D.C. is getting a small new venue that’s set to host a lot of big-name artists this summer. The Atlantis debuted Tuesday with Foo Fighters in a space that replicates the original famed venue the 9:30 Club.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Mayor Muriel Bowser attended a grand opening ceremony Tuesday morning where Seth Hurwitz — chairman of I.M.P. which owns The Atlantis, the 9:30 Club and The Anthem — cut a guitar string at the venue's front door.
Paying homage to one local kid the original 9:30 Club helped turn into a rockstar, Hurwitz also unveiled a life-size statue of Grohl. The statue, made by Bernard Pras using found objects, shows Grohl holding a blue guitar and wearing a logo for The Anthem.
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"Dave won’t just be christening the room – he’ll be honoring the legacy of a space he attended as a kid and later took the stage of with bands like Scream and Nirvana," The Atlantis said in a statement.
"I got to witness hundreds of bands that inspired me to become a musician myself," Grohl said during the ceremony — and that gave him "that feeling of being in this sort of tribe, like we were all in on this big secret."
The Atlantis hosted one of Foo Fighters' first shows since the loss of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022. It's set to be the Foo Fighters' first D.C. show with new drummer Josh Freese.
The Atlantis said it received about a half-million requests for tickets after dropping its lineup of inaugural 44 concerts — celebrating 44 years since the original 9:30 Club opened. Music fans may have to wait until the fall to snag tickets to a show.
I.M.P. Concerts, which runs the 9:30 Club and The Anthem, tells News4 this first batch of shows is huge “underplays,” meaning the artists could sell out way bigger venues.
News of The Atlantis sent social media spinning into a mosh pit — yes, over the artists, but also over some deep D.C. rock nostalgia.
Here's a look at the new D.C. venue and why it's turned up the amps on D.C.'s summer music scene.
Wait, What’s The Atlantis and Why Is It So Nostalgic?
The Atlantis is a 450-capacity venue at 9th Street NW — right next to the 9:30 Club.
The Atlantis was designed to be a near-replica of the original 9:30 Club that opened in 1980, I.M.P. says, with a capacity of just 200. The location at 930 F Street NW hosted legends in the making including Nirvana, Cyndi Lauper, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Minor Threat and Fugazi for a decade and a half.
Trading large poles obstructing the stage, “gargantuan rats” and an odious stench for more space, the 9:30 Club moved to 815 V Street NW in 1996, according to I.M.P. It can now host 1,200 concertgoers.
Even The Atlantis name is historic reverb, taken from a short-lived venue that preceded the original 9:30 Club in its F Street space, I.M.P. says.
What Can D.C. Expect From the New Venue?
Fans who walk into the new The Atlantis' will be greeted by the original front door desk from the old building.
"That's where I begged to be let into shows when I was a teenager," Grohl recalled at Tuesday's grand opening. "It was all the misfits, all the kids from the suburbs and kids from town, that found a family together in places like the old 9:30 Club. And hopefully, that tradition will continue."
Old school cool 9:30 Club fans may be relieved or flabbergasted to learn the new space has a nod to an infamous, view-ruining pole in the middle of the dance floor.
Otherwise, a $10 million investment and design by CORE architecture + design — the architectural firm whose work you may recognize from CAVA, Founding Farmers and minibar by José Andrés — should level up the look of the intimate venue.
Why Are the Foo Fighters Playing at This Tiny Venue?
The Foo Fighters headline the world’s biggest music festivals and sell out amphitheaters — but their show at The Atlantis is much more sentimental than surprising.
Grohl grew up in Northern Virginia and said he discovered the 9:30 Club at 14 years old. Grohl said he saw hundreds of bands at the original 9:30 Club in the '80s and '90s — before he played the venue with Nirvana.
He recently called it "our church."
"That's where we all played first. That's where R.E.M. played first. That’s where the [Red Hot] Chili Peppers played first. That’s where Nirvana played first… Magic happened in that room. And if the new room has the same vibe as the old 9:30 Club, you’ll see some real magic there, too," Grohl said in an April release.
Grohl has become I.M.P.'s go-to guy for headline-grabbing opening nights.
The Foo Fighters officially opened I.M.P.'s large D.C. venue, The Anthem, in 2017 and roughly four years later played the 9:30 Club’s first show after COVID-related shutdowns.
Grohl even broke the news about The Atlantis at that 9:30 Club show in 2021, asking the crowd: “We’ll probably be the band that opens that place, too, right?”
Right indeed.
Who’s Playing at The Atlantis in 2023?
The Foo Fighters were the first band to headline The Atlantis stage when the venue opens on Tuesday, May 30.
The Walkmen, Hannibal Buress, Yo La Tengo, The Head and the Heart, Portugal. The Man, Third Eye Blind, The Struts, Joan Jett, Spoon, Billy Idol and Maggie Rogers are just some heavy hitters on the schedule through September — check out the lineup below or on The Atlantis website.
While the grand opening run is steeped in nostalgia, I.M.P. Chair Seth Hurwitz says The Atlantis isn’t all about the past. The company was looking for a small venue of its own where it could spotlight up-and-coming artists.
“This will be where we help introduce new artists to the world, and their story needs to be told right,” Hurwitz said in a statement.
The next slate of artists set to play this fall and winter at The Atlantis includes G Flip, Generational, Krooked Kings, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, modernlove. and The Moss.
The motto on its logo reads: Where music begins.
How Do I Get Tickets for The Atlantis?
For its debut slate of 44 shows, The Atlantis made tickets available via a Ticketmaster Request lottery.
I.M.P. says the only way to get tickets to those shows now is if someone offers them on the Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange.
"Beware of tickets listed for higher prices on other sites (SeatGeek, StubHub, Vivid, Ticketnetwork, etc) — they are not real tickets and won’t get you into the show," the venue's website says.
But for the next slate of shows in fall and winter, fans can simply purchase a ticket (no lottery necessary).
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