King Cat Theatre

Bathrooms are gross.
Getting INTO the place is difficult. We showed up 30 minutes early and still missed the first band.
$ 7 for a generic drink last night plus %18 automatic gratuity added. I would have tipped more but since they already added gratuity I didn’t add any more. Bartender said «thanks for the tip DICK». Amazing how he forgot the 10 $ tip on 2 drinks I had given him a few hours earlier.
I must say though the sound guys know their stuff and the equipment is top notch. Can’t be easy to make it sound good in an auditorium like that. Reel Big Fish sounded amazing.
So overall I would say everything about this place sucks except the sound.

You can NOW drink while still seeing the stage at a separate inside bar. Otherwise Venue still nasty

3 Times to this venue, each time I say, «why do I eve come back». No more. The lady that worked the ticket window for Steve Angelo was downright rude. Simple question and she just snaps at people. That starts a bad night for folks before they get in. Your ticket people are the first person you see at an event and should be the friendly face of an establishment. The bartenders are ill-​equipped to deal with crowds, forget your order, slow, and poor customer service. The set-​up is terrible, bathrooms are always disgusting, and the place is ultra-​dated and gross. I always think it has to be better next time, It never is. A local DJ who I’m friends with has said the same thing about the back-​stage management side of things. Poorly done, unorganized. Overall a big disappointment. ShowBox know’s how to run a show, Republiq is amazing, I could go on. This place is truly worthless and one of the most poorly run venues I’ve ever been to. Don’t waste your time, wait for your favorite artist to come to another venue, they always come back. This place will surely ruin your experience and make going a waste of your time.

drinks were seriously overpriced. Venue pretty shabby. I was glad I didn’t pay to get in.

This could be a really cool spot, but huge prices for smaller than normal beers and poorly mixed drinks make it a spot I don’t ever think I’ll be returning to. Security wasn’t very helpful and a no re-​entry policy for underage kids meant that they were stuck inside for the entire show. Security took my gum and that kind of pissed me off. The ticketing/​entry arrangement was poor. Honestly, there was no interaction with the staff that I would describe as positive. I’m trying to find something else nice to say besides the space being kind of cool, but I’m not really finding the words for it.

Not too bad of a venue, but nothing special either. It’s spacious, has a bar, but it’s not that up to date. Not bad for a show or concert, bar is quite a bit over priced (at least for the event I went to), and $ 7 for a tiny plastic cup of liquor mostly filled with ice is a bit much.
There are plenty of seats, the place is pretty big, but could use a revamp. Not an awesome venue, but not terrible either. I don’t mind it too much so I’ll be back if a show I really want to see is there.

PISSED does not describe how angry I am about how the King Cat Theater handled the Dieselboy and Skrillex show. I have been in longer lines to get into Showbox Market and it’s been handled so much better.
Some brain power should have been used and the bar in the auditorium should never have ben opened with THAT MANY KIDS THERE.
The stairwells were filled with kids who didn’t have anywhere to go which caused someone like me, already pissed at having to wait over 3 hours IN LINE to yell for them to fucking move so I could get into the auditorium. Please note that this is a motherfucking FIRE AND SAFETY HAZARD too.
Let’s not forget how they took forever to break down the tiny bar and open up the entire theater to everyone in the building.
It’s safe to say you couldn’t fucking PAY me to EVER return to this venue, I don’t care WHO is playing, cause it’ll just be another disastrous repeat of this show, no matter what group is playing.

What’s to say?
A decaying corpse of a theater guaranteed to annoy everyone who enters its doors with its poorly managed staff and facilities.
Not sure what type of show would do well here besides one where no one showed up.
Avoid the bar. The only thing more failure prone than the event management staff is their bartenders.

