Expect a Pike/Pine zoo with ‘surprise’ Macklemore free show at Neumos — UPDATE

In summer of 2013, a Macklemore video shoot clogged Broadway (Image: CHS)

Given the crowds recent “surprise” appearances by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have drawn on Capitol Hill, it’s likely Pike/Pine will be a little crazier than usual Friday night.

Wednesday morning the Seattle-based, Capitol Hill-living pop star announced Friday night’s surprise show at 10th and Pike’s Neumos:

Free SURPRISE show in SEATTLE on FRIDAY @Neumos. Watch it LIVE exclusively on @amazonmusic https://t.co/qjSFG5KFzG pic.twitter.com/rx9tI5ugxB

— Macklemore (@macklemore) February 24, 2016

The first 500 fans in line will enjoy the show for free, the rapper said via Twitter. The performance will also be streamed live by Amazon. Expect camping.

In July of 2013, large crowds gathered around Dick’s Drive-In and Broadway after word spread of a video shoot for the Macklemore-Lewis collaboration White Walls.

The Jeff Austin Band had been slated to play Neumos Friday night. That show has since been moved to Fremont.

Friday’s show comes with the release of Macklemore’s new album This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, the follow-up to 2012’s The Heist. The breakout album for Ben Haggerty has reportedly sold nearly 1.5 million copies in the United States. The two tracks dropped to preview the new album have garnered mixed reaction with the earnest but sometimes ham-fisted White Privilege II and the peculiar Spoons leaving more than a few wondering if Thrift Shop will represent Macklemore’s popular zenith.

In the meantime, Haggerty purchased a North Capitol Hill home and welcomed a new future Lowell Elementary kid to the neighborhood this summer.

UPDATE 2/26/16 12:00 PM: The scene around Neumos Friday morning had a game day feel. A screen-filled truck sat on E Pike with a production crew readying gear while another crew prepared a satellite truck around the corner parked in front of the club on 10th Ave. Thanks to Amazon, the show will be broadcast live online.

The line for Friday night’s show stretched down the block — it will be longer, for sure, come 8 PM when doors are planned to open. In the meantime, Neumos, working with the East Precinct to keep things calm, has deployed a process to give everybody arriving for the line a wristband. Many have enjoyed the freedom to return later and claim their spot inside. But plenty decided to camp out on the 10th Ave sidewalk to enjoy the sun and buzz around the big show.