Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

Is there a general time that 930 Club gigs start? And more importantly, end?

oh wait, the gig I want is at the Black Cat. Never mind.

ok wow this thread

hi everybody

thinkin abt goin to that 7" release party at black cat sunday night

i read abt it on the internet THX DCIST

I guess I meant shows I used to go to many years ago at places like the Capital Ballroom (does that place still exist?); maybe once or twice at Kilimanjaro in Adams Morgan - the "headliner" would always come out at like 2am and "perform" 2 or 3 songs, then that was it. I guess 9:30 club shows have to stick to schedules or nobody's getting paid, but some of these other places are far from the well-oiled national-touring-act machine of that club.

Where was the Gucci Mane show a couple of months ago? He came out at 3am, did 15 minutes, and bolted.

Not the 930 or the Birchmere! Is it the clubs or do people like the late starts at these clubs no matter the night of the week? I think the clubs just want to selll more drinks. A Jamaican woman I know told me that Jamaicans likely did not mind the 1 am weeknight start time of a Gyptian gig at the Crossroads, but did mind the short 25 minute length of the gig. I am not getting into her assertion that the late starting time is a "Jamaican thing, a cultural thing."

I'm not a metal fan, but I see that the NY Times Ben Ratliff has a feature about Northern Va metal band Salome. Their singer is from Mclean.

places like the Capital Ballroom (does that place still exist?)

cue a huge collective sigh and cursing of spectator sports and a culturally dead government.

in anycase the dc star / dc tunnel / whatever you want to call it has always been somewhat sketchy and not in line with standard policies for your usual performance-oriented venues.

Speaking of DC government and shutting down culture--Zanzibar on the Waterfront has been bought out and shut down:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/11/04/zanzibar-on-the-waterfront-closes-down/

Construction may not start in southwest for 2 years, but the clubs are being shut down now. Thanks DC

Charges dropped in DC9 case:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110505333.html?hpid=dynamiclead

This is bizarre.

wtf

Simian Mobile Disco at U Street Music Hall tonight, Richie Hawtin on Monday and Juan MacLean announced for December 10 -- not too shabby.

gah! Need money/job/apartment with better weekday access. Tensake next week too, and I missed Twin Shadow on Monday. DC is passing me by.

I'm opening for Tensnake/Jesse Rose on Tuesday!

We've also got Treasure Fingers, Optimo, The Magician (Stephen who left Aeroplane) and A Guy Called Gerald in January.

Holy shit Optimo and the Magician. I'd better get things sorted by then.

Will they be on a weeknight? You only put local bands on during the weekends, right?

Yeah, the Magician is going to be awesome. I'm at 9:30 tonight for Brendan Benson and the Posies but will probably go to Hawtin if I can get someone else to go. $35 at the door is pretty expensive.

Optimo will be on a Thursday and The Magician's on a Wednesday. We don't do set local or touring DJs any night of the week, it varies.

$35 for Hawtin isn't cheap BUT you also get free admission to the Tensnake/Jesse Rose show the next night if you go (A $10 VALUE!).

Good to know.

Does anyone know the story re the Rustbuckit bass player who I think just passed away? That's Boyd Farrell from Black Market Baby's current group.

When I was heading up to eat at Chez Aunt Libe's on Georgia Avenue tonight,seeing the Turntable and some other Caribbean joints had me want to head back up to one of them some time. Anyone been to the Turntable for food, or for Jamaican oldies or dancehall?

But there were no postcards for Senegalese music events at Libe's (just church things and car mechanics). My search for African dj nights continues.

DC Go-go Awards at the Lincoln Theatre tonight

Actually, Wednesday had already melted into Thursday by the time Jas Shaw began mixing, followed shortly by fellow Simian James Ford. The pair alternated for nearly two-and-a-half hours, sustaining the synthetic pulse as the club's alcoholic beverages were put away, an employee swept the floor and most of the crowd vanished into the night.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2010/11/in_concert_simian_mobile_disco.html

U. St. Music hall and Crossroads competing on the late night week night show front...

is there a dress code for the U Street?

