New Crocodile owners aim to revamp shuttered downstairs venues

The Crocodile, one of Belltown’s beloved music venues, officially has new owners.

Comedy Tent, the holding company behind Upright Citizens Brigade, has purchased the Crocodile, according to The Seattle Times. The company is led by talent manager Jimmy Miller and Mike McAvoy, former CEO of The Onion.

The previous management team and around 100 Crocodile staff will continue to run the club’s operations, the media outlet noted. They will be joined by several Bottlerocket Social Hall staffers, who will take new roles at the Seattle venue.

Chris Copen, Bottlerocket founder and the Comedy Tent’s managing director of independent venues, told The Seattle Times he plans to be hands-on with the Crocodile, including in the comedy department.

A new chapter for the Crocodile after $1.6 million in debt

The storied Seattle venue has hosted several well-known acts, including Nirvana, The White Stripes, and The Beastie Boys, according to the Crocodile’s website. But even with a history of iconic shows, the venue accrued roughly $1.6 million in debt. The financial strain led to the October announcement that Madame Lou’s and Here-After, two smaller stages downstairs within the Crocodile building, were closing their doors.

Here-After was a 100-seat comedy club and movie theater that hosts touring comics, local monthly comedy showcases, live podcast tapings, selected films, and intimate performances by musicians. Madame Lou’s was named after the infamous Seattle iconoclast, hosting everything from all-ages punk shows to dance nights.

The new owners told The Seattle Times they are looking to revamp the two smaller stages “into an exciting new venue experience.” Details will be announced later this year.

The Crocodile reinvented itself after moving a few blocks from its original spot in 2020. The new space allowed the music venue to have a 750-capacity showroom, a 300-capacity venue, a 100-seat comedy club and movie theater, a daytime café, an alley restaurant-bar, and a 17-room hotel in the 1954 Sailors Union of the Pacific building, formerly El Gaucho.

“It’s iconic, it was a cornerstone of the Seattle music scene in the early 90s when grunge was happening,” KIRO host Spike O’Neill said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio after the venue announced it was for sale in January. “Being in Seattle for the evolution and peak of grunge, clubs like The Crocodile were venues where bands could play and develop their skill sets.”

For now, Crocodile shows will continue as scheduled, and the hotel above the venue will stay open, according to The Seattle Times.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall and Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest

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