Latest news with #9:30Club
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Seth Hurwitz Celebrates 9:30 Club's 45th Anniversary With:
- 44x44x44, A New Backstage Photo Exhibit Unveiling at The Atlantis - Limited Edition Re-Issue and Expansion of its Long Sold-Out Coffee Table Book 9:30 - A Time and a Place - Debut of a New Instagram Account Spotlighting I.M.P.'s Concert Photography Archives, @ItsMyPhotoDC - 15th Pollstar Nightclub of the Year Award WASHINGTON, May 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Since first opening its doors 45 years ago on May 30, 1980, the 9:30 Club has hosted more than 11,000 artists and nearly 8 million fans. That's a lot of music, and a lot of memories. That's more than 11,000 nights of irreplicable experiences; unique performances and interactions that each strike like lightning. And while you can't bottle lightning, you can photograph it. Jim Saah has been doing just that for almost as long as the 9:30 Club has been open, capturing his first show at the original 9:30 Club on October 17th, 1982. When people picture the original 9:30 Club, with all of its grit and grime and myth and music, one name is synonymous with those images, and that's Jim. "After sundown, '80s D.C. belonged to the punks and outsiders," said Saah. "The music and community were intoxicating, and the 9:30 Club was home base for it all. I must've photographed hundreds of shows there. I love experiencing the music while making visual art from it. I was more tuned into the whole scene through documenting it. It made me feel alive." Jim hasn't stopped shooting since, so when The Atlantis, a near replica of the original 9:30 Club and a living, breathing tribute to the spirit and shape of his old stomping grounds was announced, he knew he had to see it. When he learned about The Atlantis' historic inaugural 44-show run of massive underplays kicked off by Foo Fighters on May 30, 2023, he knew he had to capture it. "Sometimes you see these exhibits with photos of music legends and can't imagine how someone so talented happened to capture all that," said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. and owner of the 9:30 Club. "Well, we have our very own version of that here in DC. Jim Saah is an amazing talent that has chronicled music here for decades…and is still doing it! The same guy that took pictures of these bands the first time around is the one that took them here, for their return." 44x44x44 - A NEW BACKSTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION AT THE ATLANTIS A sampling of Jim's legendary work from back in the day lines The Atlantis' backstage hallway that leads to the stage, while a newly unveiled exhibit in the backstage stairwell, 44x44x44, distills that grand opening series into a single shot per show. This exhibit honors those 44 years of 9:30 Club history through 44 incredible photographs. "Witnessing those first shows at The Atlantis, from the intimacy of an acoustic set to the raucousness of a rock gig, showed that this 'new' club shines through it all," said Saah. "It's incredible to see the spirit of the old 9:30 alive and well here." Jim captured every one of those 44 shows, except three. Ben Eisendrath, D.C. photojournalist and one of I.M.P. 's house photographers, filled in for those. Now, for a limited time, The Atlantis invites fans to go behind-the-scenes for a rare peek backstage with two public viewings of the 44x44x44 exhibit on June 26th and July 13th featuring an exclusive look at The Atlantis' dressing rooms, access to limited-edition 45th anniversary merchandise, and the chance to enjoy a drink while being transported back to 9th & F St. NW circa 1980 via The Atlantis' historic rooftop re-creation. Space is limited, and first-come, first-served RSVPs are available here. Can't wait that long? Sign up here for I.M.P.'s free loyalty program, Friends with Benefits, for an exclusive opportunity to RSVP for a special showing on June 18th. Plus, Friends with Benefits members receive free shipping for online merch orders, access to exclusive pre-sales, loyalty points that can be exchanged for tickets, venue merch, and refreshments, and a free 9:30 Cupcake for their birthday. For more information, visit THE 9:30 CLUB BOOK REISSUED AND EXPANDED In celebration of the 9:30 Club's 45th Anniversary, the long sold-out coffee table book 9:30 – A Time and a Place will be available for purchase once again. This limited edition expanded reissue features more than 100 new pages, capturing the full-circle creation of The Atlantis along with exclusive photos and artist messages from its grand opening