D.C. Concert Venues: A.D.Yea or A.D.Nay?

Remi and I first met our freshman year at GWU, and since then, we’ve attended several concerts together in the D.C. area. Our shared love for concerts has truly blossomed now that we live in an area where so many occur – but our respective experiences of their venues have varied. 

Remi (any pronouns) is an ambulatory wheelchair user, and the A.D.A (the Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility plays a key part in their venue and overall concert experience. Remi has been to 18 concerts in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area since arriving at the GWU last fall, and in a recent interview with her, we discussed her D.C. concert venue experiences. With this in mind, here, I expand on five of Remi’s D.C. concert venue rankings, where 1 is the highest and 5 is the lowest.

1. The 9:30 Club

Rolling Stone named the 9:30 Club one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States in 2018. In 2026, Remi ranks it just as high. According to Remi, this concert venue has “amazing” ADA accessibility and found that staff were “very, very accommodating, […] super attentive, and super kind overall”. Staff’s consideration for her comfort, even offering her earplugs, stood out to her and made for an excellent concert experience. On top of this, access to the venue was facilitated by the ease of public transportation, specifically by metro, to the venue. To Remi, it was a “really nice location” and it was the “best view” they’d ever had: Remi had been “barricade barricade”. On the other hand, the main issue Remi recognized was that “because it was an alternative concert, people were moshing […] and pushing into [her] space”. She highlighted that oftentimes concert experience can also depend on the type of artist you’re seeing, but that overall, they had “an incredible time”. 

2. A Union Stage Presents Venue: The Howard Theatre

“I love the Howard,” Remi stated when I asked her about this space, “they gave me so many options”. Remi has attended two shows so far at this venue. For the first, they had purchased an ADA general admission ticket. Usually, “they do not have the best general [admission] ADA seating assignment” since it’s placed “way in the back where the bar is, but […] you have a great view and you can see over everybody”. When it came to the second show, Remi had purchased a VIP package and the staff put them at the front (an experience which Remi described as “incredible and amazing and perfect”). All in all, Remi was extremely grateful for their flexibility and friendliness. Unlike the 9:30 Club, however, the Howard Theater is a smaller venue, which means, as a wheelchair user, it’s “hard to get to bathrooms and [queuing] is difficult”. In that regard, the Howard Theater, as a building itself, is not particularly wheelchair accessible, but despite this, once inside the venue, the concert was “incredible and [the staff] were so accommodating”. 

3. Karma Dc Live Music Venue

Placed at the center of their rankings, Remi describes the Karma as “very homey, […] cute, […] and family-owned”. The venue itself is “a bar-type” space with a smaller capacity, and for Remi this means a closer relationship with the owner, staff, and managers, all of whom she has met and says are “super kind”. Importantly, the view for ADA seating is “great”, with options for “both wheelchair users and people with low mobility” including a “seating area for general ADA” and barricade for wheelchair users (her favorite). The downside, on the other hand, is that the area is not as ADA accessible using public transportation, and Remi recommends employing ride-share services for a safer trip, although this can be inconvenient for some. Remi did, however, appreciate the fact that staff will “sit outside with you to make sure your Uber comes” and went on to praise how “amazing and kind” they are. 

4. Union Stage

When recalling her experience at Union Stage, Remi felt that it was particularly unsatisfactory. At the venue’s entrance, she found that she “could not fit” her wheelchair through it. On top of this, that night, the queuing for the venue was disorganized and, for some time, was unable to “get in the line”. Remi noticed that staff attempted to find solutions, but felt that those solutions were “improvised”. Compared to staff’s aptitude at other concert venues, Union Stage staff members’ lack of knowledge and accommodation felt disappointing and negatively impacted Remi’s experience. The issues did not end there, unfortunately, for Remi got to their seats only to discover that the ADA seating was located beside the stage, which meant that they couldn’t see it. Plus, Remi “couldn’t reach the bathroom because it was upstairs” and in the end it was “really hard to exit the venue”. Understandably, Remi “was not a fan” of the Union Stage Venue. 

5. Ira Aldridge Theater

At the very bottom of Remi’s rankings is the Ira Aldridge Theater. Most pointedly, venue accessibility was challenging, particularly concerning manual versus motorized wheelchair usage. Currently, Remi uses a motorized chair, but last year, Remi went to multiple venues with her manual one. When it came to this venue–which Remi does note can be accessed via metro–it was especially physically exhausting to reach using her manual wheelchair since it resides atop a hill, and trekking up it meant that they “were struggling and out of breath”. Once inside the venue itself, Remi observed that general seating was leveled, which meant no raised platform and only a select amount of wheelchair spots “right behind the last row of seats”. This seating in question was also located “right in front of the sound system”, and so Remi watched the show with an obstructed view and general discomfort, which made for a rather dreadful venue experience. 

Evidently, when it comes to concert attendance, sometimes the venue makes or breaks your experience. For Remi, while seeing the artist is the most important part, things like access to ADA tickets, a good view and seating, and interactions with a knowledgeable and respectful staff make all the difference. Ultimately, these various experiences have influenced Remi’s mixed reviews of D.C.’s concert venues, but she feels as though she’s had “mostly positive experiences”, and I am glad to share her thoughts with HerCampus readers who might find this information equally interesting and important.