38°55′5″N 77°1′26″W / 38.91806°N 77.02389°W
The 9:30 | |
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![]() Belle and Sebastian performing at the 9:30 Club in March 2006 | |
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Former names | Atlantis (1977–1979) Nightclub 9:30 (1980–95) |
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Address | 815 V St NW Washington, D.C. 20001-3020 |
Location | U Street Corridor |
Public transit | Washington Metro ![]() |
Owner | Jon Bowers and Dody DiSanto (1980–86) Richard Heinecke and Seth Hurwitz (since 1986) |
Seating type | Standing room / bar and balcony seating[2] |
Capacity | 1,200[1] |
Opened | May 31, 1980 |
Website | |
Venue Website |
The 9:30 Club, originally named Nightclub 9:30 and also known simply as the 9:30, is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. In 2018, Rolling Stone named the 9:30 Club one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States. In 2019, the club was named "Venue of the Decade" by VenuesNow.[3][4]
The club opened on May 31, 1980, on the ground floor rear room of the Atlantic Building at 930 F Street NW, in Downtown Washington, D.C.[5] with a legal standing capacity of 199.[2][6] In 1996, the club moved to a larger location at its current location at 815 V Street NW,[2][5] where it anchors the eastern end of the U Street Corridor.
The 9:30 Club's name was derived from its original street address, which was also the reason to set the venue's original opening time of 9:30 p.m.[7] Early advertising on WHFS radio featured the club's slogan, "9:30 – a Place and Time!"
Nightclub 9:30 was founded by artist and dancer Dody DiSanto and her husband, Jon Bowers, a local real estate developer and music enthusiast who purchased the Atlantic Building in 1979.[2][5][8][9] The Atlantic Building was full of artists even before it became the 9:30 Club.[10]
On May 31, 1980, the venue hosted its first show,[5] featuring New York City-based jazz-punk band the Lounge Lizards and local new wave band Tiny Desk Unit as the opening act.[2][5][11] The Fleshtones were the first band ever to be booked at the club.[12]
Since its founding, Nightclub 9:30, which allowed fans as young as 16-years-old to enter, was known as a progressive venue noted for its talent in discovering up-and-coming acts. During the early 1980s, it was the home for alternative music in Washington, D.C.,[2] just as the genre was beginning to blossom.[5] On May 21, 1981, Washington, D.C. music programmer and writer Tom Terrell was instrumental in masterminding the U.S. premiere of reggae band Steel Pulse on the night of Bob Marley's funeral, which was broadcast live worldwide from Nightclub 9:30.
Over the 1980s, the club largely featured local bands, including from the punk, hardcore, and go-go genres.[5] James Blood Ulmer played in 1982.[13] Minor Threat played the 9:30 Club in 1983. Maiesha and the Hip Huggers featuring E.U., Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band, Rites of Spring played in 1985.
In 1986, after six years of operating the club, Bowers and DiSanto sold it to Seth Hurwitz and Richard Heinecke of It's My Party (I.M.P.), the Maryland-based concert promotion company they co-own.[2][14][8][15] Fugazi played in 1994. Dain Bramage with then-teenage drummer Dave Grohl played in 1999.
In the early 21st century, Government Issue, Iron Cross, the Slickee Boys, Urban Verbs, Chuck Brown ("The Godfather of Go-Go") played in 2005.[16][2] Foo Fighters played there in 1999.[17]
The venue also became a regular stopping point for punk and new wave bands touring the East Coast.[18] Some of the most notable performers in the early days of Nightclub 9:30 were Black Flag, the Bad Brains, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Psychedelic Furs, Einstürzende Neubauten, the Ramones, X, Blue Angel with lead singer Cyndi Lauper, the Bangles, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, Erasure, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the Violent Femmes, the Butthole Surfers, That Petrol Emotion, the Replacements, Marti Jones, Marshall Crenshaw, Mod Fun, The Dancing Cigarettes, Nash the Slash, the Go-Go's, and BETTY, whose bassist and co-vocalist, Alyson Palmer, tended bar in the club at the time.
