The closing of the San Diego House of Blues would be no great loss

So the San Diego Reader is reporting rumors that the House of Blues here is in trouble, and if they don’t start bringing in better numbers the venue may close within nine months or so; reportedly, the San Diego HOB has the worst attendance of any of the chain’s locations.  I can’t say I’m terribly shocked, based upon my own experiences there seeing maybe four or five shows.  It’s far from the worst place I’ve ever been, but I also wouldn’t really call the experience of being there enjoyable or pleasurable — it’s like seeing a band in an Applebee’s, and a very overpriced one at that.  Drinks there are a complete ripoff (though comparably priced to many downtown venues), the food is okay but not great for what you pay, and between the cost of parking downtown and gas as evening at the HOB can easily run double the cost of a night at, say, the Casbah or the Belly Up, where I generally actually have fun and don’t get half as douchey a vibe.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t actively dislike the SD HOB, but I definitely don’t consider it a great place to see a show.  Generally, when I see someone is playing there my reaction is similar to this: “Hey, Motorhead is coming to town…mmm, but it’s at the House of Blues…I don’t know, do I want to deal with that?  Maybe I’ll hold off and see if they drop the tickets to half-price (which they very frequently do — apparently their lack of consistent attendance figures is not a new thing) and then I’ll go, but…”  So while fewer performance venues in a city is never a positive thing in my book, I can’t say it seems likely I’ll really miss the San Diego House of Blues if and when it should happen to close.

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