The Seattle Times: Sept. 9, 2008
The Croc lives!
"Right now it still looks like it looked last time you or anyone else was in it," says Kerri Harrop, spokeswoman for the Crocodile Café, Seattle's best and most-famous rock club. The Croc's "abrupt close last year left a lot of people reeling," Harrop says, and the plan is to reopen in "late January/early February."
What's going on between now and then?
Construction." When that's done, "I anticipate capacity will be around the 400 mark."
There will be two businesses in the building and two entrances. According to Harrop, Via Tribunali will sell pizza "where the back bar was," and that the wall separating the concert area from the cafe area will be knocked out. She won't specify exactly how the Crocodile will bleed into Via Tribunali.
Last month, The Seattle Times reported that area bar owner Marcus Charles had obtained the Croc's liquor license (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008091508_webcroc05.html). Says Harrop, "Marcus Charles has assembled a good group of investors that includes Susan Silver, Peggy Curtis, and Sean Kinney."
As for who will book the music, Harrop confirms no more than "a human being."
Former Croc and current Chop Suey booker Pete Greenberg said he's not been asked to book the club, and Steven Severin, who books and runs Neumo's, said, "you can write that I don't know what the hell is going on."
Perhaps most important, "Jim Anderson will still be running the sound," says Harrop. In the past, he made the Croc Seattle's best-sounding rock venue. "All efforts are being made to make sure the room sounds and looks perfect," says Harrop.
There are new Croc photos online, on artist David Choe's Flickr profile, here — http://www.flickr.com/photos/invisiblehour/page6.
Andrew Matson, staff reporter
The Seattle Times: Sept. 9, 2008 (fourth article in the link)
