any good places to see a concert in the Baltimore/DC area?
 

i am mainly wondering on how good/bad the First Mariner Arena's accoustics are (formally the baltimore arena). also looking at the recher, 9:30 club, DAR constitution hall, and the mci center.

9:30 Club usually does a good job w/ their sound. I was afraid the sound would be two muddy during Godspeed You! Black Emperor (set up = 3 guitars, 2 bassists, 2 percussionists, cello, and violin), but they did a wonderful job of balancing everything out.

I haven't been myself, but I've heard that DAR CH has these massive chairs that kinda destroy the raw concert feel. Besides, they don't let anyone stand up (at least not at Belle and Sebastian/Sleater Kinney 2 years ago).

First Mariner sucks for concerts in my opinion...the accoustics are horrible.

9:30 club is supposedly pretty good. I have some friends that have been a couple of times, but I passed as I wasn't interested in the concerts.

For mainstream bands, the Nissan pavillion is a great outdoor venue IMO.

also in DC is the Black Cat. Shows tend to start on the late end though.

Isn't Nissan a bitch to park at? (its in columbia right?)

Merriweather is the one in Columbia. They arn't a bitch to park at, they are a bitch to get out of.

When I saw Aerosmith at Nissan 3 years ago it took about 2 hours to get out of the parking lot, there is one way in, and one way out, and the road it leads to is one lane in each direction.

Merriweather is not as bad, you can park over at the Mall and walk over, which makes life easier...or you can park at the venue and try to run over people...which I nearly did once.

Isn't Merriweather closed now?

Can't remember, I don't know if the went through with that plan to build more housing or not.

edit: I just found out that Howard Co. rejected the plan on the 22nd to build housing so concerts might indeed continue.

Merriweather is still open.

I haven't been there.

I've only been to Nissan once, Lollapalooza last summer, and I had no problems getting out. I got out in like 10 minutes. But I kind of lucked out and had a parking spot right by the exit road so all I had to do was cut my way into the lane and I was set. :D

Ottobar and Fletchers are both great places to see bands.

going to merriwether to see Nickleback, puddle of mudd, and 3 doors down on the 23rd of july. getting lawn seats (mainly since i don't have alot of money.) doesn't sound too bad, right (please no thread crapping on the bands i listen too) you have to bring a blanket for the lawn right? and something like this shouldn't be too terribly loud since its outdoors. my brother saw sr-71 and revis a couple of months ago at the recher theater and his ears hurt for about 3 days afterwords, since its non stop music for 3 hours in a tiny as hell ex movie theater.

two new venues in the District

The Warehouse: http://www.warehousetheater.com/music.php
DC9 - http://www.dcnine.com/

l DC Music Venues

9:30 Club is great, I have always enjoyed seeing shows there. Black Cat is decent, significantly smaller.....and look out for crack dealers around the area at certain nights and times.

guys, for the merriewether concert, if the show starts at around 6:30, what time do you get there, and is there any chance that it would be over by 11?

Nissan is the biggest pain in the ass that there is in this area. If you go to a fairly large concert there, and don't leave a few minutes before the show is over, it can take hours to get out. Last time I went there was for Toby Keith about two years ago, and it took about 50 minutes to just get to a road outside the venue. Their sound system is fair, but the few times I've been there I wasn't blown away since it's the "biggest" venue in the area.

9:30 is a good place, sound system is pretty good. Black Cat is acceptable, but they don't draw many big acts. Nation is notorious for the absolutely horrid area it's in.

DAR has been getting quite a few big acts lately, and it really is a great venue if they have anyone you want to see. Went to see Evanescence there in Feb, and Dido is coming this June. Acoustics are superb, and the vibe of the architecture adds to the performance even more.

Wolf Trap's sound is slightly better than Nissan imo. I'd say Wolf Trap and Merriweather are fairly equal in terms of sound acoustics, both being outdoor venues. Merriweather will almost always be out by 11. I'd get there by 5:30-5:45 just to be safe... It's been a few years since I've been there, but I remember having a fairly long walk (10-15 minutes) from the parking lot to the entrance of the venue.

Only been to MCI once to see Family Values Tour 2001, but I can't judge the sound based on that. Their sound system was incredibly screwed up in the beginning that night, and it completely ruined the show.

So I'd say DAR is the best bet, followed by 9:30. Then the two outdoor venues, Merriweather/Wolf Trap, Nation and Black Cat. I'd avoid Nissan as much as possible due to their horrible parking and traffic problem.

DAR definitely isn't the right place if you want a mosh pit. Most of the concerts I've been to there would not be of the genre where everyone would be standing during the entire concert. However, they were absolutely fine with how things went when I saw Evanescence in February. People stood for about 75% of Evanescence's set, and spread out into the aisles to get more room to move around. They had plenty of people handling the event and could have cracked down, but they allowed people quite a bit of freedom considering that it is DAR and not a night club.

That said, it isn't going to be the best place if you enjoy the crowd participation as much as the concert. But the acoustics, environment and accessibility outweight the limitations. Since they don't often get rock concerts, it's not that big of a deal.

Their announced performances through October include Gladys Knight four times, Smokey Robinson twice, Dido, Jason Mraz and Rare Earth. So if you plan on attending any of the concerts they've announced thus far, I sincerely doubt that everyone is going to get up out of their seats and start moshing.

so maybe to save a bit of traffic problems getting out of merriwether, take off before the final encore sound good?

question, at merrieweather, are the lawn seats nosebleed or is it actually possible to see without using binoculars?

alright, i have my first couple concerts in the next few weeks
this thursday at powerplant live for eve 6
tuesday the 13th at recher for papa roach
thursday the 15th at recher for drowning pool
friday the 16th at hershey park stadium for 3 doors down, nickelback and puddle of mudd
and
august 15th for live at merriweather

all together that only costs 90 bucks (and i only had to pay ticket craps charges twice

DAR is easily the WORST place to see a 'Rock' concert. Any other type of music, I guess it would be alright.

Ha, Drowning Pool at the Recher. Awesome. Yeah, your ears are gonna sting, but it's all part of the experience. I saw Flogging Molly there.

9:30 Club, 9:30 Club, 9:30 Club and......oh yeah....9:30 Club.

Edit: what the hell is DAR by the way?

constitution hall.

also, my brother goes to recher all the time and says that sometimes its hard to hear after a while.

Add me to the list who thinks the 9:30 Club is THE best place to see a show. But I do miss the old club. Like coladar said, Nissan is the biggest pain in the ass. Ever. Not just getting out. Getting there as well. I went to see NIN and Bowie there about 8 years ago and it took me nearly 2.5 hours travel time. It was a weeknight so I knew to expect rush hour traffic. But hell's bells, I'm only roughly 30 miles away. I missed the entire opening act. Same happened with I went to stinkin' Merriweather Post back in 1990 to see Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb. Because of that F'n traffic nightmare, I missed Nitzer Ebb completely and Depeche Mode were taking the stage when we pulled up. I also agree that while Constitution Hall is a nice place, the acoustics suck. And the parking is terrible. The Black Cat is great too. As is Nation. Last, the Birchmere in Alexandria. Which is huge and easy to get to. And the State Theater in Falls Church.