Northwest Dance Venue

Rainbow Tavern
University District
Seattle, Washington

Some of the bands that this place during those great years of NW music were:
 

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Blackfoot
Blue Cheer
Blue Eyes
Bo Diddley
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown
Cameo
Clifton Chenier
The Dynatones
The Wild Chupatulis
Robert Cray
Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition
George Thorogood & the Destroyers
Bo Diddley
Willie Dixon
Ramblin' Jack Elliot
Green River
Harvey Rondo Band
Heart
John Lee Hooker
Robert Hunter
Huey Lewis
It’s A Beautiful Day
Jr. Cadillac
Kidd Africa
Harvey Mason
Delbert McClinton
Sonny Terry Brownie McGhee
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
Steve Miller
Neville Brothers
Persuasions
Pamona Boners
Mason Proffit
Ramones
Lee Ritenour
Sam & Dave
The Skyboys
Soundgarden
Sun Ra
Sweet Talkin' Jones
Annie Rose and the Thrillers
Tiny Tony and Rock n Roll Jones
Mary Wells
Jesse Colin Young
The Zephyrs
 
 

Others ??
 

Hank Ballard and The Midnighters

We opened the Rainbow in 1973, started live music and the rest is history.  We finally sold out about 15 years and over 1000 bands later in the late 80's.  Above is a list of some of the more notable performers that set foot on stage at the Rainbow.  I'm sure there are many more that I can't remember.

Steve Hudziak, January 2006

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1976 to 1984....those were some fun times and good days and the Rainbow was a big part of it.

I saw so many great shows there...The Ramones, George Thorogood, Delbert McClinton, Blue Cheer, It's A Beautiful Day, Blackfoot, Neville Brothers, and many great Northwest bands such as Jr. Cadillac, Skyboys, and on and on.

I do miss Seattle. Thanks for a lot of great memories.

Ben Daniel
Former Mgr., Peaches Records & Tapes

Pomona Boners

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Like many Northwest bands, Kidd Afrika was often called upon to provide back-up to name artists that rolled through the Northwest, but didn’t travel with their own group.  A memorable pair of nights for fans of Bo Diddley and Kidd Afrika, late February of 1975, yielded this rare documentation from the Rainbow Tavern, THE University hot spot on 45th at I-5.

Donny Marrow, March 2013

If you have corrections, a neat photo or more information, please send it to:



Last Update:   23 March 2013
Credits:  Steve Hudziak, Bob Oram, Eddy Hall, Loren Williams, Jack Dolan, Dana Francis, Les Hutchinson, Brad Schoonmaker, Ben Daniel, Robert Jones, Donny Marrow