930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: andyrichter on March 21, 2006, 05:37:00 pm
-
i saw this buried in the prodigy thread so here you go. good riddance? or 1 less mid sized venue with now more bands than ever skipping DC to hit Baltimore? comments.
http://www.alchemy-dc.com/NationStatement.pdf (http://www.alchemy-dc.com/NationStatement.pdf)
NATION Nightclub is closing on July 16th 2006.
The increasing real estate development and looming baseball stadium construction has forced one of Washington DCâ??s largest and well known nightclubs to close its doors for good on Sunday, July 16th of this year. Nation nightclub, located on Capitol Hill near the Navy Yard, will be torn down to make way for a new, mixed use office building. Nation was carved out of the former Hurley Boiler building, originally built in 1924, and takes up the block between K and L and Half and South Capitol streets. John Boyle, nightlife entrepreneur and son of Jack Boyle, founder of Cellar Door productions, designed Nation and first opened its doors in 1999. John envisioned a mixed use facility that would feature national acts on the main stage and host DJ driven dance parties featuring the top national and international DJ talent on a weekly basis. His vision came to fruition thanks in large part to a loyal dedicated staff, many of whom have been with Nation since the beginning.
Nation is recognized locally for the wide variety of concert events it has hosted over the years. Acts such as Eminem, Prince, Social Distortion, 311, VNV Nation, Limp Bizkit, the Violent Femmes, Big & Rich, James Brown, Creed, Snoop Dogg, David Bowie, Coal Chamber, NOFX, Lenny Kravitz, Slayer, Jay Z, Bad Religion, Soul-Fly, Dropkick Murphyâ??s and Ozzy Osborne have all graced the main stage at Nation. Nation is also recognized on a national and even international level for its three weekly DJ and theme driven nightclub parties.
Fridays play host to Cubik, formerly Buzz, originally the brainchild of Scott Henry and Lieven DeGeyndt and operated now by Henry of Buzzlife Productions. Cubik hosts the worldâ??s top electronic house, and techno djs such as Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, Sasha and Digweed, and Paul Van Dyk as well as live acts like Rabbit in the Moon and The Prodigy. It was named the countryâ??s top event of its kind numerous times by international publications such as Urb and BPM.
Saturdays play host to Velvetnation, a gay dance event, created and operated by John Guggenmos and
Ed Bailey. The event is respected worldwide as one of the top events of its kind in the US. For many years it has hosted circuit event djs and talents such as Junior Vasquez, Abel Aguilera, Victor Calderone, The Pet Shop Boys, KD Lang, and The Village People. It is also known for its innovative theme events such as Madonnarama, a night of all Madonna music and video, which draws the clubs largest crowds annually.
Thursday nights have been home to Alchemy, one of the country's largest weekly parties catering to the darker realm of club land. Tony Tribby led a team that created Alchemy and used Nation's multi-room layout to combine music ranging from industrial, ebm, goth, 80's, punk, electro-clash, trance, alternative and indie into a package with a Goth esthetic. Alchemy has also introduced DC to the live shows of top
electronic acts VNV Nation, Icon of Coil, Hocico, Terrorfakt, and presented classic acts including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Pigface, Laibach and Juno Reactor.
While Nation will disappear, the owners and promoters will not. The owners are actively scouting locations for a new club to help fill some of the void that will be felt by Nation closing. The promoters have been approached by other notable DC clubs hoping to host their parties. There is a very highly charged final schedule planned for the last few months as each night has booked the biggest talent available to send the club out on a high note. For final schedule details visit www.primacycompanies.com (http://www.primacycompanies.com) for concert information, www.alchemy-dc.com (http://www.alchemy-dc.com) for Thursday nights, www.buzzlife.com (http://www.buzzlife.com) for Friday nights and www.velvetnation.com (http://www.velvetnation.com) for Saturday nights.
-
Yeah i should have made a seperate thread about it, but calling Nation a mid-size venue is pretty off. It can hold a lot more people than the 930 Club, but certainly never sounded nearly as nice as the 930 Club :)
MindCage
Mindless Faith (http://www.mindlessfaith.com)
Deep6 Productions (http://www.deep6.com)
-
Isn't a midsized venue something between a small club and arena sized?
-
It's absolutely a mid-sized venue. Cap for that is usually between 2,000-5,000. DAR and Warner, both bigger than Nation, would be mid-sized venues.
