WASHINGTON -- The first-ever concerts at D.C.'s new Entertainment and Sports Arena are sold out less than two weeks after the venue opened.
"We're very excited," said Angie Gates of The District's Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment.
The D.C. Entertainment and Sports Arena opened September 22 in the Congress Heights neighborhood of Southeast Washington. On Friday, it's likely all of its 4,200 seats will be filled as native son Wale takes the stage along with 20 local artists.
"D.C. is not just a political town," said Gates. "For the musicians here, we're the home of go-go."
Mary J. Blige takes the stage Saturday. Tickets for that concert are also sold out on TicketMaster.
"It's going to be a really intimate setting," said Events DC CEO Greg O'Dell. He underscored the venue-- on the site of the former St. Elisabeth's Hospital-- is the cornerstone of new development in Congress Heights.
"It's important for people to get to know this area," said O'Dell. "They're certainly going to see it as a destination in a couple year's time."
