Music Eclectic Bands and Die-Hard Fans Make the 9:30 Club The Greatest Show On Earth By Eugenia Sosa Special to The Hoya Friday, November 30, 2007

After years of spotlighting others, one music club is finally getting its turn in the limelight as the most popular music club in the world for 2007 — D.C.’s own 9:30 Club. After being a permanent fixture in the D.C. music scene for over 10 years, the club, located at 9th and V Streets, won the award for Top Club at the 2007 Billboard Touring Awards in New York. The award, which is based on top gross box office revenue, honored the 9:30 Club as the most attended music club not just in D.C. or in the nation, but in the world. The D.C. club is a popular destination for locals and visitors alike, a place where popular bands are known to play over and over again and where new talent is often discovered. Legends such as Dolly Parton and James Brown, as well as favorites like Justin Timberlake and James Blunt, have graced the stage, and the now-popular Arctic Monkeys, Wolfmother and the Scissor Sisters were discovered at the venue. It was also, as the club’s publicity director Audrey Schaeffer bragged, “the first place where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were seen as a couple — they went to see a Radiohead concert there together.” The club’s appeal extends beyond generations. “I can tell you what my daughter said about the 9:30 Club: “If it was a person, I’d marry it,’” Schaeffer added. The club has grown a lot From its beginnings in the 1980s, the club was a hotspot for showcasing new talent, especially that of the hardcore punk genre. With classic ’80s acts like Lounge Lizards (who performed for the first time ever at the club), The Bangles (pre-Susanna Hoff) and a catchy slogan (“9:30 — A Place in Time”) it gained popularity both in the District and soon, in the entire music industry. Its name comes from the original street address of the club, 930 F St., NW. They took it a step further by opening each night at 9:30 p.m. But back then, the 9:30 Club also became famous for another, less glamorous, reason — its smell. The distinctive blend of cigarettes, rat urine and sweat gave the club the nickname “Dirty 30.”Eventually, the club moved from its original spot in 1996 to its current, more spacious location. Since then, the 9:30 Club has developed into a prime stop along any artist’s tour. But the shift to hosting mainstream events hasn’t hampered the “cool” factor of the venue. By providing an intimate and casual setting, the 9:30 Club provides a place where everyone, regardless of their age or tastes in music, can go and have a guaranteed good time. Seth Hurwitz, the owner of the 9:30 Club and I.M.P., the concert producing company that operates it, made his dream of putting on shows come true when he founded the club. Schaeffer said that as a teenager, Hurwitz tried to produce a concert in junior high, and after being told he was too young, he waited without giving up, finally producing a concert for a local favorite band, The Nighthawks. After teaming up with his former teacher Rich Heinecke to launch the promotion company, he has proved those who turned him down to be wrong. As one of the most successful independent concert promotion and production companies in the nation, I.M.P. has presented nearly 10,000 events and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, according to Schaeffer. It also launched the Virgin Festival in the United States, an event that also brings millions of people from around the country together every year in Baltimore. “I love how varied the talent at the 9:30 Club is,” said Ana Paula Cantu (SFS ’10), who recently attended a concert at the club by the Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. With an environment intimate enough for the crowd to feel involved with the performers, the 9:30 Club provides a setting that is different from that of most concert venues today. “At Rodrigo y Gabriela, I felt like I was getting to know them,” Cantu said. “It’s a whole different experience from that of the Verizon Center or any other big concert place.” The venue is a popular playing spot for many bands as well. “I know that there you’ll be represented the best that you can be,” said Brad Persi, a guitarist and vocalist for the D.C.-based band Army of Me. “It’s a short drive and it’s nice to walk in and be friends with the manager, the sound guy.” Persi fondly recalled one of his favorite concert moments as a judge at the National Air Guitar Championships. “There were lots of people jammin’ out, and I got to heckle the air guitarists.” Even though the band only plays at the 9:30 Club two or three times a year, those performances are certainly a highlight for the fledgling rock band. In D.C., it is very unlikely that one will find a single college student that has not been to the 9:30 Club. The talent that goes through the club is varied enough to provide something for everyone’s taste. From the Venezuelan band Amigos Invisibles, to the indie sensation Rilo Kiley and the alternative The Academy Is..., the artists that have recently been on the stage of the 9:30 Club have left no concert-goer unsatisfied. Hector Garcia, a University of Maryland sophomore, goes to the 9:30 Club in search of the more eclectic rock sounds of The Bravery and Café Tacuba. “The best concerts in D.C. are at the 9:30 Club,” he said. “I go for the bands that I love but that nobody’s ever heard of.” Joanna Boyd (SFS ’10) confessed that she’s usually a fan of more popular artists like Shakira and Rihanna. “But I recently went to a concert of [Cartel] at the 9:30 Club, and I loved it,” she said. Judging by the experiences of recent concertgoers, it is safe to say that the Billboard award was well deserved by the club. Unlike many clubs that come and go, it seems like the 9:30 Club is here to stay, and by the way things are going, it is likely to receive a lot more attention in the near future. Persi put it best with his attestation that when performing at the 9:30 Club, “we just rock, you know.”