Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club is one of America’s great concert venues, a place that has not only staged nearly every major rock band of the past 41 years early in their careers, it’s also hosted shows by Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Al Green, Willie Nelson, James Brown, Nirvana, Billie Eilish, Adele, Justin Timberlake, R.E.M., Green Day and countless others. After being closed for 18 months due to the pandemic, it reopened in style on Thursday night with a rare club date by D.C.-area native Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters — who took the opportunity to tell the crowd that a new and even more intimate venue will be opening right behind the 9:30 Club.
The new venue, owned by Maryland concert promoter I.M.P., will be an exact replica of the original 9:30 Club (which opened in 1980 at a different location, 930 F Street, NW). Its name has not been announced yet.
“Who remembers the old 9:30 Club?,” Grohl asked the crowd during the band’s two-and-a-half-hour-plus hour set. “That was our church. That’s where we got to see every fucking band… That’s where we all played first. That’s where R.E.M. played first. That’s where the Chili Peppers played first. That’s where Nirvana played first… Magic happened in that room. But guess what?… They’re gonna open up a place that’s an exact replica of the old 9:30 Club right fucking next door. Nobody knows that because I’m the first one to tell you that right now! So, for all you people who never got to see the old 9:30 Club, let me tell you, if it’s the same vibe as the old 9:30 Club, you’ll see some real magic.”
The band played a set similar to the ones they’ve played earlier this year, including a brief segue into their disco alter-ego, the “Dee Gees” (see the setlist below).
According to the official announcement, the new venue will be in the space formerly occupied by the Satellite Room. “While the new club promises to look just like the original,” the announcement promises, “it will not have the notorious stench nor the huge and plentiful rats that old-school patrons so fondly recall.”
The name of the new venue, capacity, and timeframe for opening the new club will be announced in the coming months.
Maryland-based I.M.P. also owns the 9:30 Club, as well as the D.C.-area venues the Anthem, the Lincoln Theatre and the long-running Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md.
