Wednesday, May. 07, 2008

Red Room vows return after disappearing act

By Jeremy Dutton

It's not every day that the Tri-Cities gets a new venue with promoters who have the taste to bring in indie acts like Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Man Man (toured with Modest Mouse) and Virginia's Erin McKeown.

So when the 400-person capacity Red Room opened late last year, excitement ensued.

Then ... nothing.

There were a handful of great acts, then the Red Room's online concert calendar shifted into a scene from Groundhog Day -- perpetual disappointment.

Scanning the venue's MySpace page, I came across a couple of users who also were experiencing unrequited love. “Angelini” wrote: “So what do we have to look forward to! I'm anxiously awaiting a night out at the Red Room.” And “Hayley” writes: “hellow!!!!!!! when's your next show. the holidayz got you crazy huh?”

It's not just the fans who are affected either. Last week at downtown Kennewick's 321 Art Space, I talked to Portland singer-songwriter Nick Jaina after his show and learned that he attempted to play the Red Room but heard nothing back so he went ahead and booked his show at 321.

This week I decided to find out what going on by dropping by the Red Room. It turns out manager Caleb Ingersoll ended up going back to school to study recording arts and music at Citrus College in Los Angeles. I heard this from his father Monte Ingersoll of Pasco. The elder Ingersoll is pastor at Red Room's alter ego -- the Living Room Community Church.

So what gives?

Turns out the explanation was a little easier to digest than I expected.

“It is difficult to get bands to travel from across the U.S. to perform here in January and February due to weather,” Monte Ingersoll said. “We also have been completing our remodel of what used to be a casino to make it a premiere concert venue in the Northwest.”

This time around, the venue does plan to do a little more to get the word out. Ingersoll said they'll enlist a marketing and street team to promote shows. And the next show will feature the Tri-Cities' very own Chase Thompson on May 16. He also said they're in talks with zany indie band Cloud Cult of Minneapolis among others, and they're scouting out who'll be on tour. He said the joint also will start opening up on nonconcert Saturdays as a coffeehouse featuring acoustic and jazz groups.

“We just want the concert venue to be a comfortable place where people can enjoy a variety of musical offerings that feature not only local artists, but some of the finest indie artists in the country, he said.”

Now that I've got that all cleared up, it opened up an entirely new question in that if this operation is backed by a church, does it ask its secular artists to watch their language?

“It was a consideration, but our first priority was to feature the arts and serve our community without agenda with a first class concert venue unlike you might find in this area,” Ingersoll said. “I think how we make people feel welcome and comfortable will say more about what we believe than what we allow or won't allow the artists to say.”

Whew.

- On the Net: www.myspace. com/redroomcoffeeandconcert house; www.redroomcoffeeand concerthouse.com; www. myspace.com/thelivingroom church

Random notes

This is the last time I'm talking about Sasquatch tickets. They go on sale Saturday. I expect to see you there.

Go here: www.livenation. com/venue/getVenue/venueId/460.

Oh, and another thing on Nick Jaina. His show at 321 Art Space last week was one of the more organic experiences I've been a part of. His six backing band members played their tails off, mixing up gypsy-tinged folk-rock (think Squirrel Nut Zippers on some level). They busted out a double bass, violin, trumpet, sax, marimba, electric and acoustic guitar, lap steel and oh yeah, amazing harmonies. Go to nickjaina.com and download Maybe Cocaine -- you'll see what I'm talking about.

- Jeremy Dutton: 582-1525; jdutton@tricityherald.com