So I was at the House of Blues Chicago last night for the Rev. Horton Heat/Motorhead show and I gotta say it takes the cake as thee worst concert experience I’ve ever had, which was no fault of the bands as they were great.
First off the place was sold out and so crowded you could hardly move. Then you had these pissed off, underpaid security guards who were on mad power trips. Many of them were black, and I say this only because I think a lot of them were totally abusing their authority to take the opportunity to order muthafuckin’ whitey around for once! I know bouncers/concert security generally aren’t the friendliest bunch of people to concertgoers, but this place takes it to a whole new low.
The worst part about it was the extortion racket run by the bouncer and the doorman in the restroom. The sign threatens you with ejection if you smoke (and there are no in/out privelages btw), but apparently it’s OK to smoke as long as you tip the attendant. Well the attendant thought I was smoking, which I wasn’t, and when I wouldn’t tip him called over this huge ass Puerto Rican motherfucker to intimidate me into tipping. So I coughed up a couple of bucks just so I could catch the end of Motorhead.
Fucking awful experience. Never before have I felt so victimized by a concert venue. This place should be wiped off the face of the planet.
house of blues has it’s own wimpy history, so don’t feel offended. been trying to achieve the acclaim of the big boys.
i wish them well. on a sidenote, noone should get jacked around at their shows unless they’re trying to smoke crack in the wimmins.
yeah, at the chicago HOB i always get hassled for tips by the bathroom guys. they’re fucking dicks, all i wanna do is piss and wash and get out.
there are way too many yellow lines that you can’t cross, with the same type of security as described above always making sure you know who is in charge.
there are always all those “reserved” seats but no one ever comes to sit on them.
when it’s a crowded house there is no room to stand, but they won’t open the balconies and there is only a few feet of clearance in front of any bar area, which also has chairs in this small space, constantly filled with people who won’t let you past them to buy a goddamn overpriced drink.
unless you live in the area or wanna park like 25-30 blocks away, you end up paying like 30 bucks for parking, waiting in line at the end of the show for 20 minutes to get yer valet car, damning yourself for NOT parking 30 blocks away and walking for 20 mins instead of paying through the ass.
then there is, of course, the ads you are occasionally subjected too. but for some reason, people always play there. mebbe they have a good deal on hotel/venure fees? the underground band parking mebbe?
i hope to satan this sort of shit never comes down to australia. it’s already bad enough that yer not allowed to take photos or video at the stadium gigs anyway. but people still do. [cool]
i hope to satan this sort of shit never comes down to australia. it’s already bad enough that yer not allowed to take photos or video at the stadium gigs anyway. but people still do. [cool]
Thats because usually the guards are shit at checking for that sort of thing. You could walk straight into the metro (Palace whatever it is) with a HD video camera and tripod and they probably wouldn’t stop you lol.
A friend at vodafone arenea (Now Hisense or whatever it is) got asked to empty his pockets, so he did…andjust held his camera in his hand, they stupid ass guard didnt even notice.
When I’ve seen shows at the MyerMusic Bowl they were more strict, especially for Tool - getting really into bags, pat downs etc…Tool must be a bit finicky - RCHP and Pixies at the bowl were still strict but nowhere as much as tool.
If I was still a big stoner head I would be more worried about taking some weed to festivals etc… I used to go to big day out with a bong in a pocket of my cargo shorts rofl. Met dudes inside who would come from SA with a little bag filled with the shit for sale. Probably why there are sniffer dogs at festivals now. Bit of a shame… especially now they have also removed the drug bin amnesty outside of festivals.
gets on soapbox to talk about how the stonerheads are less likely to cause trouble than the destructive beer swilling yobbos
They would have got a few charges out at the Cheech and Chong shows earlier in the year…apparantly (at least in Sydney) the place was swarming with cops and dogs.
btw, a lot of bands play at HOB because the guarantees are ok. the venues themselves suck, but with everybody trying to make a living out there,bands have to consider that the saner venues don’t pay as much. damn shame.
nobody’s there because they want that HOB affiliation.
oh wait. al DID donate a guitar, if i recall correctly, so i take back that last comment.money money money money–“MON–NAY!”
For starters they’re working in a place where drunk/drugged up idiots are pissing and pooping and secondly they miss the kick-ass show that’s happening outside.
Living in New Zealand and Australia I never encountered bathroom attendants until moving here to the UK. I find when I’m absolutely cunted I act like a millionaire and tip them £5 each time I go for a piss…and when I’m cunted that’s ALOT of pissing and guilt tipping!
drake has it’s own history. no ghosts that i could see. but you get that feeling of eyes looking over you when you check in. very old storied place. kinda like the old palmer house down the street.( a mile). can’t talk about the only times i’ve had ghost experiences.
Yeah. I had no problems at the one in Dallas a couple of years ago, and I liked the food in the restaurant so I was looking forward to the Houston one. The sound was way too quiet and I actually got threatened that I’d be kicked out by the (oh so happened to be black) security guard if I crowd surfed again. He literally carried me all the way to the end to walk back around berating me instead letting me walk. Power tripping prick.
I’ve never been, but, have always heard mixed things about it. Think it depends on who you’re seeing and the type of crowd. Still no right for them to behave that way though.
Catgoat and any others that hate this establishment as much as me please link this as much as possible to spread the negative publicity!
FUCK THE HOUSE OF LAME WHITE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!
“If white people are going to burn down black churches, black people ought to burn down the House of Blues!”
–George Carlin
sucks that the majority of it is just audio. but of what I did see that stupid ass “security guard” left himself wide open to have the shit beat out of him… all off balance and shit with his head hanging low while trying to keep that chick on the ground was ripe for a foot to the face!
those girls were obnoxious but still didn’t deserve that!
Late,
grmpysmrf