Despite its rightful place among respected regional arts venues, Strathmore has suffered from one major problem over the past decade: the disparity between its two performance spaces. While the performance hall in the historic mansion is gorgeous, it only seats about 100 people. On the other hand, there’s the 2,000-seat hall in the ten-year-old Music Center that’s designed for orchestral music, making it difficult to stage events that don’t require such a large room or have different sound requirements. That’s where AMP comes into play. The new venue, “powered by Strathmore,” aims to fill this gap.
Located in the new Pike & Rose development in North Bethesda—or Rockville to locals who grew up in the area (ed. note: it’s fucking Rockville)—AMP celebrated its grand opening this past weekend. DCist was present at Sunday’s show featuring the headlining duo of singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon and drummer Allison Miller.
The venue itself has an understated and sleek design. There’s a well-appointed bar area just outside of the performance space, which is lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, making for nice ambiance prior to, and during, the show. Right now, the view from the fourth floor space is that of a giant construction site, but presumably that will improve with time. The hall can fit up to 350 for standing room only shows and last night’s table arrangement probably seated around 150. AMP’s food and beverage service is part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group‘s ever-expanding empire. The menu is reasonably priced for this market and features a solid list of craft beers, wine, and house cocktails alongside small plates, salads, entrees and desserts (pro-tip: try the carrot hummus and rockfish sliders). Service was attentive and the only major hiccup last night occurred when smoke from the kitchen triggered the fire alarm.
But how’s the space for catching shows? Reagon and Miller were thoughtful choices for the grand opening. Though both of them are currently based out of New York, they have strong connections to the D.C. area. Reagon’s mother is Bernice Johnson Reagon, who founded Sweet Honey in the Rock over 40 years ago, and who also provided last night’s most touching moment when she harmonized with her daughter from the audience. Miller grew up in the Maryland suburbs and regularly returns to perform in the area, both with her own group and as a member of other bands. Reagon and Miller are also highly respected artistic voices within the LGBT community.
AMP’s principals were also wise to open the club with an acoustic show, as that’s the best way to test a sound system and the people operating it. In this instance, both the equipment and the engineer were flawless.
Reagon and Miller played a 90-minute set that centered around Reagon’s deeply soulful voice. Traditional blues and gospel songs sat perfectly alongside originals from her numerous projects. An accidental spilling of water gave rise to an insightful and amusing story of the travails she’s faced in trying to avoid using plastic bottles. Miller’s accompaniment showcased the taste, dexterity and technique that’ve made her a world class percussionist. The duo also played material from their forthcoming album, which should be on everyone’s wish list. Violinist Juliette Jones was invited to add a second melodic voice to a few songs. The night’s biggest surprise came when the Dorrance Tap Company took the stage to up the energy level over an uptempo zydeco tune. The main set closed with each of the four dancers soloing over Miller’s vicious 7/4 groove; not something one sees everyday.
The headliners were as good as one would expect of artists with that level of talent and experience, but the opener, Be Steadwell, was the evening’s biggest revelation. The District-based musician and filmmaker began her intimate 30-minute set by electronically looping her voice into gorgeous harmonies with accompaniment from percussionist Asha Santee on cajon. The ensemble eventually grew to seven pieces, but we would pay money to hear Steadwell just by herself. This is an artist to watch.
Right now, those booking acts at AMP are taking the approach of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. The calendar includes funk bands, folk acts, classical music, comedy, and jazz artists (we’re particularly excited about a Billie Holiday tribute by a group of the area’s best vocalists). It will also be interesting to see how the proximity between AMP and the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club will affect the two venues and whether they will end up competing for a similar demographic. Regardless, there are those of us who believe that more is better when it comes to live music venues, and AMP is a welcome addition.
