U Hall | |
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| Public transit | Washington Metro   at U Street |
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| Opened | 2010 |
| Closed | 2020 |
U Street Music Hall was a dance club and live music venue founded in 2010 and located in the U Street Corridor of Washington, D.C. Artists and DJs booked at U Street Music Hall spanned the spectrum of electronic music, including house, disco, techno, bass and electro. It is often referred to as "U Hall".
Opened March 17, 2010 by founders Jesse Tittsworth and Will Eastman, [1] U Street Music Hall was a DJ-owned and operated basement dance club and live music venue. Its 500-person capacity room featured a state-of-the-art Martin Audio sound system, [2] a 1,200 square foot cork-cushioned dance floor and two bars. [3] Of its atmosphere, a 2010 Washington Post review stated, U Street Music Hall -- U Hall to its friends -- ditches most of the trappings associated with D.C. nightclubs. No dress code. No bottle service. No party photographers. No VIP areas, or seating more complex than bar stools. Just a huge room with a DJ booth at one end, a stage at the other and bars along the sides. It's a black box theater that lets DJs focus on the music. [4]
U Street Music Hall hosted the Washington D.C. debuts of Disclosure, Hudson Mohawke, Rudimental, Flume, RL Grime, Aeroplane, Joy Orbison, Fred Falke, Kiesza, Sam Smith, Jess Glynne, Rita Ora and Nina Kraviz, among many others. The venue also hosted several underplays, including Kaskade during his 2013 Redux Tour, [5] two back-to-back nights with Swedish pop singer Robyn [6] and two surprise club appearances from Skrillex. [7]
U Street Music Hall announced on October 5, 2020, that it was closing immediately due to hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [8]
Red Friday nights at the club were a tribute to the former D.C. afterhours venue Red, featuring artists who frequented that club. U Street Music Hall was also the birthplace of the first Moombahton Massive, and Massives were held every month at the club. Residents Nadastrom and Sabo spun every Massive, alongside special guests including Tittsworth, Craze and Munchi. In January 2012, Moombahton pioneer Dave Nada proposed marriage to his wife, fellow DJ Jen Lasher, in the DJ booth at Moombahton Massive [9] XI.
Will Eastman, principal owner and music director of U Street Music Hall, headed an emerging electronic music monthly party Bliss, [10] featuring forward-looking international and local guests such as Green Velvet, Tiga, Danny Daze, and Orchard Lounge. Founded in 2000 and first held at the now defunct Metro Cafe, [11] then for eight years at the Black Cat, Bliss moved to U Street Music Hall upon its opening in March 2010 and is one of Washington D.C.'s longest standing dance parties. [12]
In November 2011, U Street Music Hall and the 9:30 Club formed a booking alliance, resulting in the 9:30 Club hosting live early shows at U Street Music Hall, while U Street Music Hall booked weekends at Backbar (located in the basement of the 9:30 Club) and larger acts in the 9:30 Club main room. [13]
U Street Music Hall founded the U Street Music Foundation in 2011, supporting music education programs and events for Ward 1 and Washington D.C. area youth. [14]
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120-130 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970s disco. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.
Julius O'Riordan, better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. He is known for his DJ activities, music production and long-running radio show which achieved global success. He was voted best DJ in the world by DJ Mag in 1995.
Washington, D.C., has been home to many prominent musicians and is particularly known for the musical genres of Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, bluegrass, punk rock and its locally-developed descendants hardcore and emo, and a local funk genre called go-go. The first major musical figure from District of Columbia was John Philip Sousa, a military brass band composer. Later figures include jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Rouse, Buck Hill, Ron Holloway, Davey Yarborough, Michael A. Thomas, Butch Warren, and DeAndrey Howard; soul musicians, including Billy Stewart, The Unifics, The Moments, Ray, Goodman & Brown, Van McCoy, The Presidents, The Choice Four, Vernon Burch, guitarist Charles Pitts, and Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul.
Above & Beyond are an electronic music group consisting of English DJs Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Finnish DJ Paavo Siljamäki. Formed in 2000, they are the owners of London-based electronic dance music labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep, and also host a weekly radio show titled Group Therapy Radio. The trio has been consistently ranked among DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs Poll, having placed at No. 6 in 2007, No. 4 in 2008 & 2009, No. 5 in 2010 & 2011, No. 51 in 2018, No. 22 in 2019, No. 19 in 2020, No. 21 in 2021, No. 30 in 2022, and most recently No. 40 in 2023.
Beatport is an American electronic music-oriented online music store owned by LiveStyle. The company is based in Denver, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Beatport is oriented primarily towards DJs, selling full songs as well as resources that can be used for remixes. It also operates a specialized music streaming service oriented towards DJs.
