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Walking up to U Street Music Hall (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Today, U Street Music Hall announced it is closing its doors effectively immediately due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Although primarily a DJ club, Parklife DC covered a number of exciting live shows at U Hall, as it was affectionately known. For much of its 10-year run, U Street Music Hall hit the sweet spot as a space for upcoming touring bands with its 500-person capacity and easily accessible location.
The entrance to U Street Music Hall (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
You could learn a lot from DJ Will Eastman. One of the many things: Should you decide on a career change, put your whole heart into it.
That’s what Will did when he opened U Street Music Hall in 2010. You see, he previously worked full-time for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Meanwhile, DJ’ed all around town and beyond at 9:30 Club, Black Cat, and more, and he saw the need for a club wholly dedicated to hot dance nights with big beats.
Enter U Hall, a club for DJs by DJs.
A sign announcing a coronavirus closing (Photo by Ted Eytan)
DC has closed its music venues to efforts to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19). As such, staffers at concert halls around town are out of work.
Management at several music venues have established relief funds for their workers, allowing the public to donate directly to efforts to provide money directly to venue staff.
Should you ever have enjoyed a show at any of the venues below, please consider a donation to thank the hard-working staff who helped make it a great experience. Parklife has compiled a list below of music venues administering support funds, along with a statement posted by the management of each.
Parklife will udpate this list as relevant. Feel free to add info on relief efforts for music venue staff in the comments.
Temples perform at U Street Music Hall on Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Kyle Gustafson)
Sometimes when it’s cold as hell out, the best thing to do is pack into a small crowded room and watch a killer rock show. That’s exactly what I did on Monday, catching a brilliant show from Temples at U Street Music Hall.
Temples (Photo by Matt Clarke)
English psychedelic rock band Temples released Hot Motion, the band’s third studio album, in September. Temples appears in support of the record at U Street Music Hall on Monday, Jan. 20.
Mickey McCarter was *thrilled* to see the classic lineup of Berlin reunite. (Photo by Jason Nicholson)
Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2019 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.
Many of our bloggers work as one-man bands. They travel to a show, shoot it, and write it up. But as Parklife DC editor, I frequently work in collaboration with others. And so I have the opportunity to travel to shows I might otherwise not see in support of bloggers who are there to shoot (usually) or write (occasionally) about the program.
Tacocat performs at U Street Music Hall on May 19, 2019, in this top photo by Katherine Gaines.
Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2019 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.
Choosing my favorite photos is always a difficult task. I narrowed it down to shows I shot specifically for Parklife for this blog post.
Maxo Kream performs at The Anthem on Oct. 25, 2019. (Photo by Shedrick Pelt)
If the Astros being in the World Series is any sign that the city of Houston is glo-ing up right now then Maxo Kream and his Brandon Banks Tour making its way around the US is the icing on the cake. H-Town has forever been layered with certified artist dating back to the godfather’s DJ Screw, Big Moe, and Devin The Dude. Now it’s Maxo’s time to tell his story about life in Clutch City.
Maxo Kream (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
Houston rapper Maxo Kream dropped Brandon Banks, his third studio album and his major label debut on July 19 through Big Persona/88 Classic/RCA Records. The rising hip hop star performs at U Street Music Hall on Friday, Oct. 25.
The Regrettes perform at U Street Music Hall on Oct. 1, 2019. (Photo by Katherine Gaines/ ambienteye.com)
Not long ago, The Regrettes released their second studio album, titled How Do You Love?, and even more recently the quartet performed their new songs at U Street Music Hall. Katherine Gaines caught the action for Parklife DC.
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