According to stereogum.com the night club Black Cat opened its doors to Washington, D.C. in 1993. The club was founded by Dante Ferrando, who is the former drummer for post-hardcore legends Grey Matter.

One of the club’s early investors was artist Dave Grohl, who was still the drummer in Nirvana. Ever since the opening, the Black Cat has been a DC institution.

The club has moved once where it managed to find a space that was almost exactly like the original one. This Fall, the Black Cat will celebrate its 30 anniversary with a pair of big shows that will feature some bands who have not been around for a while.

The dream-pop band Velocity Girl broke up in 1996 but they will be one of the bands performing at Black Cat. It will be the band’s first gig in more than two decades. Their last show was a 2002 reunion performance at the same venue.

Velocity Girl will headline one night, while Ex Hex will headline the other. The show will also feature the return of Grey Matter, who broke up for the second time in 1993 and Ted Leo’s Pharmacists, who  haven’t played live since 2019.

Other live performances include Messthetics, Mary Timony’s newish band with DC punk lifer Alec MacKaye, Flasher, Bad Moves, Birthday Girl, and the Owners. Both shows will be on September, 8-9 at the Black Cat.Tickets go on sale this Friday at www.etix.com.