David Banks, known by his stage name DJ Disciple, is an American DJ, house music producer and author from Brooklyn, New York. For much of his early career, he worked in London and was influential in the rise of UK garage music. Stateside, he was considered a cornerstone of New York City's house music scene. Disciple co-wrote the book The Beat, the Scene, the Sound: A DJ's Journey through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City with Henry Kronk.
DJ Magazine is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Latin America, China, South Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Canada, Russia, Belarus, and the Netherlands.
Baltimore Club, also called B'more Club, B'more House or simply B'more, is a music genre that fuses breakbeat and house. It was created in Baltimore, Maryland in the early to late 1990s by 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell, Frank Ski, and DJ K-Swift, among others.
The Zap was a beach-front nightclub and performance arts venue, in Brighton, England that became known in the late 1980s and early 1990s particularly for its acid house nights. It has been described as an "influential ... club which pulled together many of the underground strands of visual art, fashion, music, design, comedy, cabaret and theatre which were circling at the time".
Buzz – once called "Washington's best electronic dance night" by The Washington Post - was one of Washington, D.C.'s longest running dance parties. It was co-founded by DJ/promoter Scott Henry and DJ/promoter and DC music store owner Lieven DeGeyndt at the East Side Club and then relaunched in October 1995 at the now demolished Nation, formerly the Capital Ballroom. At its peak it was one of the largest dance parties on the East Coast and voted "Best Party" four years in a row by then electronic dance music culture magazine URB (magazine). Buzz attracted the world's top electronic dance music artists to Washington, DC.
The Manufactured Superstars are an electronic dance music DJ/production duo from Denver, Colorado consisting of Bradley Roulier and Shawn Sabo.
Moombahton is an electronic dance music genre, derived from house music and reggaeton, that was created by American DJ and producer Dave Nada in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Nada coined the name as a portmanteau of "Moombah" and reggaeton.
Club Glow is the longest running electronic music event promoter on the East Coast and venue owner based in Washington, DC. Established in 1999, they currently operate venues Echostage and Soundcheck and host numerous large-scale events and music festivals at the DC Armory and RFK Stadium, including Project GLOW and Moonrise Music Festival. Club Glow regularly brings top international talent to Echostage, and in 2021 the venue obtained the first place in the world by DJ Magazine’s "Top 100 Clubs," and has been voted as "the best electronic music venue in North America" since 2017. Club Glow became a subsidiary of Insomniac Events in 2020 and the creative partnership has helped the company expand throughout the East Coast and beyond.
Jesse Tittsworth, better known under his stage name Tittsworth, is an American DJ, producer, nightclub owner, and record label owner. He has worked on projects with Q-Tip, Theophilus London, Pitbull, Kid Sister and Alvin Risk. He co-founded T&A Records, Hermanito Label, and U Street Music Hall.
Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.
Dillon Hart Francis, also known by his alter ego DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. By deejaying and collaborating, Francis helped to popularize the new moombahton genre, and in 2012 he adapted it further into moombahcore and EDM trap, giving the music a harder sound, as heard on his EP Something, Something, Awesome. He expanded into EDM genres with Money Sucks, Friends Rule (2014), which hit number 2 on the Billboard dance chart, then shifted gears into Latin music with 2018's Wut Wut, a Spanish-language album honored with a Latin Grammy and a Latin American Music Award. The song "Sexo", with Residente featuring iLe, rose to number 43 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart in June 2018.
Jasper Helderman, better known by his stage name Alvaro, is a Dutch record producer, songwriter, and DJ. His music is mostly electro house and progressive house. He is best known for his single "Welcome to the Jungle", which reached #3 on the Beatport main chart in June 2013 on Hardwell’s Revealed Recordings. He also produced "The Underground" on Spinnin' Records and more recently "Guest List" on Tiësto's label Musical Freedom, all of which ended up in the top 5 of the Beatport top 100.
Diamanté Anthony Blackmon, known professionally as Gordo and formerly known as Carnage, is a Guatemalan-American DJ, record producer, and former rapper. Born in Guatemala and raised in Frederick, Maryland, he first saw recognition for his DJ mixes and live performances at music festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival. While releasing EDM-oriented singles, he occasionally performed as a recording artist; however, he has since retired from doing so, along with his Carnage stage name in favor of Gordo in 2022, and has since worked solely in production for other artists.
Echostage is a music venue located in the Langdon neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
David Villegas, better known professionally as Dave Nada, is an Ecuadorian-American DJ and producer credited with creating the fusion-genre moombahton. He is a member of the production and DJ duo Nadastrom and co-founder of Hermanito Label along with Jesse Tittsworth.
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