(Image: @NicoletteAN via Twitter)
Video provided by Kevin Zelko
Pop music legend Prince was remembered across Capitol Hill this weekend in karaoke bars and on the streets where a dance party briefly broke out on E Pike before sending patrons back inside the taverns and restaurants for Purple One-inspired playlists.
“We have so many choices of what we do in our lives,” Witness owner Gregg Holcomb said Saturday night, as he made Prince the subject of his weekly sermon inside the Broadway bar. “Let’s try and bring a little bit of love, and a little bit of sex, and a little bit of peace. And try to honor his memory as long as we can.”
On E Pike, Neumos, the Comet Tavern, and Big Mario’s hyped the Pike/Pine crowd into a disco that briefly closed off the street for a mini Capitol Hill Block Party with Prince’s music and purple lights up and down the street. East Precinct brass, clearly wanting to keep a tight lid on things one night after a shooting incident on the backside of Pike/Pine came in a string of gun violence across Seattle, told the Neumos management they needed to bring the tribute party to a close and gave the revelers 20 more minutes to enjoy the party. By 11:15 PM, the music was moved inside out of any purple rain and the friendly crowd — which reportedly included Mayor Ed Murray — was back on the sidewalks or inside the bars.
Capitol Hill dance party getting shut done just as it starts. Cops are as nice as the crowd but sadly over. Mayor dancing too though#seattle
— David Meinert (@davidmeinert) April 24, 2016
Prince’s night of tributes is the second wave of memorial energy to sweep over the Hill in 2016 in a year that has seen what feels like a greater than usual share of notable deaths. In January, David Bowie’s passing was also marked across Capitol Hill. Be ready for more and what could be a nearly perpetual state of pop culture mourning fueled by art and creativity, social media, marketing, and good old fashioned nostalgia at the scale of an increasingly interconnected planet.
More pictures from the remembrances, below.
If we closed this street to cars on weekend nights we could see this sort of community event a lot more. Was a great vibe. And peaceful. Thanks for covering.
Is there any talk of putting a Prince statue up by the Hendrix statue on Broadway?