9:30 Club owners take over Lincoln Theatre

This is pretty great news for music fans in the area: IMP, the company that runs the 9:30 Club and  Merriweather Post Pavilion and books some shows for the U Street Music Hall, will be running the Lincoln Theatre on U Street.

The theatre, located next to Ben's Chili Bowl, was formerly run by various groups, and not very well -- it was dark most nights and closed after the city cut off subsidies because it was losing money.

The building itself is really nice, however: I saw Sigur Ros there a few years ago and it was really a good place to see a seated show, with ornate and impressive fixings and good acoustics (check out this photo for a better idea.) The few things it has hosted have included comedy shows and film screenings recently.

I'm pretty happy that it was IMP, which has proved to be a good local company. The 9:30 Club is a really well-run venue and often wins awards (although their beer is too expensive for me) and Merriweather Post is also a great spot to see a show. Their press release sounds like they're thrilled too.

They've already announced a few shows for the 1200-seat theatre, which seems like it would be a good spot for seated shows and things that would normally go to Sixth and I or maybe the Fillmore in Silver Spring. The first shows are Laura Marling, Travis KT Tunstall, Matt Nathanson, and Neko Case. Seems like a mellow/alt country vibe. I'd like to see Travis there, seems like a good fit. Hopefully no squid throwing, though.



Photo by NCinDC