With the crowd below swelling into the thousands, many found higher vantage points — much to the chagrin of area building managers. More images from the night, below. (Image: Alex Garland for CHS)
UPDATE: Thousands of people lined Broadway Wednesday night to be part of the latest big show put on by Seattle pop rappers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The duo came to Capitol Hill to film a music video for their bestselling album, The Heist, and brought Broadway to a halt with a production that stretched from Broadway and Denny to Broadway and Thomas — and until 1 AM. The shoot — for the track “White Walls,” an ode to the Cadillac — involved the tag team cruising Broadway and dancing atop the venerable Dick’s Drive-In. CHS coverage and pictures of the buzz and the shoot, plus plenty of images from the phone-packing crowd are below.
Macklemore @ CHBP 7-23-10,
originally uploaded by spratt504.
Original report: Some people are in the know. The rest of us will just have to listen for the screams of adulation. Rumors of a Macklemore and Ryan Lewis video shoot at the Broadway Dick’s Drive-In have spread to the point where there will be a lot of enthusiastic teenagers on Capitol Hill’s main drag Wednesday night — video crew or no.
(via @gordonwerner)
King County Metro appears to be playing along, sending out an alert to riders of routes affected that Broadway will be closed for three hours starting at 8 PM.
Seattle’s Reddit community has also been abuzz about the possibility:
“Secret” Haha. macklemore performance tonight on top of the dicks drive in roof at 6pm on cap hill.
Capitol Hill home turf has served Macklemore and Lewis’s video needs before, of course, with the Baby’s Got Back-level breakout clip for Thrift Shop being shot at various Pike/Pine locales including Unicorn and, naturally, Value Village.
The pairing of the nostalgia-loving rapper with Dick’s is also a natural as the Seattle institution prepares to begin celebrating 60 years of business. A rapper’s crew or two has also stopped by over the years.
Meanwhile, the 17th annual Capitol Hill Block Party begins just down Broadway later this week.
Word spreading thus far is telling people to show up by 6 PM. Given Metro’s closure plans — said to be a City of Seattle closure via Metro’s social media account — expect a long shoot.
UPDATE: These folks in the know say, yup, it’s on. Apparently you learn a few things slinging coffee on Capitol Hill and in the Central District.
UPDATE 6:15 PM: The crowd is already described as “enormous” and police have been dealing with trying to keep it off of Broadway until the scheduled 8 PM closure. Dick’s sent out one important message about the event: “The Drive-In will be open for business,” according to the chain’s social media folks.
Metro is routing buses around the area. If you are planning to attend, parking in the immediate vicinity is not recommended.
UPDATE 9:06 PM: A mostly peaceful crowd of more than 2,000 has filled Broadway waiting for the video shoot to begin as the area around Dick’s has been cleared. Meanwhile, many watch from above from the various apartment balconies and rooftops in the area with a view of Broadway E.
“Mt. Rainier + @macklemore fans! #whitewall” (Image: @EricaToelle)
UPDATE 9:57 PM: The crowd is still awaiting the start of the shoot but things are getting a little hairy. There are reports of “unauthorized people” on area rooftops and some people have been spotted jumping into the adjacent Sound Transit construction site for Capitol Hill Station to use the chemical toilets. Good news: Dick’s management is tossing free burgers into the crowd to calm the throng. Meanwhile, we’ve seen a report of two of Macklemore spottings nearby as the production prepares to load the hip hop star into a limo and shoot a rap video on Broadway.
(Image: @timdurkan)
Sounds amazing…and thanks for the heads up. But isn’t the owner of Dick’s supposed to be a super conservative who donated money to fight against gay marriage and many other causes in WA? Perhaps this has changed, but if not, I’d be surprised that Macklemore would choose to be associated with the place. I gave up beef a long time ago, but even when I have a hankering for fries, I give my money elsewhere… Can anyone confirm/refute whether Dick’s is still owned by major, gay-loathing conservatives? (And, yes, I know that they pay better than most similar establishments, but that doesn’t make up for the other stuff in my book.)
You’re forgetting that “major, gay-loathing conservatives” love boatloads of money and publicity.
The owner of Dicks is around 100 years old, and isn’t every 100 year old white man conservative? If we ban every conservative company in the US we are left with….none?
Dick’s is a Seattle institution, no matter what the owner believes. Rock it tonight for all those that can’t be there to enjoy it in person.
