Re: Sound at the 9:30 Club..
Spoke with Gus the sound engineer (as well as the Breeder road engineer)... they have a 5 week old (new) Digidesign ProTools rig in the back (24 channel I think), and Gus said they are getting a new PA system in in the next few weeks. So everything is getting "refreshed" at the club. The ProTools setup was sick, especially given the ability to save setups, which Gus said saved his ass during a two night/set stint for a band a few weeks ago.
It's nice to see the club not banking the cash they get from their other venues and actually upgrading the place... it shows (and sounds) appropriately.