This week rollcall

[Darth Ed]

There are two reasons that one might prefer a Black Cat concert to a 9:30 Club concert. First, the 9:30 Club shows I attend are just too damned crowded usually, so crowded that it's hard to see around the heads of people right in front of you, but I can show up at most Black Cat concerts halfway through an opener's set of even the most popular acts and still get almost all the way up front. To get the same vantage point at a 9:30 show, I have to show up an hour before doors open, it seems to me. Maybe I'm going to the wrong shows at the 9:30 Club. Also, the Black Cat has wonderful air conditioning that they actually push cold air through during the concert. A crowded show at the 9:30 Club is almost always uncomfortably warm, and I rarely ever notice the 9:30's AC as being on. That said, the sound is pretty much always better at the 9:30 Club, of course, but lately I tend to have more relaxing, fun times at Black Cat shows.

[hutch]

yup, shows are cheaper at the BC so that's a plus for them.  on the other hand, i would have paid $5 or $10 more for a better PA and better sight lines.  i realize not everyone would agree.

beer might be cheaper at the black cat ($6 for 16 oz of draft vs. $7 for 12 oz at 930), but WTF is the deal with their over-priced water?!?  $4 for a silver blue-and-red can that they called a "tall-boy".  ridiculous!

Ridiculous? yOU'RE JOKING? I've seen the tall boy at DC happy hour prices at $4.

Amazing deal.


Its a nice option for people that want a beer but aren't too particular...

My favorite beer at the Black Cat is the Fosters Oil Can......keeps you set up for a while..

[i am gay and i like cats]

if black cat had a parking situation like the 930 . . . they'd give the club a little more run for the money.  i don't go to black cat because i enjoy my life after i park my car.

[Jaguar]

if black cat had a parking situation like the 930 . . . they'd give the club a little more run for the money.  i don't go to black cat because i enjoy my life after i park my car.

I fully agree with this! Not that the 9:30 would lose points due to all of their other advantages. To me, they are both great clubs with their own charms. It's not a competitive thing in my mind but, instead, two great musical experiences.

Getting back to the point, when it came down to it, I stopped going to the Black Cat a long time ago solely because of the lack of available parking. It wasn't so much a conscious decision but when I look back on why I opted out of so many shows that I would have otherwise loved to have attended, it always came down to not wanting to leave that much earlier to wrangle for so few parking spaces. Unfortunately, taking any sort of public transportation was not an option for me. Plus, if a show was on a work day, I usually wasn't able to leave early enough to get there in time to include a good 45 minute or so ride around the neighborhood until something opened up. With that said, I do miss seeing shows there since I've always really liked the place.

[notme]

i think bc has new bass bins.  also, why would anyone buy water at 930 or bc when they give it away for free?

[hutch]

parking? couldn't care less about that... certainly don't think more highly of a rock and roll club because they offer PAID parking...


I'm a walker.. i can park my car where there are spots and walk to the clubs and enjoy it..or I can metro.


anyways, this is silly.. of course the 930 is a great club but if the black cat was just like the 930 it would simply be the 930.. what would be the point of that.. its the diversity of the experience that matters... when you go to the show at the black cat its not like the 930 and thats a good thing and vice versa


another plus for the black cat is they couldn't care less if you take pictures or video.. for me thats a nice thing.. at the 930 you're always worried someone is going to come up to you and tell you not to do it.. they are nice about it for sure though...

another plus about the black cat is the artists often work the merch table or come out after show ad walk around..i've had nice conversations with members of bands i like at the black cat.. its just more relaxed and informal.. at a mountain goats show in the 90s john simply let everyone backstage after the show... a few years ago i had a beer and talked with one of the guys from sloan.... dean wareham and britta came out and mingled.. i've never had that at the 930


like i said i love both places but props to the black cat for existing in a cesspool of yuppydom.

[Jaguar]

parking? couldn't care less about that... certainly don't think more highly of a rock and roll club because they offer PAID parking...


I'm a walker.. i can park my car where there are spots and walk to the clubs and enjoy it..or I can metro.

Says the guy who threw a royal shit fit when MBV chose to play Richmond instead of right in your neighborhood.    Though those are big pluses for your personal concert life, not all of us have it that easy when it comes to seeing a show. Almost ANY show, for that matter; so, for us, it does matter. The show experience itself might not be any different but we have to be able to get to the show before we can actually see the thing.

another plus for the black cat is they couldn't care less if you take pictures or video.. for me thats a nice thing.. at the 930 you're always worried someone is going to come up to you and tell you not to do it.. they are nice about it for sure though...

Couldn't agree more with you on this.

another plus about the black cat is the artists often work the merch table or come out after show ad walk around..i've had nice conversations with members of bands i like at the black cat.. its just more relaxed and informal.. at a mountain goats show in the 90s john simply let everyone backstage after the show... a few years ago i had a beer and talked with one of the guys from sloan.... dean wareham and britta came out and mingled.. i've never had that at the 930

Maybe you haven't been there on the right nights or just don't know the way it usually works out at the 9:30. I've mingled with many different bands there from Spiritualized to Elbow, only to name a few. Lots of other forum members were there too. Some of them just come up to us and start socializing which is very different from most other club experiences.

like i said i love both places but props to the black cat for existing in a cesspool of yuppydom.

