Thoughts:
I parked in the L'Enfant garage for $20, and walked. Quickly realized there was free parking at the meters (being a Sunday), and was slightly annoyed at the advice to pay $$. I'm sure any other day of the week will be a different story.
Super Excellent Seats don't lie. Glad I got to try them out for free, as I'll never pay for them. Mostly because there's a GA Standing Room only area right behind (and within) each section. If you're going tonight, get there early and head upstairs first. Move down to the floor for the headliner.
I was in the first 25 or so people in the venue. I immediately went upstairs, found a bar and claimed my free Pacifico. There were 7(!) bartenders eager to serve me, as I was their first customer. Unfortunately, neither Pacifico tap was "on", and they wouldn't sub another beer, so I paid for a...DC Brau(?). Apparently the selection varies a bit from bar to bar, so the menu posted above isn't complete. Never saw any lines upstairs, unlike the downstairs bar and food...
When I did wander downstairs, I was caught in the clusterf@*k food situation. Felt bad for the guy standing next to me, who had been waiting far longer than I had. He was getting antsy because, well, he was Anthony Pirog, and he needed to get up on stage. When somebody pointed out that he should be backstage, and the club should be bringing food to him, he shrugged and said, "Naw, it's better out here". Not really sure what that meant...
Wandered the space a bit. There's a decent (tho distant!) spot to stand behind the sound board, and plenty of GA seats. Not sure what the configuration will be for sold out shows. The very top row at the far end of the venue is a little more like Verizon than I'd like, but I doubt I'll ever go there. Most of the venue feels like the 9:30 club.
The stage is impressively big. The bands were really only using about 40% of it, as the proscenium was bumped forward and they didn't use the wings at all. Can't wait to see how the Foo's will fill it!
Random other thoughts:
- The box office is outside the venue and is open! I also may have been their first customer on Sunday, as I hopped out of the line and picked up St. Vincent with no fees.
- The cymbal thing is in the lobby as you enter - look up! Very cool.
- Also have to echo that its great to have the balcony on the 2nd floor. I'm sure I'll spend some time there..I looked for the 3rd floor balcony but couldn't find it.
- The exposed part of the backstage area that you can see from the floor looks like what a set designer would create if they were trying to make you think you could see backstage.
All told, I'm hugely excited, and grateful to Seth for building the Anthem for us
