Concert Venues - DC/Baltimore

The concert scene in the DC, Virginia, Maryland (Baltimore) area is actually pretty good, with a variety of venues to cover the range of bands and audiences. Now that I’m older and have to get up early for work, I have less patience for the venues up in Baltimore, especially since I’m either going alone, or the only one who knows how to get there; this means I can’t drink, and I really hate driving home drowsy when I’m falling asleep leaving the club, much less trying to drive an hour back to Virginia in such a state. But I still go to as many concerts as I can. The clubs are better as they are closer, cheaper, and you can always see the band up close. At Jaxx you might even be able to meet the band after.

MARYLAND

Side Bar Tavern [2 shows]. A very small dive (without even a backstage) on Lexington Street in the downtown financial district of Baltimore, a few blocks from the Baltimore City Circuit Court. If you saw “Die Hard 4”, you probably saw the block this club is located on. I saw Orange Goblin and Atomic Bitchwax here a few years ago, but haven’t noticed any major acts playing there recently.

Otto Bar [2 shows]. This is a small dive in the rundown north part of Baltimore, but right on Charles Street (so it’s easy to get to); it’s a bit bigger than the Side Bar. I saw Fu Manchu and Atomic Bitchwax here. As with the Side Bar, I haven’t noticed any major acts playing here recently.

Ram’s Head On Stage [2 shows]. In Annapolis, on a trendy little street, with “sit here and eat” reserved seating perfect for those of us older fans who hate standing all night – although it is pretty small. You can order dinner and a beer from the Fordham brewery located next door. Incidentally, Annapolis is only about 20 minutes east of the DC Beltway, so the drive is not nearly as bad as it is for the Ram’s Head Live.

Ram’s Head Live [5 shows]. This is in downtown Baltimore near the Power Plant and the newly redone party district; it’s fairly new and has only been around for a few years. Baltimore Ave., which leads up to it, is Baltimore’s red light district. The place is fairly large, with 3 levels and a small seating area. They also have a restaurant with plasma TV displays of the stage, so you can watch from there while you chow down a burger. This place gets nationally known acts such as Tesla, The Mars Volta, Ted Nugent, Queens of the Stone Age (Josh Homme was impressed with the club), etc. I agree - I just hate the drive.

Hammerjacks [2 shows]. This famous Baltimore club closed in 2006. Up to that point it was supposedly the premier rock club on the East Coast. At UMCP I’d see the stickers plastered everywhere. We saw two concerts there, but due to heavy construction in that neighborhood (around what is now M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Ravens, and Camden Yards, home of the Orioles) we could never get there the same way twice. It was pretty much like the Ram’s Head Live is now.

Recher Theater [1 show]. Up in Towson, immediately north of Baltimore, within its beltway, and moderately sized – one large common ballroom with no levels. I’ve only seen one concert there, Tesla in 2004. This is a nasty drive from the DC area, as you have to go up around Baltimore on its Beltway (695) for another half hour after leaving 95. Not a bad place, and downtown Towson is fine – pretty close to the Baltimore County Circuit Court building. Just a hateful ride.

Richie Coliseum [3 shows]. This is the University of Maryland’s 40’s era gymnasium before Cole Field House was built. Not only did we catch Megadeth here in 1985, but I also saw the Black Sabbath “Cross Purposes” show here in 1994 (Tony Martin on vocals) – and they played “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath”, “Into the Void”, “The Wizard”, and the FULL “Symptom of the Universe”. Thanks to Ken for the heads up on that one. The place is very small and has concrete seat bleachers, very old fashioned. Most high school gym auditoriums are bigger than this (I know mine was).

Paragon. Closed. This was the club in College Park where we used to see Honor Among Thieves, now known as SR-71. We didn’t see any nationally known acts there, though every now and then such a band was rumored to play there. We’d typically party in the bar downstairs, the Cellar, fairly often.

Mike’s 8^th Ave [1 show]. This is up close to Baltimore-Washington Airport (BWI). This is another “ballroom” type venue, with a stage and a large standing room area with absolutely no seats. I saw Danzig here, with Type O Negative opening, and half the crowd was moshing. This was the first show where I just kind of rolled with the punches and ignored the moshing and didn’t let it annoy me.