-
all the bands that play there suck
-
I have been there a zillion times...went there the first night buzz was there, and was there almost every friday til about 1998. then i even hung outside and promoted our events for another 3 years,...never going in.
that place is a shithole...not because of the management or the venue itself..but the patrons....
glad it will be closing so it cant infect anyone else!!!
-
Originally posted by Shadrach:
Isn't a midsized venue something between a small club and arena sized?
I always thought that too. Something that can hold anywhere between 1000 to a couple thousand people. A place that can sell out shows on a semi-regular basis for popular acts but also not be big enough to take to an arena or amphitheatre.
-
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
-
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
I use to know some Baltimore Shitty school administrators like that. Except they would eventually find a way to blame the teachers; even though they rendered them powerless to do anything about it in the first place; just to punish someone and cover their own asses.
I never went back either after I finally accepted that that's way life is in that Hell Hole and there was no changing it.
Have never been to Nation but have had very little reason to go. Some things are better off closing down.
-
My lasting memories of Nation....
-getting propositioned by a prostitute
-getting panhandled by a crack head
-getting spit on by someone from the balconies above
-getting body cavity searched by dudes :(
I went there for a few shows out of necessity (Social Distortion, Deftones) but thank god I won't have to back again.
-
Originally posted by you be pickup:
all the bands that play there suck
Do the Breeders suck?
-
No mention of its former life as The Capital Ballroom? Saw the Butthole Surfers there, that was pretty cool.
-
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
really? my memory of nation is getting kicked out after a show ended early, and having to spend half the night outside with a friend at 13 (both of us) during an 18+ dance party after our show was over, while we waited for a ride. security stayed with us the whole time outside, and they were awesome. when i wasn't worried about getting shot in a drive-by or raped, they were a really cool group of guys. then again, nothing actually broke out that they needed to fix. so i guess i'll speak for myself...
-
Originally posted by Barcelona:
Originally posted by you be pickup:
all the bands that play there suck
Do the Breeders suck? [/b]
totally dude
-
Originally posted by you be pickup:
Originally posted by Barcelona:
Originally posted by you be pickup:
all the bands that play there suck
Do the Breeders suck? [/b]
totally dude [/b]
if you hate The Breeders; you're not worthy of a "you be" username. sorry, Charlie.
-
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
I HATE the security there. They don't know what they are doing. Their idea of crowd control is to get in front of the stage and keep pushing the crowd backwards until everyone falls down and gets trampled on. I'm glad it's getting shut down....although I wish it was going to be a month earlier, beacuse my favorite band is booked there in June. Sigh.
-
Originally posted by lukas:
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
I HATE the security there. They don't know what they are doing. Their idea of crowd control is to get in front of the stage and keep pushing the crowd backwards until everyone falls down and gets trampled on. I'm glad it's getting shut down....although I wish it was going to be a month earlier, beacuse my favorite band is booked there in June. Sigh. [/b]
that's the aquabats/aggrolites show right? :mad:
-
Another "fond" memory. Waiting in line for a show (forget who) and some girl in line decides that she has to pee really bad, drops trow right in line and pees in the gravel to the left of the sidewalk.
-
Happy to see it will be gone soon. I hates to go there (when I left the place I always expect my car to be broken into or stolen), but did see two good shows there (Tool and Bowie) when it was the Capital Ballroom.
-
Originally posted by andyrichter:
Originally posted by lukas:
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
I HATE the security there. They don't know what they are doing. Their idea of crowd control is to get in front of the stage and keep pushing the crowd backwards until everyone falls down and gets trampled on. I'm glad it's getting shut down....although I wish it was going to be a month earlier, beacuse my favorite band is booked there in June. Sigh. [/b]
that's the aquabats/aggrolites show right? :mad: [/b]
oh, crap. i wanted to go to that too. they better play somewhere else closeby.
-
Originally posted by Barcelona:
Do the Breeders suck? [/QB]
That was a good show. Siouxie And The Banshees were good there also.
-
Originally posted by you be pickup:
all the bands that play there suck
I really don't think Prince sucks, nor do I think my band sucks so stop being so grumpy.
I've been going to Nation/Capital Ballroom for at least the last 10 years and NEVER had a problem with my car getting broken into at all. Maybe people need to not be so stupid and leave things in plain sight?
MindCage
Mindless Faith (http://www.mindlessfaith.com)
Deep6 Productions (http://www.deep6.com)
-
My memories of Nation aren't of shows, but the Friday nights back in the very early 90s. I'd go with a mixed crowd and have half the folks over in the big club room, and a few of us over in this alternative room where they'd spin Siouxsie, Psych Furs, The Cure, etc. LOVED it. We'd do lemon drops and then eat at that awful food stand in the middle of the place. But I never, ever, no matter how drunk, ate a burger from the BBQ outside. That was scary.
