WASHINGTON — No, you can't bribe your way in.
At the District's newest music venue "The Atlantis," tickets will be done lottery style in an effort to ensure real fans have the chance to see their favorite artists regardless of their financial status.
The Foo Fighters will headline opening night at the new venue on May 30 after Virginia native and founder Dave Grohl let the news of its opening slip in 2021 during a surprise show.
Built to be a replica of the original 9:30 Club from the 1980s, The Atlantis is opening directly behind the current 9:30 Club on 9th Street NW.
WUSA9 spoke with the communications director for I.M.P, the company that owns the 9:30 Club, The Anthem, Merriweather and now The Atlantis, about the opening on Tuesday.
Director Audrey Fix Schaefer says at just 450 seats, The Atlantis will be the most intimate venue opened by I.M.P.
For perspective, she says the 9:30 Club holds about 1,200 people.
"We wanted to have a club that was smaller than say the 9:30 Club, the Anthem or Merriweather so that we can help artists grow. The idea is to pick artists that we think have a real future and to help them nurture it," said Schaefer.
Adding that when I.M.P reopened the 9:30 Club after the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the Foo Fighters who played the first concert at the venue.
"While Dave Grohl was on stage at the official reopening of 9:30 Club in 2021, he was the one who let it slip that we were going to be opening another venue," said Schaefer. "A new one. But it would be a replica of the original 9:30 Club."
Now, the Foo Fighters are returning to the stage to officially open The Atlantis just 43 years after the old 9:30 Club opened downtown.
Replica of the original 9:30 Club to be built
To celebrate the 9:30 Club's 44th year in business, the new venue will kick off with 44 shows scheduled from May through the end of September.
To keep with the theme, tickets will cost $44 a piece and are on sale online now through 11:59 p.m. on April 7. Customers can only request a maximum of two tickets per show.
The venue is using a lottery system through Ticketmaster.
"D.C. is absolutely a music town. People think it's a government town and a Smithsonian town, and it is, but it's a music town," said Schaefer.
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