The Anthem Coming to The Wharf from 9:30 Club Folks “a $60 million concert venue” with a 6000 person capacity

by Prince Of Petworth January 25, 2017 at 2:30 pm 24 Comments

wharf rendering
Rendering via The Wharf

Big news from Billboard:

“The 9:30 Club’s parent company I.M.P. Productions, has just announced the opening of a new Washington D.C. venue, the Anthem, a $60 million concert venue with a flexible capacity ranging from 6,000 to 2,500 featuring a moveable stage and backdrop. The club is part of The Wharf, a $2 billion development located on the city’s Southwest waterfront.”

Anthem will be joining a a few other small projects…

B’Dale Res

At long last they announce it!
ST21

I thought this was announced a while ago? Guess I was wrong. Can’t wait for Phase 1 of The Wharf to be completed- gonna be uugggee.
Bob Sacramento

Does anybody have intel on type of acts they will be billing? Will they be competing with echostage for acts meaning more edm based. I know whoever is there has got to be big because to fill 6,00 your gonna need a lot of butts in seats (or standing)
- shmoo
  
  it is the same talent booker (same person) as 930 club so I think they will essentially be competing with acts that come to DAR and are too large to fit into 930 club.
  - Full of Knowledge
    
    there is a team actually. and in flux. also I.M.P. books shows all of the time at D.A.R., Verizon, e.t.c. b..t.w.
  - Michael Pierce
    
    DAR is a terrible venue for rock shows. The acoustics are not good for loud music, and unless you’re on the floor or in the back, you’re facing the people sitting across from you instead of the stage.
    - Dognonymous
      
      Yeah, they only book at D.A.R. out of necessity. I remember seeing the Pixies there during their reunion tour and thinking how nice it would be to have a real mid-size concert venue in DC. Lo and behold, a decade later we’re there!
- textdoc
  
  I.M.P. (the 9:30’s parent company) has already done a bunch of shows at Echostage. The coming of the Anthem will mean that they can now book such shows for their own venue, rather than having to use somebody else’s venue.
- JS
  
  I believe there was some talk of using it for boxing and other live events extending well beyond music. Would be interesting to hear if that’s actually going to pan out.
  
  I’d imagine this venue will largely replace the Patriot Center, becoming the place IMP books bands who aren’t quite Verizon Center level, but still have high demand. I could also see some of those bands who always play 2-3 shows at 9:30 Club when they come to town doing one night here instead.
  - tito jackson
    
    Not many bands can pack a 6,000 person event, Celebrity DJs may become the leading bookings… Hopefully they plan multiple rooms to the place, they may need to revive rave culture to make that huge venue work out…
    - Anonymous
      
      Based on the falling demand of celebrity DJs in Las Vegas, reviving this genre in DC seems like it would be a tall order.
    - JS
      
      I think you can look to venues like Aragon Ballroom (5000 capacity) in Chicago for a sense of what IMP would book here. EDM, bigger rap acts, bands that are sub-headliners at most festivals like The XX, CHVRCHES or Queens of the Stone Age.
    - Just say’n
      
      They should have called it 9:32
- Dognonymous
  
  No intel, but I can speculate. It’s a great size venue for the IMP team. They’ve run a ton of shows at Merriweather that don’t use the lawn and probably come in around 5k-7k in attendance. I went to a New Order show that fit that bill a few years back, plus a Yo La Tengo/The National double bill. Big-but-not-huge bands like Chvrches and Tame Impala that have played Echostage will probably play here, too.
L

Looking forward to this. It sounds like IMP will start booking here instead of Echostage (to some extent), which is great from a transit perspective.
afternoon

I’m wondering if this venue will also now be competing regionally with MGM National Harbor for acts.
- Anonymous
  
  It will compete to a certain degree, but MGM’s location is always going to hinder the number of people who attend shows. Odds are that the two venues will draw in different talent, with MGM picking up artists who draw in older crowds who are more likely to live in the suburbs.
  - GBinCH
    
    MGM usually has riders in their contracts for acts performing in Vegas that require them to play in National Harbor as well. This is why Bruno Mars played there, rather than another venue. MGM will always have a locked in stream of artists who might prefer playing other venues but have contractual obligations to MGM.
Anon

RIP Echostage? Short of some EDM acts, I feel like IMP is going to take many of their bookings. Who wants to schlep out to Bladensburg if you can hop on the metro to the Wharf?
Bob Sacamento

Thanks everyone for the responses. IMP seems to book for all sorts of venues so it doesnt narrow it down too much. Each venue kinda does its own thing. Echostage (EDM and some other stuff), Merriweather (all sorts of acts), Lincoln seems like it caters to a bit older crowd (at least in comparison to Echostage so really not all that old ). I think there are prob not very many band/djs/groups etc. that can really bring in 6,000 people so Im guessing anyone who can bring in that many people will be booked. I’m just excited to have a bigger venue that is not difficult to get to via public transit!
Dan

Can we please start a petition to have them change the anme of this? It’s horrible.
- Dan
  
  name*
- anon
  
  +1
Anonymous

Not sure why this is needed. Our tax dollars are building a similar sized venue for the Wizards just a couple of metro stops away. EventsDC promised us it would attract all sorts of concerts and there was no other venue this size. EventsDC wouldn’t lie to us, would they?

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