OK Hotel

The OK Hotel was a bar and music venue located under the viaduct in Seattle's Pioneer Square district. The club's 15-year-plus life span came to an end with the Nisqually earthquake of February 28, 2001, which damaged numerous buildings in the historic district. Most widely recognized as a prominent location in the movie Singles (1992), the OK Hotel was one of numerous active Seattle rock venues during the celebrated local scene of the late eighties. The first musical group to play live at the venue was local band Seers of Bavaria, featuring future bass player for pop-punk band Flop Paul Schurr on lead vocals. The club's debut headliner was Vexed, also from Seattle. Local bands such as Mudhoney, Tad, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Nirvana (including the first live performance of "Smells Like Teen Spirit") played at the OK Hotel, as well as touring punk, rock and jazz artists from around the country. It is mentioned in Thanx, the last track on Sublime's debut album 40 Oz. To Freedom. It was also where Queens of the Stone Age played their first live show. In its final years, the OK Hotel had become a treasured home for Seattle's lively creative music scene, featuring such artists as Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz with Zony Mash and Ponga, Robin Holcomb, Medicine Hat, Sweet Water, the Living Daylights, Amy Denio and the Black Cat Orchestra. The OK Hotel has been turned into a residential property with 42 living spaces and artist studios which are open to the public during First Thursday Artwalks.