One of My Favorite Venues: The Crocodile Cafe

I spent some time in Seattle during the summer of 1997. While there, I was able to catch a couple of shows at the Crocodile Cafe.

The venue was (is?) owned by Stephanie Dorgan, one-time wife of REM's Peter Buck and has been a fixture in the Seattle music scene since it opened in 1991.

There was a cafe out front, seedy bar in the back, and a small stage and dancefloor hidden behind a retractable wall. It was part of my indie rock mecca. I'm glad I was able to see some bands there.

There were two shows I attended that summer. The first was Teenage Fanclub and Bettie Serveert. Both bands put on really solid shows. Carol van Dyk has one of the best voices in the indie world and she was amiably backed by guitarist, Peter Visser.

The second show was part of an AIDS benefit show that featured Modest Mouse. MM played a short, equipment-failing set, but they rocked through material from what would become 1997's Lonesome and Crowded West.

Eric Judy Needs a Job

A friend of a friend has lived in Seattle since graduating from college at the turn of the century. Being the hipster she is, she has worked all the cool jobs in Seattle, including bar tender, florist (at Pike's Place), and coffee shop manager. It was this last job that allowed her an opportunity to meet Eric Judy of Modest Mouse.

On a typically rainy day, Judy walked up to the counter and asked for the manager. My friend recognized Judy right away and was slightly star-struck. Judy proceeded to ask her for a job.

It seems that Modest Mouse was on hiatus and it was unclear if they were ever going to get back together again. Isaac Brock was as unstable as ever and drummer Jeremiah Green was playing with the band Satisfact. Judy had kids to feed.

My friend bought him a coffee and sat down to chat. She basically talked him out of applying for a job because he was Eric Judy of Modest Mouse. Judy took her advice and left.

Within a year of his job hunt, Judy and the other members of Modest Mouse recorded Good People Who Love Bad News.

Isaac Brock at Sudsy Malone's

I've met Isaac Brock, the front man of Billboard darlings Modest Mouse.

It was a crisp November in 1997 at Cincinnati's Sudsy Malone's. Sudsy Malone's is a great bar/club/laundromat (yes, I wrote "laundromat") that's located in an artsy neighborhood of the Queen City. There's a cool, old-style bar with plenty of selection, a lax doorman, a stage with its back to the front window, and several washers and dryers in the rear. We arrived early - before the doorman was even ready - and hung out, waiting for the show.

The bands did not disappoint. I sat atop the bar as 764-HERO and Modest Mouse collaborated for "Whenever You See Fit". Soon after this show-stopper, MM played a raucous set. We were plenty satisfied.

Although the band mostly played new material, a girl who traveled with us talked Brock into playing "All Night Diner" even though he was tired of the song. It didn't hurt that the girl was cute.

We got a chance to chat with Eric and Jeremiah who were rather pleasant fellows. They asked what I bought from the merch table. So, I proudly showed off my new Mouse t-shirt and a 7". The record was "Birds vs. Worms" which Jeremiah didn't really care for, but we all agreed that the packaging (pressed on marbled powder blue vinyl in a translucent, rice paper sleeve) was really cool. According to Wikipedia, there were only 500 of these singles pressed.

We hit the John and headed out the door for our hour drive back to Dayton. As we made our way up the street, we saw Brock with this woman hanging all over him. Brock had had conversations at previous shows with this guy, Adam, that was with us who was wheelchair-bound (MS I think). The two acquaintances shared a common interest in having beat poetry and Buddhist imagery tattooed all over their arms.

Brock promptly stopped us and told the woman that he needed to talk to us since he hadn't seen us in a long time. After exchanging pleasantries, Brock invited us back to the bar for some drinks. I talked to him about seeing Modest Mouse in Columbus the year before. He remembered being weirded out about playing a bagel and beer joint, but he loved that night's opener, Tiara.

Our group re-entered Sudsy's, and Brock headed to the bar for those promised beers. He returned with a beer in each hand. He handed (the three of) us one and kept the other for himself.

The rest of our discussion was dominated by Brock insisting that we find a dance club that was still open at 2:30 AM. This was Cincinnati, not New York. We eventually left a little star-struck.