The Showbox at the Market

Over the decades the Show Box has had its ups and downs- the lowest point probably being when it was converted into a furniture showroom during the "62 World's Fair" but it managed to survive by going with the flow and evolving with the changing times. Thus while it provided entertainment as a dime-a-dance joint for off-duty soldiers and war weary citizens throughout WWII, it also played a role during the late-60s when it was transformed into a psychedelic haven called The Happening Teenage Nite Club - which featured such local hippie bands as the Magic Fern, the Daily Flash, Peece, and West Coast Natural Gas. By the late-70s though, Seattle's club scene had gotten all bogged down with shuffling Country Rock combos and funky Motown-tribute bands and little elbow-room was being made for the newest trends in music. But then, just at the turn of the decade a new promotion firm, Modern Productions, discovered that the Show Box - then being used sporadically as the Talmud Torah Hebrew Academy Bingo Hall - was available to rent and they began bringing to town virtually every new rock act out on tour. And thus, as a result of being exposed to all the new sounds and ideas presented by additional seminal Punk Era acts - including Iggy Pop, the Ramones, Devo, X, and the Dead Kennedys - our sleepy local scene was tremendously inspired and reenergized. One definite effect was that scores of new local bands -including the Blackouts, the Enemy, the Debbies, Solger, the Wipers, the Fastbacks, the Cowboys, the Pudz, the Fartz, the Refuzers, and the Accident - got the wonderful opportunity to play for big crowds at the Showbox. Most importantly though, thanks in significant measure to the Showbox, the seeds were planted for the eventual rise of Seattle's creative and successful (grunge) rock and hiphop communities that the pop culture world associates Seattle with to this day. And all that is but half the story: The Showbox has also been the site of many benefit shows, movie debuts, Hiphop concerts, and countless record release parties. The remarkable saga of this ballroom is still unfolding - indeed, history is still being made at the Showbox Music Club most every night.