series of 44 shows. The updated edition also includes a complete chronological listing of every show ever played at the 9:30 Club — from the original F St. location to its current home at 815 V St. — something fans have been requesting since the release of the first edition. A heartfelt memorial page honors the late Shawn "Gus" Vitale, the 9:30 Club's beloved lead sound engineer, with a tribute written by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi and Dischord Records. Fans can head here to pre-order their copy today, browse special new vintage 9:30 Club 45th anniversary merch here, as well as in-person at The Atlantis' public exhibition viewings on June 26th and July 13th. Space is limited, and first-come-first-served RSVPs are available here. NEW 'IT'S MY PHOTOGRAPHY' INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT (@ItsMyPhotoDC) Over the years, I.M.P. has collaborated with a team of more than 200 concert photographers like Jim and Ben to amass an archive of more than 4,000 photo albums across its five venues; 9:30 Club, The Anthem, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Lincoln Theatre, and The Atlantis. That's a lot of lightning, and it's time to uncork the bottle. Beginning today, fans are invited to follow I.M.P.'s latest project, It's My Photography, on Instagram at @ItsMyPhotoDC. It's My Photography is dedicated to cracking open the vault while inviting the audience to look beyond the barricade, seeking not just to share these snapshots of music memories but to platform the photographers who took them and pull back the curtain to provide a new perspective for fans who've always wondered what confluence of experiences and decisions led to capturing that shot. Media Contact:Audrey Fix Schaeferaudrey@ About the 9:30 Club Located at 9th and V Streets, NW, in Washington, D.C.'s historic U Street neighborhood, the 9:30 Club has been the inimitable place bands aspire to play and music fans love to attend since 1980. It's the most attended club of its size in the world, serving D.C.'s vibrant local audiences while also drawing in patrons from across the globe. Gracing the stage have been legends like Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Al Green, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Chuck Berry, and James Brown; rising stars like Turnstile, Sabrina Carpenter, Billy Strings, Charli XCX, and Thundercat; and arena acts like Adele, Foo Fighters, CHVRCHES, The Weeknd, Stromae, The Smashing Pumpkins, Billie Eilish, Green Day, Kendrick Lamar, and Radiohead. The 9:30 Club has won multiple Top Club awards from Billboard, Rolling Stone and Pollstar. About The Atlantis Before the original 9:30 Club opened its doors, 930 F St. NW, was briefly home to another venue: The Atlantis. Now, The Atlantis is back. Located at 2047 9th St. NW next to the 9:30 Club, the new $10 million, 450-capacity venue is a near replica of the original 9:30 Club, with Foo Fighters christening the room on May 30, 2023. The Atlantis is "Where Music Begins," giving both established and burgeoning artists from Courtney Barnett, Jukebox the Ghost, and Yola to Knox, Flyana Boss, and The Last Dinner Party a new, intimate home to connect with fans. By partnering with from the beginning, The Atlantis is the first venue to utilize fully reusable plastic cups for all beverages from day one, saving tons of single-use plastics from the landfill. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE 9:30 Club
Washington Post
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
After Biden's diagnosis, Jake Tapper's book tour is business as usual
'You guys want me to sing, right?' quipped CNN's Jake Tapper, as he and his co-author Alex Thompson, of Axios, settled into their seats onstage. It was an unusually rock-and-roll setting for a book talk: 9:30 Club is one of Washington's most storied music halls, with a capacity of 1,200 standing. (This event was seated; as of that morning, Politics and Prose Bookstore had sold a little over 300 tickets, priced at $45.30 each — hardcover not included.) The previous night, the club had hosted a singer-songwriter lab-engineered for Spotify's coffeehouse playlists; the next night, the rows of folding chairs would make way for a sapphic dance party, benefiting a reproductive access fund. All three of the venue's bars were open on this Thursday evening, requiring the P&P crowd — silvering, affluent, graciously suppressing irritation — to be carded at the door.
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Who is MJ Lenderman, rising singer who has captured attention of Gen Z and critics alike?
