Venue Review: The New Crocodile Cafe in Seattle

I was having a slow night, intellectually and socially speaking, so I headed over to the recently renovated Crocodile Cafe for a little 21+ local music from the bands Hotels, New Faces, Globes, and Romance. Outside for a cigarette I heard the live director, Roy, saying something like, "I'm gonna call it an early night. This is our first really local show. Tom Morello made me tired." Locals action not as hot as it could have been Roy? Roy was actually right. I noticed that we left the club at the same time, around 12:10.

I wanted a little rock action. What I got was a little Joy Division/Interpol/She Wants Revenge action. This was to be expected and I had seen most of the bands play before, but the extent to which every band sounded like a terrible copy of a copy of a copy of Joy Division was a little disappointing, above and beyond the disappointment I expect when I go to Belltown alone, on a Wednesday.

The venue itself is a sparkling palace of renovated (perhaps misplaced) 1990s Seattle nostalgia: exposed wood beams, vintage-looking fixtures, soft and hard lights, and the annoying pillar of the old Croc in the far corner, torn to shit, with a few remaining band stickers. The new Corc has an unpleasant cleanness that reminds me of what happened when people in Seattle started working at Microsoft, getting paid a lot of money, moving into custom built homes, and putting their kids through college-prep private schools. Still, the location is cool and there's the undeniable history of the spot, which opened in 1991.

Compared to the old show space, the floor is huge (fire department rated at 500+. Isn't that the same size as Neumos?), with a fairly high ceiling. When the bands started playing, the audience seemed reluctant to venture close to the stage, which was about six inches too high, making the more sheepish acts tower above a chatty sea of drinkers. Everyone seemed stuck to the bar, which was well appointed and staffed.

The bands, as I said, were fairly unremarkable. New Faces was surprisingly energetic, almost funky. Though, they were the youngest people around, by several years, and maybe youth still has something to do with rock and roll.