the end of the warehouse

Originally posted by snailhook:
unless something else opens soon, or an alternative venue opens its doors, there will hardly be any experimental music in dc at all. just the same old indie rock, bland alt-country, and wannabe brit-pop that has already taken over the city.

good lord you're crotchety. you should fit right in up in Philly. just curse more and throw batteries at your sports' teams referees.

sell the warehouse. take some of the $ and buy a cheaper bldg on h st ne and start again.

good lord you're crotchety. you should fit right in up in Philly. just curse more and throw batteries at your sports' teams referees.

sure, i may be opinionated and jaded, but at least i'm out there, every fucking day, doing something about it. that's more than i can say for some people. i'm just telling it like i see it.

and thanks, i already fit in fine in philly. that's why i'm moving there.

This is a damn shame. I've got to admit that Philly does have a much more diverse music scene. As a Shoegazer, I've seen how very, very difficult it's been to get shows and an audience within DC. Oddly, Fredericksburg, Va. and Baltimore have been much more open to the scene. It's fairly strong up in Philly. Same with Psychedelia.

For awhile, I thought that it was just me who was thinking that DC seemed to be polarizing it's music scene. After reading this thread, it's apparent that it isn't only my thoughts.

Snail, have you been to Johnny Brenda's yet? I never get up there but they have a lot of good shows. Still very sorry I missed Sonic Boom there last April.

Very sad news. :( Even more disconcerting to know that there will barely be any experimental shows booked in dc a year from now. The thought that even as close as Baltimore, an experimental scene could thrive while there's barely any interest here is perplexing. Supposedly, places like Floristree are packed just about every night a show is held there.

Snail, have you been to Johnny Brenda's yet? I never get up there but they have a lot of good shows. Still very sorry I missed Sonic Boom there last April.

yup, i've been to JB's about four times (for bert jansch, suishou no fune, pissed jeans, and something i can't remember). it's an excellent place and has become my favorite place to see a show in philly. i missed sonic boom, too, and heard it was great; i just couldn't get up there on a monday night.

Even more disconcerting to know that there will barely be any experimental shows booked in dc a year from now.

well, i'm looking out for a couple of people who can take my place and book some shows when i leave. since i play music and will want to come back to dc a lot, i'll still book some stuff. dc just needs a couple of new people to step up and do something.

Supposedly, places like Floristree are packed just about every night a show is held there.

actually, this is completely untrue. there have been some packed shows, but just as often, it's completely empty. i know the guy who lives there and runs the shows, and he's a friend of mine, but he doesn't do much promotion for certain shows. it's like the warehouse: one show can get 100 people, the next 10.

honestly, baltimore isn't as hot as it used to be. it's a much better scene for experimental music if you're a musician, but if you're just a fan, it's not much different than dc. there are not many clubs booking avant-garde music, and there are a few viable alternative spaces (the red room, the bank, floristree space). as someone who goes to many shows in both dc and baltimore, the attendance varies wildly in both places. i will say that baltimore crowds tend to physically get into it a bit more. dc crowds are just as attentive, they just take the immobile nerdy approach.

in this country, experimental music just doesn't do well anywhere (except for maybe nyc, chicago, and san francisco), but there still need to be venues to host it. this is why alternative venues are important: the overhead is so low that low-attended shows won't affect the business much.

Ahh thanks for clarifying. I've never been to floristree myself but a couple articles I've read seem to attempt to paint shows there (especially the wham city stuff) as these madhouses where people are jostling in order to gain prime spots.

Originally posted by snailhook:
somewhere i can afford, where i can work less and concentrate on my own music, a place where other people are setting up interesting shows and where there is an audience for such music

sounds like a certain city on the west coast
:D

SF? ;)

I've never been to floristree myself but a couple articles I've read seem to attempt to paint shows there (especially the wham city stuff) as these madhouses where people are jostling in order to gain prime spots.

well, the wham city stuff (dan deacon, sand cats, cex, video hippos, beach house, ponytail, ecstatic sunshine, etc) does extremely well. kids are eating that stuff up right now. personally, i find much of it entertaining to watch, but their records don't interest me. they're all good kids and i've booked all of them once and some of them a few times. my band played the wham city fest last year (though we were a shot of fucked-up darkness in a sea of dancing art-school kids). beach house have some excellent songs, and ponytail shreds.

sounds like a certain city on the west coast

actually, pollard, if i ever leave the east coast, portland is where i'm going. i absolutely love it there. i see myself leaving philly at some point and living the rest of my life in the woods outside of portland, like when i'm 45 or 50. i just have to be on the east coast for now.

Yeah I really wanted to catch those carpark showcases you put on that weekend a few months ago but had some previous engagements I couldn't get out of. The beach house disc is great and they were decent the one time I saw them live; been wanting to see ponytail for a while now and still haven't gotten the chance. Love their album. Saw wzt hearts open for panda bear last week; very intense and awesome.

Originally posted by azaghal1981:
SF? ;)

He said "afford"….

we'll see if this actually goes through. if not, there's another option on u street they're looking at. i am positive the warehouse will re-open, it's just a matter of when and where.

Good to hear they are coming back! Wherever they go, I sure hope it's some place with fairly easy parking. Maybe I'm wrong but Columbia Heights won't be easy. For those of us who must drive in, sometimes it's just not worth the bother when you have to add an extra 45 minutes onto your travel time just to drive around looking for parking.

Sucks that the owners are getting pushed out but it might be for the best if the Warehouse moves to a better location. Live music needs to be closer to where folks live, not work. A move to U Street would make a world of difference for the folks who live around Mt. Pleasant, Dupont, Columbia Hts communities and could lead to more of a scene developing. Keep the faith DC.