just saw a thread about worst bars in VA. how about the old school clubs we used to hit in 90s - 00s?

Anastasia's - in Georgetown on the corner of M/Wisconsin, above where the Banana Republic is. that place had a fair amount of jarheads up in there back in early 90s.

Fifth Column - F st, down by Zola's/Spy Museum. location has bank pillars on outside, went through a bunch of different names (The Bank, Home, etc). Great techno back in the day but then all the filthy foreigners started coming.

Babylon - right next to Fifth Column. Same scenario. They had a night where the showed porn movies on the wall with the hard trance. I'm wondering how chicks didnt feel totally skeeved up in there. Also eventually overrun by filthy foreign types, complete savages.

Tracks - down in SE where the stadium was. place was both seedy and scary outside, and was for jam experts most nights. They had a straight night that was pretty clutch though where they brought in some solid DJs. Saw the Prodigy there before they blew up, back in early 90s.

Buzz - both locations were also in sketchy SE, but some of the best ever electronic acts played there. defined the DC electronica scene.

Rasputin Lounge - right across street from Urban Outfitters in DC, on M st. i worked at this joint back in mid 90s, it was mostly early Taliban types, but had some good Eurodance tunes going.

Dragonfly - Connecticut Ave, mid-town. next to Lucky Bar. when this place first opened in late 90s, damn it was clutch. All minimal, drum/bass tunes, cool as hell bartenders. i miss that place a lot. much better than 12-Twenty-Taliban a few doors down.

Red - Corner of N/Connecticut, around corner from 18th St Lounge and Andalu. Might have been the best deep house venue for late night the city has ever seen. Didnt get crowded til 3am, good til 5am. Best place to end a night.

Andalu - Under-rated house/electronic underground venue right next to 18st Lounge. small, narrow, but had some good local djs and hot chicks.

Gazuza - Connecticut ave in Dupont. Open air onto connecticut patio, plus live bongos with the house tunes, made for a solid night.

Now, its all these s-holes on K st with savages and filthy animals. I miss those old days.

I was never in to the clubs, but I remember going to the 5th column and Anastasia's. Is LuLu's still around? An ex girlfriend liked going there. I haven't been to a DC club in 15 years.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

was an absolute regular at Tracks back in the day...Jay the bartender would make the strongest drinks imaginable every Thurs. between 9 and 10:30 when it was $5 cover and free drinks...ah, those were the days. :D
Also frequented Fifth Column and even went to that male strip club across the street called Wet, heh. Ah, youth... /wistful

I remember tracks, saw the bad brains there.

They had like a goth side and a club kids side...got sucked into the Club Kids side one time, and barely escaped...so many platform sneakers... /shudder

Nogoats Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I remember tracks, saw the bad brains there.

yup, 1995 http://www.hardcoreshowflyers.com/2009/06/25/bad-brains-tracks-washington-dc-5-9-95/

Anyone remember Fri night at Nations, when they had buzz? Some cunty fox 5 producer lead to that getting shut down around 1999.

hahaha miss those places....kinda... had fun in there I remember on night in the 90's I pissed on a girls feet w/o her knowing when I was drunk at a foam party at Buzz and got a BJ from her like 10 minutes later LOL, and been in all those places shit, I am getting old!

Hey Palermo, just exactly how gay are you? Because you sound pretty gay.

Now all youse got is So Addictive in herndon?

Palermo FC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> just saw a thread about worst bars in VA. how
> about the old school clubs we used to hit in 90s -
> 00s?
>
> Anastasia's - in Georgetown on the corner of
> M/Wisconsin, above where the Banana Republic is.
> that place had a fair amount of jarheads up in
> there back in early 90s.
>
> Fifth Column - F st, down by Zola's/Spy Museum.
> location has bank pillars on outside, went through
> a bunch of different names (The Bank, Home, etc).
> Great techno back in the day but then all the
> filthy foreigners started coming.
>
> Babylon - right next to Fifth Column. Same
> scenario. They had a night where the showed porn
> movies on the wall with the hard trance. I'm
> wondering how chicks didnt feel totally skeeved up
> in there. Also eventually overrun by filthy
> foreign types, complete savages.
>
> Tracks - down in SE where the stadium was. place
> was both seedy and scary outside, and was for jam
> experts most nights. They had a straight night
> that was pretty clutch though where they brought
> in some solid DJs. Saw the Prodigy there before
> they blew up, back in early 90s.
>
> Buzz - both locations were also in sketchy SE, but
> some of the best ever electronic acts played
> there. defined the DC electronica scene.
>
> Rasputin Lounge - right across street from Urban
> Outfitters in DC, on M st. i worked at this joint
> back in mid 90s, it was mostly early Taliban
> types, but had some good Eurodance tunes going.
>
> Dragonfly - Connecticut Ave, mid-town. next to
> Lucky Bar. when this place first opened in late
> 90s, damn it was clutch. All minimal, drum/bass
> tunes, cool as hell bartenders. i miss that place
> a lot. much better than 12-Twenty-Taliban a few
> doors down.
>
> Red - Corner of N/Connecticut, around corner from
> 18th St Lounge and Andalu. Might have been the
> best deep house venue for late night the city has
> ever seen. Didnt get crowded til 3am, good til
> 5am. Best place to end a night.
>
> Andalu - Under-rated house/electronic underground
> venue right next to 18st Lounge. small, narrow,
> but had some good local djs and hot chicks.
>
> Gazuza - Connecticut ave in Dupont. Open air onto
> connecticut patio, plus live bongos with the house
> tunes, made for a solid night.
>
> Now, its all these s-holes on K st with savages
> and filthy animals. I miss those old days.


