You are right. I remember when Nas and Foxy Brown performed at the 9:30 Club. I wasnt' there but I'm willing to bet you it was not sold out. And the spot is not that big. I agree with you about the the 9:30 club being one of the best venues in town to see a show. I saw The Roots there twice. Both phenomenal!!! However, since it has been the 9:30 club I still say it is a spot primarily for alternative acts. . If you ride past there on a weekday or weekend you will only see teenage white kids outside. It's almost like some of them kids patronize the spot regardless of who is playing. The Bayou is the same situation. Look where it is, right in the middle of Georgetown. We go out there for the restaurants but the night life in G'Town caters exclusively to them. When you have venues that we normally don't patronize you have to promote at other places besides Howard and The City Paper. If you don't, only a small segment of the population will know about the show. There has to be a way to expose The Roots to people from all walks of life. Especially, in a town like DC which is very much music oriented. The home of the percussion live band go go sound. I'm sure a lot of people could appreciate The Roots. IF they knew about them. <P>DC is not as culturally diverse as NY. For instance, I was in NY last weekend and we went to this spot Nells on Friday. It was some of everybody in there. There is a definite distinction between the cultural crowd and the rough crowd here. They don't mix, plain and simple. In places I frequent like Republic Gardens, you rarely see the head wraps.<P>Peace