Running a concert venue has never been easy, but it's become even more of a test in the past decade or so. The digital fragmentation of music means that almost everything outside of arena-headlining megastars is increasingly niche. It's hard to cater to a local music community when shows that draw attendees may range from punk bands to rap shows to folk singer-songwriters to hyperpop teens to nostalgic pop culture rave nights. In order to be viable, venues often have to shift their sound, visuals, vibes and audience nightly.
Much like its animal kingdom namesake, the Chameleon hopes to be one such colorful new spot that can morph into whatever the Spokane music community needs.
Taking over the former Lucky You Lounge building in Browne's Addition, the Chameleon looks to carve out its own unique path under the guiding hands of Rüt Bar & Kitchen founder/chef Josh Lorenzen and his visual artist wife, Hazel Miller.
Lorenzen has long been involved in music, ranging from bands in his Portland days to running sound at Lucky You to his current part-time gig as producer and DJ for standout local rapper Jang the Goon. The couple themselves have strong musical ties, having met almost 10 years ago when Miller attended a jazz night at Portland's Bijou Cafe, where Lorenzen was sous chef.
"Still our favorite thing to do is eat and listen to music," Miller says.
But running a music venue wasn't something Lorenzen had in mind even as recently as last August. While the couple are friends with former Lucky You proprietors Caleb Ingersoll and Karli Fairbanks, they weren't initially looking to carry on the mantle.
"One night when they were closing [Lucky You], I was just kind of shooting the shit with the old owner [Caleb], and he's like, 'Man, maybe you should try to get this place back up and running.' And it was kind of a joke, and I laughed at him and was like, 'Absolutely not. I'm not going to do that,'" Lorenzen says. "And then a couple of months later, the universe was still pushing it in the direction, and here I am. Basically everything that felt like maybe it wasn't a good idea turned into something that seemed like it was actually a really good idea."
The Chameleon's name is incredibly intentional. While they briefly considered reopening just as Lucky You again, Lorenzen and Miller wanted to create a music venue that has more elements of artistic fusion than the typical concertgoing spot.
Miller, who grew up in San Antonio and even once owned a pet chameleon named Darwin, longs for the heat and humidity of equatorial latitudes, which helped the pair settle on a bit of an Amazonian rainforest aesthetic. This includes everything from on-theme sculptures they collected, a gallery wall with a Reinaldo Gil Zambrano chameleon print and custom murals Miller painted on the walls. One depicts a woman riding a tiger through the jungle, another a chameleon wearing a dress and riding a horse, and yet another is of a woman lounging with a crocodile, inspired by a Franz Xaver Winterhalter painting Miller saw at the Getty last year. (She hopes to eventually host art events in the space, too.)
"We've been kind of joking about this idea of creating some kind of like terrarium vibe — kind of misty and like you're imagining you're some kind of lizard in this lush, humid rainforest feeling," Miller says. "There's something just so magical about that biome and that ecosystem, and all the biodiversity and the really vivid colors."
But the space's true chameleon powers come via local lighting designer Grant Greer, who's installed a lighting and projection system allowing the venue to shapeshift depending on the night's offerings. The whole wall next to the stage can now feature visual projections, the main lights throughout the building can be color controlled, fog machines are being installed soon, and more tweaks are yet to come. But the biggest design shift came by knocking down a wall that formerly separated the stage space from the bar, making the upstairs one long open room.
"Visually it will feel and look differently in a lot of ways from Lucky You. Some nights it's just gonna feel similar, you know, maybe a folk night of music and it's got some mellow, nice ambient lighting and good chill vibes. And then the next night, it might be a full-on nightclub experience with projections all over the walls and strobe lights going off, turning it into a dance party kind of thing," Lorenzen says.
To that end, the Chameleon — with Lorenzen doing the booking — isn't trying to pigeonhole itself to any specific genre. A double weekend of opening shows highlights that.
The Chameleon opens on Friday, March 1, with local rockers Nothing Shameful, followed by a rap bill with Seattle's Travis Thomspon and Jang the Goon on March 2. The next weekend features local hip-hop band Ku Fu Vinyl (March 8) and touring country/American singer-songwriter Cassandra Lewis (March 9).
And while live bands will still be a major part of the venue, Lorenzen also hopes the Chameleon can change its patterns effectively enough to become an "elevated dance club" spot without the "bro-y" vibes of other Spokane spots. (He adds that tickets for the first dance night — "Sorry for Party Rocking" on March 30 — are selling the best of anything so far.)
"Some of these things that we're doing here feel like something that you would see in a larger city, but for some reason, even though Spokane is pretty large, there isn't as much unique, DIY, art-focused [stuff]. It's just this weird disconnect," Lorenzen says.
Given his Rüt... ummm... roots, naturally food is going to play a factor in Lorenzen's venue endeavor. Unlike Lucky You, the space will only be open when shows are happening (at least to start). Still, munching at concerts should be notches above typical show-going fare. Former Inland Pacific Kitchen chef Austin Conkin is concocting a menu of fast-casual bits that are Asian street food inspired. Rüt manager Greta Heminger serves as the Chameleon's mixologist. Her offerings seek to capture that colorful equatorial vibe with fun cocktails that don't dip into the tiki milieu.
While the venue's downstairs space probably won't be open until April, the plan is to treat it as a separate venue called the Jaguar Room. The space's redesign also means the Jaguar Room will be able to host all-ages shows. (The Chameleon's main floor will remain 21+.)
Lorenzen and Miller are well aware how tough it can be to keep a venue afloat, but they hope their shape-shifting approach will draw in a diverse demographic that can help the local music and art scene grow into a lush jungle.
"I feel like our city is on the verge of becoming that small to medium-sized next place in the Northwest. Maybe early Portland, early Seattle vibes," says Lorenzen. "And I'm waiting for it. I've been here for a while. And I want it. And so I want to encourage that by trying to bring things that make people want to live here. And the people that do live here enjoy themselves and want to stay here. And if the Chameleon can help with that, I guess that's kind of my main goal." ♦
The Chameleon • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • chameleonspokane.com • Instagram: @chameleonspokane
