The legendary DC nightclub, the 9:30 Club, was originally located at 930 F Street NW. It opened in 1980 and quickly became the epicenter of DC's punk and new wave scenes. It was a beloved hell hole, cramped, stanky, a strange maze of odd-shaped rooms, hallways, and a crooked stage. I once described it in Mondo 2000 as "post-apocalypse on a budget." For all of those reasons, and its modest 199 person capacity, in 1996, it moved to its current digs, the former WUST Radio Music Hall at 815 V Street NW.
But apparently the old 9:30 Club is rising from the dead. At last night's surprise Foo Fighters show at the current venue, area-native and 9:30 Club super fan, Dave Grohl, made a surprise announcement — that an exact replica of the original club is going to be built right next door.
"Now, guess what — they're going to open up a place that's an exact replica of the old 9:30, right next door," to the current club, Grohl said. "Nobody knows that, because I'm the first one to tell you right now."
IMP communications director Audrey Fix Schaefer told WTOP the club will be right behind the current 9:30 Club, where the Satellite Room used to be, at 2047 9th St. NW. She said more information about the new venue is expected to be released Friday.
"If it's the same vibe as the old 9:30 Club, you're gonna see some real magic," said Grohl.
Read more at WTOP.
Dave didn't offer further details, but it's fun and exciting to think about being able to walk those dank black halls and once again pee in those creepy basement toilets. I hope someone saved the graffiti-covered baseball bat from the basement dressing room that was used to chase away rats.
Here's a CBS news piece, from 2017, about the history of the club.
Image: Brian Liu/ToolboxDC
