Originally published November 4, 2006 at 12:00 AM | Page modified November 4, 2006 at 12:50 AM
Concert Review
New WaMu concert venue not fancy, but functional
Qwest Field Event Center morphed into something laughingly called a "theater" Friday night, transforming the bland, hangarlike exhibit...
Seattle Times staff reporter
Qwesto-chango!
Qwest Field Event Center morphed into something laughingly called a "theater" Friday night, transforming the bland, hangarlike exhibit space into a charmless but servicable concert venue.
If it were music, WaMu Theater would be industrial rock. The high ceiling is crisscrossed with huge pipes, thick wires and long metal beams. The floor is hard concrete. In a city full of aesthetically-pleasing theaters – the Paramount, McCaw Hall, Benaroya, The 5th Avenue, even the tawdry Moore – WaMu has a lot of nerve calling itself a theater. Performance space is more like it.
Just days before, a car show was held at the Event Center. The WaMu Theater area was created by hanging heavy curtains and setting up rows of cushy folding chairs on the flat floor, with some raked bleachers in the back. The portable theater can seat from 3,300 to 7,000.
Sightlines from the floor seats are not good after the first 20 rows or so, due to the flat floor. Because of that, the space needs video screens. Big ones. There weren't any for this opening concert, but other tours may bring them along. Ideally, the space should have built-in ones.
The "lobby" is a very large open area with four bars (beers are $8), a hat check and a souvenir stand. A big bar, high-end food booths and restrooms occupy another big space beyond the lobby.
The highly anticipated debut of Paul Allen as a guitar-wielding rock star did not take place as advertised. The opening band, an amateur group called The Predicaments, said he was sick. First & Goal, one of Allen's companies, is partners with AEG LIVE, the world's second-largest concert promoter, in the WaMu venture.
Rock 'n' roll artifacts from another of Allen's local playthings, Experience Music Project, were on display in the lobby, including a motorcycle jacket Elvis Presley wore and a guitar Kurt Cobain smashed.
The Seahawks did make their advertised appearance – 28 of them, standing in a row across the stage, which gives you an idea of how big it is.
The star of WaMu's opening night was Seal, the international pop star, backed by his five-piece band.
As a singer, Seal is a very handsome fantasy lover. He encouraged the audience to sing along with him, which was only fair, because most everybody in the audience could sing as well as he could.
His pop songs, invariably romantic, were strings of predictable cliches. At least the ones I heard. Deadline pressure prevented me from seeing the whole show. Not that I minded.
![]()
Did I mention he's sexy? A woman behind me said to a female companion, in a tone of both admiration and jealousy, "Heidi Klum is so lucky!" The supermodel, known for hosting TV's 'Project Runway," is Seal's wife.
Yeah, a sexy male pop star married to a supermodel. Seal's whole life is a cliché!
Patrick MacDonald: pmacdonald@seattletimes.com
UPDATE - 09:46 AM
Exxon Mobil wins ruling in Alaska oil spill case
NEW - 7:51 AM
Longview man says he was tortured with hot knife
Longview man says he was tortured with hot knife
Longview mill spills bleach into Columbia River
NEW - 8:00 AM
More extensive TSA searches in Sea-Tac Airport rattle some travelers

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Electronics
just listed
***Stunning Akc POMERANIAN baby girl W/ FUL...
12 U Select Baseball Coach Wanted
1994 WIn 1901
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Proposal to link Market, aquarium may be too ambitious for Seattle
- Chilling 911 tapes reveal pleas for help to go to Josh Powell home
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- UW's Shawn Kemp Jr. makes own way despite familiar name, number | Steve Kelley
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- NBA's David Stern open to league returning to Seattle
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
434 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
346 - Sheriff's office unhappy with 911 dispatcher in caseworker's call
282 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
235 - Source: NY, California to sign mortgage settlement
203 - Oregon live game thread
152 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - Lakewood cop accused of taking donations for slain officers' families
114 - Department of Justice owes the Seattle Police Department an apology
87 - Thursday morning links --- and a video!!!
72
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Here it is: The secret to stir-fried chicken | Taste
- Local aerospace suppliers say they feel squeezed by Boeing
- Dicks channeled federal money to Puget Sound project his son ran
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review
- Buttoned Up: Nine immutable laws of time management
- Happy Hour: French-accented charm at Gainsbourg
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature



