Finally, after 3 1/2 months of renovating and working on The Olympia All Ages Project art gallery and music venue, Northern, we officially opened our doors. We passed our inspections on Friday, hung our first show in the gallery, cleaned up the space, and did our first real sound check mere hours before the first band laid down the first note on Saturday night.
The gallery features large digital prints of original photographs by Phil Elverum, the mastermind behind The Microphones, Mount Eerie, Anacortes’ The Department of Safety and the annual What The Heck Fest. Photos of the show to follow.
Northern’s first show included Immaculate Machine, The Curious Mystery, and Old Time Relijun. We had over 100 people in the space and the show went off with few problems. The sound in the room is very bright (the technical term the resident sound geeks use) so we have to dampen the space a bit with insulation. We also don’t have our raised stage constructed which will improve sight lines. Little details escaped our notice like having an volunteer email sign up list handy and proper signage for our no alcohol policy. We did have to ask a few kids to empty their flasks. With every event and opening, we’ll continue to form our identity.
It still doesn’t feel real. I’d like to congratulate all the people that have already worked so hard on this project, dedicating their time, energy, creative insight, problem solving skills, talent and straight up labor. Now the fun begins!
Before – January, 2009:
After – Saturday, May 16, 2009:
