9:30 Club Debuts Quarterly LGBTQ Dance Party BENT With Sold-Out Show

DiruPhoto – DJ LEMZ -aka Steve Lemmerman

Washington, D.C.’s beloved 9:30 Club kicked off 2019 with the Jan. 5 debut of a LGBTQ dance party dubbed “BENT,” which was dreamt up during one of the venue’s town hall meetings. While the sold-out event, which will be held quarterly, is new to the venue, it fits right in with the club’s commitment to inclusivity. 

“The 9:30, back when it was started by Dodi Disanto in the early ’80s, the great thing was it was a home for the alternative crowd,” Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P., and co-owner of the 9:30 Club and The Anthem, told Pollstar. “In those days, the gay crowd was in fact an alternative crowd. … The 9:30 has always represented a home both for employees and the public as a safe and welcoming place for people who are self-expressive and individual and defy categorization.  

“Hopefully that’s what we’re known for, rather than an event. To have an event like this is great – I love it. But hopefully people feel welcome all the time.” 

The idea for BENT was proposed during one of the club’s town hall meetings, which the 9:30 hosts as an open forum to give employees a chance to share ideas – as Hurwitz puts it, “a brainstorming session or a bitching session. Or brainstorming by bitches.” 

Food Food manager James Graden Holmes spoke up during the August 2018 town hall and mentioned that there weren’t enough events going on in D.C.’s gay community, especially after the closure of the gay club Town Danceboutique, and asked if 9:30 could do something. Steve Lemmerman, who works in the 9:30’s box office and DJs around town as DJ Lemz, volunteered to organize BENT. 

Lemmerman spoke to the Washington Post ahead of the Jan. 5 event, explaining that his aim was “to include everyone in the queer community. Not just catering it to gay men.” 

BENT featured DJs Lemz, KeenanOrr, and The Barber Streisand, along with performances by Pussy Noir, Donna Slash, and Bombalicious Eklaver. 

Lisa Walker – Ana Latour, Donna Slash
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“As a first-time event, to have a dance party the Saturday after New Year’s Eve, in the dead of winter when there’s a government shutdown, to turn people away [because we were sold out] it’s phenomenal,” Audrey Fix Schaefer, communications director for I.M.P., told Pollstar. “There was a catwalk and go-go dancers and drag queens. No two events are going to be the same. What will be the same is making it a real dance party … where you end up in a full ball of sweat because you’re dancing the whole night.”

Along with the town hall meetings, Hurwitz also hosts a program called “Lunch With The Boss”  where employees can sign up to have lunch with him in a group of five or six so they can get to know  one another better.   

“When I had the next Lunch With The Boss [Steve Lemmerman] was there and I really got to know him a lot better and liked him even more,” Hurwitz said. “I had no idea that he had songs and made music – he sent me links to [his work].   

“Obviously, if you’re someone like me, having creative, ambitious people work for you is something you strive for and want to develop and maintain. Our 9:30 family and IMP is made up of people like Steve and the more people like that I have, the happier I am. It’s very encouraging. We want to be not just be an incubator, but we want to be a home for creative people like that. He stood up and made something happen. … I’m very proud of the job he did [with BENT]. And I’m proud of him and hopes he sets an example that in our world, you become part of who we are.

“The 9:30 Club obviously has some historic value physically but it’s really all about the people. Otherwise it’s just bricks and steel and glass, etc. It’s all about our people. And Steve is one of our people.”

He added, “Steve deserves a lot of credit but the whole staff made it happen. People are very excited about it and proud of it. Once I said go for it, everybody got behind it and that’s really wonderful. It was definitely a team effort.”

Other key players were creative director Guillaume Desnoë, who collaborated with Lemmerman on the vision for the party; marketing director Dustin Sugar-Moore and art director Dave Kezer, who developed the concept and aesthetic; and head of production Gus Vitale, who transformed the 9:30 Club for BENT.

Hurwitz said that most of the topics discussed during the town hall meetings are regarding how the employees treat the public and one another. As far as other events in the works that have been generated because of the meetings, you’ll have to wait and see. 

“I don’t really like to show what’s behind the curtain too much,” Hurwitz said. “This is why we’ve never allowed any reality TV shows; we’ve had a zillion offers on those. We’re in the escapism business, with the word business being – don’t remind people, really. We want people to show up and it’s an escape and it’s a magical place.” 

The 9:30 Club was once again named Nightclub of the Year at the 29th annual Pollstar Awards in February 2018. Melanie Cantwell – who books for 9:30 Club, The Anthem, and Lincoln Theatre – won Nightclub Talent Buyer of the Year. 

The D.C. venue ranked No. 3 on Pollstar’s 2018 Year End Worldwide Ticket Sales Top 200 Club Venues Chart with 240,156 tickets. 

The 30th annual Pollstar Awards take place Feb. 13, concluding the Pollstar Live! Conference which runs Feb. 11-13 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The 9:30 is nominated for the club trophy along with Brooklyn Steel, D.C.’s Anthem, New York’s Irving Plaza, Brooklyn Bowl and Chicago’s Thalia Hall.