Archive for February 2009
Hanging at the House of Blues Boston
Bringin’ it Back to Beantown Where it All Began. The HOB first launched in Cambridge but only a few were blue when it closed down. The restaurant and entertainment venue had much success expanding in such locations as Vegas and Chicago entertaining crowds. I’m glad to see it come back home and nobody was singing the blues tonight in Boston. There were guests living it up, laughing and having a great time at the opening party listening to the rockin’ blues talent at the new location on Lansdowne Street. Young and old mingled in the crowd of eclectic artwork that decorated the walls where the disco ball and lights of the Avalon nightclub used to shine. Dan Aykroyd, the original Blues Brother and his closest friends that included Carly Simon on stage were ready to get the party started and give birth to the new venue next to Fenway Park. Everyone was dancing and singing celebrating the occasion. It was a great escape from the stresses of society today to see everyone smiling having a good time and meeting new people. I had quite a few memories dancing at Avalon and wasn’t quite sure what to expect walking through the door. They preserved certain aspects of the nightclub with the new structure but offered audiences three floors to socialize. I’m told the VIP room called the Foundation is quite the place to see and you too can join with an exclusive membership.The men on stage were taking off their shirts as they were gyrating their bellies to the music and the girls got down swinging their hips. It was fun and quite funny. I enjoyed swinging it myself on the dance floor with a moves. Best of all was seeing many familiar faces of my past at the party. There’s one great thing about this city I can appreciate is mixing the old with the new, but also preserving those special moments as if they just happened yesterday. Yes, it’s nice to connect with people on Facebook from our past but the experiences tonight with people in person involved no technology. One can’t replace the realism, the real connections and memories made face-to-face. I had a good time and happy to share that experience with you. You will read the Boston Globe and/or Boston.com, and you can see tonight’s report on WBZ Channel-4, as well as many other media outlets that reported on the event. Yet, my perspective will be unique to all the others and that’s what is great about the new technology in our hands today and the power it has on us for tomorrow.