Seth Hurwitz Unveils ‘The Atlantis’: Reviving the Spirit of the Original 9:30 Club
Washington, D.C. may be most known as the heart of American politics, but beneath the surface of political discourse and monumental landmarks lies a vibrant, pulsating heart of a different kind-the city’s thriving music scene. From the soulful rhythms of go-go music, unique to the capital, to the hard-hitting sounds of its historic punk rock movement, D.C. offers an eclectic and rich musical heritage.
Dave Grohl, first known as the drummer for Nirvana and later as the creator of Foo Fighters, would often make the quick trek from Springfield, Va., to D.C. as a teenager in order to catch shows at the 9:30 Club. In the 1980s, the 9:30 Club was D.C.’s hub for alternative music, establishing itself as a key venue for punk and new wave bands on East Coast tours. It became a magnet for young musicians and music enthusiasts like Grohl, offering them a chance to see their favorite bands up close, in an intimate setting with a capacity of fewer than 200 people, known for giving bands like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Clinton, and Cyndi Lauper their start, and young fans a place to experience music their parents would hate — except for that one night Tony Bennett played there.
The 9:30 Club relocated from its tiny, grungy original spot at 930 F Street N.W. (the name inspired by its address) in 1996s, to a new location to better able to grow artists’ careers with a 1,200 capacity space. It is, and have been for decades, the most attended nightclub of its size in the world (#2 is in Belgium).
Now Seth Hurwitz, owner of the 9:30 Club, has built a near replica of the original club, the 450-capacity intimate space called The Atlantis. On opening night, instead of cutting a yellow ribbon, Seth Hurwitz, along with hometown hero Dave Grohl, symbolically snipped a large guitar string. As a tip of the hat to I.M.P.’s 44 thanniversary, Hurwitz and his team booked 44 massive acts that meant a lot to the club. Fans entered a lottery for their chance to see legends like Foo Fighters, Joan Jett, Spoon, George Clinton, and The Pretenders, along with huge new artists like Maggie Rogers and Tove Lo, in such a small space. There were 520,000 requests for 20,000 tickets.
Taking challenges wherever they can be found
Hurwitz has built a career and business on finding success against big odds. As founder of I.M.P., an independent concert promotion and production company that puts on everything from intimate performances to massive festivals, Hurwitz competes with large conglomerate entertainment companies that come into markets and buy bands away from independent promoters.
Hurwitz is one of the fortunate few who knew from a young age what he wanted to do. He attempted to produce his first concert in junior high but was told he was too young. However, he achieved his dream a few short years later in high school, and by the time he graduated had already launched I.M.P.
A year later in 1981, I.M.P. booked its first act-The Fleshtones-at the 9:30 Club. Developing a healthy working relationship with the club’s founders Dody DiSanto and Jon Bowers, six years later he and his business partner would buy the beloved yet financially bleeding club from them.
Blending past with future
Hurwitz recalls the iconic venue was “truly alternative” when he began booking shows there, less than a year after it first opened. DiSanto said cops used to ask her incredulously where the attendees of the shows came from, suggesting they seemed so out of the ordinary that they might have “crawled out from under rocks.” Grohl for his part, remembers begging to be let into the club, which did allow fans as young as 16 to enter.
The original location was said to have been just as grungy and “alternative” as its patrons. Large structural poles obstructed views of the stage, massive rats crawled along the floor and in the rafters, and an odious stench hung in the air at all times, and yet it was in these conditions that the punk, hardcore, and go-go scenes of the era thrived. Grohl said at the venue’s 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.”
The Atlantis embodies the intimate and edgy ambiance reminiscent of the 9:30 Club, and homages to the original location can be found throughout the venue. The heinous odor and population of rats were left to be bygones of an earlier era, but Hurwitz said he made a point to install at least one big pole.
The original front desk from the 9:30 Club was salvaged and installed in the entrance’s new hallway, shorter than the famous 106-foot-long one found previously and yet evoking a similar feeling of excitement as you move into the club itself. The Atlantis has a balcony and upstairs bar, but sitting at eye-level to it is the pole Hurwitz made sure to install, supporting a crow’s nest for a videographer.
Also on the rooftop is an art installation of sorts, recreating what the street outside would have looked like when the original club was open on 9 th& V Streets. There are City Paper and Washington Post newspaper boxes, with the latter holding the front page from the day after former DC mayor Marion Barry was arrested on cocaine charges. Posters from the era line the walls, as well as graffiti re-created by original artists, including a Cool “Disco” Dan tag made by members of the late artist’s crew.
Hurwitz, along with I.M.P.’s creative director Guillaume Desnoë, Brian Liu, who was a graphic designer of the 9:30 Club back in the day, collaborated to create the rooftop space that walks the line between creating a feeling of nostalgia for the past while also evoking excitement for the future. They didn’t want it to feel like a haunted house, holding ghosts of a lost era, nor like a carefully curated museum to be looked at but not touched. The Atlantis is simultaneously a love letter to something old and a promise of something new.
A return to smaller roots
In a full-circle moment, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters were the headlining band for opening night at The Atlantis, after two nights of a preliminary soft opening that showcased performances by D.C.’s legendary Go-Go band Trouble Funk and hometown ’80s cover band White Ford Bronco. At the “guitar string cutting ceremony” Hurwitz also unveiled a life-size statue of Grohl, made by local artist Bernard Pras using found objects.
While the Foo Fighters is certainly an impressive first act for The Atlantis, Hurwitz emphasizes that the venue is not about reliving the past, and intends to see the venue spotlighting up-and-coming artists. Grohl for his part said he hoped the new club would serve as the same beacon to young people that it did to him.
In an era where big entertainment companies focus on large venues suited for famous musicians, the importance of small music venues shines even brighter. These intimate spaces create a direct and personal connection between performers and the audience, fostering a sense of community that larger arenas can’t match. With the opening of The Atlantis, Hurwitz is making a stand to preserve this unique live music experience, showing his commitment to keeping the spirit of small venues alive, and helping to grow the music scene for the next generation of artists and fans.
Originally published at https://thebossmagazine.com on April 11, 2024.
