In April 1994, Aerosmith was the first band to play the Sunset Strip House Of Blues. Club co-owner Dan Aykroyd introduced them, dressed in his Blues Brothers garb, of course. Brad Pitt was in attendance. So was Snoop Dogg.
Since then, the venue has hosted almost ten thousand shows; in 2014 alone, more than 172,000 people attended concerts there. That adds up to a lot of drinks (and many drunken famous people staggering onstage at a moment’s notice—more on that later). HOB is a venue that embodies all the glitz, glam and charade that has defined the Sunset Strip, and while it will ultimately reopen in another location, for better or worse, it won’t be the same. Here are a few of the things we’ll miss the most.
1. Its sacred spaces (even for Satanists)
HOB co-founder Isaac Tigrett selected every piece of art and furnishes for the venue, sparing no expense across all 40,000 square feet. The corrugated metal lining the exterior was stripped from a gin mill in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where blues legend Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the intersection of Highways 49 and 61. The inside bar railing was made from pieces of ancient Indian temples. Devil on the outside, Buddha on the inside made for quite the eclectically spiritual space to get hammered.
2. Eggs, bacon and Jesus
Speaking of spirituality: The House Of Blues began hosting its famous Sunday morning gospel brunch back in the 1990s. Although gospel Grammy-winner Kirk Franklin took over the show a few years ago, Sylvia St. James, the iconic buxom figure and the original mistress of ceremonies, earned her and HOB a page in The Gospel Music Encyclopedia. For almost two decades, the blinding light of her long, white, embroidered dresses and matching wide-brimmed feathered hats had people praising the holy spirit between spoonfuls of grits. Hallelujah.
3. Wasted celebs doing live band karaoke
Some of the most iconic celebrity moments at HOB took place during Steel Panther shows. Performing at the venue over 100 times, the ‘80s hair metal cover band developed a knack for enticing slap-happy drunk celebs to act a fool. Some favorites:
–A young Kelly Clarkson, fresh off American Idol, clad in capri pants and sweater vest, giggling her way through a Guns N’ Roses cover that would be embarrassing if it weren’t so darn cute.
–R&B star Cee Lo and Sebastian Bach from heavy metal band Skid Row, an unlikely couple, joined forces on Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
–No stranger to the Steel Panther stage, country star Billy Ray Cyrus joined the band for the very last HOB Sunset show this past Monday night, and he brought along his kid. You might recognize her.
4. Seeing stars up close
Plucking out the most significant shows at HOB is tough. So many big names graced the intimate stage: KISS, Johnny Cash, Guns N’ Roses, Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, The Damned, Aretha Franklin, The Cramps, Kendrick Lamar, Eric Clapton, Social Distortion, Lil Kim, Gwar, D’Angelo... to name just a few. In 2011, Prince played three shows in one night. Then there are the countless times performers brought special guests onstage, something that occurred so often that it was practically expected.
5. The legacy of Tupac's final recorded performance
If we must choose a single moment that stands out from the rest, it would be Tupac Shakur's final HOB show in 1996. Tupac impacted hip-hop like a meteor crashing into the moon, despite the fact that his career lasted only five years. His last recorded performance before his untimely death was an epic show at HOB Sunset with Snoop and the Dogg Pound, cementing the venue as a home for groundbreaking performances from the best artists around. RIP, HOB.