You can view state’s contribution database here — search for “Spady” sorted by amount
Who the fu** cares? That’s like the idiots who boycotted Chick Fil A awhile back over the owner’s comments. The bottom line is Dick’s and Chick Fil A have delicious food. I’ll even give owner Dick Spady a pass because he was a WWII vet and has contributed a ton of his own money to local charities for much longer than you’ve been alive chump. What have you contributed of any value to this world?…..nothing
It was a boat load of publicity. They even ran out of food they were that busy
i did my homework, and Jim Spady (CEO of Dick’s Drive In) does not come up on any anti-gay rights or anti-equal marriage searches. his cause is charter schools. Dick’s has contributed to both Democratic and Republican campaigns, but not to defeat R-74. conservative yes, anti-gay bigots, no.
I might also point out Dick’s pays a minimum of $10 an hour, offers scholarships and/or childcare, and pays health care for employees who work more than 24 hours a week. I’m not a fan of the owner’s stance on charter schools but I’ve always respected his willingness to pay a fair wage.
And no, I don’t work for Dick’s Drive-In but I’ve had more than a few milkshakes there over the years..
$10/hour is a “fair wage”? $9.19 is the minimum wage. $10/hr is $20,800 a year full time, no time off.
hey stupid, its a burger joint. $10 is pretty damn good with healthcare, childcare, retirement plans.. etc.
Shit I work in IT for a large construction company. It is my first gig in the IT industry but I make 15 an hour NO benes. So I basically earn what a Dick’s employee earns…damnit….hmmm
It is a living wage when you factor in healthcare, childcare, and the scholarships to help workers through school. But they have also publically said they really don’t expect their workers to be there longer than 4-5 years. They want their employees to move on and up. Next time you make reply make sure to fully analyze. Good breakdown Nina.
$10 hr + cost of childcare + cost of scholarships + healthcare = fair wage
Thnnk you for the research and the thoughtful response. While I might not agree with Mr. Spady on some issues, I thought I had read that he contributed against R-74. My bad. And I’m glad to know that, maybe, in the future, I can eat some Dick’s fries again.
Dick Spady has also contributed lots and lots of money to education funds for Dick’s employees…
Spady added that Dick’s Drive-Ins has made education a cornerstone of their community investments. “We offer our employees up to $22,000 in college scholarship funds over four years, to help them earn associate, bachelor and even graduate degrees. It’s the most important investment we make every year,” said Spady.
“The company has given over $1.3 million in college scholarships to employees in the past 21 years. There are currently 59 employees enrolled in the scholarship program.”
Jim Spady donated $250 to Rick Santorum in 2006.
I don’t see any Democratic campaign donations by the Spady family, but lots to the RNC, the WA State GOP, Mitt Romney, Cathy McMorris, Sharron Angle, John McCain, Dave Reichert, and so on.
Not sure what point you’re trying to make. It’s nearly impossible to contribute to a politician you agree with on all issues. Just because someone contributes to conservatives doesn’t mean you know where they stand on particular issues. Basically, you’re convicting someone of a prejudice you have no real grounds to convict them on. Oh, the irony…
Let’s just agree that MOST all politicians are douchebag assholes.
[…] Buzz abounds today that hometown hip-hop hero Macklemore will be shooting a video at Capitol Hill’s Dick’s Drive-In on Broadway. […]
Don’t really care what political side he is on. Do you have to agree 100 percent with someone to associate or have a relationship with them? Pretty sure most people have friends or connections with people that they also don’t see eye to eye with. If you don’t then that says more about your own tolerance and acceptance of opposing views than it does the others. Don’t make everything so flippin political, just enjoy the music and nice day
Macklemore??? More like Macklebore…. His ish is so tired, it makes me have to Macklesnore…….
Holy shit, the crime on the hill tonight is going to be out of control. All these people not from the hill are bound to cause a lot of trouble. I walked home tonight and I passed 4 different people being detained by a ton of cops in an eight block stretch on broadway. 2 south of the Macklemore thing, and 2 north of it.
Argh, I feel like calling the police about the noise pollution from the ridiculous helicopters circling around the neighborhood for the past hour and a half. Hope those of you who went out to watch are getting something good out of it.
I agree with the noise pollution. What a pain in the arse! One of the teenybopper fans parked her car in my parking place.
did you get that car towed?
