The Anthem

When I walked up last night around 7:20, I saw a huge line. Turned out the line was for the lobster stand outside, not the anthem haha. Only took about 5-10 minutes to get inside, nice work.  Was up front for most of the show - with 2 of the tallest dudes in the venue in front of me (must have been 6’8 or so) - neither of them danced or even had a little head bob movement.  The women behind me were sooooo pissed. Heck, I was pissed too, until I managed to get in front of one of them with about 3 songs left. Theses aholes pushed their way up forward with their girlfriends, so annoying.  So for me, sight lines SUCKED ;)

LCD sounded fantastic up front though.

I parked at the Federal Center Plaza - about a 10 minute walk to The Anthem, not bad at all and only $8 - no traffic to deal with.

Feedback after my 2nd visit to The Anthem:

- The line to get in can be long but really does move quickly. I saw a huge improvement between Foo Fighters and last night (LCD1). The change to check bags after the wanding process seemed to speed things up dramatically. That said, please put people's wrist bands on for them. The dude who handed me mine put it on for me and then I was stuck behind a mob of people struggling to put their own wristband on before going in.

- The bar situation obviously continues to be the biggest problem. Bartenders are working as fast as they can, but it's frustrating to get handed your drink and then have to wait 3-4 minutes for your card to get swiped, only to them have to sign a receipt. Adding more POS terminals at each bar would help, self-pay terminals (with phone payment options) would be even better, and adding at least some cash bars would be best. Also there were multiple beers sold out at each bar I went to last night. Having this info on the screens would speed things up since time is wasted by people needing to make a new selection. Bonus points if you indicate on the board if the beer is draft, can, or bottle.

- No cell service is turning out to be a big problem, even with wifi (which was much spottier at LCD than it was at Foos). Meeting up with friends in a place that size among 6k people is tricky unless you have specifically set up a meeting point in advance. Parents needing to stay in communication with babysitters are going to have problems.


These are relatively minor gripes for an otherwise amazing place. I can't say enough great things about how much attention was paid to detail and how amazing the sound is in the room. Can't wait to head back for three shows next week!

StoneTheCrow wrote:
It's my potentially wrong understanding that only a few of the wharf restaurants are actually open at this point. Can anyone confirm?

I know some temporarily opened last week and will reopen Monday. My wife and I are coming down for Queens on Friday and would like to eat before the show (sorry, Seth. We did eat at the soft opening, tho).

depending on your mode of transport to get there, may I suggest dining at the Navy Yard or Barrack's Row and Ubering over.

excontradiction wrote:
Another minor point - the bars don't have a way to scan your FWB card (or in my case, a screenshot I keep on my phone).  I had to write down the number on a napkin, and the staph had to figure out how to manually key it in.

Now that you mention it, none of the bartenders have said anything about it when I handed the FWB card with my credit card, but my statement shows no points for Anthem bar transactions so there may be some training issues.

In a venue of that size, I'm all for some babes at a giant tub filled with ice selling $10 bottles of bud light lime for cash. Would probably make things go a bit smoother.

Yada wrote:

StoneTheCrow wrote:
It's my potentially wrong understanding that only a few of the wharf restaurants are actually open at this point. Can anyone confirm?

I know some temporarily opened last week and will reopen Monday. My wife and I are coming down for Queens on Friday and would like to eat before the show (sorry, Seth. We did eat at the soft opening, tho).

depending on your mode of transport to get there, may I suggest dining at the Navy Yard or Barrack's Row and Ubering over.

The Heads Up email does encourage people to walk through the Food Court at L'Enfant.  Just sayin'

excontradiction wrote:

Yada wrote:

StoneTheCrow wrote:
It's my potentially wrong understanding that only a few of the wharf restaurants are actually open at this point. Can anyone confirm?

I know some temporarily opened last week and will reopen Monday. My wife and I are coming down for Queens on Friday and would like to eat before the show (sorry, Seth. We did eat at the soft opening, tho).

depending on your mode of transport to get there, may I suggest dining at the Navy Yard or Barrack's Row and Ubering over.

The Heads Up email does encourage people to walk through the Food Court at L'Enfant.  Just sayin'

mmmm… charley's philly steaks.

medeski7 wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:

medeski7 wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
What were the set times for LCD last night?

One long set.  LCD went on at 9:10.

Thanks – no opener?

There was a DJ from 8:00 to 9:00.  No other opener.

Doors at 6:30, first set at 9:10 – that's rough.

I parked on the 600 block of Virginia Ave and one side is free after 630 pm…10 minute walk too.

Got wrote:


I parked at the Federal Center Plaza - about a 10 minute walk to The Anthem, not bad at all and only $8 - no traffic to deal with.

ANOTHER THING

Seth, stop selling bottled beer, or at least stop allowing patrons to take bottle beer into the venue. There were people dancing in the same area as beer bottles being kicked around. Now not every show at the Anthem is going to be as dancy as LCD but it's still dangerous to be having bottles rolling around on the GA floor.

