Why Would Any Band Play Spokane?

Adam Gregory
Nov 30, 2017
6 min read

Why would any band play Spokane? Critic Jessica Hopper of LA Weekly asks that very question in a post called Why Would Any Band Play Spokane?. That question is actually just in the title. She's a good writer so she rephrases it in the body of the post like good writers do. Her real question to a musician asking for advice about what cities to play between Denver and Spokane goes like this:

"A question for you first, and it is rhetorical, really--why are you playing Spokane?".

Apparently, when it comes to insiders in the music business, the Lilac City is the kid nobody in class talks to because everybody just knows they're weird and they suck. Just because. Hopper offers further evidence of Spokane's status among industry elites by consulting Sam Hunt, a booking agent, who says,

"It's even worse than Missoula. I'm not sure what anyone is doing there in the first place."

At least some of us can take comfort in the fact that they hate Montana almost as much as us. But they don't really offer any explanation--other than our regional taste for "hip hop and jam bands"--as to why people should speed through town like we are pod people. We aren't pod people Jessica Hopper and Sam Hunt, I promise. . .

I promise.

But I look back on my 15+ years here and I remember asking myself a version of this question over and over again as I saw countless bands playing shows in Seattle, Portland, Boise, and even sometimes Missoula, but always skipping Spokane:

Why isn't BAND X playing in Spokane?

If you listen to the Jessicas and Sams of the world, Spokane's problem is so obvious that anybody who can't see it probably sucks too and therefore deserves to live here. But I think Hunt's statement about our city gives us a different kind of answer. He's not sure what anyone is doing here.

Up until the past year I wasn't sure either. I had the same dim view of this place, and of myself. I wasn't going anywhere, with my life and in general. I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere. I went to a handful of shows over the years to see touring bands I already liked, but the local scene intimidated me. The music I liked at the time didn't help. I went to the Warped Tour every summer and even though I loved a lot of that music, the crowd always felt insular and I never felt like I fit in with the rest of the scene kids who went to great lengths to look their various parts. I never dyed my hair black, or at all, or cut it into anything other than a nice short buzz with the #1 attachment on my clippers. I don't have piercings or tattoos. I'm not straight edge. I don't know how to skate. Nothing about me was punk other than my distaste for our capitalist masters. I just liked the music. All of those signifiers of one's place in a culture seemed like they were beyond my identity. Surely I wasn't cool enough to grow my hair out and shellac it into liberty spikes or wear anything with patches. If I tried to take one small step to be something other than myself then people would know, and I would be an even bigger poser than I already was for daring to like the music while being boring.

So this is the anxiety I brought to my view of the local music scene. I convinced myself that only the coolest people in Spokane were going to these shows, and I obviously was not that. I would think that there's no way I would fit in, and besides, I didn't know if I would even like the music so it might be a waste of time, money, and the energy it takes to get myself out and probably have to talk to people. No, it was always easier just to stay home.

But then I figured out how to make pictures. Well it wasn't exactly like that. It was more like years of practice combined with finding the confidence to do what I love despite feeling an overwhelming self-consciousness most of the time. It feels like I belong when I'm working, and that sense of belonging feels incredibly good after feeling lost for so long. Because I've found this thing I'm good at and I keep going and pushing at it, I've been finding more opportunities to meet and take pictures of other people who are good at other things. This is how I came to meet local hip hop group State of Krisis and shoot them performing in Pullman.

Then I met Brotherhood of Fan and was able to shoot them and Outer Resistance playing a benefit for Shriner's Hospital at The Roadhouse in Spokane Valley.

Not long after that I connected with Bar Talk and Fat Lady and shot them playing NovemBeerFest 2017 at the Garland Theater. Bar Talk provided a franks and beans themed (every song is named Franks and Beans) alternative live score to The Three Stooges, while Fat Lady belted out originals and classic rock covers in front of The Terminator. This was all organized by Spokane Beard and Mustache and benefited The Solution is Hours, a nonprofit helping people experiencing homelessness in Spokane.

Then on Thanksgiving Eve (that's a thing right?) I shot a killer rock show at The Bartlett with Bar Talk, Wayward West, and Indian Goat.

Meeting and talking with these bands and seeing them play for the people who come out to shows gives me a new perspective on music in Spokane, and about people in general. These bands want to have fun, and just want you to like them and have a good time. If I knew these simple things years ago it wouldn't have taken this long to finally start listening to what is happening right here around me. And I think about how afraid I was that I wasn't cool enough to fit in with all the variations of punk kids when I was younger, and how every punk kid I ever met and actually talked to was just as cool with me being me as I was with them being them. Now I see that they were just as insecure and anxious as I was and just wanted people to like them. So why am I writing this? Let's go back to what Sam Hunt said. "I'm not sure what anyone is doing there in the first place." If you aren't friends with any of the bands above or go to local shows at all, did you know about these shows? Had you heard of any of these bands before? If people don't know about the art other people are making, they won't go see it and they won't listen. I'm out to showcase the sights and sounds of the people making music in Spokane. I will be bringing you interviews with local musicians and touring bands who play our city despite our flyover status, along with exclusive performances you won't hear anywhere else. I will also be posting show reports with an emphasis on high-quality concert photography and suggested tracks to give potential fans an in-depth look at the live experience.

I'm doing this because I found a sense of belonging doing my work and making my art. If someone had told me in my teens or early twenties that I would feel better about my identity and my life if I wasn't afraid to explore my creative interests, then maybe I wouldn't have felt so lost for so long. I'm doing this because I don't want you to be afraid to make whatever you want to make or find new people making other cool things. I know how hard it is to keep pushing at something when it doesn't feel like anyone is listening. And I know the power fear can have to keep you from doing something you want to do.

When I get up in the morning lately I've taken to asking myself,"What are you doing in Spokane?". Two years ago this thought would have filled me with bitter resentment for a place I saw no hope. But now it helps me be mindful of what I want to do and who I want to be. Because I love this town. Because of the people. I had no idea how much creative and just plain good human energy is in Spokane. That's what I think is cool. Not the way anybody dresses or looks. It's how we treat each other. I'm finding community, and I want so badly to help build it with the people making music here, especially when people who don't even know anyone here are happy tearing it down. I'm finding the courage to do my work and make my art here, because I'm inspired by other people I'm meeting doing the same thing. That's how this works and how it's always worked. And Spokane is just one place where people are doing the same thing, making and pushing and supporting each other because that's how we make life livable. And it doesn't matter if you like hip hop or jam bands or anything else you are into. We all just want you to listen and like us.