November 30, 2006
Local Music Venues Sing the Blues
The Washington Post reported today that concert venue chain House of Blues may be opening an outpost in Penn Quarter in the not-too-distant future. The National Capital Revitalization Corp. inked a non-binding deal with HOB’s owner, Clear Channel Communications, to develop the property at 5th and I, NW.
What does this bode for rock venues like the 9:30 Club and the Black Cat?. Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham put in his two cents, calling the proposed development “very detrimental” to local venues. 9:30 Club owner Seth Hurwitz lamented to the Post that, “We will lose half our business, at least” if and when a local House of Blues opens its doors. We at DCist are slightly more optimistic about the 9:30’s future. True, HOB is a nationally recognized name, but the 9:30 is a long-standing local institution. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Seth!
We do wonder what effect an HOB would have on Alexandria’s Birchmere however, and specifically on its plans to open a Birchmere II in Silver Spring.
It’s tempting to get all alarmist about big bad conglomerates eating our city’s soul, but we can’t help but wonder if a House of Blues downtown could do some amount of good for D.C. Existing venues might be forced to improve their sound systems and other facilities to compete with the HOB. And fans of more mainstream music might not have to drive all the way out to Merriweather Post Pavilion to see the All-American Rejects or the Counting Crows. Then again, there is the threat of rising ticket prices and, well, big bad conglomerates eating our city's soul. What’s your opinion on a House of Blues in the nation’s capital?
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Like most DCist posts, How can we turn this into a conversation about gentrification?
Birchmere II link is broken.
Um, Dan, that was the Post's angle. Abby just ran with it. Either way, I think it is an important question - for music lovers at least.
Also, I'm not sure Clear Channel pushing out local venues counts as gentrification...
This post has nothing to do with gentrification and everything to do with commercialization.
Starbucks steals business from local businesses in the suburbs as well as the areas in DC that are becoming "gentrified."
The real important question is this: why does the HOB have such Sh*tty bands play (ie- top 40). Aren't they supposed to be the house of BLUES? as in, the music that started it all....?
yeah, HOB is very misleading name....
I vote to keep the All-American Rejects out of DC even if HOB comes through.
I think generally HOB attracts bands that wouldn't play the 9:30 (and definitely not bands that play the Black Cat). I could see some overlap with the Birchmere.
I think there is a *chance* it would be a net positive, but I'd say it's more likely than not that it would cause at least one venue to close (eventually).
And the example of Starbucks is not really accurate. HOB is worse. With Starbucks, I think arguably there have been more indie coffee shops opened as a result of Starbucks success than have been closed. I hate starbucks too, but you have to acknowledge they created the model and sowed the demand that many indie coffee shops are built upon. The 9:30, on the other hand, owes nothing to HOB.
I don't know about that, Reid. It seems they're just the most successful at capitalizing on and therefor the recognized face of that model. Atomic Grounds (now gone) and Java House both predate Starbucks coming to DC.
I'm not worried. It is, in fact, the big-name bands that HOB generally attracts--not big enough for the Verizon Center, but on their way up. I don't pay to see those bands when they play at the 9:30, and I won't pay to see them at HOB either.
While it's true that people will choose not to go to a concert if they really hate the venue, generally concert-going decisions are entirely determined by the band that's playing and the price. I can't imagine that the HOB will be charging less than the 9:30, so the only way that Hurwitz will "lose half his business" is if half of the bands he's currently booking choose to go with the HOB instead. DC could definitely use more than two clubs where decent-sized nationally-touring bands can play, so this generally seems like a good thing to me. It will probably do serious damage to the chances for Birchmere II, though . . .
Maybe this will force Black Cat to actually invest in a decent sound system.
Yeah, the one House of Blues I went to was a lot more like a Cheesecake Factory than a blues bar. But when it comes to development, it's hard to pick and choose what types of business you want. I don't like Cheesecake Factory and the Ri Ra chain moving into Clarendon, bumping out local favorites like Lazy Sundae and the old costume shop. But do I want it to go back to the way it was years ago with a Sears Auto Center and Gold's Gym surrounded by huge, barren surface parking lots? No.
"I think generally HOB attracts bands that wouldn't play the 9:30 (and definitely not bands that play the Black Cat)."
Are you serious? Tons of bands that regularly play 930 play House of Blues in other cities. This will probably mean that those bands will just add another HOB stop to their routing. I don't blame Hurwitz for being paranoid. And, the idea that something like this won't affect Black Cat and other smaller venues? Think about it, if HOB does put the crunch on 930, they'll be forced to compete with the smaller places for shows. So, venues like Black Cat and Birchmere could end up losing shows to 930, thereby being the real losers in all of this. Well, besides all us concert goers...prepare to pay $25 the next time you want to see that up-and-coming indie rock group - whether it's at 930 or HOB. I think this whole thing is crappy for the live music scene here.
I wrote a piece about this in my blog yesterday. I'm personally quite familiar with House of Blues - I've been through several of them with various bands back in my former life as a lighting director.
Checkout my link for the article.
adrienne - If what you say comes to pass, maybe the "dj nights are killing live music" trolls will finally shut up. With the Black Cat and smaller venues giving up acts to 930, there's all that empty stage space for your favorite highschool jug-and-pennywhistle bands and their skate betty girlfriends.
And I believe The Onion put it best in their headline "House of Blues in Reality House of Whites."
I'd like to think that a House of Blues would bring real competition that would, indeed, force improvement to existing local venues. But HOB won't compete like that. See who owns HOB? Yes, Clear Channel. While I don't think that Clear Channel is the root of all evil, I do know that the have an enormous amount of market power, well beyond the DC venue market. If acts want to show up on their radio stations (or simply get the concerts promoted on the radio), or play in other cities with Clear Channel venues, they'll know that they better play HOB here. It'll be that simple.
