9:30 Club
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The 9:30 Club (officially known as Nightclub 9:30) is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C., first opened in 1980. It is located at the intersections of 9th Street, V Street, and Vermont Avenue in Northwest DC and is served by the U St/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo stop on the Washington Metro. Many bands, both big and small, have played at the 9:30 Club and it is still in use to this day. It has a maximum capacity of 1200 persons.
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[edit] History
The club's name is derived from its original street address, 930 F St, NW, even though it has since moved to a larger venue at 815 V St, NW. The name refers to the address of the building in which the club was originally located, also known as the Atlantic Building. The name also refers to the original opening time of 9:30 pm and early advertising on D.C.'s WHFS radio featured the catchy motto: "9:30 - a Place in Time!" Since the early 1980s, the 9:30 Club has been known as a progressive venue noted for its talent in discovering up-and-coming acts. Most famous for using the old 9:30 Club is the hardcore punk crowd based around Dischord Records and then-local bands such as Minor Threat, Fugazi, Government Issue and The Slickee Boys.
The original venue was also noted for its distinctive odor. Hence, its popular nick-name: "The Dirty 30." At one point, one of the staff members led an odor specialist around the building, at which time he determined the smell to be a combination of tobacco, sweat, cleaner, and rat urine--a distinct smell that anyone who frequented the club will never forget.
The post-punk jazz outfit Lounge Lizards and local new wave band Tiny Desk Unit, who also played the club's final show, were the first bands to play the original location 9:30 Club (although The Fleshtones from New York were the first band to be booked)[1]. As the club and its line up were growing, the need for a bigger space was becoming increasingly evident. In the end the old 9:30 Club closed its doors on December 31st, 1995 and moved to a new location.
After extensive remodeling, the former WUST Radio Music Hall at 815 V St. opened January 5, 1996, as the Nightclub 9:30, with a show by Smashing Pumpkins[2].
[edit] Great Moments in Time
Founded by Dody DiSanto and Jon Bowers, the 9:30 Club was the home for alternative music in DC during the early 80's and was a regular stopping point for bands touring the east coast. German performance artist Klaus Nomi performed a memorable set there (June 1980) as did X, Blue Angel (with lead singer Cyndi Lauper), The Bangles (pre-Susanna Hoffs), Marshall Crenshaw, Nash the Slash, The Go-Gos, Betty and most other bands of the day.
The Beastie Boys performed at the club on June 17, 2004 after a five-year hiatus. This was a radio event sponsored by then WHFS 99.1 FM, now currently at 105.7 FM. 1200 passes for the event were given away to station listeners. The night did not go without incident, a major thunderstorm had delayed travel from New York City to Washington. Radio DJ's The Junkies and Tim Virgin read a statement from the Beastie Boys explaining the situation at about 8:30 p.m., including their assurance that they were on the train and that the show would go on at about 11:15 p.m. without a hitch. The crowd was bummed, but the club immediately relaxed their readmittance policy and allowed everyone to skip out to grab some dinner if they so desired. In a move to help ease crowd tensions, The Beastie Boys' management had a number of pizzas delivered to the club for fans to scarf while they were waiting[3].
Mix Master Mike took stage at 11:13 p.m. to warm up the crowd. The Beastie Boys came out minutes later on stage in front of a packed house, despite the delay. Posters of this event can be seen in the Beastie Boys' video "Triple Trouble", pasted on the walls of the streets the group walk through.
[edit] Awards
9:30 has been awarded Nightclub of the Year honors four times by Pollstar, the concert industry trade journal. And for most of that time, it has also been Pollstar's top ticket-selling club. In 2004, the 9:30 sold 236,112 tickets.[2]
[edit] External link
[edit] References
- ^ Richard Harrington, "The 9:30 Club, Just in Time; Ten Years Later, Still Catching the Next Wave, The Washington Post, May 27, 1990, g01
- ^ a b http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24894-2005May27.html/ Richard Harrington, "25 Years Later, It's Still 9:30," The Washington Post, May 27, 2005, WE06
- ^ http://www.hfstival.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=13413/ HFStival.com Message Board: Beastie Boys @ 9:30 Club, 6/17/04
