The new Howard Theatre

So I haven't been to this renovated venue yet.  Tonight is Psych Furs with the Lemonheads (Juliana Hatfield bailed).

I've heard that the venue has tables and chairs, like a supper club – is this true for 'rock' shows as well?  Has anyone been there, have advice on navigating?  Show starts at 8:00; if I'm fighting for a table, I'd think I'd have to get there earlier than I normally would.

THANKS fellow music fans.

We've discussed this a bit before, here, but here's a quick summary.

Sometimes they have tables/chairs set up, and sometimes they don't.  When it's a seated show, there will be a $10 minimum per person charge to sit at the table.  I found the food to be pricey and not terribly vegetarian/vegan-friendly (it's soul food, after all), but I was able to manage by getting a salad and having them not put in the hardboiled egg.

It's not always obvious from their web site which seating/standing configuration they'll have– sometimes the event page says "standing room only", but the Lemonheads show doesn't have that text.  Bottom line: go early for the best seats, and be prepared to spend $$ on food/beverage on top of the ticket price.

THANKS!  I went back to look for a thread but didn't look back far enough.  AND, I keep forgetting we can search now!

Apparently there will be very few tables tonight, which is good.  I'm way not planning to eat there, though $10 in drinks is easy to accomplish.

their staff sucks

i haven't had issues with the staff consistently. it's hit or miss. when i went there for the first time in june, the service was so bad we had to speak to the manager on 3 occasions. the couple of times i've been there since, including just a couple weeks ago, the staff were great and the service was spot on.

its a beautiful spot and super public transportion accessible. i'm just concerned about its ability to make enough money to stay open. none of the times i've been there have the shows been anywhere near sold out.

lagas wrote:
their staff sucks

Really? Been there twice, once for a seated show, another for GA, and neither time did I have a problem with the staff. Even with a busy bar I didn't have to wait very long to get a drink.

one time i went was a very underattended show….the three staff members i dealt with were great.. well two were great and one didn't make an impression..

i will say though that when i called they had no clue as to whether there was an opener or when the act would go on.

Very low turnout last night for Lemonheads and Psych Furs.  You think that's why Evan Dando looked like he was going to fall asleep at the mic?

No service problems for me, though as I say, it was maybe 1/6 full so there was lots of staff to serve customers.

Beautiful place.  Hope it 'sticks.'

Bags wrote:
Very low turnout last night for Lemonheads and Psych Furs.  You think that's why Evan Dando looked like he was going to fall asleep at the mic?

No service problems for me, though as I say, it was maybe 1/6 full so there was lots of staff to serve customers.

Beautiful place.  Hope it 'sticks.'

They are being idots.. they should price shows lower to fill the place up more

This bill never made any sense.. the Furs have played the market so much .. I think last year they played the Fillmore and this year the State Theatre

The Lemonheads couldn't sell out Iota at this point! They added nothing.. Not to mention they've played DC so much.. only recently at the Black Cat.

It is as if the people booking the NY shows just add the DC show without thinking about the market

I saw the GZA perform "Liquid Swords" there last Tuesday and I'd say it was about 60% full. I thought it was a steal to see that for only $20.

Bags wrote:
  You think that's why Evan Dando looked like he was going to fall asleep at the mic?

That was the heroin.

Yada wrote:

Bags wrote:
  You think that's why Evan Dando looked like he was going to fall asleep at the mic?

That was the heroin.

If he's doing heroin that is a shame.

I thought about going to this, but I opted for the AWESOME Sea Wolf at DC9 instead.  How were the Lemonheads?  I use to always go see them, but I've grown tired of them always playing the same old, old, songs.  They also seem to get sloppier every time I see them.  The 'Shame About Ray' show at the Black Cat was kind of terrible.  I wish they'd play some songs written after 1996… Is that asking a lot?

Driveway wrote:
I thought about going to this, but I opted for the AWESOME Sea Wolf at DC9 instead.  How were the Lemonheads?  I use to always go see them, but I've grown tired of them always playing the same old, old, songs.  They also seem to get sloppier every time I see them.  The 'Shame About Ray' show at the Black Cat was kind of terrible.  I wish they'd play some songs written after 1996… Is that asking a lot?

They have albums after Car Button Cloth or whatever ?

Driveway wrote:
The 'Shame About Ray' show at the Black Cat was kind of terrible.

I think this was the one I walked out of 3 songs into the set.  It was all kinds of awful.

I really think the show to see was the Iota show about two years back with Juliana Hatfield.. still bummed I didn't make it

I saw Evan Dando once -only time so far- at the old Tower Records on Pennsylvania Avenue.. must have been about 1994 or 1995.. he signed my Creator CD or whatever its called..he did a bunch of songs on acoustic guitar (solo)..was real good… I still think It's A Shame About Ray is one of the great records ever..

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:

lagas wrote:
their staff sucks

Really? Been there twice, once for a seated show, another for GA, and neither time did I have a problem with the staff. Even with a busy bar I didn't have to wait very long to get a drink.

went there to see Van Der Graaf Generator a few months ago, seated show, lots of empty tables unfortunately…which made the constant chatting by the bartenders and waiters and everybody else all the worse. You could not hear the music without feeling irritated by the lack of professionalism of the staff. Several patrons complained angrily to waiters until some higher level guy appeared and he apologized, but the chatting resumed a couple songs later.

I agree the place is nice, but I'm not coming back, unless it's van der graaf again…

The Howard does use goldstar for some shows. I got Howard Jones as well as Mark Kozelek at 1/2 price. You can get notified from from goldstar when The Howard has new events listed. They didn't offer 1/2 price tickets for The Furs.

hutch wrote:

Driveway wrote:
I thought about going to this, but I opted for the AWESOME Sea Wolf at DC9 instead.  How were the Lemonheads?  I use to always go see them, but I've grown tired of them always playing the same old, old, songs.  They also seem to get sloppier every time I see them.  The 'Shame About Ray' show at the Black Cat was kind of terrible.  I wish they'd play some songs written after 1996… Is that asking a lot?

They have albums after Car Button Cloth or whatever ?

yep.  Evan has a great solo album called 'Baby I'm Bored.'  There is also an album called 'The Lemonheads' which is really great.  The covers album 'Varshons' mostly sucks, but at least it's something.
Evan is very talented and does an awesome show when he actually gives a shit.

Remember the good old days when artists actually did acoustic in-stores? When there were actually record/cd stores?

I saw Evan do one in what must have been 1990 or 1991. Indeed it was quite good. Maybe one of my top ten in-store shows of all time. Helped that he played a couple or three of Gram Parsons covers, who I was really into at that time. And he didn't just do like five songs and leave, he played for like an hour or something.

hutch wrote:
I really think the show to see was the Iota show about two years back with Juliana Hatfield.. still bummed I didn't make it

I saw Evan Dando once -only time so far- at the old Tower Records on Pennsylvania Avenue.. must have been about 1994 or 1995.. he signed my Creator CD or whatever its called..he did a bunch of songs on acoustic guitar (solo)..was real good… I still think It's A Shame About Ray is one of the great records ever..