9:30 Club — Attraction in Washington

My daughter and I went and saw "The Struts" last night and they put on an absolutely incredible show. If you have never heard or seen them, I highly suggest you look them up. I want to be sure to say what a great time we had.

We have seen "The Struts" before several times at various different venues including seated auditoriums and outdoor stadiums. I would also add, we attend several live shows of various music genres at the many local smaller venues in the DC metropolitan area. This was not our "first rodeo."

However, this was my first time seeing a show at this venue. (keeping in mind I used to go the original 9:30 club back in the 80's and early 90's.) My daughter has seen several shows at this newer version of the venue.

Last night, I was somewhat "underwhelmed" as the venue actually had quite a few similarities to the original club, which is fine, I would imagine from a nostalgia standpoint, but this is the 2020's, not the late 80's. Audiences expect more these days from the venues and they expect more for their entertainment dollars, especially with so many inexpensive upgrades that other clubs offer in our modern technological age, such as video screens throughout the venue displaying the stage and show.

Or sound systems....Last night, through most of the show, there was a terrible buzzing from the PA which was quite audible during the band's quieter songs. After the show, I asked the sound guy about it. He just shrugged it off and said that he didn't know. I still thanked him for his efforts.

I also thanked the various staffers for their work as well. While no one was rude, folks coming to a show are looking for a good time seeing their favorite band. Now I'm not asking for "cruise ship" courtesy, but it would still be nice to see a smile here or there from the staff or at least a little interest in the audience members as clients. Other venues in the area such as the Howard and the Lincoln have been very accommodating this way.

For example, when we see shows, we very often purchase 4 tickets. Many times we have been left with an extra ticket. We never are looking to sell the ticket at a profit. Quite the opposite. We almost always are able to give away the ticket for free to someone who wants to see the show while waiting outside of the venue. We feel it's better for someone to see the show rather than have the ticket go to waste. The event staff and box office folks are usually very helpful at facilitating that.

Last night, the 9:30 staff, while not hindering our efforts, didn't necessarily help either. Essentially, the free ticket went unclaimed.

The bar staff was very competent in their efforts to serve the sold out crowd. The prices were quite acceptable for seeing a Rock show in our nation's capital. While the venue is cashless, there were no devices to quickly pay electronicly. I had to actually give my credit card to the bar keeper, which is fine, we need to be trusting, but with a large crowd and a large bar, there is a higher chance for mistakes. The electronic devices could help mitigate that risk and they are much faster than printing and filling out a check. They are also contact free. Again, other venues provide this service and have these devices.

It was interesting that the 9:30 is cashless, but yet they have an ATM on premises.

What was not on the premises in the main hall was a solid working air conditioner. The sold out show was so terribly hot and the audience, myself included, became quite odiferous. It has been a long time since I have seen a show that hot, sweaty and smelly.

I want to stress, we still had a good time and it was great show!

Admittedly, I am an aging old guy rock and roller from back in the day, but we've come a long way from the days of Cap Center, the DC space, the Black Cat, the Zoo, Tiki Fala, the Grog and Tankard, the Paragon, the Bayou and yes, even the old 9:30.

It is time for this 9:30 to step up it's Rock...

I Took my daughter to see her first concert at this venue. As first time attendees, I wasn't sure what to expect. Parking wasnt an issue there was a lot across the street for 20$ well worth it. Thanks to a warm and welcoming staff, who went ABOVE &BEYOND to accommodate us, we had a wonderful night we will never forget. We purchased meet and greet vip tickets to see JVKE and man was it worth it! The staff was so nice and friendly and treated us very well, going above and beyond to accommodate us after I seriously messed up and assumed the meet and greet would be after the concert.. WRONG it was @4:30 it was now 6:45 and my 8yr daughter was ready to have a code 3 tear filled break-down at the thought of missing the chance to confess her love in person, not to mention the never-ending guilt trip that i Was about to experience for years to come. After calming her thoughts, I did what consistently helps us out in bad situations, called my mom for her prayers. Then we bowed our heads and prayed to our Father in Heaven thanking him ahead of time and faithfully waited for his unmeritted favor to take effect. We got in line and within a few minutes I saw a worker who was outside, got his attention and politely explained our situation. He said, "he'll see what he could do." 5 mins later, he popped back up and said "come with me" , we looked excited towards each other, I grabbed Amelia's hand we were swiftly guided from the back of a loonnngg line of anxiously awaiting fans to the front doors, where he pulled out 2 vip passes said" put these on," then handed us our merch bags, and said "follow me". Doing our best to keep up with him was an experience in itself. The narrow concrete halls quickly led us away from general population, into the dimly lit backstage corridors that allow the employees to see that the show goes on without a hitch. After weaving through a series of dark concrete halls, we made a few quick turns that led to narrow set of stairs that could lead to Halloweenland. All this accentuated by the black painted concrete walls. Although at the end of these stairs wasn't a creepy clown, it was brightly lit door sign that had the words "Dressing Room" on it!! Somehow, that drab pathway opened into a brightly lit room where we were suddenly face to face with the shockingky tall, good looking young guy we'd spent countless hours singing along with. He was sporting a genuine smile that lit up the room and had this 40something married mother of 2 blushing like a teenager again. We exchanged pleasantries with him and had our pictures taken and quickly stole a few more glances before being ushered out the dressing room door onto the upper balcony, where we ended up staying. We had ground floor, few rows back from the stage but we never made it down there. It was absolutely a blessing in disguise. My (8yr)daughter and I had the best seats in the house in my opinion. It was right up front bench type seating, although we stood up with a perfectly unobstructed birds eye view of the entire stage. Not to mention the bathrooms, and refreshment hut were no more than 15 feet away in either direction. Had we stuck with the floor tickets, Amelia would've been unable to see above the crowd of 20 somethings that were haphazardly piled around the stage. Also, going to use the bathroom or get a drink, would've meant losing your spot for sure...there was no type of rows or single file, seats, it was a crowd of screaming, sweaty strangers who had no concept of personal space, just getting uncomfortably closer and more compacted with every song... 100% get balcony seating for any shows...

I’ve been to this venue multiple times and generally never had an issue, however almost two weeks ago went for a concert and it was a mess. The front door staff were very nice, but we had a few incidents happen that night. A male bartender made a drink for a friend of mine, who prior to that had hardly drank anything. He was a bit rude but a few sips of that drink make her completely blacked out from what I’m hoping was an incredibly heavy pour (I got a drink from him later in the night which consisted of almost entirely vodka). While she was sipping on her drink we made our way to the side of barricade and were having fun during the openers first song, when a group of about 5 girls took like 5 photos of the opener in front of the stage before rushing off to the side where we were and literally pushing into us, blocking us. Our friend asked if she could get back to her spot, the girl said no and whether on purpose or not one of them pushed into my friend and due to her state and the fact there was nothing to grab onto she fell into the barricade. One of the girls said something to the bouncer (who was apparently very nice) next to me and they took her away and cut her off. The girls then proceeded to talk shit about her next to us while texting on their phones(still blocking us and others). We had to leave barricade to go be with her. Our friend was very anxious after that so we went upstairs where my partner ordered me a drink while I was away with our friend. Right after ordering it they turned around and got smashed into by an employee who didn’t apologize or do anything besides grumble something and radio in for a rag while my partner apologized profusely. That was a 12 dollar drink that got wasted. I understand that it’s a very high stress environment and job however a few staff members completely ruined that night for us. It was a Christmas present for me so it was extra disappointing. We have a few other concerts at this venue coming up, I hope they go...