Dragonfly is now called Current and it has a nice rooftop. Gazuza is still around..I've only been there for happy hour though.

fri @ buzz was the seminal electronic night for DC in late 90s early 00s - scott henry and crew did it right.

other places:

The Edge - also in SE, very gritty but good hard techno

Five - next 18th St Lounge/Andalu on Connecticut, had some good djs come through but also too many mainstreet/hathead/savages

The goth/industrial section of Tracks was pretty solid - played Front 242, Ministry and the likes. DJ Mohawk Adam was a character, i remember him working at the old Smash which was down very close to Key Bridge on the other side of M st back in late 80s/early 90s.

I do not remember any of those clubs. I am old school. I grew up in thr 1960's - 1970's. The 1980's was cool also. Down to earth. Disco and old school rap & r&b.

Just in the off chance anyone is interested, there's a Red Reunion party this Friday night (tomorrow 6/14/2012) at U Street Music Hall w/ Sam Burns, Doug Smith, Tom B, Kostas & Master Kev.

$10, free before 11pm

Should be a stone cold gas

You should check out this site.

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/510212.html

When the drinking age for beer was 18.. they served beer in paper cups (can't hurt anyone hitting them over the head with a paper cup) and your feet stuck to the floor..

The Bayou
The Keg
The Roundtable
Macs
Nwe Macs
The Celar Door
The Tombs
After to Little Tavern

monday night was the best night at Fifth Column it was college night great music and crowd there was always a line stretched down the block if it was your first time going there good luck getting in lol.

I remember a place called the vault that was next to the fifth columm,it was a blast.

buzz was a staple in my youth. i got 2nd in a halloween costume contest as optimus prime one year. netted me free entrance for a year. i always stayed in the dnb room.

five was fun, although we joked it was called five because that's how many girls were there.

tracks was great. ah the days of downing 40s in the car, underaged.

"Anyone remember Fri night at Nations, when they had buzz?"

I remember seeing shows at Nation when it was still called Capitol Ballroom. We stumbled out of there one night and could not for the life of us find our one buddy. We looked for him for a half hour before this homeless guy comes walking up with our buddy hanging off his shoulder. He told us he found him laying in the gutter passed out and recognized him from when we parked so he helped our buddy get back to the car. Who does that, especially in SE DC at 3am.

I remember Poseurs nightclub in Georgetown.

I was an underage doorman at The Vault in '89. It became Babylon (as referenced in OPs post) a couple years later. As I recall their was a fatal shooting on the dance floor when it was Babylon. It's had several name changes since and I believe it's presently known as Ultrabar.

Best perk working their was being able to walk across the street and go into the original 9:30 Club for free anytime. In fact, "club courtesy" was granted anywhere around the city back in those days. Tracks, Fifth Column, Cities, Chief Ike's Mambo Room, Z Club etc etc. Shit was so cash.

Another side note about The Vault.....famous actor/musician Jared Leto was an underage doorman there too, just before I started working there. He was still hanging out there all the time.

It's probably just me being an old fuck now....but in recent years I've found DC clubs to be extremely lame.

This thread is useless without a mention of Sports Fans down on M Street. That place was the shit back in the early 90's. Thursday night all you can drink ( Draft Beer ) was like $10 bucks or something and if you need some high octane, you could get $2 test tube shooters. Believe it went under after a fight spilled out into the street and resulted in a shooting.

Used to Frequent

"The Ritz"
"Quigleys"
and "Chicagos"

I was getting in DC clubs at 16....so by the time I was old enough, I didn't really care for it...I had more fun hitting local bars. Drinks were much cheaper too...lol.

Had some good times in DC though. I remember we were chillin in the same lounge as Boys to Men and Salt n Pepa in THE RITZ...wow....took a brotha back..lol

Red was cool. Seemed there was always a snow storm in the rest room.

Fuck Red and all the losers that frequented it.

who cares

Odds!

GGGG

Didn't that place have a killer all you could drink special mid week. If I'm thinking of the same place they had these cheap ass plastic disposable pitchers that were about 3/4 the size of a gallon size paint can but with a handle. It had a front area with maybe high tables and a big open area in the back for dancing.

@gggg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GGGG
>
> Didn't that place have a killer all you could
> drink special mid week. If I'm thinking of the
> same place they had these cheap ass plastic
> disposable pitchers that were about 3/4 the size
> of a gallon size paint can but with a handle. It
> had a front area with maybe high tables and a big
> open area in the back for dancing.

Thats the one :)

Sports Fans was the Shit...the cheap beer, the fights, the chicks...I got head in the the far corner near the old DJ booth by the boxing ring from some slut I use to bang back in the day......amazing I never got a DWI leaving that place on I66!

