66 Saints' Last Show Ever with Bali Girls, the Evaders, and Pipe Fitter at Re-Bar, Seattle, WA, July 16, 1996
This poster advertises 66 Saints’ last show, held on July 16, 1996, at Re-Bar in Belltown, Seattle, Washington, with guests Bali Girls, the Evaders, and Pipe Fitter. 66 Saints was a Seattle Rock band formed in 1991 and active in the Northwest throughout the early 1990s. The band was started by guitarists and vocalists Lisa Orth (b. unknown) and John Maroney (b. unknown). Orth was the first official art director for Sub Pop Records, where she designed Nirvana’s now iconic logo, and she also worked for The Rocket, Manna Records, and Seattle Gay News. The band also featured Mitch Michieli (b. unknown) on drums and backup vocals, and they frequented Seattle venues like Re-Bar, the Crocodile Café and the Off Ramp. 66 Saints released limited recordings with Big Flaming Ego Records before they disbanded.
Steve Wells and Patrick “Pit” Kwiecinski opened Re-Bar in January 1990 at 1114 Howell Street, which had long been a safe space for Seattle’s LGBTQ community. The Night Hawk Tavern (or Nite Hawk) opened in the 1930s, creating a center of gay nightlife featuring cabaret, followed by Thirsty’s in the 1970s, which then became Axel Rock, a dance-focused venue, in the 1980s, and finally Sparks Tavern, which added full-length stage plays, before Re-Bar moved in. Until 2020, when Re-Bar, like many venues, closed indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic, they hosted disco nights, art exhibits, theatre, drag, burlesque, and live bands, supporting generations of LGBTQ patrons and performers. KEXP’s Riz Rollins got his start as a DJ, becoming a big part of Seattle’s Black music scene, David Schmader put on his first three plays, and drag performer and comedian Dina Martina was born at Re-Bar. The venue also hosted one of the longest running poetry nights in the West, Seattle Poetry Slam, and a weekly Sunday dance night, Flammable. On September 13, 1991, Re-Bar also hosted the infamous release party for Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind.