Q Nightclub may not be the oldest nightlife spot in Seattle, but in it’s two and a half year run, it’s certainly become one of the most iconic. It started out hosting a slew of headliner DJs, from a stellar after-hours set from BT, to a night of classic dance music with Basshunter. Since then though, it’s evolved far past simply the artist on the bill. Its focus back to local talent and performance art has turned it into the place to be on weekends, regardless of who’s spinning.
This all culminated in Kingdom Saturdays, arguably one of the most successful club nights in the history of Seattle’s nightlife. Over its run that began years back, there was never a Kingdom that didn’t have the club filling to capacity, a stunning accomplishment given that their focus was never on booking headliners you might see on the Vegas strip. So why after all that success did they close down Kingdom in favor of a brand new night known as Madness? We sat down with Sean Majors, the Creative Director at Q, to find the answer to this question.
“I got to a funny space where I’m looking at something that I love very deeply, but I don’t think I’m excited about in the way I need to be excited about in order for it to represent the venue the way that it’s supposed to. And that combined with a certain level of frustration with what’s become the status quo in nightlife that I’m tired of.”
Needless to say, there’s a whole lot to unravel in what seems like a fairly straightforward answer. We dove right in, and we can say without exaggeration that we were both shocked and amazed by what we found out.
[divider]Raising the Bar for Behavior[/divider]
[pullquote align=”right”]”There’s a standard of behavior that’s dropped down to cro-magnon levels, and I need people to stop tolerating it.”[/pullquote]
Most anyone going to a club night anywhere in Seattle would agree: The behavior of the average drunk partygoer has devolved into something we simply need to stop allowing to take place. Enter Q Nightclub, with Madness: Part of the planning for the new night was rooted in a need to address this issue in a meaningful and impactful way. This means that touching a woman if she hasn’t explicitly given you permission is off limits (and of course the same goes for any gender and orientation). Majors speaks optimistically of “a line drawn in the sand somewhere that says we can treat people better,” and we have a hard time disagreeing.
Words to remember when you’re at any club.
Even more though, it’s about creating an environment where the raised standards of art and performance inspire us to either raise our own behavioral standards, or not attend at all. Anyone who can’t respect their fellow clubgoer is given one warning, and then asked to leave if they’re unable to comply. In the end, the goal becomes to “create a space of openness and tolerance,” rather than one where women don’t feel safe in a crowd alone, a feeling that’s become frighteningly common in our local scene. Changing that paradigm begins with raising our expectations for how people should behave.
We experienced that this last weekend when we attended the inaugural night, and we were beyond impressed. Having spoken to Sean prior to the event, we of course knew the intended standard. It’s entirely another thing though to see it in action, from the mission statement projected on the wall offering the helpful reminder that “you are not an asshole,” to seeing security expertly handle each situation as they arose.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
