Legendary KOMO weatherman and discoverer of Bruno Mars in 1992, Steve PoolI know it sucks that THEY are coming for The Showbox. But the fate was sealed years ago when we all swallowed this pill of sh_t that it was OK to drive out the Soul of our city, starting with Black folks in the Central District that gave the world f_cking Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones.
Now they’re coming for your sh_t, and we’re all so pissed. The shadiest real estate developer in America is President and we’re surprised The Showbox is going to turn into condos full of richer dicks than us. Don’t worry, when they sell those tiny little boxes for a million dollars a pop they will be able to really sell it with the history they destroyed for that killer view of neighborhood that used to be capable of producing a cultural revolution.
You wonder why Seattle produced Rock & Roll’s last one and why it ain’t gonna’ happen again.
Well?
Look. Don’t worry. The city we love was built on top of an Indian village we trampled a century ago, and that was just the beginning of a wonderful prostitution fueled Ponzi scheme.
Our city is named after an Indian chief we totally f_cked and humiliated. And we still won the NBA championship in 1979, thanks to the unheralded defensive wizardry of Dennis Johnson.
This city feels like it made the best out of the failure of otherwise better plans. Andrew Wood was the best lead singer and we still got Pearl Jam.
Musicians can’t afford to really just play music for a living in Seattle anymore. But we did get a pretty cool 2nd or 3rd tier professional Soccer team, and every where I go around the world people STILL think Seattle is cool. Though they have no idea what’s happening now.
1993? Oh Spaniards can tell you about what in Seattle happened each day.
“That’s the day Nirvana record at Robert Lang in Show Line, Seattle.”
“Close enough Carlos, close enough.”
Our legend is bigger than we are.
In England, they sure think ‘Sea at UL’ is cool, but even they know that if he stayed here he would have become a Janitor that might have played some weddings on weekends. He may have peaked at The Ramada before being let go for playing too loud in the Lounge.
They tore down the Spanish Castle too. And it only matters to any of us because Hendrix wrote a bad ass riff about it.
So yes, Save The Showbox, but you should have saved Seattle when you had the chance. Because turning one of the cooler cities in the world into a giant Condo food court full of talentless hacks, that can afford to dress like musicians would if they could…well that ain’t not progress.
That goes on The Lame List.
Nor is progress learning to order your own food at McDonalds. But we’re lame. We’re going to do it, because doing nothing is easy, even if it’s a lot more work to learn how to slowly punch yourself in the face.
Because sure yes, in one of the richest cities in the world we don’t really want to pay more for a quarter pounder and most people in Seattle don’t even go to shows. Our friends go to shows, but we’re in a bubble. Most people don’t even really love music enough to pay for it.
I’m just saying, fight back before you’re tied up and the gag is in your mouth, and your President works for Russia. Because even his arch enemy Bezos ain’t your boy either. He could save the Showbox but beware of men who create problems only they can solve.
Our legend is bigger than we are.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com, and is one of the driving forces behind the Staxx Brothers. This past spring he spent weeks networking in and reporting from Kingston, Jamaica. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is now available as well.