Baltimore Arena/First Mariner Arena [5 shows]. Somewhat smaller (14,000 capacity) than the Cap Center (mentioned below) and reopened, located in downtown Baltimore – much older, though, put up in 1962 and still standing. If the band couldn’t sell out the Cap Center they would play here. I saw Iron Maiden here on the Somewhere in Time tour in 1987, and most recently saw a killer Tool show last summer. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin both played there (shows that I, unfortunately, missed).

Merriweather Post Pavilion [6 shows]. This is the Maryland equivalent of the Nissan Paviliion – a large, semi-covered amphitheater - but it’s been around much longer (1967), with a capacity of 16,500. My friend Ken’s parents saw Wishbone Ash play here on the Wishbone 4 tour in 1973. It’s right across 175 from Columbia Mall, so you can park in the mall parking lot and get out of there fairly quickly, and catch a reasonably priced dinner at the mall’s food court before the show. Ken still bitches that the parking is included in the ticket price, as we have NEVER used their parking lot – I don’t even know where it is. The surrounding (non stage) areas where the t-shirt concessions are, etc. are kind of rough, muddy, and foresty, very natural, unlike Nissan Pavilion where it’s all concrete and new.

Capital Centre [18 shows]. Best known as the Cap Center, though briefly renamed the USAir Arena. It closed in 1997, and was demolished in 2002. Its capacity was just under 19,000. It went up in 1973, so many of the 70s rock bands played there, including Deep Purple on the Burn tour. Its parking lot is featured in “Heavy Metal Parking Lot” (as mentioned in my Judas Priest blog). This place had the unique shape of a Pringles chip, a circular roof which scooped down dramatically in the middle. If you were going to see a heavy metal band, e.g. Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Iron Maiden, KISS, Rush, Judas Priest, AC/DC, etc. at the peak of the metal era, THIS is probably where you went to see them. Back when we lived in the US (before 1979) a friend of ours took us to see one of these IceCapades things for a birthday party, and we were up in the sky box – a real treat. One of our youth league coaches also brought us there to see the Capitals play the Rockies (NHL) in 1978.

DC

9:30 Club [4 shows at the old one, 5 at the new one]. Formerly at 930 F Street, thus the name, in downtown DC (very close to the FBI Building). At that location we saw Faith No More (“the Real Thing” tour in 1989) and even got Jim Martin and Mike Bordin to sign my CD insert; Type O Negative; and Hawkwind – both the real band and Nik Turner’s version. This location was small – probably the smallest, most claustrophobic club I’d ever been in. Eventually they moved to their current location at 9^th and V Street, a somewhat rougher part of town, but a much bigger place, with two levels. According to their own horn they toot, this place is the CBGB’s of DC and now of the East Coast now that the NY venue is gone. It certainly gets internationally known acts. I’ve seen QOTSA there three times, plus Ratdog, Dark Star Orchestra, Fu Manchu, and Monster Magnet. I have no idea if the Ramones have ever played there.

Bayou [4 shows]. Closed. This was under the Whitehurst Freeway on K Street, and was about the same size as the current 9:30 Club. It was within walking distance of my place in Rosslyn, and the site of the Motorhead show during the blizzard of 1996.

Black Cat [4 shows]. On 14^th Street, fairly easy to get to if you can remember exactly what block it’s on (just north of S Street). It actually has a large upstairs and a small “backstage”, which I learned after seeing Blue Cheer, Nebula and Fu Manchu upstairs and …Nebula again, “backstage”. They have Woodchuck on tap! Woohoo!

DC9/Capital Ballroom [1 show]. Off in a bad part of town, but fortunately it’s two blocks from the Metro so you’re fine. It’s fairly large inside (must have been a warehouse or something, especially given the moving company warehouses in the neighborhood) so it’s not so bad. I recall seeing Ozzy here on the tour for Ozzmosis, when he started that business of playing humorous videos on the screen before starting the show.

DAR Constitution Hall [2 shows]. This is right on Constitution Avenue and has a real 1920s feel to it. You can imagine the Republicans or Democrats having their conventions here back in the 1920s. And to juxtapose this, we saw Black Sabbath (Dehumanizer tour) and Jethro Tull (recent Aqualung live tour) here.

