Several weeks ago, KNKX reporter Grace Madigan discovered a cryptic flyer about a music show “under the bridge.” She texted the number listed and received coordinates that led her to a gravel parking lot beneath the 1st Avenue Bridge in Seattle where local punk bands Schmear, Give Me The Money and Mold Mom were playing.
Listen to the story above. Find a full transcript below.
HOST: With corporate offices and swanky apartment buildings populating the skyline, the grunge music scene that put Seattle on the map seems like a distant past. But there’s a place where you can shake that feeling. KNKX reporter Grace Madigan takes us there.
GRACE MADIGAN, REPORTER: A few weeks ago I spotted a flyer about a music show “under the bridge.” It didn’t say which bridge. I texted the number listed on the flyer, and got a message back with coordinates that took me to this gravel parking lot. Cruz Rivas is here to support some of his friends playing tonight.
MADIGAN: And so tell me, Cruz. Where are we right now?
CRUZ RIVAS: We are under the First Avenue Bridge in Seattle, Washington. Yeah, that's where we are. Next to Crosscut Hardwoods and... just under here.
MADIGAN: There are train tracks behind us… By the wall separating the tracks from the gravel lot, there’s a pickup truck with a generator in the back and a drum kit in front of it.
RIVAS: It is absolutely a DIY “venue,” if you want to call it that. Not really venue…
MADIGAN: There are no security guards checking ID’s. No place to buy a ticket. No actual stage. And there is no permit.
TALIA WEISS: Our guitarist, bassist and drummer are going off to college.
MADIGAN: Talia Weiss is the lead singer for the headliner, a band called Schmear. She’s got cream cheese on her face because this is a punk show.
WEISS: We wanted to set one last show up before they go off for a bit. And so we didn't really have time to set up with the venue. So we were just like, First Avenue Bridge!
(BAND STARTS PLAYING, MUSIC UNDERNEATH)
MADIGAN: The opening band Give Me The Money assumes their positions as the crowd circles around.
MADIGAN: How did you find out about the show?
CONCERT-GOER: Oh, a flyer on Instagram. There's Seattle punk shows on Instagram talk. And I mean, that's where I find my shows.
SECOND CONCERT-GOER: I was invited with him. This is my actual first rock show—
CONCERT-GOER: Punk show.
SECOND CONCERT-GOER: Whatever.
MADIGAN: I notice one group of folks that looks a little out of place. Nikki Lundin is here with her husband watching their son Cal perform with Schmear.
NIKKI LUNDIN: This is his second show that he's played here... But he's come to a lot of shows here.
MADIGAN: Lundin says Cal is headed to USC to study music. His bandmates are headed to Berklee College of Music.
LUNDIN: And we've gone to all his shows, wherever they are. And I just think it's really important to support your, your kids, just like a soccer parent would do. It's The same thing for band parents, What can I say?
(MOMENT OF SILENCE, THEN ALIEN NOISES)
MADIGAN: It gets quiet between sets. the members of Mold Mom are in all white. They’re walking through the crowd. Silently, they sit down, cover themselves in dirt, and pick up their instruments.
(MOLD MOM SET UNDERNEATH)
MADIGAN: At the beckoning of the lead singer, the crowd gets closer. And the moshing begins. It’s just starting to get dark. Schmear is up next.
(SCHMEAR STARTS PLAYING, MUSIC UNDERNEATH)
MADIGAN: People shove each other. Limbs are thrashed around. Bagels are thrown. At one point the band pulls out cream cheese to give a sort of communion. The crowd can’t get enough. By the end of their set the street lights have turned on. Everyone has dirt on their clothes. Smiles are plastered to faces as people slowly make their way back to their cars. Grace Madigan, KNKX News.
(TRAIL OF MUSIC)
Editors note: This story has been modified to remove the names of minors.
