Washington has long been home to incredible music. But for the past 35 years, one concert venue has been the heart of Washington D.C.'s live music scene: the 9:30 Club. Anthony Mason takes you on a tour of the legendary venue.
I remember the old club was so small the band would hang out with the audience between sets. I remember seeing new bands with 40-50 people in the audience. Met Natalie Merchant in 84 or 85, just sitting on the bench seat alone waiting to go back on. Good times.
For those with fond memories of the old 930 Club (aka "Dirty 30), I started a Facebook group about it years ago to reminisce! Just search for Nightclub 9:30 and come and join the conversation!
Greatest club ever ! The list of epic bands to play there is endless...if you were one of the 200 people that saw a show there, you were truly blessed ! Unreal place !
So many shows at the F St location in the 80’s and 90’s. Shudder to Think New Year’s Eve. Jawbox a dozen times. Random DC bands like Strange Boutique. The Sundays when they had to play songs twice cause they only had a few. Swervedriver twice. Meat Beat Manifesto with their full stage show including people on stilts. That long hallway from the street. So many memories of that place, though I moved away from DC around ‘96 and have never been to the new location.
I remember hanging out in the hallway of the original club before a show. Someone on the street yelled "what a bunch of freaks" at us and someone yelled back at him "flattery will get you nowhere." The new 9:30 never had a chance to be half as cool as the original but eh, it's OK by today's standards I guess.
The owners hated the local hardcore bands and only reluctantly put on those kind of shows. While 9:30 might be crucial to the history of that crowd, they're only a small part of the club's history.
I don't think I've ever been to 9:30 club without somebody dragging me out and throwing me out front or trying to arrest me. It's like I just always had the luck of being the guy that happened to stand next to some belligerent people and they just rented us up and threw us out and never got a refund and I didn't even know those guys ever. 9:30 club really sucks honestly
@@sammencia7945 I politely disagree. It's really difficult to find a spot in the 9:30 club where someone's not causing trouble where you might get blamed for. I might want to call them the real slim shady.
I'm glad to hear someone else say this besides me. This guy is tiresome. Why's he in every report or documentary related to punk rock?! OVEREXPOSURE big time, right?
Probably because he has a lot more experience with playing music live, touring, and dealing with the music industry than the two of you combined...just saying
OMEGA MECHANIC He’s also invested a lot of time and money into history of music preservation/awareness etc He even personally now, owns one of most iconic studio recorders ever!
Foo Fighters are the Olive Garden of rock music. Olive Garden is the Foo Fighters of Italian restaurants. -Tesco Vee (who surely also must have played at the 930 club)