New Lansdowne St.

How was the Lady GaGa / Kelly Clarkson show? Apparently, all my supporters went there instead of showing up at my kick-off.
 
Looks like HOB have decided to try being a little bit of a nightclub after all.

"Epic Saturdays" feature a Dj starting at 11pm and a $15 cover.
 
Just so that everyone is aware "Epic Saturdays" is an alternative night (AKA Gay Night). I dont want anyone showing up and being totaly suprised. I for one am happy to see the longest running gay night back on Lansdowne Street. Patrick Lyons began that endevor 27 years ago. To see it come home to the old Avalon space is a great thing for that community.

And its a money maker!
 
ChitchIII said:
Just so that everyone is aware "Epic Saturdays" is an alternative night (AKA Gay Night). I dont want anyone showing up and being totaly suprised. I for one am happy to see the longest running gay night back on Lansdowne Street. Patrick Lyons began that endevor 27 years ago. To see it come home to the old Avalon space is a great thing for that community.

And its a money maker!
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Oh, interesting. Where was it before, Roxy?

I might have to check it out, Ive always found that gay clubs have excellent music.


Edit: Heres an article:

An ?Epic? move: Boston?s undisputed gay nightlife champ relocates to House of Blues on Sat., Oct. 17
by Rick Dunn
EDGE Community Editor
Tuesday Oct 13, 2009
In a joint venture with event production juggernaut Live Nation, party promoters Chris Harris and Raphael Sanchez earlier this week announced plans to relocate their weekly GLBT dance party ?Epic Saturdays? to the newly-christened House of Blues on Lansdowne Street beginning October 17.

The undisputed champ of Boston gay night life, Harris & Sanchez?s Epic Saturdays have attracted weekly crowds of 1000+ since the party?s October 2007 debut at the Roxy/Boston.

The final Epic Saturday at The Roxy this past weekend.
The move from Roxy to the three-story Lansdowne Street venue is a homecoming for Boston?s gay club culture. House of Blues stands in the spot once occupied by Avalon, the legendary super-club once considered the epi-center of Boston?s gay nightlife scene.

"For years, the slogan for Lansdowne Street was ?America dances here,? and we?re ready to revive that tradition," says Harris, who co-promoted events at Avalon prior to its closing with Gay Mafia Boston?s Raphael Sanchez.

When Avalon and its neighboring clubs were shuttered two years ago, almost 30 years of continuous Sunday gay club nights sadly ended. Even though Sundays were languishing, the party didn?t end on a sour note. Lyons Group drafted promoters Harris and Sanchez to produce and promote a gay Saturday night party in Avalon, which had never hosted a dance party exclusively for the GLBT community. Those three months proved Boston gay nightlife was not on decline, but in search of upscale experience with top-notch talent and performers.

"I personally think that being asked to return to this amazing space is huge for the gay community. The customer really benefits because our increased capacity allows us to charge less at the door and now we can book big name talent with the kind of performance fees that were once out of reach for us. It?s a win-win situation," says Harris.

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=nightlife&sc=&sc2=features&sc3=&id=96859
 
...pretty impressive news today on boston.com:

"Boston?s House of Blues sold more tickets last year than any other club in the world.

According to Pollstar, the concert industry?s trade publication, the House of Blues sold 314,597 tickets in 2009, restoring luster to the city?s diminished nightlife scene since Avalon and Axis closed in 2007 and outdrawing well-established venues in New York (Hammerstein Ballroom), San Francisco (the Fillmore), and Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)."
 
I got a tour of the HOB a couple months back...

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I was there because my band was doing a TV taping for Comcast (that's not us on screen):

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(Again, not us. Just thought this was a cool shot)

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Afterwards, we got to tour the Foundation Room. Over the top doesn't begin to describe it:

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Apart from the Foundation Room, which after seeing the decor is quite the misnomer, the inside looks as blah as the outside. Only positive is the concrete floor if you ask me. Looks like it couldn't decide between an outdoor concert venue and a music lounge. Should be more loungey.
 
kennedy said:
Apart from the Foundation Room, which after seeing the decor is quite the misnomer, the inside looks as blah as the outside. Only positive is the concrete floor if you ask me. Looks like it couldn't decide between an outdoor concert venue and a music lounge. Should be more loungey.
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The layout is the same as Avalon, but with 2 extra floors.
 
La verdad at the end of lansdowne has some tasty tacos. Also the Lansdowne pub is a pretty fun place to hang out albeit a major cliche.
 
palindrome said:
La verdad at the end of lansdowne has some tasty tacos. Also the Lansdowne pub is a pretty fun place to hang out albeit a major cliche.
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La verdad has what is probably the best mexican food in the city. It's shocking.

I refuse to enter lansdowne pub.
 
I have many freinds from out of town who insist we go there the minete they get here! I am not a big fan of mexican food so I have no opinion of the place but it must be good!
 
kennedy said:
Never went to Avalon.
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Avalon was a much nicer club, IMO. I've been to Epic Saturday there and HOB strikes me as a very corporate place (fake signs, corrugated metal surfaces, etc.) -- kind of like seeing a white collar guy with a John Deere ball cap.

Avalon had a bit of a mod/sleek feel to it and had a great loungy area in the back left corner (if facing out from the stage) with tables, white banquettes and its own bar. HOB feels big, but has way less character.
 
I'm not much of a club person, but I'd occasionally go to Epic when it was at the Roxy. Now that's a cool, authentic space. I haven't been to it since it moved to the HOB, nor do I plan to anytime soon (despite my roommate being a regular), but I did like HOB as a concert venue the one time I went there; I saw the B-52s there back last June.
 
I like it as a concert hall. There's a lot to like about a place with good sight-lines and plenty of bars. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes to place an order. 20oz PBRs are just $6.

I don't think it feels "authentic" but I'm willing to forgive them that.

Only problem I've had is with the coat-check. Putting it between the hall and the front doors is stupid; big crowds form at end of concerts.
 
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