Over the following years, as the club's prominence and lineup were growing, the need for a bigger space was becoming increasingly evident. In preparation for the move, the owners purchased and extensively renovated the former WUST Radio Music Hall at 815 V Street.
The old Nightclub 9:30 closed its doors on December 31, 1995.[2] The club's final shows at the original location were memorialized on a two-CD set released in 1997 and entitled 9:30 Live – A Time, A Place, A Scene. This live CD, recorded between December 28, 1995, and January 1, 1996, includes local music from the Urban Verbs, Tiny Desk Unit, Mother May I, The Insect Surfers, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, and Black Market Baby.
In 2023, Hurwitz opened The Atlantis, a small club designed to evoke the original Nightclub 9:30.[19] In the opening ceremony, the Mayor of D.C. designated May 30th as "9:30 Club Day".[20]
Prior to its reopening, the club owners organized a "christening" show for media and friends featuring the Fleshtones and Too Much Joy. On January 5, 1996, the new 9:30 Club opened to the public with a show that included the Smashing Pumpkins.[8]
The club has a distinctive wheeled stage mounted on rails, which can be moved back and forth as needed. This way, the place can feel as packed with 500 people in attendance as it would during a sold-out 1,200-person show.[14][21]
During the band Cake's two-night run on May 30 and 31, 2009, the 9:30 Club introduced the official 9:30 Cupcake, made by Buzz Bakeshop of Alexandria, Virginia.[22] The 9:30 Cupcake is a devil's food cupcake with chocolate frosting and the club's italicized "9:30" logo on the top in white icing. The club is known for giving cupcakes to all performers at the venue.[23] The cupcakes are now made fresh, delivered to the club each morning, and are available for fans as well as musicians.
In January 2016, 9:30 celebrated its 35th birthday by opening its doors for an interactive exhibition detailing the club's vast history, the "9:30 World's Fair". This exhibition highlighted the pieces of the old 930 F St. location that made the trip to 815 V St., while taking fans through the dressing rooms and items like the hair dryer purchased specifically for James Brown.[24][25]
In February 2016, it was announced that the 9:30 Club would produce a new musically-centered variety show for PBS, featuring five acts per episode alongside a variety of comedy and short films. Live at 9:30 debuted in May, with a mix of contributors and hosts including Henry Rollins, NPR Music's Bob Boilen, Hannibal Buress, Jill Kargman, Ralphie May and Tony Rock.
While episodes are airing across the country, they are also available on www.liveat930.com.[26]
NPR's online music show All Songs Considered broadcast some concerts at the venue.[citation needed]
The 9:30 Club was mentioned in the Gilmore Girls' final season when Lane books a gig with her band Hep Alien.
In Designated Survivor, Aaron invites Emily to a date at the 9:30 Club.[47]
While filming A.P. Bio, comedian Patton Oswalt ad-libbed a rant about ska music featuring a story about the 9:30 Club, The Pietasters, No Doubt, Madness and more.[48]
The 9:30 Club has been awarded "Nightclub of the Year" by Pollstar 13 times, the most of any club in Pollstar history, including five years in a row from 2012 to 2016.[49]
For much of that time, it has regularly topped that concert industry trade journal's annual list of the top ticket-selling clubs in the United States.[5][8] In 2014, the 9:30 Club sold 284,309 tickets, the second most for a nightclub worldwide.[50]
The venue won the Top Club awards at the 2007 through 2012 Billboard Touring Awards, except in 2008, when the award was not presented.
Touring artists and managers in conjunction with Rolling Stone rated the club the No. 1 Big Room in America.[51]
In 2019, VenuesNow named the 9:30 Club "Venue of the Decade."[4]
In October 2013, Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump said the 9:30 Club "got so much character, you wonder if the locals know how lucky they are."[52]