Club Motor, a relatively new, but iconic rockabilly venue in an enormous loft space at 1950 1st Ave S. in SODO, closed its doors tonight because West Seattle owners couldn't quite turn a profit, they said.

Check out the West Seattle story about the club last February here:

Father and son owners Joe Mailloux (Joe Motor as he is better known) and Brian, 37, live in West Seattle. may be his "real" name, but he is known by many in the local music scene as "Joe Motor".

The club has over 6,000 square feet, 9,000 if you include the office and extra spaces, and has a 50-foot bar.

They began renting the location four years ago, and opened for business one and a half years later after a quagmire of permits were thrown at them.

The venue was unique because the bar is separated from the all-ages area by a chicken wire fence.

"We just never could quite push it into the black," said Joe Motor. "We've just got to bail. We've got to get out of here.

"We've had a lot of rock shows and techno events," he added. "SODO is non-residential. It's a big club. We just don't have that neighborhood core like you get on Capitol Hill, Ballard, even Georgetown. I think the day is coming when this will have a lot of nightlife and this area will succeed a little better. I play guitar and sing in the band Supergirl and will continue doing that.

"You've got some decent rock and roll towns that I'm sure will pick up the slack but the rock and roll clubs are struggling. Maybe the fact that we can't smoke in bars might have hurt bars. That changed the feel of bars. One nice thing. Bars don't stink anymore."

Joe has owned Drywall Wizards for over 20 years in West Seattle. His son, Brian, 37, owns the drywall company Seattle Mudworks in West Seattle.

"It's bittersweet for sure," said Brian of the closing. "It's been a lot of fun but it's going to be nice to have our lives back and be able to go camping and things. When we went into this I had four good friends and now I have 54."

It's really sad," said Kory Cutlip of the Delridge area. "I have been here since the first day it opened. I lived off of Alki, then moved to Everett and would drive all the way down to be here. I was the first person ever hired on as a rock booking agent here. I brought in psychobilly bands because I had my own psychobilly band for years called Nekronotz.

"I am a professional sideshow performer," he added. "I hammer nails in my head. I am part of The Freak Show Deluxe base in Hollywood. Because of Club Motor's atmosphere and these people it inspired me to actually make myself a better person and pursue the dreams I wanted to."

Julia Ghoulia met Kory at Club Motor during a performance and they married just over a year ago. "I am a fire performer. I walk on broken glass. I swallow and regurgitate razor blades," she said casually.

"It is a little bit sad they are closing," she continued. "I have done a lot of shows here. The Motor family is awesome. They gave a lot of people in this town a chance to have a place to perform. They also gave a lot of kids a place to go to stay out of trouble, or at least get least get into better structured trouble. You are going to have a lot of kids getting into trouble because they won't have a safe environment to have fun together. If you are under age you don't have a lot of options."

"This has been weighing on our shoulders for a while now," said Burning Hearts Burlesque owner Cleo Petra, of White Center, who has regularly created shows for Club Motor."Tonight is a monumental occasion. There is never ever going to be another club like this. Joe is going to keep rocking in the free world with his band, Supergirl. We just love him."

Robert Butler, of RJB Photo, a Burien resident, has used Club Motor as a backdrop shooting for the Pin-Up Quarterly, Seattle's Girly Magazine" also owned by Cleo Petra. Three have been published.

"It's such a bummer because of what Joe has done for everyone in the community here," said Butler, a well-respected rock photographer. "He's opened up the doors for everybody."

"Joe Motor is my hero," added Cleo Petra's colleague, "Uncle Bling", a performer and former longtime West Seattle resident.