the rock and roll hotel is going to be open in late april/early may and will be around 350 capacity and all ages. high on fire was going to play but we had to cancel it because we're likely not going to be open by the 20th. i will be booking shows there in addition to dc9 and the warehouse. the red and the black, which is located a block away from the rock and roll hotel, will be open in late april as well, and will be comparable in size to the velvet lounge.
between all of these places, i'll be able to pull bands that would normally play baltimore and/or philly instead of dc. there certainly is a market for it.
the black cat is gradually going the way of the 9:30, where they are intent on booking what sells the most. i can't really fault them for needing to cover costs, but this often means that great bands that draw 300 get left out if the cat won't book them, as noted by redsock and his story about BJM. when i have a sold out show at the warehouse or dc9, people ask why the show wasn't at a bigger place, and the answer is because the cat wouldn't book it.
the bottom line is, dc needs a mid-size venue that can host acts that are too big for dc9/warehouse but too small for black cat/9:30. we're really hoping that people respond to these new venues and support them when we do start getting some fairly well-known national acts.
