Photo courtesy of Facebook

Patrons may not remember the Metro ride to the V Street area, the exact music played or all the people at the popular Washington music venue 9:30 Club — but it was hard to forget Josh Burdette.

Covered in tattoos and piercings and standing 6-foot-4, he was known as “That Guy.” Burdette was the club’s security director and door-staff supervisor, and when news broke that he had died Sunday, it went viral. 

The cause of death is still under investigation, according to reports, but police believe it may have been a suicide. Burdette, a university alumnus, would have turned 37 yesterday, said Audrey Schaefer, a 9:30 Club spokeswoman.

Burdette became known as “That Guy” simply because of his appearance. He towered over patrons and had more than 100 tattoos as well as numerous facial piercings, not to mention his stretched earlobes, red beard and shaved head.

He was certainly an intimidating man, but Burdette contradicted his appearance with a kind and wise personality, those who knew him said. He was a gentle giant who used his size to keep peace, not encourage violence. 

“It’s really a customer service job,” Burdette told The Washington Post in 2006. “We’re the face of the club, and we have to do our best to be as friendly, polite and accessible as we can. It’s not an us-vs.-them mentality here — we want to avoid that antagonism. If you need our help, ask us. Some of us look big and scary, but we’re just people, too.”

Burdette began working at the 9:30 Club in 1997, according to Washington City Paper, and he quickly became a fixture. “That Guy” became part of the club experience, and Burdette embraced it, making his own Facebook fan page and using “That Guy” in his email address.

But long before Burdette was working crowd control for top artists, he was a student at this university. His father taught family science here and Burdette was in the University Honors program, graduating in 1998 with a psychology degree. It was at this university that he got his first taste of the security business, working for Student Entertainment Events and standing guard at fraternity parties, he told The Diamondback in 2005. 

Even when he moved on to the 9:30 Club, he never forgot his roots. He often returned to present at SEE security trainings. Burdette trained people for Art Attack during senior Mark DeSacia’s freshman year. Once Burdette graduated, he remained the criminology and criminal justice major’s mentor and even offered DeSacia opportunities to work shifts with him at the 9:30 Club.

“He had this really calm, cool and collected approach to security,” said DeSacia, who is now security director for SEE, a position Burdette once held. “He was the perfection of security in my eyes. He never laid his hands on anyone because he could solve anything through talking.”

With a background in psychology, Burdette felt he was physically and mentally fit for his job — he could spot a ne’er-do-well a mile away.  

“I watch people — it’s what I do,” he told The Post. “You learn the behaviors of people doing something wrong.”

And he told The Post his job became worthwhile every time he watched the crowds exit with smiles on their faces.

“The guy kept us punks in line and had fun doing it,” said Anna Dottle, a sophomore anthropology and art history major. “I remember he once schooled a scalper that was trying to rip my friend and I off, letting us get our tickets for face value instead … people like Josh Burdette, a real fixture around D.C., don’t come around too often.”