Fags 2nd Annual Reunion and Macaroni and Cheese Bakeoff at the Vogue, Seattle, WA, December 20, 1987

This poster advertises a reunion of Seattle Punk band The Fags for a macaroni and cheese bakeoff at the Vogue in Belltown on December 20, 1987. The Fags originally formed in Seattle in 1980, where they got their named from local promoter Steve Pritchard (b. 1948), who, not knowing the name of the band one night at the Lincoln Arts Center, introduced them as such. Siblings Ben (b. unknown), a drummer, and Barbara Ireland (b. unknown), a singer, bassist, and filmmaker—whose film Silence was screened at this event—joined guitarists Paul Solger (b. unknown), who had started Solger, one of Seattle’s first hardcore Punk bands, and Dahny Reed (b. unknown), as well as vocalist Upchuck (d. 1990) to form The Fags.  

Leaving Seattle behind in 1984, The Fags also found success in New York City, where they were known for wild stage shows including vampire weddings and full body day-glow tattoos. But the band continued to perform In Seattle intermittently, including hosting macaroni and cheese bakeoffs like this one, at which mounds of macaroni and cheese were served to fans, who would also bring their own strange concoctions, while the band performed. Months after this performance Upchuck announced that he had been diagnosed with both tuberculosis and AIDS, and he spent the last two years of his life in Seattle before passing away in 1990. In 2008, an album called Upchuck: Gone But Not Forgiven was released, featuring old recordings of his performances with various bands, including The Fags. 

Previously a Punk venue called Wrex, the Vogue opened at 2018 First Ave in Belltown In 1983. Wrex featured Seattle’s first music video system curated by Ted Ladd (b. unknown), which shaped it into an alternative dance club that appealed to the gay community and straight Punk fans alike. Ladd continued to curate Punk and New Wave videos in the new venue when it opened as Vogue and Ross Bostwick (b. unknown), a popular Wrex DJ, also continued spinning. Many local bands played here, including Mudhoney and Alice in Chains, and they hosted Nirvana’s first well-attended Seattle show on April 24. 1988. The venue closed in 2017.