This is a solid 3 ½ star review.
Went here for a Grinderman show last night and I have to say I was really pleased. I like this venue a lot better than the SoDo if you ask me.
It is an old converted theater. So you got some quirks. It’s small. It is older, and yes the floor/​pit slants. I don’t mind these though! It’s an older building with history and I can appreciate it’s charm.
I like that there are seats available, as well as floor space depending on your mood or style for the show at hand. Because of the layout you’re looking at pretty much having a good view no matter where you stand.
21+ only show I went to, so no issues having drinks in the main area. However, it is truthful that the lines to the bar were always a bit insane and hectic. But this is a concert. Since when are drinks ever cheap or not overpriced at a venue? Come on people. Be prepared to cough up some $ for booze when yer at a concert or don’t complain. I will however, say their beer selection was pretty dismal. tsk tsk.
Bathrooms were well stocked and clean — something I always come to appreciate at a rock concert.
It is a good place for smaller/​intimate shows, and I would certainly not think twice about coming here again.

Worst venue EVER. I was here to see John Digweed was amazed at how truly awful the King Cat is. The dance floor, if you could call it that, was sloped downward because it was designed for theater seats. Who can dance on something like that? Ugh. The bar was charging top dollar for really bad drinks. The restrooms were beyond filthy. It was a horrible place to be in. John Digweed was fantastic, but I’m still never going back there. The King Cat Theatre is vile.

This is the location for the ski/​snowboard movie premieres which occur in the Sept/​Nov time frame. The bar up front is nice and open allowing for you to be able to have a few drinks and chat prior to the event. It’s not a huge venue so every seat in the house has a good view.
Plenty of street parking.
Have always had a good time here.

It feels like a high school auditorium, but with an overpriced bar. I went for Ignite Seattle (
) and it was fine for that. It’d be ok/​meh for movies, but seems like a good space for theatre. As for a music venue, it could be great or terrible depending on the performer and sound designer.

OUCH! Reviews for this venue are rough. I don’t think it’s the best venue I’ve visited in Seattle but it’s not terrible either. I went to see a show and was surprised at how large this place was. The line at the bar was too long (because you can’t take drinks inside) but considering the amount of people there, it was a pretty well organized place! In fact, the best part for me was that the ladies’ room was never too crowded. I was here for 4 or so hours and used the bathroom at least 2 – 3 times. Each time I was dreading waiting in line but never had to! If another band I like performs here, I don’t see why I wouldn’t go back.

It’s okay, but I’ve been to much better music venues though. The dance floor is slanted downwards which kinda gets in the way of dancing. However, it’s a decent place to bring some of your friends and hang out.

I’ve been to two music «festivals» here, and each time I left saddened by the misspent potential of the place. As far as a music venue, it’s enormous, but they don’t book popular bands, so it always has the appearance of being empty. They also don’t seem to do any sort of promotion. Case in point — my friend had to dig deep to find a reggae music fest booked here on ⁴⁄₂₀. Apparently, this was a secret show, as the number of people onstage often outnumbered the audience.
The bartender was rude and snotty. Our first exchange was something like:
Me: Do you have PBR?
Bar: No, we don’t have that
Me: How about Rainier?
Bar: Nope
Me: Olympia?
Bar: If you’re looking for a *cheap* beer… we have some Stella for $ 4…
Me: WTF?
Commence explaining that I just wanted something light and refreshing, not just looking for the cheapest thing.
This attitude continued all night, and was observed with some other patrons.
Dude: Can you make me drink x? I have $ 5
Bar: That drink is $ 6…
My friend: Here, here’s a $ 1, dude
Bar: Aren’t you going to leave me a tip?
Here’s a tip — stop being a douche.

Can’t say anything about it as a cinema, but as a music venue it left us quite a bit to be desired.
Went to see a couple of bands that we know personally play there, thinking that they’re graduating to a more grand kind of venue! The facility seemed nice enough, but drink prices were outrageous even for Belltown standards, the bartender was rather pompous, and you couldn’t even take your chosen beverage in to see the show! At the very least, they could have live audio from the show in the bar.
In the wake of this, the show we want to see for Halloween is also at the King Cat, so it’s getting one more chance. However, this time with «VIP» tickets and access to the «special private bar.» We’ll see…

Filthy screen, lights that shine on it during the movie, FM radio interference playing under the soundtrack, incompetent staff and a belligerent bartender. Not a winning combination.
Maybe they can do better for performing arts, but lousy venue for film.