West Hollywood HOUSE OF BLUES To Close ???

MUSIC NEWS - House of Blues in West Hollywood is a house of black & blue.  After a number of violent incidents of the premises in recent months, the House of Blues (owned by Live Nation) night club on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, CA, is reportedly facing a possible shutdown by city officials.   According to the Los Angeles Times, the West Hollywood city council is considering suspending the club's business license, or pulling the license outright.  A report has been compiled by councilman John Heilman. It shows that 44 arrests have taken place at the club over the past 12 months for incidents including fight, drunk and disorderly behavior and grand theft, and that there have been more than 100 sheriff's radio dispatches to the club, according to the paper.

The most recent bar fight, which took place in September, involved 100-person brawl inside and outside the club, shut down Sunset Strip for most the evening, and left one woman hospitalized, the paper reported (see laist.com link here).  "Unfortunately, for the last several years, the House of Blue has had a history of serious problems and an unwillingness to address these problems," Heilman's report states, according to the paper. "After each serious incident, there is a perfunctory apology and a promise to reform, but the problems persist and have escalated."

Yes, the club is a landmark, and has seen some memorable events over the years.  But, have you been there lately?  Is it still an important part of the LA music scene???

UPDATE 9/7/10-  The West Hollywood, CA City Council has approved a revised plan to build a new hotel on the site of the HOUSE OF BLUES.   A legendary music venue on Sunset Strip,  the House of Blues has been there for almost 20 years.  The recent vote by the city council to move forward with the Sunset Time project, a seven story hotel and condominium complex at the location does raise questions about the venue's future.

More @ NBCLosAngeles.com

Comments

[kenny]

Is this the same house of blues that throws shows across north america?

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MNN says- yes, part of the sames company; http://www.hob.com/

[Michele]

I was one of the opening managers at HOB Sunset in 94 starting before it was built. I could write a book on what I saw & heard in that joint. It was bad juju from the gate. When it was being built I was told that the dirt in the front facing Sunset under the walk way was brought in from Mississippi & that some of the tin from the building came from old juke joints in the south,don't know for sure if it's true or not, but that's what the inside was saying. The place had a bad vibe, especially on the top level.There was/is a 4th level to the place where alot of "activity" involving "people of interest" took place. You could only get up there by pulling a cord to release a secret set of stairs. For months I worked 80 hours a week, 7 days. I was in that huge building with only a few other people hundreds of times and it was apparent to many of us that certain areas carried an "energy" that was not good. Historically speaking, many events happened there that most people don't know about for instance, Marlene Starkey-Tigrett(Ringo/Issac)wife had her memorial service in the club in the day time with hundreds of beautiful white candles lit. Yes,Ringo & their 2 children attended. The big party the night before the official opening that was a benefit for The Magic Johnson Foundation was quite a hoot. I know one celebrity who had quite a nice time that night and he later went down HARD behind a divorce involving his alcoholism. I bet you could only imagine how bad/good it really was!