House of Blues Buzz

THE BUZZ IS BUILDING DOWNTOWN over the long-awaited opening this month of the House of Blues. Originally scheduled for a 2000 debut, the national live-music chain’s financing difficulties led to long, embarrassing construction delays. But it’s finally ready to rock the former Woolworth building on Fifth Avenue, just north of Broadway.

General manager Jim Biafore, who arrives from the Anaheim House of Blues (which he ran for the past four and a half years), acknowledges there were “logistical difficulties” getting this project off the ground, but he promises San Diegans it will be worth the wait.

“With all the other new development going on downtown, we think this is perfect timing for us [to open],” says Biafore, who notes that the club has a “soft opening” May 11 and a “major grand opening celebration” May 19, 20 and 21.

Founded by actor, Blues Brother and Saturday Night Live original Dan Aykroyd and a few other luminaries, the House of Blues, or HOB, is a bit of a paradox. An amalgam of old-school Mississippi roadhouse and trendy, new-millennium nightclub and eatery, HOB is a paean to Southern, African-American culture, with historical art and Creole food.

Casting itself as a funky, community-minded bar/restaurant, House of Blues is a corporate brand not unlike Hard Rock Café or Planet Hollywood, with gobs of merchandise and a company store.

But what sets HOB apart from those places is the live music.

While House of Blues isn’t really a blues bar—you’re as likely to hear a trendy new Euro-garage rock band as you are a blues singer—it is a hugely successful franchise. And yes, these clubs rock. In each city where HOB has opened (Chicago, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas and so on), most patrons have raved.

And with success comes growth. The House of Blues company has extended beyond the bar biz to become an entertainment juggernaut, with radio shows, a record label, a five-star hotel and concert sponsorship.

“HOB is the third largest live music promoter in the world,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar, the national music industry trade magazine. “But there are strong rumors HOB is trying to sell off its concert division and put its focus back on the clubs, where they started.

HOB got into the concert promotion as a Wall Street move, but they never got to the IPO [initial public offering] stage.”

Whatever the very-privately held company’s future plans are nationally, it certainly has a local presence. In addition to the new club downtown, House of Blues also owns Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista and has exclusive booking rights to Cox Arena and the Open Air Theatre at San Diego State University. And the company is playing hardball in the local promoting wars, having recently hired away longtime Belly Up Tavern talent buyer Diana Martinez.

All San Diego music fans and clubbers really care about is that the new club brings to downtown the one thing it has been lacking: a large, way hip, state-of-the-art music stage featuring A-list national acts. Extending the Gaslamp Quarter north of Broadway, the 31,000-square-foot club, with a capacity of 1,100, will compete for talent with the 4th and B, Belly Up, Humphrey’s and the Native American casino music venues.