WASHINGTON -- If you’re a live music fan, chances are you’ve heard of the Black Cat on 14th Street in the District. The music venue is celebrating 25 years in business this weekend.
Owner and President of the Black Cat, Dante Ferrando, says the music venue will host a 25th anniversary celebration on Friday September 14, 2018 and Saturday September 15, 2018. Both nights the shows start at 7 p.m. and cost $25 to get in.
PHOTOS: Black Cat in DC celebrates 25 years
Along with his wife, Ferrando opened the Black Cat on 14th Street Northwest near U Street in 1993.
“There was a lack of good music venues in the town at that time,” Ferrando said.
After spending eight years in another location a few doors away, Ferrando moved the Black Cat into the current location, which he owns, in 2001. Music fans have enjoyed the red room and bar on the first level and the main stage on the second level.
“It was really important, with the vibrant music scene that was going on then, to try to get a bigger venue that was catering more toward the needs of the bands,” Ferrando explained.
Ferrando and his staff, many of whom have worked at the venue 10 to 20 years, have seen a lot of changes in the 14th Street and U Street corridor over the years. Upscale apartments and restaurants now line 14th Street, which Ferrando remembers as a warehouse district when he first opened the Black Cat.
The area has grown. According to data gathered by the Washington DC Economic Partnership, more than 31,000 people currently live in the half mile radius from 14th Street and U Street NW. Back in 2000, the total population for the same area was 22,657. The partnership says the average household income in the neighborhood is nearly $150,000.
Ferrando has plans to change the Black Cat, just as the area around it has changed. He will soon close the red room and bar and move it to another location in his venue, and renovate the space for other businesses to rent out. The business plans to stay open during any construction.
“Things are going to change,” he said. “It’s part of the job. It’s part of what we have to do as a live music venue.”
He admits the music scene has changed over the years. But, Ferrando also sees the changes as a smart business move for him and a better way to utilize his large space.
“If you don’t make the right moves, you slowly get sucked into doing things that you don’t want to do in order to pay the bills,” he said. “And I’d rather stick with the things that everyone here enjoys doing.”
Ferrando said the Black Cat isn’t going anywhere. As the venue’s Twitter profile said Friday, “Here’s to another 25 years.”