^ No Ed Hardy.

Richie Hawtin was great tonight, and I was really impressed with Gaiser's live set. I guess I'd better get ready for Tensnake/Jesse Rose tomorrow...

x-post

I think no dress code.

What kind of stuff will you be spinning "I Died"?

I'll be doing a slowish dubby nu-disco set from 10-11:30

Excited about Tensnake tonight.

So late :(

Late-night coolness is much more important than how tired you will be at work tomorrow! If you were a mere student you probably would have tomorrow off. Running into the wee hours on a weeknight also sells more alcohol, proves that this is dance music and not early hours live music, and helps the club try to prove that DC is not just an uptight, early to bed politically conservative town.

I'm with you.

Late night events are kind of embedded in nightclub culture, not just here but all over. We've experimented with putting headliners on earlier but we rarely hit peak crowd before midnight, and when we try to push things earlier it makes the artists unhappy and we end up with a lot of the audience who came late disappointed to have missed it.

There is always the DISCO NAP.

Ah yes, I do remember that. Thanks for the explanation.

Would be all over this if transport to the regions wasn't so difficult.

Yes, that's the other issue, if you don't have a car and don't live close, having to get a late-night bus or cab or something to get home.

it's terrible in nyc, a lot of things don't get started until 1:30 - usually i've fallen asleep waiting to get ready. luckily it made being home this past week easier, catching ride on through silver spring to the bus or subway into dc and back seemed like a breeze after treking from borough to borough.

finally checked out the music hall, great space

new black cat web site is snazzy: http://blackcatdc.com/index.html

Nice. It's designed by Alec Bourgeois who works for Dischord, has played in bands, and is a friendly guy who I first met way back when.

When you click on the calendar I see it lists the door opening time which for Black Cat means the first band is on a half hour later (if there's live music).

Awesome. I've been reticent to go along in case the bands go on too late and I have to leave before they start to get the last train.

Still feel ashamed I missed Twin Shadow last week.

For the Cat you just have to kinda do the math--figure opening act geta a half hour to perform, factor in time setting up for next band, etc.

On the day of the show, the 930 club site lists the doors open time and the exact times the performers are scheduled to come on. Oakenfold at 11 tonight (not my thing though, just a for example).

Are they pretty good with their times? Rock N Roll Hotel weren't, and I was actually going to have to leave in the middle of the second band to get the train (though that's a particularly bad area to be reliant on the metro).

You can call ahead at Black Cat to ask for set times--in my experience they have been relatively accurate. RNR and DC9 tend to run late, sometimes very late, and 9:30 Club often starts right on time or even a bit early. (You can also check set times on 9:30's iPhone app.) They actually pushed up the start of Brendan Benson's set about 15 minutes last week because of low attendance.

just here to announce that i am v amped for upcoming waaves & gang of four shows

re: Alec Bourgeios: I still say the Capital City Dusters were a totally underrated power pop band.

By the way, curmudgeon, in terms of clubs putting on acts later in order to sell more alcohol sometimes that's the case, sometimes not. In general people stay about the same amount of time and spend about the same amount of money no matter how the times run.

At U Hall last night the headliner didn't come on until 12:30, which is pretty typical on weekdays for big acts. He played until about 2:30 but our last call on weekdays is at 1:30 so we're actually giving up an hour of liquor sales by having the event run that late.

how was it? I'm driving 7 hours today and decided to save my energy.

Pretty amazing night, actually one of my favorites since we opened. Great crowd, people danced the whole night, Tensnake's set was really fun and well received (he bumped up the tempo on a lot of the tracks and it had a nice energy), and the transition to Jesse Rose was really natural and he's a fantastic DJ (I hadn't seen him before).

That does sound great. My nitpicking--12:30 is typical for Uhall, but it looks like on weeknights 930 had Oakenfold scheduled for 11:30. I'm also curious based on that W. Post review that stated Simian were spinning sounds on a weeknight for the folks sweeping the floor by the end of the night.