Safari Club

Legendary underground music venue in Washington, D.C. The Safari Club originally opened as an Ethiopian disco that hosted go-go bands on weekend nights. From 1988 until 1997, it was also a venue for hardcore/punk matinee shows. This was back when legendary hardcore bands like Sick Of It All, Gorilla Biscuits, Bold (2), Judge, Chain Of Strength and many more were young and barely on the radar of DC’s 9:30 Club and local unknowns had a hard time getting gigs elsewhere; the Safari Club became a refuge for the latest “original music found underground,” paralleling the weekly hardcore matinee schedule originated by New York’s CBGBs.