Ja ja! Again, I agree.
^(Just for you.)

[i am gay and i like cats]

unlike some people . . . i enjoy the gestational movements of topics within threads that do go right back to the original point, usually very quickly, so i will never understand the fuss.

[hutch]

parking? couldn't care less about that... certainly don't think more highly of a rock and roll club because they offer PAID parking...


I'm a walker.. i can park my car where there are spots and walk to the clubs and enjoy it..or I can metro.

Says the guy who threw a royal shit fit when MBV chose to play Richmond instead of right in your neighborhood.    Though those are big pluses for your personal concert life, not all of us have it that easy when it comes to seeing a show. Almost ANY show, for that matter; so, for us, it does matter. The show experience itself might not be any different but we have to be able to get to the show before we can actually see the thing.

another plus for the black cat is they couldn't care less if you take pictures or video.. for me thats a nice thing.. at the 930 you're always worried someone is going to come up to you and tell you not to do it.. they are nice about it for sure though...

Couldn't agree more with you on this.

another plus about the black cat is the artists often work the merch table or come out after show ad walk around..i've had nice conversations with members of bands i like at the black cat.. its just more relaxed and informal.. at a mountain goats show in the 90s john simply let everyone backstage after the show... a few years ago i had a beer and talked with one of the guys from sloan.... dean wareham and britta came out and mingled.. i've never had that at the 930

Maybe you haven't been there on the right nights or just don't know the way it usually works out at the 9:30. I've mingled with many different bands there from Spiritualized to Elbow, only to name a few. Lots of other forum members were there too. Some of them just come up to us and start socializing which is very different from most other club experiences.

like i said i love both places but props to the black cat for existing in a cesspool of yuppydom.

Ja ja! Again, I agree.
^(Just for you.)

well i'm always willing to learn when you've got something to say..

what am i doing wrong? show ends you hang out and the 930 staff tells you to leave.. should i go to the backbar and sit there? please, i'm all ears.

I've been I have to guess to at least 100 shows at the 930.. so please do tell.

A band skipping DC in favor of Baltimore or Richmond is a serious issue....Just from a respect perspective I'd think people would get that... the last thing you/we want is bands thinking they can play Richmond or Baltimore and do better than by playing DC.. think about it. We want DC to be automatic..


Remember Cleveland? Everyone used to play there..EVERYONE.  now its an afterthought and if you live there more than half the time you have to go to Akron, Toledo, Dayton or wherever... is that what you want DC to be? (before some asswipe wants to distort what i'm saying: i obviously realize that has a bit to do with economics and how Cleveland developed or didnn't..)


Add: thinking back ok i have had some encounters.. met margo timmins one time..  Marc Perlman (maybe Louris too..iffy on that one) of the Jayhawks..got backstage the night Kasabian played.. but they've been very VERY few and far between and there have been many times I did just about anything i could think of to meet the artist/get autographs (Nick Cave , Pogues) and come out way empty so....yes, in my experience the 930 is far more impersonal than the Black Cat with respect to artists and that makes sense as the Black Cat is sort of Triple AAA and 930 the major leagues..

[i am gay and i like cats]

no pictures.  no cats.  no nothing . . . but DAMN!

[hutch]

speaking of venues I ended up finally going to the Fillmore in Silver Spring last night....

[jrho]

Patrick Stump and Panic at the Disco tonight! Excited for costumes.

[sweetcell]

speaking of venues I ended up finally going to the Fillmore in Silver Spring last night....

... and?  liked?  hated?  meh'ed?

[i am gay and i like cats]

widespread will ruin the place . . . in a greeeeaaat way!

[hutch]

speaking of venues I ended up finally going to the Fillmore in Silver Spring last night....

... and?  liked?  hated?  meh'ed?

Thumbs down.

1. security out front makes you do the "T" and pull your pockets inside out.
2. once you get inside you have to do a line where they ask for your id and run it through a machine... never seen this in my life! looking for people who might owe child support and maybe more..unclear whether they would arrest you although I didn't see any cops (I was too busy yelling at them to ask pertinent questions)
3. the place was COLD.. not sure if its not finished or there is a hole somewhere but I was cold.
4. my friend had seats in the VIP area.. a little table facing stage up in balcony... only three beers on tap... shocktop, sam adams maybe seasonal and some shit beer i can't remember.. you can't stand up in your VIP table area to dance cause your head would block table behind you.
5. place was crowded.. if you think the 930 gets crowded well this was crowded and since its noticeable wider than 930 forget about moving if you're in the middle.
6. when you get out after a while they start with the barriers to close off area in front of Fillmore.


Sound was quite good though..I will give it that.. they had some posters on the wall.

Ziggy Marley needs some help with his band.. only one female backing singer but two keyboards, two drums/percussion..a guitarist that is completely by the books and has not an ounce of soul. Enjoyed Ziggy last time so much more... it was weird he's singing about Freedom after we've had the id check... then he's singing get up stand up and everyone in the tables is sitting. I found a corner they "let me" dance in the VIP area but I felt like the VIP ropeline worker was this close to telling me to sit down. nuts.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to check it out though...