But, also saw some good shows -- Siouxsie, Echo, Bad Religion.
-
Originally posted by MindCage:
I've been going to Nation/Capital Ballroom for at least the last 10 years and NEVER had a problem with my car getting broken into at all.
Lucky you. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
Maybe people need to not be so stupid and leave things in plain sight?
When my car was broken into at Nation there were at least 5-6 other cars in a row that had their windows and mirrors smashed. Nothing was taken from my car. It looks like they just went down the row and smashed the windows and mirrors.
It's not ALWAYS the victim's fault.
-
Originally posted by MindCage:
I've been going to Nation/Capital Ballroom for at least the last 10 years and NEVER had a problem with my car getting broken into at all. Maybe people need to not be so stupid and leave things in plain sight?
yeah, me neither. I spent several years at Nation/Capital Ballroom, the Edge, the East Side club, all those places....never had a car broken into.
I did have a cinder block thrown through my passenger window once though. Nothing stolen, just someone being an asshole i suspect.
-
Originally posted by Mike Rohsopht:
the East Side club
I saw the Cro-Mags there...that was nuts.
-
Originally posted by Bombay Chutney:
Lucky you. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
[/QB]
It probably happens just as often at the 9:30 Club.
-
Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Originally posted by Bombay Chutney:
Lucky you. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
[/b]
It probably happens just as often at the 9:30 Club. [/QB]
whats your point?
-
Originally posted by Mike Rohsopht:
whats your point? [/QB]
My point is, it probably doesn't happen as much at Nation as everyone thinks it does. I've read about way more break in's with cars parked at the 9:30 Club then at Nation.
-
Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
I've read about way more break in's with cars parked at the 9:30 Club then at Nation.
Could that be because you read the forums on 930.com and not the ones at buzzlife.com?
-
Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Originally posted by Mike Rohsopht:
whats your point? [/b]
My point is, it probably doesn't happen as much at Nation as everyone thinks it does. I've read about way more break in's with cars parked at the 9:30 Club then at Nation. [/QB]
maybe because you arent on the Nation messageboard!! silly.
and with years of going to both, i can almost assure you that, while its not as rampant as some may think, more cars get broken into around Nation than do around 930club. Perhaps due to the stupidity of the clientel, but every week i knew ppl who would get their rides broken into at Nation/Edge. a few ppl got their cars stolen completely!! But just like anything else, be smart and your chances go way down.
-
i just thought of something....anyone remember Tracks!!??
haha, what a fantastic place that was, hahaha.
-
Originally posted by you be betty:
Originally posted by andyrichter:
Originally posted by lukas:
Originally posted by Shadrach:
I don't mean to pile on, but my lasting memory of nation for years has been the time I went to a show and a fight broke out and security just stood around doing nothing.
I never went back after that no matter who was playing.
I HATE the security there. They don't know what they are doing. Their idea of crowd control is to get in front of the stage and keep pushing the crowd backwards until everyone falls down and gets trampled on. I'm glad it's getting shut down....although I wish it was going to be a month earlier, beacuse my favorite band is booked there in June. Sigh. [/b]
that's the aquabats/aggrolites show right? :mad: [/b]
oh, crap. i wanted to go to that too. they better play somewhere else closeby. [/b]
Unfortunately not...they are coming to Pittsburgh, Philly, New York, and Boston...but no Baltimore date. I'd say suck it up and go to Nation. It'll be worth it.
-
It would be one of your last chances to bitch about the venue the next day. :(
-
i saw prince there when it was the capital ballroom. that must have been 10 years ago.
how i hate nation though. they tried to throw me out 4 years ago at the chemical brothers concert because i had a sharpie pen in case i met tom and ed after the show so they could sign my cds. i'm not kidding you. they told me it could be used as a weapon, to which i balked, and then they copped attitude and said if i didn't toss it they were going to throw me out. fuckin ridiculous. a sharpie marker!
the place was fun for the legal raves, and that pet shop boys concert from 3 or 4 years ago was fantastic, but other than that, the sound for regular bands was generally crappy and the staff sucked. i felt like i wasted money on the chemical brothers and the souxsie show since the sound was poor. design of the room wasn't conducive to bands either. too long and narrow.
Originally posted by Sir HC:
No mention of its former life as The Capital Ballroom? Saw the Butthole Surfers there, that was pretty cool.
