📆 Friday, December 1st
⏰ Doors 8:30 pm | Show 9 pm
📍Clock-Out Lounge: 4864 Beacon Ave S, Seattle
🎟 $15 advance | $20 door
With a name inspired by Seattle graphic design legend Art Chantry asking if the plan was to document “as many weirdos as possible,” Weirdo Wonderland is a chance to mingle with Seattle old heads and support a book-in-progress. Focused on the Seattle music scene from 1985 to 1995, the book features portraits of individuals accompanied by their handwritten recollections. Produced locally, the project aims to capture players beyond just the usual grunge musicians and includes record label owners and receptionists, booking agents, and local reps for major labels.
That era also saw active hip-hop, psychedelic, garage rock, and experimental scenes, a lot of which were ignored by major labels in hot pursuit of the next grunge success. For anyone who was a teen in the 1980s and 1990s in Seattle, there’s a special irony that this is a 21+ fundraising event as the Teen Dance Ordinance (TDO) that restricted all ages shows was approved in 1985 and wasn’t overturned until 2002. However, those restrictions made for some interesting cross-genre showcases in alternative spaces and at house parties, and the long and complicated fight to overturn the TDO galvanized bands and fans alike. “As Many Weirdos As Possible” resurfaces what was a much more diverse scene than most people outside the PNW know about.
Contributing photographers include Niffer Calderwood and Lance Mercer, who were more or less embedded in the punk and grunge scenes at the beginning of it all, and each of whom has deep photo archives of musicians and audiences at live shows, as well as the more quotidian moments of the touring life behind the scenes. Portrait photographers Rosetta Greek and Rachel Crick bring fresh perspectives to familiar subjects, and the project is rounded out by producer Pamela Houle and designer Jay Barber.
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