The dude at the 9:30 club has a right to be worried. HOB and Clear Channel usually book their acts in "package" deals, which schedules them at several HOB or Clear Channel branded venues in a row. So most artists on an East Coast swing will be forced to play at a HOB venue if they come through DC rather than the 9:30 club.
I think the whole Clear Channel being a radio monopoly is overblown. Do people even listen to the radio anymore? Clear Channel has run them all off to other media outlets. Nowadays people listen to rock on the radio via the internet or satellite.
Clear Channel: Listen up Foo Fighters. If you don't play HOB instead of 9:30, we won't play you on the radio in DC!
Foo: Um, what radio in DC?
The 9:30 is nationally known and loved, they'll be OK. Now if it forces the Cat to speed up their ticket taking process, I'm all for that.
Don't worry chickenlittles. If other similar sized markets are any indication, HOB will not be a spike through the heart of independents. The DC market is large enough, and has continually suffer from a lack of "mid-sized" venues. Yes, prices may go up, but if they do it will be a very small increase. Let's just be content that consumers, i.e. you and me, will have more choices and a DC gets an increase in its tax base.
Seth built the 930 from a rat-infested smelly dive in what was once a sketchy part of town into a state of the art hall with a moving stage and lighting rig to accomodate different size crowds. The 930 retains credibility, no doubt makes money, and is a favorite of artists who routinely have to play shitholes and sterile corporatized boxes.
Also remember that Seth is a promoter with his own tentacles via IMP which he displays at the 9:30, Merriwether, and other venues.
He is a smart character. He beat the odds until the odds turned his way. I doubt live music forums equivalent of TGI Fridays will upend what he has built here.
hob is to the 2000s what hard rock cafe was to the 1980s: tgif's with fake gold records on the wall and the occasional dan ackroyd sighting.
r.i.p., johnny belushi. i don't blame you for any of this.
Maybe this could be a good thing though, think about it...what's the next biggest venue here beyond the 930 where bands play? Typically DAR. Now DAR is ok but seats at a rock show stink. In fact, I tend to think twice about seeing a band if they're playing DAR for this reason. The 930 fits around 1100, DAR 3700....perhaps a HOB could be the good "middle level" place for bands to play in DC? It's a thought.
What are the chances that some corporate competition would induce the Cat or 9:30 to, you know, have decent bathrooms?
DC lou: "What are the chances that some corporate competition would induce the Cat or 9:30 to, you know, have decent bathrooms?"
OK, now we're talking! Whoever makes me comfortable gets my money!
leaf: "Seth built the 930 from a rat-infested smelly dive in what was once a sketchy part of town into a state of the art hall with a moving stage and lighting rig to accomodate different size crowds."
Once a sketchy part of town?
"Once a sketchy part of town?"
Yes, the 9:30 club used to be located at 9th and F streets. Before American Apparel and Jaleo moved into the neighborhood.
I don't really see that much overlap in artists booked at each venue. I see House of Blues giving DCers a close-in option rather than driving out to Virginia to see some bigger-name acts, and suburbanites who eat up crap like HOB one more reason to enter DC. Looking at an average 9:30 club lineup sheet, I don't get the impression that these are generally the type of acts that ClearChannel would push through its bland House of Non-Blues. I may be wrong...
I think nicole's saying that the current 930 location is still kind of sketchy. But it's all relative. Those of us who remember it back when it was WUST Music Hall know the meaning of "sketchy." Taking a leak in the back alley after a Minutemen concert in '84 or trying to find your car in the fog at 2am after the Rare Essence/Trouble Funk show, that's sketchy.
I may be wrong...
Yes, you are. A quick comparison of the the HOB schedule in the Northeast and Southeast with 930's indicates that a handful of shows that are also going to 930 are hitting to HOBs as we speak. Trey Anastasio, Slayer, Gwar, Peaches, the list goes on. And Bouncing Souls and The Hold Steady - recent Black Cat shows - are also making the rounds at HOBs up and down the coast. All this talk of HOB not being able to snag the "cooler" shows from the local venues is complete nonsense.
Mmmokay Sketchy...
Open air heroin sales in the F Street Alley. My buddy getting stabbed after taking leak in same alley. Should he have been there? Nah. But my decsionmaking wasn't so great in '84 either.
Present day 9:30 has its own parking lot, more security than just Brian or Fuzzy at the front door and actually has a cop drive by once in awhile.
I'm sure HOB's Penn Quarter locale will be A LOT safer. We all might trip over a drunk lawyer!
I love it how we lost Nation and Edge but we're getting HOB. Argh.
DC has been underserved for the last several decades and has more than enough room for HOB. How can you think otherwise when places like Philly and Denver have multiple mid-sized venues and we're stuck with 9:30 and a bunch of shitholes? This area has the population and the $$ to support more than one aggressive promoter.
I think it was only a matter of time before Clear Channel brought a HOB to the nation's capital. There's alot of commercial/chain businesses in D.C., and this is yet another. I don't think that it'll hurt local venues too much, as it isn't in the vicinity of 9:30 or the Black Cat - the U St. string frequented by music afficionados. I love those clubs for featuring shows and artists who wouldn't get any stage time at HOB and the like. Maybe this'll be good for smaller, local, more fringe-elements of music to get exposure and gigs. If people are gonna go to HOB to see the big shots, then local venues should push what the Big Guys can't/don't offer.