Out with the old clubs, in with the (few) new ones
 |
|
||||||||||
It's another cold, wet, windy, generally miserable night in Seattle. Yet the 50 or so young people standing outside on this Saturday night have expectant smiles. They're waiting to gain entrance to Tiki Bob's Cantina, the newest hot spot in Pioneer Square.
The line goes a half-block east on King Street, then curls around the corner down Second Avenue — where one block north is the Fenix, or at least what used to be the Fenix. It's now a construction site, a building waiting to be demolished so a new one can go up.
Every year, clubs come and go; in 2001, the Fenix was arguably the biggest exit, while Tiki Bob's made perhaps the most triumphant entrance.
The Fenix closed after the Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28, which also led to the permanent red-tagging of the nearby O.K. Hotel, another longtime Seattle club that, like the Fenix, mixed live bands and DJs. Owners of both places hope to reopen elsewhere in Seattle in 2002.
Another 2001 departure: The 700 Club, which in the late '90s was one of the funkiest, most lively clubs in Seattle, closed for a construction project.
In August, Gibson's, the truly grungy downtown spot for rock bands, locked its doors for good. Owners said they were losing business because of the earthquake, the economy and other factors.
After the once-ritzy ARO.space staggered to an ugly death in late 2000, a new owner took over in 2001 and reopened the Capitol Hill club as Paradise, which catered to a mostly gay clientele. It's now called Arena; same owner, same scene.
Maybe it was the economy, or maybe the club scene has become saturated, but there seemed to be fewer openings in relation to closings than in recent years. A few nightspots that opened perhaps wisely hedged their bets.
Toi, which opened late this spring at the site of the former Dahlia Lounge, may be a sign of the times. It's more a quasi-club than a true one, with an upscale Thai restaurant on the main level, and the lounge area (DJs spinning mood music) upstairs; not a dance scene, more of a hangout spot. The very new Bada Lounge — opened Nov. 29, formerly Chef Wang in Belltown — is another example of the mixed restaurant-club.
Even with the recession at hand, a few brave souls had the daring to open dance clubs in 2001.
The newest dance venue in Seattle is Club Nine 16, which opened last weekend. Owners Grandee Han and Derrick Chong bought out Ego, a mostly gay club that in turn took over from Spintron at 916 Pike St. (hence, the name of the new club), just off Broadway. Han and Chong say that while they will have gay nights (probably on Sundays), Club Nine 16 will be more of a mainstream club.
On Friday, DJ Vanzai was spinning techno-house at the new spot. Other nights will feature hip-hop and R&B. Cover charge on the weekends is $10.
And then there's Tiki Bob's. As one young man declares, staggering out of the club: "It's the best place in the whole world!" While that's certainly open to debate, for those in their early 20s looking to dance, it certainly fills the bill. Tiki Bob's has a beach-bar interior and resembles an MTV dance-party atmosphere, with the crowd dancing and hooting, playing to imaginary cameras. The blaring music ranges from "Footloose" to Fatboy Slim, with a little light hip-hop sprinkled around; not very innovative, but certainly dance-friendly.
Tiki Bob's is at 166 S. King St., in the space formerly occupied by McCabe's. It opened this summer and helped fill the gap left by the Fenix. "We definitely have the same demographics they did," says Dan Reinharz, a Tiki Bob's manager. Like the Fenix, this is a mostly collegiate crowd, heavy on the 21- and 22-year-olds.
Big shows this weekend: Elliott Smith, the extraordinary singer-songwriter, at the Showbox tonight (8 p.m., $15); Ian Moore, another of the Northwest's critically acclaimed singer-songwriters, Saturday at the Tractor Tavern (7 p.m., $10); and Death Cab for Cutie, Seattle's most popular rock band, tonight at Graceland (9:30 p.m., $14).
Tom Scanlon: 206-464-3891 or tscanlon@seattletimes.com.