When Georgetown Rocked

Who hasn't met someone here under this clock? Before we had cell phones, we made plans in advance and stuck to them. If you were meeting your comrades in Georgetown, the corner of Wisconsin and M was the place to find each other - the epicenter of the neighborhood.

My extraordinarily talented friend Alan Kresse took these pictures in the mid 1970s.

Whatever happened to the Georgetown scene?  The one full of live music venues?  I think we can thank the Georgetown Moratorium Zone- the oldest and largest ban on liquor licenses which went into effect in 1989. Yes, the noise and trash went away, but so did the music. Blues Alley may be the only true survivor of those times with sold out shows this weekend. The ban was lifted somewhat in 2016, but not so you can tell except perhaps for Gypsy Sally's tucked in there under the Whitehurst Freeway. Beat Hotel will be there this Friday. If you are more into the post punk psychedelic scene Seven Door Sedan is at Rhizome with Celestial Pincushion.

Saturday the choices are myriad. Tone will blow your mind while Ruthie and the Wranglers, Jimmy Smooth and the Hit Time and the Rock-A-Sonics all have the dance scene covered. Too bad they aren't all in one neighborhood:

Tone @ DC9 (early show 7 pm)

Ruthie and the Wranglers @ Pearl Street Warehouse

Jimmy Smooth And the Hit Time @ JVs

Rock-A-Sonics @ Hank Dietle’s