The popularity of house shows in the University District has increased over these past few years. More venues are opening up, shedding a spotlight on many of the local bands in the Greater Seattle area. One of these venues attracting both college students and punks alike is called Evil House. Evil House was founded in 2022 by Ricardo Galvez, Will Frosaker, and Miles Stewart after attending different shows in the area. Originally located on 20th St., they were later joined by Moses Kent, Diego Aguirre, and Shaw Clifton, and one year later, they moved into a new house on 42nd St. NE, where they have been hosting ever since.
It was clear that the Cartoon Network-themed show on Sept. 27, 2024, was sold out, given the long line of people dressed in cosplay, talking, smoking, and hoping to get in. The show was for 18+; identification and ten bucks bought a ticket and a wristband.
Luna Owens and their friend Allie were both dressed up as Raven from Teen Titans. Owens said it was their first Evil House show, and they decided to volunteer because they knew co-host Galvez, as well as other volunteers. Owens heard from friends that the usual crowd for Evil House are punks and University of Washington students.
Poster Art by @moussalangelo on Instagram
People bumped against each other in the packed backyard as a band played on a modest stage against the fence. Another line of people stretched out of the entryway of the house in line for the second-floor bathroom, besides a locked door, where flash tattoos were advertised and knocking was required for entrance. The tattoo room had a back wall lined with spray paint cans, a Hello Kitty CD player, and other knick knacks belonging to the residents of the house. The spread of numbered flash tattoos was on hand-drawn pieces of paper and was Cartoon Network-themed.
One of the tattoo artists, Natalie Rosenstrom, a platinum blonde cosplaying Danny Phantom, shared her story once she was ready to divide her attention between questions and the ink she was putting on someone’s leg. Rosenstrom is a design student who got involved with Evil House through making posters. This was their second time doing a tattoo pop-up; the first time was at Evil House’s June Palestine Relief Show (“From the River to the Deep Sea”). The proceeds from that pop-up went to aid people in Palestine. Rosenstrom got started doing tattoos in high school through watching YouTube tutorials and practicing on their own arms and legs. Now, she gets paid to do them at Evil House along with their friend Zoe. When asked, Rosenstrom said their favorite Cartoon Network show is Adventure Time.
Keirnan, a UW student who was getting tattooed, called Evil House shows “super transient” when asked why they attend the shows.
Green streamers hung over a large leather couch, guiding into a room decorated with memes drawn with markers and advertisement posters of energy drinks and nicotine products that looked like they belonged to a convenience store. Past a fridge and a whiteboard with a chore chart was the kitchen, which led onto a porch where people and boxes of Red Bull leaned against the railing overlooking the action in the yard below.
Rachel, another attendee, said that she went to her first Evil House show in January, “the caveman one.” She wanted to come to this one because she wanted to check out Sleepy Cat, a band in the line-up, and because of the Gazillionaires EP release. Gazillionaires is a music duo of Evil House residents Forsaker and Kent. Rachel got a flash tattoo of Darwin, the goldfish from The Amazing World of Gumball, on her arm.
Emily was at a table selling the first edition of the Evil House Magazine. Full of posters, art, and spreads created by Emily from a year worth of shows at Evil House.
Gabbie Welsh is a photographer who enjoys the opportunity to take candid pictures. Angelo Harper had the opportunity to ask Welsh a few questions. “I love Evil House,” said Welsh, “I think they put on a really fun and thoughtful show. I love the staff, especially because they make sure to keep people safe. And the bands are always so fun, and they always like to rile up the crowd in the best way.”
When asked whether they had a favorite performer of the night, Welsh said “I think the highlight of my night has been Sleepy Cat, who I just watched perform. I took pictures, and they have a great immersive world with their music, where they can do slower songs and still have the crowd engaged, and then their hyperactive songs make the crowd completely riled up, and they’re having so much fun, and the moshing is crazy. And I think versatility like that in a band is amazing.”
About their favorite aspects of taking photos at shows like this, Welsh shared that “When you’re taking pictures of a punk show, people are screaming, people are having fun, jumping around, you get crazy hair shots. I think it’s really fun if you see people in their element without even caring about what they look like.” Welsh added that their favorite show in the past was “The caveman Evil House show. It was really fun. I really love Mr. Dinkles, and they performed at that show. And the photos were just absolutely insane. That crowd was crazy. I believe I crowd surfed, though I try to crowd surf at every show, but it was just the energy was through the roof.”
The energy was through the roof when Gazillonaires got on stage. Forsaker was dressed as Finn, the Human, while Kent was Jake the Dog in a pompompurin hat, and both had a theatrical presence using objects on stage as props.
They had a sword fight, threw pickles into the audience, and encouraged the public to chant, “WE WANT BEER!” They picked out eager members of the audience and had a pickle-eating contest on stage, with an expensive ham as the prize. This culminated in a large mosh pit that split and flooded back together like the Red Sea.
Small music venues are shutting down and starting up as the punk scene in Seattle shifts and changes. Although Evil House goes in and out of debt and has had to switch locations, Evil House has a loyal base of “evil minions” and strong management dedicated to making a mark on Seattle’s music scene. Evil House has made connections with UW student organizations, from collaboration with MESH, the fashion club, to judge a Halloween costume contest at EH’s Sinister Soiree to UW Skate Club helping build a skate ramp in the backyard for last year’s “Gingershred House” theme. Evil House also worked with UW Super, an organization dedicated to protesting the genocide in Palestine, to put on a “From the River to the Deep Sea” benefit concert. Evil House raised around 3,400 dollars from the concert and around 1,300 to 1,400 dollars from vendors to donate for aiding people in Palestine. “The Bakery,” a different venue, created a controversy when hiding that the proceeds of a show of theirs were to benefit Palestine due to fear of backlash. In a contrary fashion, Evil House thought it was important to stand proudly behind the cause they were raising money for.
Evil House put on the last event at Cafe Racer on the night the venue was supposed to shut down, a bitter-sweet send-off that shows while venues come and go, the fans are dedicated.
Evil House has plans to get more large musicians to perform while maintaining a balance of smaller, lesser-known groups and a roster of different kinds of music. The people who run Evil House are musicians who produce a range of genres.
Things are hopeful for Evil House as attendance for their shows goes up every year. Galvez believes this might be a reaction to how Seattle is becoming over-commercialized and inflation is on the rise, which makes going out to more established places less appealing to college students. New venues are opening, like Vampire Mansion and Bug House, which may be because of Seattle’s love of music and a history of house shows in the University District.
Don’t forget to check out Evil House’s Instagram.
Be First to Comment