Chimuela, if you have a right to the space call a tow truck on the teenybopper’s car. And the noise from the choppers is so annoying! Not to mention loud cars going by probably chasing the excitement. Staying in but I bet they’ll be a lot of loud drunken idiots later (not unusual in the neighborhood lately, sigh!)
Hey Mitch,
I would like to cannibalize you. I bet you are tasty!
We stacked a bunch of garbage cans behind the teeny’s car. It was fun watching her move them out of the way when she left.
How on earth do these stupid rumors start? I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that the owner of Dick’s listed his hobby as kicking puppies through the goal posts of football fields. It’s like the old game of “telephone”. Don’t pass on stupid rumors unless you can verify they are factual.
It must have cost the city and Metro a lot of money to OK this little vanity project….rerouting of busses, overtime pay for SPD, etc. I do not agree that a major street should be taken over for hours by such a private project.
I assume Mackelmore & Co. had to get a permit for this….but are they also required to pay the city back for all the expenses? I sure hope so….he can afford it.
The reality is this happens in major cities all the time. And there’s a lot of filming that happens in Seattle, it’s just not as publicized and to call this a vanity project is mislabeling. The fringe benefit is major tourist revenue. Millions of people will see this video. Millions of people know that Mackelmore & Co. hail from Seattle. That means a certain amount of those people travel to Seattle to visit and spend lots of $$$ on hotels, food, shopping, transit, etc. Shutting down Broadway for a few hours to film this is a good thing for the neighborhood and the city.
That said, it would be interesting to see a cost breakdown of what it actually cost for police, transit re-routing, and all other fees associated with this. Dicks also seems to be not operational during most of the filming, so they must have had to pay Dicks a certain sum of money to cover what they would have normally made for the night.
They may not have needed to pay Dick’s—it’s a lot of free publicity for the burger chain.
No shit. Dick’s benefits from this big time. Not the city in the least. Look at those photos, his fan base is little kids. I know my 3rd grade son loves him. I just here a rehash of Eminem with a very weak wanna be hint of Beastie Boys.
touristreality, I don’t buy it. I think it’s extremely unlikely that some person from, say, Atlanta, would decide to visit Seattle on the basis of watching a music video by some celebrity rapper….. especially since his fan base seems to be young teenagers.
I’m not against filming in Seattle….it can be good for tourism, but this is not an example of that. I’m against shutting down a major street for hours, with all the accompanying costs to the city.
I wonder how much money it takes to bribe officials to get permits to violate the noise ordinance without giving any notice to the hundreds of people who live in the 6 surrounding buildings. My roommate couldn’t even get home because all of the roads to our apartment were blocked.
I don’t have a problem with this sort of thing going on but the surrounding residence should have been given sufficient notice that this was going to happen. Transparency is a requirement of government. Nobody has a right, no matter how “famous” they might be to get secret permits.
[…] video and some photos that I thought were worth sharing. All of this comes to you courtesy of the Capitol Hill Seattle […]
[…] Read the full story and see the photos from CapitolHillSeattle.com here. […]
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[…] The following was originally published by our news partner over at Capitol Hill Seattle. […]
In all my years here in Seattle, and there are many, I still cannot fathom why people still need to be so negative about an exciting video shoot in our neighbohood. I have friends across the country and in other countries who do like their music and I respect that.
We have a star artist from Capitol Hill who is saying some pretty damn good things about gay marriage from a genre of artists known to demonize gays and lesbians.
Yeah, I am saying this: “Why can’t we all get along?”
So, yeah, shut down the fucking streets for a video shoot or a film shoot.
Enjoy the excitement whether or not you enjoy the music. We live in a wonderful city and should appreciate this sort of thing.
agreed. Got a bunch of party poopers in here. :)
although the one thing I do agree with is giving those that live in the area some notice so that they could prepare for this. It would suck if you drove home and suddenly had no access to your parking spot.
Otherwise, I think this was a very cool thing.
Exactly. I don’t mind that it happened. I mind that none of us who live on that block were given a heads up. It’s just the neighborly thing to do.
No kidding. So some were inconvenienced and yes, I too found the helicopters annoying but you know what? A whole lot of people had a blast and as was said, it’s great PR for Seattle.
It’s not like this is a monthly occurrence. Sometimes we need to get over ourselves.
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