![]() ![]() In our case, the back was a place from which to better survey the crowd, their pluck, a better place from which to project cheers and whoops and to reflect energy back to the front. The venue itself has a low ceiling and a feeling of intimacy with performer and audience, a good bar with Seattle Dry Cider on tap, and a kitchen that serves sandwiches and burgers (in this case by a speed goth). Karen and Garrett, my friends from San Francisco who recently relocated to Seattle, accompanied me last night and they brought the enthusiasm, first falling in love with Sam Evian’s tunes and then later, facilitating the CM love when we unwittingly got caught in the very back of the room (hey, the view was good). Back in the US, back to a crowd more colorful, more varied, more down home American. Hell yeah we got fired up last night at Chop Suey in Capitol Hill in Seattle. Still, “Young musicians are going to always find a way to play ,” McCutcheon said.Break it down, get us fired up. He expressed disappointment that “Every new generation of Seattle U bands won’t have that outlet.” “I really wish we got to play one last show ,” Clavere said. COHO is releasing an EP in April and are in the process of trying to organize a tour for this summer. They have also played at Bumbershoot, Iceland Airwaves and Sasquatch. Kithkin have since released their first studio album and are three songs into their second. The Ramblin’ Years are now coming out with their first studio album in March, which will be followed by a tour. ![]() These Seattle U bands have all grown up a lot since their early days at Chop Suey, though. “Chop was always very welcoming and accommodating to us.” “It was one of our first legit shows,” Germano said. “The more shows you play, the more likely you are to get booked at other places,” she said.ĬOHO, a group of students who are still attending Seattle U, performed at Chop Suey for the first time alongside The Ramblin’ Years about a year ago. “When you’re starting a band, it’s hard to get booked places… was a good stepping stone,” Sears said. While that show was a surprising success, “ disappointed if you didn’t bring 200 people,” McCutcheon said. “They weren’t afraid to fail,” Sears said. When Kithkin had the idea to have a Star Wars themed show on May the Fourth (get it?) Chop Suey was completely open to the idea. In fact, Kithkin owes a lot of their early exposure in the Seattle music scene to Chop Suey. In addition to Barr, McCutcheon also interned at Chop Suey, and later worked there for about six months. “ really helped us grow and get our act together.” ![]() “That performance was what made me want to keep doing ,” Clavere said. A band that was booked to play bowed out at the last minute, so Barr called Clavere up, asking if he would want to get The Ramblin’ Years back together to step into the now-open spot. “Everyone except the drummer had been studying abroad,” Clavere recalled.Īlex Barr, the guitarist of Kithkin, was working in booking at Chop Suey at the time. The Ramblin’ Years had their first show at Chop Suey in 2012 at the beginning of their senior year. Both Clavere and McCutcheon praised the booker, Jodi Ecklund, for being the rock of this support. “Exactly what you’d expect from a low-coverage venue,” he said.ĭespite the borderline negative visual descriptions of the venue, Chop Suey will go down in Seattle history for always supporting up-and-coming Seattle U bands. “It brought a lot of color to the neighborhood,” said Laura Germano, Seattle U senior and vocalist of indie-rock band COHO.Ĭlavere remembered there being gum on the floor and stickers all over the bathroom wall. McCutcheon and Kelton Sears, aka Spirit Treader, the bassist of Kithkin (and former editor-in-chief of the Spectator), vividly remembers the broken, gold and dusty 60-foot long fire-breathing dragon on the ceiling. ![]() When it finally became a hip-hop and alternative rock music venue in the early 2000s, management decided to keep all of the red Seattle U alumnus Ian McCutcheon, aka Tin Woodsman, the drummer of four-piece “treepunk” band Kithkin, remembered seeing a solo act who made music from his own brain waves.Ĭhop Suey used to be a Chinese restaurant-a “divey” one, as Clavere described it. “A buddy and I went to see Alternative Roots,” he said. Sean Clavere, vocalist and guitarist of five-piece rock ‘n’ roll band The Ramblin’ Years-and a Seattle University alumnus, along with his bandmates-saw his first show in Seattle at the venue. A Capitol Hill hot spot since 2001, the venue was sold due to high rent. Chop Suey held its final show Jan.18 with performances by Tacocat and Chastity Belt. ![]()
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