-
i think you mean tracks, yes? god, i loved that placed on thursday and friday nights in the early 90's. there was always a shooting or stabbing that went on either in the club, or right outside after we got in the cab and got a half block down the street. i'd read about it in the post monday morning! when did they close? 1999? 2000? that night i think the party went to 10 am the next day and literally 5000 people came.
i think i went on saturdays a couple times with some gay friends.
Originally posted by Bags:
My memories of Nation aren't of shows, but the Friday nights back in the very early 90s. I'd go with a mixed crowd and have half the folks over in the big club room, and a few of us over in this alternative room where they'd spin Siouxsie, Psych Furs, The Cure, etc. LOVED it. We'd do lemon drops and then eat at that awful food stand in the middle of the place. But I never, ever, no matter how drunk, ate a burger from the BBQ outside. That was scary.
But, also saw some good shows -- Siouxsie, Echo, Bad Religion.
-
It's funny how everyone can complain about other places staff, but once someone says something about the precious 9:30 staff.....LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!
-
Originally posted by lily1:
[QB] i saw prince there when it was the capital ballroom. that must have been 10 years ago.
how i hate nation though. they tried to throw me out 4 years ago at the chemical brothers concert because i had a sharpie pen in case i met tom and ed after the show so they could sign my cds. i'm not kidding you. they told me it could be used as a weapon, to which i balked, and then they copped attitude and said if i didn't toss it they were going to throw me out. fuckin ridiculous. a sharpie marker!
the place was fun for the legal raves, and that pet shop boys concert from 3 or 4 years ago was fantastic, but other than that, the sound for regular bands was generally crappy and the staff sucked. i felt like i wasted money on the chemical brothers and the souxsie show since the sound was poor. design of the room wasn't conducive to bands either. too long and narrow.
/QB]
It's funny that you argued with the staff thinking they're going to change the policy just for you so that makes them the bad person? You copped the attitude with them first, you think they're going to be nice to you about it when you're not listening to them about their policy? Think of it as a police officer telling you to step out of the car but you're not listening because you're telling them you have to pee and you're on your way home. When you get tazered does that make them the bad guy because you weren't listening? As far as I know, you're not allowed to bring sharpies into the 930 Club either. In case you didn't noticed how the bathrooms get painted every few months. It's because of people tagging the stalls and vandalizing the place.
I've seen very few rock band shows that sounded good in there. A lot has to do with the sound engineer knowing the room. Deftones sounded awful there.
That Prince show was in 96 so you're right it was 10 years ago. I still have my ticket stub from it. Probably one of the top 5 concerts I've ever seen. Getting to see Prince that close and have him rock out for 3 1/2 hours is always nice!
MindCage
Mindless Faith (http://www.mindlessfaith.com)
Deep6 Productions (http://www.deep6.com)
-
Originally posted by lily1:
i think you mean tracks, yes? god, i loved that placed on thursday and friday nights in the early 90's. there was always a shooting or stabbing that went on either in the club, or right outside after we got in the cab and got a half block down the street. i'd read about it in the post monday morning! when did they close? 1999? 2000? that night i think the party went to 10 am the next day and literally 5000 people came.
i think 1999. i remember going to a 4th of July party there in 99. but then i moved to boston and didnt come back til 01 and they were already closed.
I remember one time my buddy went with some bum to go buy weed and the bum tried to steal his jeans!!! he came back and they were all ripped up. good stuff.
-
Originally posted by Sir HC:
No mention of its former life as The Capital Ballroom? Saw the Butthole Surfers there, that was pretty cool.
Rancid in 1994 or 95, that was the best show I saw there
-
Well from the article it seems to me that they are looking to find a new location for Nation (or whatever they want to call it).
That being said maybe they'll find a building better suited to live music and maybe they'll pay closer attention to the sound engineering in the room and maybe they'll put it in a part of town not so prone to car break ins and maybe they'll hire some new staff that is more concerned with the safety of the patrons that come to their venue ;)
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
-
Originally posted by Shadrach:
Well from the article it seems to me that they are looking to find a new location for Nation (or whatever they want to call it).
That being said maybe they'll find a building better suited to live music and maybe they'll pay closer attention to the sound engineering in the room and maybe they'll put it in a part of town not so prone to car break ins and maybe they'll hire some new staff that is more concerned with the safety of the patrons that come to their venue ;)
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
but dont they already have a 930 club in DC?
