Capitol Theater celebrates its 100th year with indie punk musicians

Celebrate Capitol Theater’s 100^th year at the Olympia Film Society (OFS) with indie punk performances from musicians Swansea Sound, Lois, Mount Eerie, and Heavenly.

The theater’s centennial celebration will take place on October 14, starting at 8 p.m. General admission tickets cost $20, while OFS members can buy them for $15. Each artist will perform a 30-minute set.

Interested attendees with accessibility needs are encouraged to mark “Wheelchair / Accessible” option upon registration. Accessible seating sections are located on the main floor in various areas for sight, hearing, size, and mobility needs.

Formed in 1989, Heavenly emerged from the ashes of the fleeting punk-pop band Talulah Gosh. Heavenly has made a unique blend of catchy melody and sharp-edged lyrics and filmed one of their videos in the Capitol Theater.

Olympia-based Lois has been on the music scene since the late 1980s, and her connection to the OFS began in 1983 after founding the Olympia Film Festival. For the theater’s 100th anniversary, Lois is joined by indie superstar Heather Dunn on drums.

Anacortes, WA native Phil Elverum, Mount Eerie’s frontman, is a multi-mode artist of the Pacific Northwest. Best known for his highly original music – from early tape experimentation of the 90s to the 2020s immersive sound-diary of his Microphones project, Elverum has also expressed himself through the mediums of painting, photography, book self-publishing, and festival organizing.   

According to a bio from the OFS, “Elverum has never shied from exploring the high mountain passes, finding new ways to sculpt with sound, and trying to communicate the momentary experience of being human as clearly as the water from freshly melted snow.”

Indiepunk band Swansea Sound adopted the name of a radio station and its abandoned logo. Its roster reads as a who’s who of related bands and includes former Pooh Sticks singers Hue Williams and Amelia Fletcher (the latter also ex-Talulah Gosh, Heavenly), another former Heavenly member, Rob Pursey, and Ian Button. Their music has been described as “modern, acidic, and angry... in a familiar, borrowed frame.”   

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