DC9

U Street Corridor, Washington, DC –

Situated in the up-and-coming U Street Corridor, DC9 is a multistory haven for local music enthusiasts, with live acts blasting out its second floor almost every night.

Early evenings see the softly-lit street level bar festooned with tattooed men in fedoras on a first-name basis with the bartender, while groups of hipster friends gather in the handful of wooden booths toward the back, devouring pulled pork sandwiches and gazing up between bites at a collage of old-timey photographs.

This cozy area tends to remain sparsely populated throughout the night, at least compared to the upstairs space, where packs of dance machines and music addicts crowd around the cramped stage in the corner to see musical performances by bands on the tipping point of underground stardom.

On nights with DJ acts, the stage is converted into a forum for uninhibited indie rockers to show off their moves, as those in need of a breather refuel at the second bar opposite the stage or slink into the handful of booths set against velvety-red walls. Further up, a simple rooftop deck provides a place for a more talkative and less musically-inclined bunch to chat and laugh at the nightly flow of drunkards stumbling down U Street.

For music buffs looking to catch eclectic and avant-garde bands before they erupt onto the scene, music-centric DC9 makes it E-Z.