The nightclub known as the Black Cat opened in Washington, DC in 1993. The club was founded by Dante Ferrando, former drummer for post-hardcore greats Gray Matter, and one of its early investors was Dave Grohl, who was still the drummer in Nirvana back then. Ever since, the Black Cat has been a DC institution. The club has moved once, but they managed to find a space that was almost exactly like the original one. A 1996 Avail/Citizen Fish show at the Black Cat remains the best live show that I have ever seen. This fall, the Black Cat will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a pair of huge shows that’ll feature some bands who haven’t been around in a while.

Velocity Girl, the DC dream-pop greats who broke up in 1996, are coming back to play this show. It’ll be the first Velocity Girl gig in more than two decades; their last show was a 2002 reunion set at the same venue. Velocity Girl will headline one night, while Ex Hex, the great current band from DC fixture Mary Timony, will headline the other. The bill also features the return of Gray Matter, who broke up for the second time in 1993, and Ted Leo’s Pharmacists, who (at least according to Setlist.fm) haven’t played live since 2019.

Other bands on the bill include the Messthetics, the instrumental trio that includes two former Fugazi members, and Hammered Hulls, Mary Timony’s newish band with DC punk lifer Alec MacKaye, as well as Flasher, Bad Moves, Birthday Girl, and the Owners. The shows go down 9/8-9 at the Black Cat, and tickets go on sale Friday morning right here.