Who is MJ Lenderman, rising singer who has captured attention of Gen Z and critics alike? MJ Lenderman took the indie music scene by storm last September with his album "Manning Fireworks," capturing the hearts of listeners and critics alike. It's not just Gen Z under the 26-year-old's spell – at his May 15 sold-out show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, there didn't seem to be any demographic immune to his nonsensical yet vivid lyricism and unsuspecting charm. Lenderman's poignant storytelling is delivered via stripped-back guitar riffs and gritty folk rock anthems, hiding behind absurd imagery. On "Wristwatch," he sings, "I've got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome / And a wristwatch that's a pocket knife and a megaphone / And a wristwatch that tells me I'm on my own." It's hard to tell whether to laugh or cry to his music, to feel empathetic for the narrator or judge him for his stagnancy. But the Asheville, North Carolina musician, who is also a member of the beloved indie rock band Wednesday, is doing something right. Seemingly simple experiences become profound through the Lenderman's pen, such as sitting under a "half-mast McDonald's flag," and fans flocked to the 9:30 Club to witness his magic with their own eyes. The nightclub, where iconic acts like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and R.E.M. once played, was filled Thursday night. MJ Lenderman gets lost in his live performance, but fans stay in on 'the bit' In his live performance, Lenderman seems oblivious to the doting audience latching onto his every word. He looks down for the majority of his set, his face scrunched, focused on the lyrics as if he were writing them in the moment. His nonchalant demeanor gives a sense of passion and impulsiveness necessary for both the ridiculousness and heaviness of his lyrics, driven by gut instincts rather than regard for rhyme or reason. In a July 2024 interview with "The Guardian," he revealed his desire to evade the spotlight: "Visibility and stuff, that's not really something I've been after." So when he sings the song, 'You Are Every Girl to Me,' it's hard to imagine he's serenading any particular audience member, unlike at shows from heartthrobs like Harry Styles, where fangirls (harmlessly) imagine he's there to swoon only them. But even without locking eyes, his band plays in perfect synchrony; and, all the couples in the audience pulled their loved ones a little closer, whether it be friends, lovers, or the father-daughter duo standing next to my sister and me. The few moments of eye contact during 'You Don't Know the Shape I'm In' were almost jarring. It felt like being woken up from a trance, lending an intimacy to the lyrics, 'All you had to do was be nice… Be nice to me.' On 'Bark at the Moon,' the 10-minute finale to 'Manning Fireworks,' he pleads, 'You're in on my bit / You're sick of shtick? / Well what did you expect?' The second half of the song – both on the recording and during the live performance – includes nothing but distortion, swirling minutes of feedback into a rowdy crescendo, eventually bleeding into the short track 'I Ate Too Much at the Fair" during his live set. So were we, as an audience, also sick of Lenderman's gimmick? At 9:30 Club, the opposite was true. When he asked if anyone planned to come again the next night, the better half of the crowd cheered. 'It's gonna be a late night,' he joked, referencing that the doors for the May 16 show don't open (fittingly) until 9:30 p.m. When he interacted with the audience, glimmers of his whimsical personality shone. 'Thank you all so much, it's awesome to be with you,' he told the crowd towards the end of his set. 'What's the thing when you ask the crowd what you want to hear? A request.' Fans began shouting out deep cuts, but the fiddler shut them down: 'The request lines are closed. We still love you.' 'I think you guys are really going to like these songs, I hope,' Lenderman promised. 'You've been a great crowd, and you still are," he added, chuckling at his own sentiment. The 'Turkey Brothers' steal the encore with a boisterous jam As fans begged for an encore to an empty stage, an unlikely guest took center stage. The fiddler, Landon George, freestyled a rhythmic jam, introducing himself and a few of Lenderman's bandmates as the "Turkey Brothers" from Hall Creek, taking us on a journey through DC's history and a story of a band of brothers on a remote farm, dependent on dial-up internet. At his sold-out show in New York City on April 25, Lenderman brought out state Assemblyman Zohran, a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, and a mayoral candidate. During the Turkey Brothers' performance on May 15, George sang, 'You gotta have hope if you're gonna keep it going forward. You gotta have hope if you're gonna do anything about fascism,' before descending into a fiddle jam. 'Have you ever heard a grease fire on the fiddle?' he teased. 