9:30 Club (Photo by Mickey McCarter)

In September 2021, alt-rockers Foo Fighters performed a show at 9:30 Club to formally rechristen it after pandemic closures (although the club had sporadically stirred back to life at this point).

But Foo frontman Dave Grohl also took the stage with a surprise announcement of new beginnings. He announce that 9:30 Club would open a smaller venue next door to its location on V Street NW, DC — a location that would recall its original location at 930 F Street NW.

Today, IMP Concerts, owner and operator of 9:30 Club revealed that new, more intimate club is called The Atlantis, and that it will officially open on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, with a show by — the Foo Fighters!

From the 9:30 Club stage on Sept. 9, 2021, Dave made the first announcement thus: “Who remembers the old 9:30 Club?… That was our church. That’s where we got to see every fucking band… That’s where we all played first. That’s where REM played first. That’s where the Chili Peppers played first. That’s where Nirvana played first… Magic happened in that room. But guess what?… They’re gonna open up a place that’s an exact replica of the old 9:30 Club right fucking next door. Nobody knows that because I’m the fucking first one to tell you that right now! So, for all you people who never got to see the old 9:30 Club, you’ll get to see that shit next door someday. And let me tell you, if it’s the same vibe as the old 9:30 Club, you’ll see some real magic.”

Watch a video of Dave Grohl announcing what is now revealed as The Atlantis:

Before the original 9:30 Club opened its doors at 930 F Street, NW on May 30, 1980, it was briefly home to another venue: The Atlantis. Now, The Atlantis is back, and IMP is celebrating the 44 anniversary of its portfolio with the opening of the club.

“We’ve been doing our smallest shows in other peoples’ venues for too many years now,” said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of IMP. “We needed a place that’s ours. This can be the most exciting step in an artist’s career. This will be where we help introduce new artists to the world, and their story needs to be told right. Our smallest venue will be treated as important, if not more, than our bigger venues. If the stories are told right, both the artists and the fans begin their hopefully long-term relationship, and we as promoters do better too.”

The Atlantis is IMP’s smallest club — after The Anthem (6,000 capacity) and 9:30 Club (1,200 capacity), and it holds 450 people. (IMP also books concerts into Merriweather Post Pavilion and the Lincoln Theatre, both owned by other entities.) IMP reports The Atlantis, which occupies a lot last host to a bar called Satellite Room, cost about $10 million to build.

Tickets for the inaugural run of 44 shows will be $44 each. They are non-transferrable, and they will be sold via a lottery-style process with protections to ensure “real fans attend the shows,” IMP said. To thwart scalping, The Atlantis is utilizing Ticketmaster Request for the inaugural run of shows, which is open now at TheAtlantis.com and will run through Friday, April 7 at 11:59pm ET.

Fans will learn next week if their ticket requests have been fulfilled. If a ticketholder is unable to make the show, a fan-to-fan face-value ticket exchange option will be available.

The Atlantis will be booked by Zhubin Aghamolla, who also books The Anthem and Merriweather Post Pavilion, and Sam Hurwitz has been named The Atlantis’s general manager. Sam has served as Front of House Manager for The Anthem since 2018. Prior to that, he worked across nearly all departments including door staff, merch, production, bartending, box office, and booking for the 9:30 Club and Lincoln Theatre.

Visit The Atlantis online to learn more!

The billboard art below lists the initial 44 shows at The Atlantis.