PLATFORM BOOKING BEGINS WHERE ROCK COFFEE ENDS
Patrick Kendrick of Platform Booking
February 2007
Since Rock Coffee closed last summer, pretty much the entire
local music scene has been waiting for the new Rock Coffee to open.
The bad news is, we're going to have to keep on waiting. The good
news is, the ghost of Rock Coffee is still alive in its former
manager, Patrick Kendrick.
Rock Coffee owner Todd Rothrock said construction of a new venue on
Garland Avenue had been mired with so many setbacks that he's not sure
a Rock Coffee II will ever become a reality. "I don't know if there
will be a workable solution or if we'll have to cut our losses and
sell everything," Rothrock said.
The stall-out has been particularly frustrating for Kendrick, who was
Rock Coffee's face during and after its existence.
When the venue closed, Kendrick kept the name alive by booking shows
all over town under the Rock Coffee Presents flag – until recently. In
the last month or so, Kendrick has started his own agency, Platform
Booking, with partner Ruben Villarreal. Beyond that, not a lot has
changed.
"Everybody's looking for the new Rock Coffee to open, but they've
been playing Rock Coffee shows and going to Rock Coffee shows the
whole time, just at different venues," says Kendrick.
If Rock Coffee was Kendrick's launch pad in the Spokane music scene,
Platform Booking is his landing strip.
Through Platform Booking, Kendrick's main house for live shows is
Caterina Winery, where he works as a manager booking music four nights
a week, including the popular Tuesday open mike, which has been
revamped with hosts Thomas Bechard (the pro), J.S. Butcher (the comic
relief) and Kori Henderson (the future), as well as The P.A.
System 7's weekly podcast showcase. He also places touring shows around
town,
most notably The Thermals concert on Saturday at CenterStage (see page
8 for full story). And he's taken over Elkfest during Artfest in June.
At Caterina, Kendrick said plans are in the works to expand the
space to 200-plus occupancy and add beer and new menu items while
maintaining its all-ages status.
That's been Kendrick's M.O. since Big Easy started complaining that
Rock Coffee was making too much of a racket and prompted landlords to
cut live music at the coffee shop, leading up to its closure.
"Seven months of me carrying the Rock Coffee name is what Platform
Booking has been – it's just a name change," Kendrick said.
7 Web Extra: join Isamu's blog at spokane7.com/soundwave