House-Show Venue

          Seeing a concert at The Batcave for the first time is an experience few of us are likely to forget. In fact, there is such a wholesome communal energy surrounding the repurposed Victorian show-house that those who have seen concerts there, have been regulars ever since. This is, in part, due to the predicated freeness that exists almost inertly within the house walls. As if there is an anti-bad-vibes ghost living underneath the bouncy living room floorboards. The Batcave founder Phil Kusmar (The Little Still Not Big Enough), and current tenant and promoter Zev Danford (Breakfast All Day Collective) and Andrew Anderson (Big Dumb Swede) have created a location where harassment is never tolerated and there is always mutual respect between house tenants, visitors, and touring/local artists. Everyone is treated correctly and equally. The Batcave is like a lil’ blue palace where bad events never happen. Which is why concerts, book-clubs, and dance parties have been taking place at the 11th Street mini-mansion almost weekly and nearly uninterrupted for 5 years and counting.

            The Batcave is like a DIY crafter’s fantasy came true. The entire household is covered in hand-made scenic installations and artwork made by one of the venue’s most crucial promoters and art collective contributors, Violet Crabtree (The Comix Tripp). Just getting inside, one has to voyage through the long hallway entrance that is blanketed in a hand cut-and-sewn felt ocean-scene from the floor to the crooked gold chandelier hanging from the ceiling. And then, while watching a show, one can be as transfixed with the environment of the room as the music happening within. Shows take place in the living room, but it’s more like a living art installation.

 

          Under a covering of hundreds (literally hundreds) of uniquely hand-cut construction paper black bats, each one unique in size and (often) referential shape, the audience is unmistakably aware that they are watching a concert at The Batcave. But the ceiling is about the only aspect of the house that can be expected to be the same twice. The walls have been a hand-painted forest, and a glittery rainbow-lit fortress. At times the audience has become part of a tiny population of cardboard humans and monsters alike. The living room was once re-constructed into a tent made from colorful tapestries and patterned sheets to “better fit the mood” of the bands playing that night. The audience has no idea what kind of storybook-esque imagined fairy tale they’ll walk into for a show at the Batcave, the show-house that turned our favorite Arcata living room into just that… a living room.

 

Type: House Venue; All Ages.

Pros: Positive Vibes, Diverse Music, Togetherness, Comfortable, Walking Distance, Most Shows include at least one touring act, Bike Friendly; The house is near Shay Park Restoration bike path.

Loudness: +++

Size: 40 to 60+ people.

Price: $5-10 sliding scale for touring bands

Merch Area: Yes

Booze: Hush Hush BYOB

Smoking: 2 outdoor patios

Getting There: Bike ++ Walk + Car