The Man Behind The Rising Of The Fenix - Twice

You have only to look at this week's entertainment lineup to see that the Fenix Underground and Fenix Above Ground do not subscribe to the blues ethic that other Pioneer Square clubs adhere to.

"I look down the street," says owner/operator Rick Wyatt, "and I don't see anybody doing what we do."

Tonight the Fenix Above features techno/industrial music from Pinch. Tomorrow it's the classic '80s funk of the Dazz Band. Tonight, the Fenix Underground has "The Fever," dance music with DJ Tigger. Tomorrow it's the big-band reggae of Jumbalassy. Bands appearing soon include the Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Fish, Hit Explosion, Merle Saunders, Noisex, NRBQ and the Royal Crown Review. Got no blues there at all.

Wyatt got started in the Seattle club business in 1992 as a partner in the Fenix Cafe in Pioneer Square - yes, another blues room. A year later he sold his share - it became the Bohemian Cafe - and took over the Hollywood Underground with partner Michael Lagervall, renaming it the Fenix Underground. He started experimenting with different formats, bringing in bands that people wanted to groove to. He attracted a younger audience, people who usually avoided the Square. One of his regular patrons was actor John Corbett, "Chris in the morning" on the TV series "Northern Exposure."

"He liked the place and hung out," said Wyatt. "When it got busy, he started helping out, washing glasses and stuff like that." Corbett later became an investor and partner in the club, helping Wyatt to upgrade the room and get a Class H (hard liquor) license. Having Corbett behind the bar was a big draw, too. The Fenix became a popular sorority/fraternity hangout.

A year later, the next-door disco, the Celebrity Club, closed. Wyatt took over the space and renamed it the Fenix Above Ground.

"Having two rooms means you don't have to sacrifice your original audience," he explained. "You can have something really wild in one room and something a little more mainstream in the other.

"We've always offered a number of different (music) genres," Wyatt continued. "We were doing ska a long time ago, back when I thought horns would be the next big thing. We also started doing industrial, techno and electronica every Thursday two years ago. At the time, everyone else was doing alternative. Now alternative (rock) is fading and people are looking for other choices."

Wyatt began pursuing national acts as well - although it wasn't as easy as he thought.

"I thought if you offered a good room with a good sound system, decent staff, hospitality and good money, they'd just come running. Wrong. I didn't have `history,' a track record. It took me a year to prove myself and the room, but it's working now."

The Fenix has courted rap and hip-hop acts more than other local clubs have. Last year, Coolio played there, and Run DMC is expected to return soon. Snoop Doggy Dogg was supposed to appear last Tuesday but had to cancel because of a contractual conflict with Lollapalooza, where he was also playing.

"That was disappointing, but we're still working on it," Wyatt said of the Snoop show. "It's still in the realm of possibility."

Over the years the tall, dark-haired man who always wears black has reinvented not only his rooms but himself. The former real-estate agent is affectionately known around town these days as the "Prince of Darkness."

Wyatt laughs at the reference. "Yeah, who would have thought five, six years ago I would ever have come to this: a full, complex staff, thousands of bands and working about a hundred hours a week. I guess I'm living it, I have my little corner of the universe, my own four walls as they say.

"But I'll tell you, it sure is fun."

Tom Phalen is a Seattle free-lance writer. His Ace of Clubs column appears every week in Ticket. Send club information to Clubs, c/o Ticket, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle WA 98111: or fax to 206-464-2239. You must include price and starting times to be considered for inclusion. Information must be received in writing 10 days before publication.