Nation was tight, but too many under aged kids rolling, and too many cuddle puddles for me.

Red was the best club I've been to in the DC area.Great music, great vibe, and what was best about it, it was so hidden that you could be standing outside of the doors and not realize it was there! Many nights were spent hitting up Five and then Red until 6 am.

Don't forget the Pier, the Club House, Cities in Adams Morgan and the Library In G town

I went to Tracks a few times in high school because my crazy g/f loved it. I never really had fun there - just ate acid and sat on the bleachers outside at the volleyball court. After high school a bunch of friends started going to Buzz and became those "candy-rolling" club kids with the glow sticks and all. That's about when I started to clean up.

Another Thursday night at Tracks regular here, goth side of course. Jay the bartender recently died. I thought I was special 'cause he always knew what I wanted, then I realized he knew what everybody wanted.

There was never a club called "Buzz". The club was The Capital Ballroom, then Nation. Saw so many punk shows there and was a regular at all the gothic/industrial nights as well. A few of my friends would go to Buzz there, but they couldn't drag me to go on Fridays.

Anastasia's? I think that might be the space that was Annie Oakley's in the 80's. Used to go there before Poseur's opened. After that Poseur's was the only bar I'd go to in Georgetown.

Anyone remember the old 9:30, or the new 9:30 Club back when it was still WUST Radio Hall? Saw my first real live punk show there back in '84 or so.

How about:
Insect Club
Z club ( lame)
15 minute Club - insdie a Chinese Restaurant...soo fun!
Lulu's was fun for Happy Hour

Ahhh Z Club on Zei Street? That place was great hahah

Other places I recall from mid to late 90's:
-VIP Club (actually pretty decent place that closed when a developer came in to revamp the entire side of F street)
-Insomnia
-RnR Lounge (early 2000)
-Platinum/Bank
-Dream (before Love)
-Polyesther's (before the floor collapsed)
-Surf Themed Club they always advertised on Z104 (what was that POS place called?)
-Cities (in Adam's Morgan)

Golden triangle also had The Garage and Five in the early 90's

kiki Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How about:
> Insect Club
> Z club ( lame)
> 15 minute Club - insdie a Chinese Restaurant...soo
> fun!
> Lulu's was fun for Happy Hour


I went to the Insect Club once. I remember they had chex mix with real crickets and meal worms.

Yea! 15 Minutes! I remember that place. Went there a bunch of times. They had a fishbone sign as I recall.

I have fuzzy memories of going into DC around 1993 to some huge club that was within a cafeteria. At midnight, everyone would put down their drinks and go thru a cafeteria line and get food. Weird, but fun. Anyone else remember this place?

Dance club cafeteria? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have fuzzy memories of going into DC around 1993
> to some huge club that was within a cafeteria. At
> midnight, everyone would put down their drinks and
> go thru a cafeteria line and get food. Weird, but
> fun. Anyone else remember this place?


Was it in a basement, like near Georgetown, but not quite in Georgetown? I went to some club like that in the 80's, but I forget the name.

Vegas Lounge for some hot Go-Go. The chicks there could dance.

Kilimanjaro for the Afro-pop and Reggae, couldn't be beat!

Babylon, Fifth Column were alright.

Zei Alley was the best. Nothing compared with Glow. I don't care what club in D.C. you reference. That was the climax.

Yeah, Nation was tight too. I saw Oakenfold and Madonna there. Good memories there too. Zei Alley/Glow was just off the charts, never will happen again type experience.

Someplace Else Club

Oldy Olderson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Anyone remember the old 9:30, or the new 9:30 Club
> back when it was still WUST Radio Hall? Saw my
> first real live punk show there back in '84 or so.

It was still open up until the mid-90s, at least. I saw Mudhoney there in summer of 95. It was the most stage-diving I've ever seen at a show, literally nonstop.

Guards down on M street , Mad Hatters, What was the place at the end of the alley behind 3rd Edition ? Odd's was pretty good. Always had cheap draft beer pitcher prices and alot action on the dance floor area towards the back.

To the OP...you must have went to Stuart, Falls Church, or maybe Annandale. We used to run Anastasias every Sunday and hit every other club on your list. At age 17 none the less lol. I shudder when I look at some of these 17 year olds and think did I look that young back then?

How many fights have you all witnessed at these clubs (Tracks, Fifth)? It seemed like there was one every week! It was great, b/c no one pulled guns on each other .. just fist fights and occassional beer bottles thrown.

This was my routine:
Monday - Fifth Column (Pangea)
Tuesday - rest day
Wednesday - can't remember the name, but it was in the same alley as Zei
Thursday - Tracks
Friday - Vault
Saturday - Fifth Column, Vault, or nudey bar

so it would be nice if someone could suggest where to go now in DC....

Back in the day I loved the Insect Club, 15 minute club, Red, Lulus. But especially Red. Anyone know good places similiar to RED now? Good deep house music?

An interesting footnote on the Insect Club, I think the building was where Columbia Records started. I went there once, but I was more likely to be across the street at DC Space.

The original 9:30 Club, hands down.