New Lansdowne St.

[statler]

Ah, black light of course. I should have known that.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

altBros looking for something 'meaningful'

 

[jass]

Quick review

Good
It looks good
It sounds good
The staff. I dont know if its because its their second night, or because they went through a great training program, or if they were just more relaxed with the older crowd (vs metal crowd)...but they were all extremely nice and helpful. At avalon, as soon as the show would end : "GET THE FUCK OUT, MOVE MOVE MOVE". At HOB: "Did you enjoy the show? Can I help you with anything?" I was in shock.

Neutral
Floor is almost the same as avalon (good for history, bad because sightlines could have been improved with tiers a la palladium.

Bad
Took forever to get in (30 minutes in line is terrible when its 20f)
The bathrooms are very small
The 3rd floor area is very far away from the stage.
Camera nazis. They didnt frisk but they would pounce if they saw a camera screen. Hopefully this is just a first week thing.

VIP balcony section is on the top floor, all the way to the right. Boxes are 3rd floor, center. Stadium seating is third floor, rear. 1st and 2nd floors are general admission. No bathroom on second floor.

I guess on monday Ill find out if the crowd affects how the staff act.

 

[ablarc]

The neon sign is already partly out?

 

[JohnAKeith]

From the prior photos, it looks as if they didn't put the sign up until Wednesday or Thursday, opening day, so maybe it's a loose wire.

And, I just can't understand how in this day and age they never build enough bathrooms!

 

[ablarc]

You can't build enough bathrooms. In places like concert halls, everyone wants to go at the same time. If they accommodated everyone at peak demand, there'd be more bathroom than concert hall --sitting empty most of the time.

A problem that can't be solved.

 

[statler]

Is it a loose wire or does the sign flash?

 

[kz1000ps]

The sign flashes. You can see on the previous page that in one of my pics the letters are partly lit and in another they're all on.

Thanks for the tour and review, jass.

 

[Justin7]

Thanks for the review, jass. The inside looks nice, but I'm disappointed they didn't use the the HOB design with the extremely steep upper floor stadium seating almost on top of the stage. I guess this may have been the fault of height restrictions. However...

Quick review

...for all the criticism, this doesn't look all that bad at night, which is when most people will be here. They obviously could have done something much better, but, hell, it's a music venue and I'm glad to have it here. I'd love to see the above shot with the Sox playing and those lights on in the background.

 

[jass]

You can't build enough bathrooms. In places like concert halls, everyone wants to go at the same time. If they accommodated everyone at peak demand, there'd be more bathroom than concert hall --sitting empty most of the time.

A problem that can't be solved.

The bathroom on the 3rd floor had...

1 urinal.
2 stalls
3 sinks.

I do believe they could have done better than that. I didnt see how large the 1st floor one was, I opened the door and hit a line of people inside.


As for the sign, it does flash, but in a strage pattern. It appears to be broken because the top half flashes way too much, but eventually the bottom flashes as well, so you get the impression that its supposed to do so.


Justin7, the one problem is that Avalon had two crowds. Concerts from 6-10 and nightclub from 11-2am. Now, after 11pm this area will sit empty.

 

[Ron Newman]

Or will they just have longer concerts, or 'double-feature' concerts, or later concerts?

 

[jass]

Or will they just have longer concerts, or 'double-feature' concerts, or later concerts?

I was hoping for later concerts, but the next 3 months all have 7 or 8pm starts.

Which means 11pm close at latest. The longer cocnerts, with 3 or 4 bands start at 7pm. (doors 6)

The restaurant is probably open until 2am though. The website doesnt list times as far as I can tell

 

[bdurden]

The HoB Orlando doubles as a concert venue and club--I wonder if they plan to do the same here.

 

[BosDevelop]

I was hoping for later concerts, but the next 3 months all have 7 or 8pm starts.

Which means 11pm close at latest. The longer cocnerts, with 3 or 4 bands start at 7pm. (doors 6)

The restaurant is probably open until 2am though. The website doesnt list times as far as I can tell

shows will go until 1:00am. An 8pm ticket typically means that an opening band(s) will play from 8:00-9:00 and headliners will likely start around 9:30 at the earliest. Most shows will end sometime between midnight and 1:00am. No show on a weekend night is ending at 11:00pm at this venue.

 

[jass]

shows will go until 1:00am. An 8pm ticket typically means that an opening band(s) will play from 8:00-9:00 and headliners will likely start around 9:30 at the earliest. Most shows will end sometime between midnight and 1:00am. No show on a weekend night is ending at 11:00pm at this venue.

The show I went to on Friday ended at 10:30pm.

My experience with concerts is that 3 or 4 bands = 4 hours.


Opener 30 mins
15 min change
2nd band 40 mins
15 minute change
3rd band 50 minutes
20 minute change
4th band 1:10


And again, Avalon had the same start times and had the venue cleared by 11pm for the club.

 

[BosDevelop]

And again, Avalon had the same start times and had the venue cleared by 11pm for the club.

But that makes no sense now that it is a music venue only (save the restaurant and meeting space). Why on earth would the HOB want to have their customers leave by 11:00pm? You can't make money (i.e. drinks, HOB merchandise etc.) if the venue is empty. I am not positive but I believe the J. Geils show went well past 11:00pm. It is just common sense to want to keep your patrons in the venue as long as possible when there is no other use for the facility.

 

[jass]

Review from yesterday's show.

6:30 doors
7:30 Safety Suit Start
8:00 Safety suit end
8:20 Hoobastank Start
9:00 Hoobastank end
9:30 3 doors down start
10:45 3 doors down end (including encore)
11:00pm Im back home and eating.

Pretty much the exact schedule I detailed before. Ive been to enough concerts to know how they're planned out.

The only exception Ive been to are foreign bands. Rodrigo y Gabriela at Roxy (midnight end) and CPM 22 at Club Lido (1:30am end, after 11pm start).


Anyway, there was no massive line this time, which is good news, it was fucking cold. However, the decided to do wand searches. Friday cameras were fine, but suddenly cameras are banned and theres a 5$ check charge. Fuckers. I've NEVER been to a venue that has enforced a no camera rule. Of course, if youre a women and its in the bottom of your purse then you can get it in...


The audience was pretty lame. No moshing. No moving. No dancing. In fact, as the concert went on it was easier to get closer to the front. I started 8-9 people back from the stage and ended 4 people behind the stage. Nobody knew safetysuit and I was clearly the only one there for Hoobastank. I guess Hoobastank noticed this because they left before 3 doors down finished.

Also, the audience was much less attractive than the Gipsy Kings one. Gipsy kings was packed with hot girls. Here? Mostly chubby...

Audience was younger, but not by much, I was surprised. Id say average age of 25 vs 30 on friday.

The merchandise table was on the second floor. People buy merch when the concert ends, putting it on the 2nd floor is a terrible idea. You pretty much have to wait for floors 2 and 3 to clear out before you can go up...


The coat check was extremely slow and the line for it blocks off the main exit of the venue causing a huge bottleneck. They need to better advertise the side exits.


Audio was pretty bad for Hoobastank, way too much bass. Not sure if this was venue fault or band fault. 3 doors down was dangerously loud. As someone who frequents metal concerts, I was surprised by the volume.


Staff was still nice.


Ill upload crappy cell phone pics later tonight

 

[BosDevelop]

The only exception Ive been to are foreign bands. Rodrigo y Gabriela at Roxy (midnight end) and CPM 22 at Club Lido (1:30am end, after 11pm start).

Are you really saying that, with the exceptions you note, you have never been to a concert that has gone past 11:00pm? At the Paradise, the headliners often start after 10:00pm and go until 12:30-1:00am. I have also attended many concerts at the Orpheum that have gone until midnight. Ditto for Aganis Arena. Concerts at the HOB on the weekends will undoubtedly go later than 11:00 whether they were opening week or not. They need to stay open later strictly for financial reasons. Think about how much money they can make on liquor sales between 11:00pm and 12:00am when the place is full. I am aware of no restrictions on how late they can operate so why not drag the shows out from 7:00-8:00pm until midnight or later like most other venues? I just don't see the logic in shutting down a venue like this at 11:00pm unless that was part of some agreement that none of us are privy to.

 

[jass]

Are you really saying that, with the exceptions you note, you have never been to a concert that has gone past 11:00pm? At the Paradise, the headliners often start after 10:00pm and go until 12:30-1:00am. I have also attended many concerts at the Orpheum that have gone until midnight. Ditto for Aganis Arena. Concerts at the HOB on the weekends will undoubtedly go later than 11:00 whether they were opening week or not. They need to stay open later strictly for financial reasons. Think about how much money they can make on liquor sales between 11:00pm and 12:00am when the place is full. I am aware of no restrictions on how late they can operate so why not drag the shows out from 7:00-8:00pm until midnight or later like most other venues? I just don't see the logic in shutting down a venue like this at 11:00pm unless that was part of some agreement that none of us are privy to.

Ive been to the paradise twice. Once the show was done by 10pm, second time 11ish.

Orpheum was done at 11pm (only been once)

Agganis have been twice, 10pm each time.

 

[SeamusMcFly]

That's pretty much what I'm used to.

Now here's what they should do to keep the money from liquor flowing. Since they are probably not going to change the end time for rock shows, is they should continue afterwards as a blues club instead of a dance club like Avalon did (or did it become Axis for the disco hours?) Get a good house blues band to just play live from 11 - 2 (do they have a 2am permit? And, with the "name power" of the HOB, they should have "surprise" sets from real bluesmen from time to time.

Some reason House of Blues does not scream young adults dance hall like Avalon/Axis kinda did. That stuff is better suited to the Alley right now. Unless they make Jake Ivory's into a dance hall type place.

Well 18 days, and I'll check it out for myself.