New Venue: U Street Music Hall

photo by Sam Vasfi.

Two of the hardest working DJs in DC, Will Eastman and Jesse Tittsworth, are about to drop a bomb on U Street in the form of their new 300-capacity nightclub, U Street Music Hall. Destined to become one of DC’s best dance destinations, U Street Music Hall is located at 1115 U Street NW in the very cool, basement space vacated by Cue Bar.

Eastman and Tittsworth have taken over the space and cleared everything out to make room for a massive, 60-foot long, wooden dance floor (built over cork for extra bounce and comfort), a gigantic DJ booth that is “larger than some venues in DC”, and a 40,000 Watt sound-system that is designed to “physically compel you to dance”.

photo by Sam Vasfi.

Their plan for the Music Hall is to feature local, national, and international talent in the form of bands and guest DJs on week nights and to turn the DJ booth over to local DC mix-masters for weekend residencies. Jesse Tittsworth told me that he “loves the idea of having our city and our friends hold down Fridays and Saturdays… it speaks volumes for the talent in our city and in our scenes.”

As for the atmosphere of their DJ and dance-fan wet-dream? Both Eastman and Tittsworth stressed the fact that U Street Music Hall is a no-frills, no pretension, come-as-you-are to dance your ass off venue. There will be “no bottle service, dress code or bullshit pop music”. Instead the club will feature affordable drinks at its two bars, minimal cover charges for events (think $10 on the weekends), and “forward thinking dance and live music several nights of the week”.

photo by Sam Vasfi.

U Street Music Hall looks to be a fantastic addition to DC’s nightlife and should have a interesting impact on the scene. Will Eastman is moving his long-running event “Bliss” from the Black Cat to his new fortress of dance on March 27th and DC9 dance-night staple “Nouveau Riche” is soon to follow.

For the opening week festivities U Street Music Hall has events planned over the next four nights, beginning with their grand opening party tonight.

3/17 – Wednesday – Belgium’s Aeroplane live in concert with DJs.
3/18 – Thursday – Bluebrain Record Release Party & live performance.
3/19 – Friday – the Forward Festival takes over with a mix of DJs and live acts.
3/20 – Saturday – DJs Jesse Tittsworth & Micah Vellian with Outputmessage live in concert.

Michael splits his free time between defending the little guy and championing the underdog. He has been haunting the concert halls, dive bars, and greasy spoons of DC for the last 16 years. His interests include live rock music, researching obscure military/political conflicts, and good hamburgers. He is a friendly grump, has wisdom beyond his years, and is on a life-long quest to attain music nirvana. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!