usual "Croc" good times under way and the bar doing brisk business. Nothing suggested that those in the crowd were witnesses to the venerable music venue's last waltz.

Owner Stephanie Dorgan, who could not be reached Monday, left voice mail messages with club employees Sunday telling them they should not report for work any longer -- the Crocodile Cafe has been closed because of financial difficulties.

Eli Anderson, the club's current booker, was shocked when he received the brief voice mail from Dorgan on Sunday afternoon. As he said Monday: "We all knew the club has problems with money, but we certainly didn't think it would be closing right now. ... I was booking new shows on Saturday, so I was freaking out when I received Stephanie's voice mail. And the thing is -- band contracts require 50 to 75 percent of full payment if a club cancels their gigs, so she's probably not saving much money by closing."

Word of the closure spread like wildfire Monday through the city's music blogs, with surprised Croc fans mourning the passing of a place that played such a part in Seattle's vibrant club scene in the 1990s.

As one comment on the Three Imaginary Girls blog put it, with a bit of humor: "It really is the Decline and Fall of Northwestern Civilization around here lately." On The Stranger's music blog, another fan noted, "We've got a streetcar to nowhere, aborted mass transit, and now one less club, the best one at that."

Many anguished fans offered reminiscences about fave Croc shows since it opened in 1991, especially remembrances of seeing headliners seldom encountered in such an intimate venue.

Among those who graced the Croc's small stage were such notables as Beck, The Ventures, the Indigo Girls, Death Cab for Cutie, The Presidents of the United States of America, Corinne Bailey Rae, The Beastie Boys, Dinosaur Junior, Michael Stipe and R.E.M., Ann Wilson, Yoko Ono and Sleater-Kinney. A now-legendary Croc double bill, with a $3 ticket, took place Oct. 4, 1992, and featured Mudhoney and Nirvana (billed that night as Pen Cap Chew). A 1996 gig by Cheap Trick included a surprise appearance by Pearl Jam.

The Crocodile's closure did not come as a complete surprise to observers of the city's club scene. Warning signs of a troublesome spiral downward had started to appear with increasing frequency in the city's music-centric alternative press.

In September, Seattle Weekly reported that Dorgan's divorce papers from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, concluded in February, included her assertion that the club has not made enough money to pay her a salary since 2000. The story was headline: "Confronted With a Perfect Storm of Challenges, Belltown's Legendary Crocodile Cafe Fights for Its Life."

On Dec. 4, The Stranger reported that a staff meeting disagreement between Dorgan and Peter Greenberg, the club's primary booker, led to his abrupt departure.

At first nothing appeared out-of-the-ordinary at the Croc on Monday, since it is usually closed that day. The club's voice-mail system was still operating and the club's Web site listed upcoming shows all the way into May, including a Jan. 26 appearance by the Decemberists -- another gig by the sort of hot group that had long added to the Croc's reputation.

However, eventually employees could be seen being let into the locked club to pick up their personal things. They were told their final paychecks would be available Wednesday.

The Crocodile Cafe & Live Bait Lounge opened April 30, 1991, only a few months before Nirvana's epic debut, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," first alerted the outside world that something new called "grunge" was brewing in Seattle. First to play at the Croc were Love Battery and P.O.T. (members of the Posies).

Those were the days before Belltown had sprouted its current crop of luxe condo towers and trendy eateries. It still retained a seedy, bohemian vibe, which is what attracted Dorgan, who was working as an attorney with a First Amendment specialty at the high-profile firm of Davis Wright Tremaine.

As Dorgan recalled for the Seattle P-I on the club's 10th anniversary: "At the time, I enjoyed putting a little balance into my life by going to weird little bars. I used to play darts at the Frontier Room. And the fact that I was in a suit made it kind of funny."

Dorgan and two partners -- who later had a falling out -- remodeled and soundproofed the Second and Blanchard storefront and backrooms that had been the home of the Athens Cafe, a Greek eatery and club. Much of the decor came from other closed restaurants, including an infusion of South Seas atmospherics from Trader Vic's, a once-legendary outpost of the Seattle establishment where the stylings of Hawaiian legend Don Ho was probably as hard as the music ever got.

The Croc soon became a hub of the city's rock scene. And it continued to hold that spot after other one-time competitors fell by the wayside and closed their doors, including RKCNDY, the Off Ramp and Moe's.

The Croc's storied history included a film role. Portions of "Georgia," a 1995 indie film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, were shot in the club.

Leigh even prepped for her role as a punk rocker with an appearance on the Croc's stage, her first ever singing in public. As she later recalled in an interview with P-I film critic William Arnold, "John Doe (the L.A. rock star, who played a supporting role in the film) called me up on stage, and there I was. And I took a breath and did it. And it was just bitchin'. I loved it. What a rush. Everyone applauded, too, though they were just being polite. I don't really have a voice, and I'm sure I wasn't any good."

Anderson, the Crocodile's current booker, had been working hard to compile an impressive list of upcoming shows in hopes of, as he put it, "leaving the club in better condition than I found it." His efforts seemed to be paying dividends, at least in the view of one well-known audience member at Saturday evening's final show.

That praise for Anderson's bookings came from Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie.

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