Music Atlas Clothing & Music
posted by on July 2 at 9:47 AM
A letter from Atlas…
Dear Stranger readers,As many of you have already heard, we at Atlas Clothing had a visit Friday night from the Seattle Fire Department who shut down the show after they decided the venue did not meet their safety standards. All of the members of the SFD inspecting Atlas were more than helpful and sympathetic to the space. Their main concern was the safety of show goers and in the event of an emergency, the SFD. All of us at Atlas support that decision.
Long before the inspection, we searched through the building to look out for possible hazards and did what we could to reduce the risk. The safety of our guests has always been of the utmost importance as we attempted to take these shows and the space down the path of legitimacy. The changes necessary along with other updates to the building have lead to the construction that started in the back area this Friday. Our mistake was that we didn’t wait for the completion of these updates once we knew what we needed to fix. We felt that in order to get the ball rolling we would host shows in the space to prove to the owner that there really is a need for the kind of venue we were all hoping to provide. We knew there was the risk of being shutdown but we were willing to take that risk if it meant becoming legitimate in the process.
All of us at Atlas are obviously upset about failing the inspection. It’s unfortunate that this happened right now and not in a few weeks when the construction will be finished and all of the appropriate paperwork has been filed.
We are all excited about the space and appreciate the support from the community over the last few months. We started this project at Atlas because we love doing shows. No matter what happens, we’ll all still be involved with music. We’re continuing down the path we started with Atlas—the permits are on their way, the construction is happening. We’re not ready to quit!
We’ll be posting information on our myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/atlasclothing) regarding venue changes for some of our upcoming shows as well as up to date info on the Atlas Clothing and Music and our reaction to recent events around the closing of the space.
Sincerely,
Atlas Clothing & Music
Matt Fuller, Alicia Blake, Nathan Ellis-Brown, Adam Grunke, Keenan Dowers, Aimee Butterworth, Kristen Kerr, Sarina Roscigno, Calla Hummel and Jamey Braden
Good to see Atlas is not just going to allow themselves to fade away into oblivion. Would have been nice if they mentioned that they did not hold the Stranger accountable for the Fire Inspection though.
I notice that the letter doens't say anything about whether they blame The Stranger for the shutdown. Wonder how they really feel about it.
Let's hope everyone gets over this little episode ASAP.
Looks like they are putting their focus on where it belongs: Getting up to code and putting on good shows. Go Atlas!
Hear hear, kids. At least you take responsibility in THIS communication for the situation you put yourself in.
That said, I'm sure myself and lots of other Sloggers will be happy to see Atlas come into compliance with the approriate regulations, and for you kids to go nuts with the live shows.
Atlas? What Atlas? My boycott is on.
I love how much everyone bitched about this and said that they were working their collective asses off volunteering to get everything up to code but no construction started until after the place got shut down.
I'm guessing no changes would have been made until the place got shutdown.
Fuck you Crispy, like they would let you in anyway. Fall down on the highway.
Fuck you Crispy, like they would let you in anyway. Fall down on the highway.
they probably dont feel like getting caught up in everyone's shit - on either side. i was under the impression yesterday (after digging through the slog) that this was a permanent shut down and they would not be able to apply for the permits again... i guess that was wrong. the two week shut down mostly sucks for the bands who were booked and the bookers who spent time getting the shows together.
Does anyone else picture everyone from atlas sitting around this weekend shaking their fists saying "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!"
I'm glad that they're concerned about the fire issue. Some of the other covert places I've been to don't seem to care that if there's a fire a bunch of people are going to die.
I notice that the letter doens't say anything about whether they blame The Stranger for the shutdown. Wonder how they really feel about it.
Probably because, ultimately, that's irrelevant to the central issue, which was that they were planning and holding shows, and even went public about it, before their space was up to code. The Stranger outed them, but it's not like Atlas didn't do it to themselves via poor planning, and stating this is the point of the letter.
This whole situation has been rather ugly, so its good to see something respectful come out of it.
"outing is brutal and it should be reserved for brutes"
Dan Savage
6/12/07
But you have to admit the righteousness on display was an awesome thing to see. I STAND AGAINST YOU! Damn! That shit had me pumped!
Gomez, what I was thinking when I posted above is that some of the people who signed were the same one posting things like "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOUR ARTICLE AND FUCK THE STRANGER" just the other day. I think it matters whether they still think that.
Gomez, BTW, I agree completely with you. Just to clarify, some Atlas people were blaming The Stranger. This letter suggests otherwise, but it's telling that they don't address that issue, e.g. whether The Stranger is at fault for reporting this in the first place (which to me is a much more interesting point than Atlas' future).
I thought it was interesting too, MfD... without going back to look I know Kristin's letters definitely stood out, so it's odd to see her name attached to something so calm and rational.
Hmmm.. this letter makes it seem that the folks at Atlas will have a bright future in a PR department, or perhaps working for a political campaign....
Still, nice to know there is still a chance of everything turning out allright. Best of luck to 'em.
Ah, I see, Matt.
please note: "we'll be posting information on our myspace page... regarding... our reaction to recent events around the closing of the atlas space."
don't look for it to be pissy douche-bag'ness either. there are just some misrepresentations in the article and in some posts here, possibly, that we want to set straight. (for example, atlas almost always takes a 20% cut not 50%). stuff to most of you that will be pretty boring...
please stay tuned. we have our first group "punkhouse" meeting since the article was published tonight and will be formulating said response.
thanks for your support! and for all, on both sides, who have had pertinent things to say about this.
love comma
matt fu
The Fire Department works 24/7 and would have been happy to assist you in being compliant in advance of any events. You should not be defending them, you should be searching your own souls to explain why you endangered your patrons this far without even requesting an inspection.
There is no excuse for inviting "customers" into a space that you do not believe is safe and expecting to be shut down... Why not be RESPONSIBLE and take care of your customers by doing things by the book?
I have friends who work there and have spent a fair amount of $ there over the years but there will have to be some pretty strong signs that my safety is of concern to you in every way before I even consider shopping in your store again.
It's time for Seattle businesses to grow up and learn some responsibility. I know this sounds harsh but to hear, from your own words, that you had a strong feeling your space wasn't up to snuff???? FUCK YOU!!! You had no concern for my safety, I have no concern for your PROFIT!
"Does anyone else picture everyone from atlas sitting around this weekend shaking their fists saying "And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!"
I was kinda picturing the Stranger staff saying that at the community response to the article!
"It's time for Seattle businesses to grow up and learn some responsibility."
I think this could be said about The Stranger as well. They have a fairly deep history of fucking over local businesses through articles and advertising, this certainly isn't the first time an article seemed to have fairly obvious harmful results with no claim of responsibility or causation from Stranger staff. They don't seem to care about who their articles hurt. The careless disregard for the music community and their advertisers is something you wouldn't expect from such a large paper.
dear number 23, if it had stayed an informal thing as it had been, there would be no need. the shows were a secret thing until just recently.
please don't send the fire department to my basement to break up my party.
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