'It sounds kind of like this.' George's solo culminated in a symphony of squeaks before MJ Lenderman returned to the stage for a two-song encore. 'Give it up for the Turkey Brothers,' he cheered. Ending the night with "Dancing in the Club," a song written by and performed with Nate Amos of This if Lorelei, the energy in the room stayed high. It seemed as if it would be trapped there until the next night's performance, bouncing off the walls until the crowd could sing lyrics like, "Once a perfect little baby / Who's now a jerk ' Standing close to the pyre manning fireworks," again. MJ Lenderman: 2025 tour setlist Lenderman and his band have been changing the setlist order for each show, but the general list of songs has remained the same.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New bill aims to curb price gouging by secondary ticket sellers in DC
The Brief A bill proposed in D.C. would protect concertgoers from price-gouging by secondary ticket sellers. The bill, known as the Resell Act, aims to provide a long-awaited solution to ticket scalping, a practice that has plagued D.C. for years. Many venues are rallying behind the bill, which aims to tackle the issue of inflated prices for concert tickets. WASHINGTON - A new bill introduced in Washington, D.C., is quickly gaining support as part of a major push to protect concertgoers from price-gouging by secondary ticket sellers. The proposed legislation, which was unveiled Tuesday, seeks to directly address the rising cost of tickets being resold at outrageous prices. Music venues across the District, including The Anthem, are rallying behind the bill, which aims to tackle the issue of inflated prices for concert tickets. Industry leaders voiced their concerns at a press briefing earlier today, expressing that the impact of price-gouging is being felt by the entire D.C. music scene. They are calling for a change that benefits not only consumers but also local venues and artists. D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the bill, stressed the urgent need for reform. "The resale market right now needs to be corrected because our artists and local venues here with us today, and D.C. residents, are being taken advantage of," Allen said. "When it costs hundreds of dollars to attend a weeknight show, it hurts the music scene because fans are priced out and they're staying home." The problem, Allen added, is that while prices are skyrocketing—sometimes seeing a $55 ticket marked up to as much as $1,000—none of the extra money is going to the artists or venues. Instead, the inflated prices are filling the pockets of secondary ticket sellers like SeatGeek and StubHub. What we know The bill, known as the Resell Act, aims to provide a long-awaited solution to ticket scalping, a practice that has plagued D.C. for years. Among its key provisions: Price Cap: Resale prices will be capped at 10% above the original cost of the ticket. Ban on Speculative Tickets: Sellers cannot list tickets they do not own, preventing them from profiting off tickets they haven't yet acquired. Transparent Pricing: All-in pricing will be required, ensuring consumers are aware of all taxes and fees upfront. Ticket Reseller Registration: Resellers selling 50 or more tickets per year must register with D.C. authorities and disclose both their purchase price and resale price. Prominent local venues like the 9:30 Club, the Atlantis, and the Lincoln Theater have voiced their support, emphasizing that these changes are critical to the health of the local music scene. Dig deeper Audrey Schaefer, Communications Director for IMP (the company behind the 9:30 Club), highlighted the far-reaching consequences of ticket price gouging. "If people are being price gouged and paying $500 for a ticket they could have bought for $50, that's nine shows they're not going to that year. It harms our entire music ecosystem," Schaefer explained. "Consumers are no longer discovering new artists or bringing their friends to shows." Concertgoers themselves echoed this frustration, with some expressing that the current ticket market is becoming a barrier to enjoying live music. "I honestly buy mine online in advance, but things like this make me not want to go," said Dashon Montague. "It's unfortunate." Sarah Loftin, another concertgoer, added, "It would be great, especially for young people, to have access to live music, but the cost is really prohibitive. It would be amazing if they could act with legislation." Looking Ahead While the introduction of the bill is an important first step, it remains to be seen if it will gain full approval. However, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has expressed support for the legislation, and violators of the new rules could face civil penalties ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. As the conversation around ticket resale practices continues to evolve, D.C. residents and music fans alike are hopeful that this bill will pave the way for a more transparent, fair ticketing system in the nation's capital.
