9:30 Club Celebrating 45th Anniversary With Photo Exhibit, Re-issuing Coffee Table Book  

During the past 45 years the 9:30 Club has hosted more than 11,000 artists and nearly 8 million fans. The beloved Washington, D.C. venue – which recently picked up its 15th Pollstar Nightclub of the Year Award – is celebrating its anniversary with a special photo exhibit and by releasing a limited edition expanded reissue of the long sold-out coffee table book “9:30 – A Time and a Place.”

Veteran photographer Jim Saah has been capturing shows at the 9:30 Club since October 17th, 1982 and when The Atlantis, a near replica of the original 9:30 Club, opened in 2023, he was there for nearly all of the 44-show run of underplays that launched with the Foo Fighters.

“After sundown,’80s D.C. belonged to the punks and outsiders,” said Saah. “The music and community were intoxicating, and the 9:30 Club was home base for it all. I must’ve photographed hundreds of shows there. I love experiencing the music while making visual art from it. I was more tuned into the whole scene through documenting it. It made me feel alive.”

Selections from Saah’s 9:30 Club photo collection are displayed in The Atlantis’ backstage hallway that leads to the stage and now a new exhibit, “44x44x44,” is featured in the backstage stairwell, honoring 44 years of the 9:30 Club and featuring one photo from every night of the 44-show Atlantis underplay gigs.  

“Sometimes you see these exhibits with photos of music legends and can’t imagine how someone so talented happened to capture all that,” Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. and owner of the 9:30 Club, said in a statement. “Well, we have our very own version of that here in D.C. Jim Saah is an amazing talent that has chronicled music here for decades…and is still doing it! The same guy that took pictures of these bands the first time around is the one that took them here, for their return.”

An announcement notes that Saah was there for all of the Atlantis underplay shows except three, with Ben Eisendrath, D.C. photojournalist and one of  I.M.P. ‘s house photographers, filling in those other nights.

The $10 million, 450-capacity Atlantis is located at 2047 9th St. NW, next to the 9:30 Club. The venue takes its name from the building that was once located at 930 F St. NW before the original 9:30 Club opened its doors on May 30, 1980.

The 9:30 Club is hosting a few public viewings of the “44x44x44” exhibit on June 27 and July 13, as well as an event for members of I.M.P.’s free loyalty program, Friends with Benefits, on June 26. Fans will get the chance to check The Atlantic dressing rooms and enjoy a drink on the rooftop, as well as access to limited-edition 45th anniversary merchandise. 

This limited edition expanded reissue of “9:30 – A Time and a Place”  features more than 100 new pages, including exclusive photos and artist messages from The Atlantis’ grand opening. There’s also a complete  chronological listing of every show ever played at the 9:30 Club and a memorial page honoring the late Shawn “Gus” Vitale, the 9:30 Club’s lead sound engineer, with a tribute written by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi and Dischord Records. 

Finally, in other 9:30 Club news, promoter I.M.P. has launched the “It’s My Photography” project on Instagram at @ItsMyPhotoDC to share snapshots of its archive of more than 4,000 photo albums across its five venues: 9:30 Club, The Anthem, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Lincoln Theatre, and The Atlantis. The photos were snapped by more than 200 concert photographers. 

Though spots at the public viewings of the “44x44x44” exhibit are already sold out, you can still get merch and pre-order your copy of the re-issue of the coffee table book at https://www.930.com/45-2/ 

Upcoming shows at the 9:30 Club include Sleigh Bell, Perfume Genius, Betty Who, Dope Lemon and more. Over at the Atlantis, the calendar includes Provoker, JUDY with Sasha Colby and Leland, Greer and more.