The 9:30 Club is an well established music venue in Washington, D.C. that was founded by Dody DiSanto and Jon Bowers in 1980. It soon became a regular stopping point for local bands, and for those touring the east coast.
The 9:30 Club is named after the original street address, 930 F St, NW, and also after the original opening time of the club, 9:30. The early club was know as a progressive venue and was credited for discovering up-and-coming artists. Tiny Desk Unit was the first band to play the original venue.
The club started to outgrow its current location and needed an upgrade so it closed its doors on December 31st 1995 and relocated. The club's final shows at the original location were memorialized on the two CD set "9:30 Live - A Time, A Place, A Scene" released in 1997.
On January 5, 1996, 9:30 opened its doors again, this time at 815 V St. which was WUST Radio Music Hall. The first band to play on opening night was The Smashing Pumpkins.
The 9:30 was awarded Nightclub of the Year four times by Pollstar, the Concert Industry Trade Journal. Also in 2004 the club won for Top Ticket Selling Club coming in at 236,112 tickets sold.
The 9:30 club has become very popular over the years attracting artists from all genres such as Third Eye Blind, The Fall of Troy, Bright Eyes and many more.