A short-lived Seattle venue now frequently cited as the birthplace of grunge, The Rock Theater, in Seattle at 410 Fifth Avenue South (and later briefly in Lower Queen Anne), actually had two performance spaces: the Omni Room and Gorilla Gardens. Often simply referred to as Gorilla Gardens, the club hosted all-ages shows for out-of-town bands as well as local punk and metal bands for about a year between 1984-1985.
This poster advertises a Friday, March 22 concert at the Rock Theater in Seattle, probably in 1985. The line up included Northwest bands Baba Yaga, Girl Trouble, and Paisley Sin. Punk rock band Baba Yaga featured Billy Warner, formerly of Vexed, and isn't related to the late 1990s, all-female Seattle band of the same name. Garage band Girl Trouble was founded in Tacoma in 1983 by Kurt P. Kendall, Bon Von Wheelie, Kahuna, and Dale Phillips. Rock-funk band Paisley Sin was formed in 1984 by Sylvan Smith and Findle McBliss.
Caption information source: "Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge," by Mark Yarm, Three Rivers Press, 2012, p. 73, accessed via Google Books. Caption information source: http://www.seattlestar.net/2013/12/december-7-1984-gorilla-gardens
ID Number: 2018.86.69
Date: 1985
Physical Description: 1 handbill ; 4.75 x 8.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv212358
Credit: MOHAI, Collection of Rock Music Ephemera, 2018.86.69