Bender Arena, American University [1 show]. This is like a large college basketball arena. I saw exactly one show here: Soundgarden, on the Superunknown tour in 1994. Even Chris Cornell made some weird remark about the name of the place.

Warner Theater [1 show]. Now it’s mostly for upscale comedy shows (Defending the Caveman, Bill Maher, etc.) but they used to show metal concerts – Twisted Sister (???) and Great White. This is one of these old turn of the century type theaters with big curtains on the stage and plush seats.

Verizon Center [1 show]. Formerly the MCI Center. Fairly new, it took over from the Cap Center as the home of the Capitals and Wizards. I’ve seen KISS here, but no one else. It seems pretty much like a new version of the Cap Center, as it was obviously intended. The one show I saw there, KISS on the Psycho Circus Tour, was from the luxury of MCI’s sky box. Pretty damn cool.

RFK Stadium [5 shows]. Former home of the Washington Redskins, now home of DC United. The Redskins now play at FedEx Field; while some shows are played there, I’ve only seen the Redskins play. RFK was the host to various shows I remember fondly, mainly the June 20, 1992 Grateful Dead show and the 1988 Van Halen Monsters of Rock show. With its huge parking lot encircling the stadium, it was perfect for the Dead scene. Unfortunately the acoustics sucked and the nearest reserved seating in the bleachers was still 100 feet away from the stage.

VIRGINIA

Birchmere [2 shows]. “Sit down and eat” but general admission. It’s in an old warehouse so it’s actually fairly spacious inside (capacity 500). Unfortunately the bands tend to be mostly acoustic and folk, with some Robin Trower and Frank Marino thrown in. Ram’s Head on Stage has a better line-up of bands with more balls, but not the more obnoxious modern stuff that plays the Ram’s Head Live.

The State Theater [5 shows]. In downtown Falls Church, easily the closest to me. It has a standing area in front of the stage, a balcony with seating, and a middle “sit here and eat” section, so it has all the bases covered. This place gets Blue Oyster Cult more often these days and lots of tribute bands (The Machine, Dark Star Orchestra, etc.).

Jaxx [22 shows]. In Springfield, Virginia (not the Springfield of the Simpsons), tucked away in the corner of a strip mall with Indian, Korean, etc. food stores and an Afghan restaurant. Formerly Zaxx and Boots. Jaxx attracts two types of bands: death metal bands with unreadable logos, and past-their-prime 80s metal acts. Blue Oyster Cult tend to play here quite often. The owner, Jay, comes by to talk to the fans, and this is the one venue where bands tend to actually stick around to sign autographs. More than any other club, this is the one I come to most often.

Wolf Trap [1 show]. An outdoor ampitheather like Nissan and Merriweather, but woodsy, artsy and pretentious, for the “wine/cheese/wicker basket picnic” type of crowd, and considerably smaller than either (7,000 capacity). If your band is playing at Wolf Trap you are decades too old to be cool anymore (except maybe Jethro Tull).

Patriot Center [3 shows]. At George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, the home of the GMU basketball team, but also site of some great shows: front row at the Yngwie Malmsteen-Triumph show on Halloween 1986, and an Iron Maiden show much later. It’s about the same size as the Baltimore Area.

Jiffy Lube Live formerly the Nissan Pavilion. [12 shows]. Very much like Merriweather Post Pavilion, but much newer, dating from 1995 and seating 25,000. Unfortunately it’s isolated in the woods between Manassas and Warrenton, so you can’t zip across to a mall for reasonably priced shit. Fortunately the hell-hole parking lot situation has FINALLY been solved – after 10 years!! – so you can get out in 30 minutes instead of an hour. Still not as convenient as Merriweather. The other problem is that tickets are very expensive, as are the t-shirts and all the concessions ($10 for a beer!). Unlike Wolf Trap, Nissan gets the metal acts like the Ozzfest and Masters of Metal tours.


I tend to buy my tickets will call. We rarely resort to eBay or scalpers except when we absolutely have to see the show and the good seats sold out fairly quickly. Club shows are better as they’re cheaper, you have a much better view, and sometimes you get to meet the band after the show.