SEATTLE — The Crocodile has given Seattle 30 years of music, but there was a time in 2020 when the concert venue thought it would never sell another ticket again.
"It was decided that our lease wasn't going to be extended there, which was out of our control," said talent buyer Hunter Motto.
However, by a stroke of luck, they secured a new spot to call home a few blocks away, which was no easy feat during a pandemic.
"Every day, we don't know what we did karmically to be OK and come out OK and have a home through this," Motto laughed.
Even though The Crocodile had to lay off 47 of their 50 employees, their fortune of being able to sign a new lease right now is not lost on Motto as many of Washington's smaller venue's fates aren't as secure.
Under the state's COVID-19 reopening plan, music venues in seven counties currently in Phase 2 are allowed to open with an indoor capacity of 25% or 200 people, whichever is fewer. Yet, so many venues remain shuttered.
"I want to say that every venue in Washington state has a difficult decision to make about whether to open or not," said Motto, who is also a member of the Washington Nightlife and Music Association.
He said it is not as simple as figuring out how to operate at 25% capacity. According to the Phase 2 rules, the crowd must stay 20 feet away from the stage, and groups must be 6 feet apart at all times.
"The truly independent venues in our state are 1,000 capacity and under, and 20 feet between the performers and the audience,” Motto explained. "It just really doesn't work."
He said it is also a financial burden of re-hiring staff and opening, just to find out from the state they may have to close again.
But there is some hope with the new federal stimulus passed. In it is $15 billion to allocate to independent music venues. Motto said the fact that the importance of what The Crocodile and others provide is being discussed at the U.S. Capitol is a big victory in a time of a lot of loss.
"It's an economic concern, but it's also an emotional concern to all the people that are separated during COVID right now and need music and art," he said.
It is up to the individual venue to decide whether to open or not. If you are interested in helping the ones who are remaining closed, Keep Music Live WA is accepting donations to be given to local venues via grants.