The Anthem

excontradiction wrote:
Hey now. OG grateful beats out extremely grateful.

Haha, I have no illusions of short cutting the long standing members here. Just putting it out there in case someone has a last minute extra.

You need to be parking at 550, and in line at 600.

Julian, wrote:

Mateo2kcpa wrote:

Julian, wrote:

shemptiness wrote:
The latest email says we'll be listening to some great local music.  Tommy Keene??

Nope. Think some sort of nice new local outfit.

Anything most would have heard of?

Yep

I'm gonna say most have not heard of those bands.

Mateo2kcpa wrote:

Julian, wrote:

Mateo2kcpa wrote:

Julian, wrote:

shemptiness wrote:
The latest email says we'll be listening to some great local music.  Tommy Keene??

Nope. Think some sort of nice new local outfit.

Anything most would have heard of?

Yep

I'm gonna say most have not heard of those bands.

pretty sure azagahl or killsally booked these bands.

So wait, people actually paid money to see  a headliner that consisted of the two guys from Fugazi who don't sing?

Space wrote:
So wait, people actually paid money to see  a headliner that consisted of the two guys from Fugazi who don't sing?

Space, these first two soft opening nights are the #spaceapproved pricing of FREE.

But yes, the Messthetics follow a sustainable business model of charging actual money for tickets to see them perform.

Menu:

Super Excellent Danger Painters:

**nibbles on pint of prawns, bobs head to Bat Fangs, attempts to wash cocktail sauce of fingers with limited supply of soap**

Super Excellent Bat Fangs:

Floor Messthetics:

**nibbles on vegan chilli dog, blasts greasy growler into shiny new toilet, struggles to clean hands of debris with limited soap supply**

Yada wrote:

Space wrote:
So wait, people actually paid money to see  a headliner that consisted of the two guys from Fugazi who don't sing?

Space, these first two soft opening nights are the #spaceapproved pricing of FREE.

Ah, I see. I thought I read somewhere someone talking about a ticket price. Maybe they were talking about their illegal parking ticket price.

Thoughts:

I parked in the L'Enfant garage for $20, and walked.  Quickly realized there was free parking at the meters (being a Sunday), and was slightly annoyed at the advice to pay $$.  I'm sure any other day of the week will be a different story.

Super Excellent Seats don't lie.  Glad I got to try them out for free, as I'll never pay for them.  Mostly because there's a GA Standing Room only area right behind (and within) each section.  If you're going tonight, get there early and head upstairs first.  Move down to the floor for the headliner. 

I was in the first 25 or so people in the venue.  I immediately went upstairs, found a bar and claimed my free Pacifico.  There were 7(!) bartenders eager to serve me, as I was their first customer.  Unfortunately, neither Pacifico tap was "on", and they wouldn't sub another beer, so I paid for a…DC Brau(?).  Apparently the selection varies a bit from bar to bar, so the menu posted above isn't complete.  Never saw any lines upstairs, unlike the downstairs bar and food…

When I did wander downstairs, I was caught in the clusterf@*k food situation.  Felt bad for the guy standing next to me, who had been waiting far longer than I had.  He was getting antsy because, well, he was Anthony Pirog, and he needed to get up on stage.  When somebody pointed out that he should be backstage, and the club should be bringing food to him, he shrugged and said, "Naw, it's better out here".  Not really sure what that meant…

Wandered the space a bit.  There's a decent (tho distant!) spot to stand behind the sound board, and plenty of GA seats.  Not sure what the configuration will be for sold out shows.  The very top row at the  far end of the venue is a little more like Verizon than I'd like, but I doubt I'll ever go there.  Most of the venue feels like the 9:30 club.

The stage is impressively big.  The bands were really only using about 40% of it, as the proscenium was bumped forward and they didn't use the wings at all.  Can't wait to see how the Foo's will fill it!

Random other thoughts:

[li]The box office is outside the venue and is open!  I also may have been their first customer on Sunday, as I hopped out of the line and picked up St. Vincent with no fees.[/li]
[li]The cymbal thing is in the lobby as you enter - look up!  Very cool.  [/li]
[li]Also have to echo that its great to have the balcony on the 2nd floor.  I'm sure I'll spend some time there..I looked for the 3rd floor balcony but couldn't find it.[/li]
[li]The exposed part of the backstage area that you can see from the floor looks like what a set designer would create if they were trying to make you think you could see backstage.[/li]

All told, I'm hugely excited, and grateful to Seth for building the Anthem for us :)

Anybody else get the email for tonight's show without the attached tickets?

shemptiness wrote:
Anybody else get the email for tonight's show without the attached tickets?

yes, but received an immediate follow up email after.

Most of our issues were already addressed here, but I'll point out a few more.

The bar on the lower level left, if you're facing the stage, wasn't great.  They got snippy with people trying to order food. I get that the bar tender had said countless times that they couldn't order food at that bar, but the people walking up to order have no clue.  The response seemed to be a loud "NO!" and after a few seconds "You have to order from over there!"

Awkward interaction at the same bar:

Me: "Can I also get a cider?"
Bartender: "For what?"
Awkward pause while we stare at each other
My wife: "For me. For money."

The seating on the far ends of the rows (not the aisles) of the 2nd tier seating have no arm rest at the end. So, it's just a jabby piece of metal instead of an arm rest. There's plenty of space for an armrest. Right now it's just stabby. It's not great.

The lighting issue is major.  Wireless internet was spotty at best, which normally wouldn't be an issue, but there's zero cell reception. We often meet up with people at a show, and need some way to get in touch with them.

We came hungry and ready to try the food, but were told it was an hour wait, so we passed.  I'm not going to stand by a counter for an hour to get a sandwich and an ice cream. 

What really jumped out to me was the lack of munchy type food.  Cone of fries, popcorn, something we could stand and eat, and share, while still holding a beer. 

Aside from that first bar, every single usher and bartender were great. Very nice, friendly, polite, and excited. Great to talk to about the venue.  Staff seemed excited to be there, and excited to talk a bout the area they were working, their favorite parts of the architecture, etc.

Sound quality was good, though I thought it was a bit unnecessarily loud.

Bat Fangs stole the show. It was disappointing to get home and realize there was no music to buy from them. And nothing to really share/send to other people to say "Check out this band".  Can't wait for their 2018 album, and hope to see them again soon.

I'll be interested to see how often they do seats on the floor, but I imagine I'll be in the 2nd and 3rd tiers for shows I go to. Sound and sightlines are terrific.

Not sure I'm in love with the cashless bars. I think it will lead to slowdowns for busy shows. At 9:30, it's easy to go up with a $10, get a beer, and leave the change as tip, and roll out.

Yada wrote:

shemptiness wrote:
Anybody else get the email for tonight's show without the attached tickets?

yes, but received an immediate follow up email after.

I didn't get a followup email but I found them when I logged on to my ticketfly account.

excontradiction wrote:
The stage is impressively big.  The bands were really only using about 40% of it, as the proscenium was bumped forward and they didn't use the wings at all.  Can't wait to see how the Foo's will fill it!

i'm curious too.  hopefully folks in the balconies will post bird's-eye shots of the stage/floor.