EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Sub Pop 20 - Thurs/Fri

Editor’s Note: BLURT’s Gillian G. Gaar, embedded as she is in all things Seattle and with a long legacy of covering the NW scene, is filing daily reports from the Sub Pop Records’ 20^th Anniversary bash. For general info about what’s going on, read our earlier preview HERE. Then check out Gaar’s travelogue through all things Sub Pop today, tomorrow and Monday.

 By Gillian G. Gaar

Thursday, July 10 & Friday, July 11

Bruce Pavitt/Jonathan Poneman Oral History - Experience Music Project (Thursday)

Opening Night Party – The Space Needle (Thursday)

Green River, The Press Corps., The Fluid - Sunset Tavern (Thursday)

Comedy Show w/Flight of the Conchords, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry - Moore Theatre (Friday)

As the architectural icon most associated with Seattle, it’s not surprising that the Space Needle is the focal point for celebrations; flying the Seattle Seahawks’ “12^th Man” flag when the football team made it to the Super Bowl, or setting off fireworks from the structure’s top on New Year’s Eve. Still, it was a bit of a jolt to see a giant flag with the Sub Pop logo flying from the top of needle, unfurled on Thursday, July 10^th, as the inaugural event of the record label’s 20^th anniversary celebrations.

The rest of the day brought a history lesson, a party, and a “secret” show that left a packed house of attendees all hot and bothered. The evening began at the Experience Music Project museum, where Sub Pop co-founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman were interviewed for one of EMP’s Oral Histories by senior curator Jacob McMurray. And there was a surprise guest in the house; Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who read aloud the official proclamation naming July 11-14 as “Sub Pop’s Utterly Lost Weekend,” further urging the city’s residents “to join me in celebrating Sub Pop’s questionable taste in music, generous nature and improbable solvency.” As for the talk, Pavitt and Poneman shared various nuggets of trivia (had it not been for Poneman’s skill in urging the phone company to not shut off Sub Pop’s phone during the first year, the label may have made good on its “going out of business” slogan rather too soon), and assured those endeavoring to start up labels that though there is now much more competition in the marketplace, the rise of the internet has also led to greater media opportunities.

Then, following Poneman’s final words, “Let’s party!” invited guests decamped to the Space Needle, where a party was held on the “Observation Deck” (a mere 100 feet up, as opposed to the restaurant, where Elvis dined in It Happened At The World’s Fair, which is 500 feet up). In the elevator on the way up, Pavitt joked to BLURT he heard a rumor there was no free food or drink available (knowing our penchant for such things), but not only was plenty of each on hand, there was even a special brew for the occasion: “Loser” pale ale, crafted by the Elysian Brewing Company, a sweet, hoppy brew that at 6.5% alcohol provides a nice kick. The event had a feel of a high school reunion — a very cool high school reunion — as past and present Sub Pop employees and bands reconnected; BLURT spotted Kim Warnick (Fastbacks), Steve Fisk, Mark Pickerel, Carla Torgerson (Walkabouts), author Michael Azerrad, and Carla DeSantis (of the late ROCKRGL magazine). Kelley Stoltz, Death Vessel, and Sera Cahoone provided musical entertainment, though attendees seemed to spend most of their time waiting in the long drinks lines.

(Kelly Stoltz, Sera Cahoone)

But the label had created a dilemma for attendees; those at the Space Needle party missed a “secret” show at the Sunset Tavern that occurred at the same time, featuring spots by Green River and The Fluid (warm-up sets for their SP 20 appearances this weekend), and an ad hoc group with members of both bands, billing themselves the Press Corps. Mark Arm didn’t pull quite the stunts he used to during Green River’s heyday (at one memorable show he leapt from the stage to swing on a light fixture, which began breaking apart; “Not one of my brightest moments,” he says today, adding, “I was pretty high on MDA”), but he did manage to dive into the audience, later surfacing on the bar. Fluid singer John Robinson also made forays into the crowd, which moshed like it was 1989, even attempting a little stage diving, though most present seemed to have outgrown such tomfoolery.

(Green River)

Friday night’s entertainment included a comedy show — yes, Sub Pop has released comedy records — with a lineup boasting a few Flight of the Conchords alums (yet another act playing SP 20), beginning with host Kristen Schaal, who kept the program moving with such chipper commentary as “Happy birthday, Mr. Sub Pop! And the weather is perfect today…even if this is the suicide capital of the world.” Todd Barry also wryly lauded Sub Pop with the observation “Years ago when other labels wouldn’t sign me — [Sub Pop] also wouldn’t sign me,” dropping hints that the evening’s set would make a great live release on the label. Eugene Mirman even devised a special “Memories of Grunge” video in honor of the occasion, donning a blonde wig and flannel shirt while claiming credit for suggesting Sub Pop bands try using two names (“Green River…Pearl Jam…Soundgarden”) and that before the term “grunge” was conceived he’d wanted to call the new Seattle music “jazz not.”

(Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Todd Barry)

Political commentary was a prevailing theme, with Barry hitting on the hypocrisy of “narrow minded fake liberal fuckers,” and Mirman disparaging an anti-abortion slogan he’d seen at a rally (“America is better than abortion”) as a “grammatically incorrect protest sign.” Patton Oswalt conceded that George Bush material was no longer edgy, given the president’s general lack of popularity, comparing people who’d liked the prez back in 2000 to Creed fans (“Okay! I was wrong!”), before going on to somehow compare Republican candidate John McCain to both Syd Barrett and G.G. Allin in less than five minutes.

(Patton Oswalt, David Cross)

Both Oswalt and David Cross, each a proud atheist, took shots at religion, Oswalt providing a particularly good destruction of how religion was invented and manages to continue provoking havoc in the world. Cross also went off on an amazing absurdist rant about the latest useless product he’d seen advertised in the Sky Mall catalogue — the Time Mug, with a clock built right into the mug, thus eliminating the need to look at your watch. But when a baby in the audience began squawking, he missed the opportunity to plug the title of his first Sub Pop release — Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!

In a nice coincidence, the venue, the Moore Theatre, was where the first Sub Pop “Lame Fest” had been held June 9, 1989 — a show that had Mudhoney, Tad, and Nirvana sharing the bill.

(Additional reporting by Kris Sproul and Mike Ziegler.)

Photo Credits:

*Green River courtesy/copyright Kris Sproul

*Sera Cahoone and Kelly Stoltz by Shawn Brackbill/courtesy Sub Pop

*Moore Theatre comedy show (Kristen Schaal, Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, David Cross) by Shawn Brackbill/courtesy Sub Pop