We see it happen all too often in the music industry: local, independent venues getting pushed out by newer developments and multinational corporate operators. That’s why one of the goals of Hometowns of Consequence is championing the smaller, homegrown places that make their communities so valuable to begin with. Which makes it fitting that McKinley Dixon’s favorite hometown venue is one that no longer exists: Richmond, Virginia’s Strange Matter.
The CoSigned artist is taking a next-level step in his career thanks to his absolutely fantastic sophomore album, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (a top 10 album of the year so far featuring a top 3 song in “Tyler Forever”). But the Chicago resident hasn’t forgotten about how his journey got started in Richmond. It’s there at Strange Matter, defunct since 2018, that the hip-hop artist had his first headlining show.
“The last [City Citrus label] showcase was the one we headlined and also the last show at Strange Matter,” McKinley says. “I didn’t come from a punk background at the time, so it introduced me to many genres that were adjacent to rap but weren’t perpendicular. There was a solid stretch of time where I would only go and see noise shows there.”
Strange Matter was indeed an underground punk and metal haven during its time. But even before it opened in 2009, the space at 929 West Grace Street was known as a home for Richmond’s hardcore set. The building housed live music since 1970, known then as The Back Door, where Bruce Springsteen and an early incarnation of The E Street Band once played. It became The Wooden Plate and then Twisters in the ’80s, eventually giving icons like GWAR, Lamb of God, and Avail a stage from which to launch their careers while also hosting the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Green Day, and Smashing Pumpkins.
The venue went by simply 929 for a brief time in 2002, then took on the name Nanci Raygun in 2003 before operating as Bagel Czar for only a few months. It wasn’t until Strange Matter moved in 2009 that it reclaimed the stature of its earlier days. Unfortunately, the rapid expansion of Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus has driven up cost of living while driving out the locals who would frequent the concert hall.
Strange Matter is no more, and although 929 currently sits empty, there’s hope that another venue will yet fill the void to, as Dixon puts it, create fresh community and champion the local music scene. See what else the rapper has to say in tribute to Richmond’s Strange Matter below.
You can also see what venues artists like Josh Homme, UPSAHL, Deer Tick, and OSEES named as their favorites, and vote for your own at Hometowns of Consequence.