-
Foo Fighters in August 1995. This was my second show ever (Foo Fighters in April 95 at Black Cat was my first). I have some GREAT memories of Nation. Some nights at Buzz were some of the BEST I'd ever had. On that same token, some nights at Buzz were the WORST I've ever had. I also saw MMW there and it was pretty cool. I have a love/hate relationship with the place I guess. I hope Buzz moves to the 9:30 Club, that would be pretty great and it is in a slightly better area of town. Hmm.
My favorite memory of Nation is when my driver side window was smashed in with a rock and I had my cd binder with 100 cds stolen. I'm sure there is some bum in SE rocking out to my collection of Evan Dando bootlegs... Haha..
Oh, and that time when my friend got his tires slashed...
And there was that time when my friend got his backpack stolen out of the car...
And that time when I drank too much and puked in the bathroom stall of Nation... and saw a BJ in progess on the dance floor that same night. Ahh, those were the days.
I was sure to be there every friday when Scott Henry was spinning for a couple years. I kind of lost interest after a while. Good times though. The ghettoness gave it character.
-
Not having lived in DC my whole life, it looks like there were some solid shows there. My extent was an overcrowded Chemical Brothers show that was pretty sweet, but not nearly as good soundwise as seeing them at 9:30 club. I did like the open drug policy though. Me and some friends went to see Dark Star Orchestra a few times and I never saw so much brazen, open dope smoking. It was kind of like hanging out in a coffee shop. Nobody cared, everybody was doing it, and security was nowhere to be seen. And the Heads were dealing right in the bathroom if you wanted it. Ahh, to be young again. The sketchy neighborhood and lack of cabs after shows was a hassle though.
-
Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
It's funny how everyone can complain about other places staff, but once someone says something about the precious 9:30 staff.....LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!
I've never had a serious problem with the 9:30 staff.
-
Originally posted by lukas:
Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
It's funny how everyone can complain about other places staff, but once someone says something about the precious 9:30 staff.....LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!
I've never had a serious problem with the 9:30 staff. [/b]
i would say anyone whos frequented both Nation and 930 can agree that "on the whole" the 930 staff is much more professional than the Nation staff.
That said, the patron of Nation tend to be MUCH more unruly than those at the 930 club.
-
i said i balked, not that i copped an attitude. balked as in looked at them in disbelief because in no other venue have i been told that a sharpie could be used as a weapon! the attitude was on them, unfortunately, particularly as there was nothing to indicate what their policies were on stuff like that, only signs up regarding use of cameras, illegal drug use and underage drinking. as far as the 930 policy, that's new to me as i've been bringing my sharpie and cds in there for years, hoping to be lucky enough to meet the artist after for a photo and signature on the cd or ticket.
Originally posted by MindCage:
It's funny that you argued with the staff thinking they're going to change the policy just for you so that makes them the bad person? You copped the attitude with them first, you think they're going to be nice to you about it when you're not listening to them about their policy? Think of it as a police officer telling you to step out of the car but you're not listening because you're telling them you have to pee and you're on your way home. When you get tazered does that make them the bad guy because you weren't listening? As far as I know, you're not allowed to bring sharpies into the 930 Club either. In case you didn't noticed how the bathrooms get painted every few months. It's because of people tagging the stalls and vandalizing the place. [/QB]
-
Tool's 96 Aenemia tour stopped at the capital ballroom. I've never sweated so bad at a show, my jeans got ripped up to my knee and I still remember blue/white Maynard mysteriously snaking around the stage. I'm still awestruck with what I saw that night.
-
Took a friend from out of town there on Thrusday after Prodigy to Alchemy.
Staff took my chewing gum at the door.
No kidding.
-
superbowl of hard core back in 98 or 99 with suic.tend. d.k.m blood for blood
-
Originally posted by him666:
superbowl of hard core back in 98 or 99 with suic.tend. d.k.m blood for blood
Must have been 99...here's the poster from 98 :)
<img src="http://www.deep6.com/superhc.jpg" alt=" - " />
MindCage
Mindless Faith (http://www.mindlessfaith.com)
Deep6 Productions (http://www.deep6.com)
-
I hate that place, though I will never forget seeing (and hanging out with) the Chemical Brothers back in November 1996 when they played Buzz and went on at 2am. Then DJ Dimitri from Deee-lite DJ'ed afterwards. I got home at 6am that night. The Social D shows were great, I saw Sonic Youth there, the Damned, Foo Fighters, Moby, Echo and the Bunnymen, Blur, and the Pet Shop Boys. I think that's it though. I HATED going there. Rude staff, crappy sound, and not a good place at all to see a show. Good riddance.