AMP by Strathmore, the new 240-seat music venue at the Pike & Rose project in White Flint, is set to open this weekend.
Strathmore CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl has made no secret of his hope that the fourth-floor concert room in the middle of what used to be a strip shopping center attracts a younger audience than the organization’s decade-old concert hall on Tuckerman Lane — typically reserved for the likes of the National Philharmonic Orchestra.
“That’s the perception, at least,” said Strathmore Associate Marketing Director Mike Fila, while giving a tour of the space on Wednesday. “It’s hard to get people to come up past the Beltway.”
Fila said Strathmore has been peppering riders of Metro’s Red Line into D.C. with ads promoting the new concert space. The venue (11810 Grand Park Avenue) is less than a 10-minute walk from the White Flint Metro station.
But Strathmore hopes AMP is more than just a new venue for D.C. and close-in Montgomery County residents. Over it’s first spring and summer, it’ll try to find what works with artists over a wide range of musical acts, including alt-country veteran Jay Farrar (who will officially open the venue on Friday night) a classical pianist and a go-go band.
The venue will also try out a tribute bands and a stand-up comic, though it’s intended mostly for live and original music.
“We’re sort of throwing some stuff up against the wall to see what works,” Fila said. “It’s certainly very exciting, having it finally come together.”
Strathmore hopes AMP also attracts people from the Rockville, Gaithersburg and Frederick areas looking for a smaller, more intimate music club space without having to go all the way into D.C.
And then there’s the future residents of Pike & Rose, the half-finished mixed-use development that will soon boast a new 19-story, 318-unit apartment building, and in a few years another 264 apartment units and 104 luxury condos on top of a 177-room Hilton hotel.
Fila said those potential new residents of the White Flint/Pike District certainly played a part in Strathmore’s decision to push for AMP.
It’s the culmination of more than three years of planning and construction, and $250 million from developer Federal Realty for the first phase of the project.
The 4,000-square-foot venue can be set up with seating, without seating or in different combinations. It’s already hosted a number of private events and it hooked up with the Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s catering arm — 550 Events & Provisions — for dinner and food service during the shows.
The Neighborhood Restaurant Group will open a beer garden-style restaurant across the street later this year.
New Strathmore Director of Programming Sam Brumbaugh is splitting time between North Bethesda and New York looking for musical acts. Fila said that ideally, Strathmore would like to feature acts on the cusp of breaking out and that could later play in its 2,000-seat Music Center on Tuckerman Lane.
Next Thursday, Baltimore indie rock band Lower Dens will take the AMP stage. The group recently announced their third studio album, coming out at the end of the month.
Americana, folk and country singer Lera Lynn is set to play AMP in April. She’s played before at Strathmore’s even smaller Mansion at Strathmore venue.
The music room at AMP inlcudes a 12-foot-by-24-foot stage backed up by an 8-foot-by-14-foot LED wall. Most of the shows will happen in an all-seated cabaret style to allow for dining during performances.
Tickets for the first two months of shows range from $10-$35. Fila said Farrar’s opening shows on Friday and Saturday are almost sold out.
