In July, the second of the clubs that marked my DC nightlife of the nineties and beyond will close. Both in a corner of SE that is witnessing rapid development.
First to close was the immortal Tracks, where I enjoyed countless nights of industrial mayhem and gothic malaise on Thursday nights from college onward, bulldozed for office development some years back.
And now Nation will close, also making way for development as that area metamorphoses into the new stadium neighborhood. The final weekend will be July 14-16. And so it continues – out with the dance clubs, in with the Starbucks.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Nation originally opened in 1996 as the Capital Ballroom. I went there dancing one of the very first nights, with DJ Daemon spinning. Little did I know then that my future husband, a good friend of his, was also there that night. A few months later we would bump into each other there, remember meeting at Tracks the summer before, and begin our euphoric ascent.
The club eventually changed hands and became Nation, home to many popular dance nights over the years (and a fair bit of controversy when ravekids became the hysteria du jour) and one of the most diverse concert venues in DC.
So many memories are tied up in that space. Crazy vibrant memories – music, concerts, dancing, drinking, sadness, violence, happiness – all the gamut of those turbulent years that mark your transition from college kid to adult. I can’t even process them all right now. Perhaps by July, when the club is set to close, I’ll be able to give you a taste of these stories. But not just now.
Tracks gone. Nation gone. It truly will be the end of an era.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
As one of the founding editors of We Love DC, Jenn’s passions are theater and cocktails. After two decades in the city, she’s loved every quirky, mundane, elegant, rude minute of her DC life. A proud advocate for DC’s talented drinks scene, she’s judged the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s ARTINI contest, the DC Rickey Month contest, the Jefferson Hotel’s Quill Cocktail competition, and is a founding member of LUPEC DC. A graduate of Catholic University’s drama program, she toured the country as a member of National Players, and has been both an actor and a costume designer before jumping the aisle to theater criticism. Writing for We Love DC restored her happiness after a life-threatening illness, and she’s grateful to you, dear readers. Send your suggestions to jenn (at) welovedc (dot) com and follow her on Twitter.
