It sounds like a riddle: What has four wheels, tickets to local concert tickets inside, stickers on the top, and can be found in a different location every day? It’s the new ticket-hawking truck from I.M.P., the music empire in D.C.
9:30 The Truck, is like a food truck, but for concert tickets. The vehicle will be rolling around the region, and patrons can purchase tickets from its box office-style window. Tickets to all I.M.P. shows are up for grabs, including those at The Anthem, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and The Lincoln Theatre, and certain performances at U Street Music Hall.
The benefit of hunting down the truck rather than snagging tickets online from your couch? The tickets from the truck will be free of service charges, which can run around $8 or $9. (You can also buy service charge-free tickets at any I.M.P. box office for any show, regardless of the venue. Merriweather tickets are available at The Anthem’s box office, for example.)
The news comes less than a week after I.M.P. co-chair Seth Hurwitz was arrested for soliciting prostitution from a massage therapist in Maryland. Over the weekend, he told staff he was “stepping aside” from the company during the investigation.
I.M.P. has gone all in on the truck, offering such vehicle-themed merch as a license plate frame, car air freshener, sticker, and t-shirt (though, oddly, not a Hot Wheels toy) emblazoned with “@930TheTruck.” You can purchase the items, along with other I.M.P. merch, exclusively from the truck itself, which Popville was first to spot.
And before you ask: No, the truck won’t be selling the 9:30 Club’s famous cupcakes. According to I.M.P. representative Audrey Fix Schaefer, the company obtained permits to sell tickets and retail merchandise, but selling food requires more paperwork.
Fix Schaefer says the idea came from I.M.P. COO Donna Westmoreland. Staffer Colin Gbolie will be managing the truck—a.k.a., driving it around and managing its box office. The plan is for the truck to scoot around to local events, such as festivals, fairs, or college football games. It’ll also take a cue from food trucks, parking at popular mobile lunch spots and at college campuses (because, according to Fix Schaefer, “college kids want to go see a lot of shows and they want to save money.”)
Also like food trucks, the truck will announce its location via its Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts. You’ll know it by its rock-inspired aesthetic: black and silver with a collage of band stickers on the underside of the ticket booth window.
This story has been updated to reflect that truck concept came from Donna Westmoreland.
Lori McCue



