Central Tavern Reborn In New Tacoma Setting

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The Central Tavern, 3829 Sixth Ave., Tacoma. Live music Thursday through Saturday at 9 p.m.; tonight, Prayer Factory, Voodoo Gearshift and Mant; tomorrow, Lazy Susan, Jelly Finger and Egyptian Radio. Cover: $5. 756-0424. ------------------------------------------------------------------

The old Central Tavern in Pioneer Square is today spoken of in almost hushed and reverent tones by those who frequented the damp, dark beer-sodden spot in the mid and late '80s. It was, after all, the spawning place of greatness, the primordial guppy pool of grunge.

The Tavern - not to be confused with The Central Saloon that now occupies the First Avenue address - was where former owner Mike Downing gave the likes of Soundgarden, Green River, Mother Love Bone and countless others a place to get their start. Not many made it, but enough - including those who would be Pearl Jam - made enough of a mark to make The Central Tavern a beacon on Seattle's rock cityscape.

And now it's back, albeit a lot farther south of Seattle and in a much roomier building. Downing and his wife, Donna, have taken over the former jazz space Presido's, knocked out a wall or two, opened it up and brought in the bands.

"Yeah," says Mike Downing a little sheepishly, "I guess we're just being stupid again. We thought we'd try one more time and see if we were right or wrong about the last place."

The Downings left the original Central because they were simply burned out. But it wasn't long before that itch came back and they opened the Milton Tavern in Milton in 1992. They took a year's lease on the joint, and sold it after 11 months.

"It was the wrong location, that's for sure," said Downing. "A lot of people won't even drive through Milton, especially if they've got a warrant. The police parked right outside our lot and stopped you for just about anything.

"Besides, we wanted a real city with a real scene. We wanted to go south, we just didn't go far enough. Now we've got a real nightclub, so we'll see whether it works out or not."

The new Central Tavern opened three weeks ago, and Downing said the nights with live music have done really well.

"The hardest thing has been booking the acts. A lot of bands are already booked this late in the year, so it was hard finding good acts without prior commitments. But we've been pretty lucky, I think we've got some good people coming in."

Both nights this weekend have tried-and-true acts. One of tomorrow's bands, Lazy Susan, has a new album "Sink" and has been of late getting a lot of exposure. Next Friday, Pleasure Elite and Rorschach Test play, and in future weeks The Central will be bringing in Katie's Dimples, Bucket, Rhino Humpers, IMIJ and Running With Scissors.

Downing added that there was a benefit to the new Central taking over from the old Central, at least in name.

"When we were trying to come up with a name for the new place we found out that we still owned the rights to the name from the old place," Downing explained.

"That was all right with me. All of my T-shirts already say `Central Tavern' on them. I figure I'll save a fortune on my wearing apparel."