House of Blues

ninainthechiChicago%s Comments

House of Blues

For living in a city that has large amounts of tourism, I don’t find myself dismissing anything as being “for tourists” very often.

Case in point: I love the architecture tour; it is chock full of information every Chicagoan should know and when don’t you want to be on a boat on the river? The Bean: I will be the first taking selfies in this gem of reflection plunked in the middle of our fair city. Also in this category? The House of Blues.

Originally started in Boston by James Belushi, Aerosmith and Dan Akroyd (among others), this concert venue downtown has become a staple for music in Chicago. It was the first place I saw a concert with my now-husband (a Journey cover band, obviously) and I went back last night with girlfriends to see Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond cover band (despite my experiences, House of Blues hosts non-cover band bands too…allegedly). After some sushi and cocktails at Sunda, we headed to the HOB, got wrist-banded up and danced along to songs we knew and songs we didn’t. Tucked in Marina City, the venue is small enough to be personal but big enough to make you feel like you’re really at a legit concert. Super Diamond was great; the lead singer summed it up when he said “We love Neil Diamond and we want YOU to love Neil Diamond”. While I am not a Neil connoisseur by any means, live music and a dance party surround by people who know every word, well, that is a recipe for a good night.

They also serve alcohol. Helpful.

All of those things combined means that the House of Blues delivered last night and I would have been remiss to have overlooked it in lieu of an underground, out of the way music venue the cool kids are going to these days. Because real talk, “Sweet Caroline” always feels so, so good when you belt it out at the top of your lungs and that likely removes me from the cool kids music club anyways.

Fine.by.me.

Super Diamond