A New Hood in Town

What's going on behind all that chain link down at the Southwest waterfront? Last night I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview when friends and I landed tickets to two of the new venues- The Anthem and Pearl Street Warehouse. We were agog (especially us DC natives) at the transformation as we walked through a surreal landscape of not yet open shops and hard hat types scurrying to finish things deep into the night.

The Anthem will remind you of the old 9:30 Club going all the way back to the F Street location with its black decor, as well as the V Street place with its movable stage, balconies, and terrific sound system. The space easily absorbed the twenty-five hundred people there last night with everyone taking advantage of all the sight points. There's even a charging wall so your date can't use the excuse that their phone died when you lose them in this six thousand capacity joint. I'm not sure there's ever been a space this size to see a rock show in our town- not to mention on the water. I was wowed.

Pearl Street is as intimate as The Anthem is grand. Now we are back on the scale of the old 9:30, but think laid back Southern roadhouse with little tables and a checkerboard floor that can be cleared for dancing. A diner complete with counter service sits just to the side of the performance space. As one of my companions said gazing at the garage doors which will open onto the promenade on nice days, it feels like we left town. This is an all day venue which will start with breakfast at 7 a.m. and serve 'til they close. At a max capacity of three hundred, there isn't a bad seat in the house.

How to get there? The funnest way would have to be by water. Check out the new Wharf water taxi line opening tomorrow with free rides throughout the day.

P.S. Update from October 11

More photos from The Anthem's Foo Fighters preview show in which case Dave "never dial it in" Grohl gave us his all.

And we discover more people can fit in here...