Simply pour them into plastic cups if you insist on selling bottled beer.

So you want LONGER beer lines? not passing judgment on selling bottles…just saying think of the tradeoffs…I agree on wrist bands but putting on 6000 wrist bands will slow things…


So many of the comments and suggestions are spot on though…keep 'em comin'..

Thousand wrote:
ANOTHER THING

Seth, stop selling bottled beer, or at least stop allowing patrons to take bottle beer into the venue. There were people dancing in the same area as beer bottles being kicked around. Now not every show at the Anthem is going to be as dancy as LCD but it's still dangerous to be having bottles rolling around on the GA floor.

Simply pour them into plastic cups if you insist on selling bottled beer.

100% in disagreement here.  Plastic cups lead to spills.  Bottles have been used at 9:30 for forever without issue.  I loved that I could get bottled beer last night.  The number of bottles left after the show was pretty small considering the size of the crowd.  People are generally pretty thoughtful with this.

hutch wrote:
I agree on wrist bands but putting on 6000 wrist bands will slow things…

I would think that someone who is putting wristbands on fans over and over for a few hours could do it much faster than a fan who gets handed a wristband and has to put it on themselves. At least, that was my experience the other night.

medeski7 wrote:
100% in disagreement here.  Plastic cups lead to spills.  Bottles have been used at 9:30 for forever without issue.  I loved that I could get bottled beer last night.  The number of bottles left after the show was pretty small considering the size of the crowd.  People are generally pretty thoughtful with this.

.

I'm with Medeski. I usually go with draft beer and expect that some will wind up on my shirt, but I know a lot of people who only drink bottled beer at the 9:30 Club for fear of having their drink spilled all over them. More recycling cans might be nice so you don't have to go all the way back to the bar to get rid of your bottle.

I love a bottled beer…but I was in the top section last night for LCD and a spun-out dipshit pulled a Begbie and threw his mostly-empty plastic cup of beer over the railing and down onto the floor.

Everyone around was naturally pissed by this, and ushers were alerted and the guy was given the hook.

However, this made me think about how easy it would be for some asshole to throw a bottle over the railing from the second or third levels and really do some damage. 

Anything tossed from the third level could do damage, but a bottle from that height would be really dangerous.

As much as I hate to say it, I just don't think glass bottles are sustainable from a safety standpoint - due to the fucked up idiot factor.

StoneTheCrow wrote:
It's my potentially wrong understanding that only a few of the wharf restaurants are actually open at this point. Can anyone confirm?

I know some temporarily opened last week and will reopen Monday. My wife and I are coming down for Queens on Friday and would like to eat before the show (sorry, Seth. We did eat at the soft opening, tho).

While waiting in line for Foo, I got a lobster roll from Red Hook and my buddy got a burger from Shake Shack. Crazy long lines everywhere that night.

A drunk dude once smashed his bottle over my forehead at a 9:30 Cracker/Camper show, requiring multiple stitches after five or six hours of being ignored at Howard Hospital.

Count me in favor of plastic cups.

Space wrote:
A drunk dude once smashed his bottle over my forehead at a 9:30 Cracker/Camper show, requiring multiple stitches after five or six hours of being ignored at Howard Hospital.

Count me in favor of plastic cups.

What did you do or say that prompted THAT?

can we make a thread of all the things that have happened to James Ford at the club

Space wrote:
A drunk dude once smashed his bottle over my forehead at a 9:30 Cracker/Camper show, requiring multiple stitches after five or six hours of being ignored at Howard Hospital.

Count me in favor of plastic cups.

I think that says more about you than about the presence of beer bottles at a show.  Didn't you once get in a fight with a mime in Paris?

bearman🐻 wrote:

Space wrote:
A drunk dude once smashed his bottle over my forehead at a 9:30 Cracker/Camper show, requiring multiple stitches after five or six hours of being ignored at Howard Hospital.

Count me in favor of plastic cups.

What did you do or say that prompted THAT?

So the victim of a crime has to do or say something to prompt the crime? What kind of progressive are you?

I was standing in the balcony next to my then girlfriend and her friends minding my own business. Drunk dude comes up from behind and kicks me in the back of my knees, causing me to crumple to the ground. I get up and my gf says to the dude, "Hey, dude, what did you do that for?"

Before drunk dude could answer, I put my arm around his shoulder and (trying to diffuse the bizarre situation) jokingly said, "Oh don't worry, we're old pals, he's just joking around."

Before I had barely finished my sentence, the bottle was smashing across my head.

My gf's friends went and got staph and they gave chase, but the drunk dude was out the door and down the street before they could get him.

I do recall waiting outside for an ambulance and among others ThatGuy offered comforting words. The only meaningful interaction I ever had with him, he just seemed to know what to say.