There are so many things that make this a stand out venue. Â First of all the sound quality is amazing there! Â Its adorned with stained glass windows, paired with a beautiful stained glass domed ceiling... Just recently they had a grand opening for their new back stage venue which is a little more intimate. Â The place was packed, people got up and danced, tons of fun! Â I volunteer there from time to time if they need me, on those nights I still feel like I should pay for a ticket... Reason being that this is a non profit business, they depend on volunteers, interns and grants to keep them going... All I can do is yelp and tell every person I know and meet that they should frequent The Seasons as much as possible to keep this gem going further.
Review Source:Had no idea what type of place we would find when we first got tickets to go see Jessica Williams, the great jazz pianist. We had driven some hours by way of I84 east (which is a beautiful drive) and then headed over to the address where we came upon the neatest looking brick building complete with a domed roof. Â We headed inside to be seated in the wooden pews surrounded by stained glass windows.
And acoustics? Unreal. We were so confused because Yakima though a cool town in itself was still a small town and yet other fine jazz musicians seem to flock to this place. Once the music started we understood why as the sound in the building was magic. Â We have seen Ingrid Jensen, fantastic female trumpeter, Tierney Sutton Band, The Blue Note 7, as well as other fantastic musicians over the years.
They also serve local wine and some appetizers as well if you want.
The locals adore this wonderful arena and they are proud of it as they should be.
The Director works hard to maintain the quality performances. They also have classical musicians that play here as well.
A real find.
Dancing to live music can be religious, so it was fairly fitting to see (and dance to) a Cuban Son/Cha Cha Cha band at a concert hall which used to be a church (1st Church of Christ Scientist).
Complete with rays of colored light shining in through the stained glass we showed up early for a dance lesson of Cuban Son--this old style of dance (grandmother to modern salsa) is hard but elegant looking. Â
After the lesson was the show. Â
The venue is pretty dang awesome [solid 4.5 stars on a first visit]. Â The acoustics were top notch. Â I made a quick scan of the entire space and there really isn't a bad seat. Â Their is a huge balcony. Â There is an open space near the stage for dancing (I clumsily tried my hat with salsa, and we had a few ruedas going as well). Â They served some refreshments as well as beer and wine when we were there.
.
.
Visiting the "Palm Springs of Washington", sitting in a pew with a bottle of beer tucked into the bible/hymn book holder, listening to traditional Cuban Son, and dancing sexy moves in a former church....it was surely surreal...
.
.
...And made me a fan of The Seasons.
There will be a summer series of Latin music over the summer, and I can't wait to check it out again (although, I think these shows will be outside--first one is July 2nd).
Amen.