Posts Tagged ‘House of Blues Dallas’
Posted by
Caitlin Clark |
February 22nd, 2013 at 4:45 pm
Since the first House of Blues location opened its doors in Cambridge Massachusetts in 1992, the popular music venue has been a hub of truly exceptional blues, jazz, gospel, and roots-based rock and roll. It was founded by Dan Aykroyd, Judy Belushi (wife of the late John), and Hard Rock Café co-founder Isaac Tigrett to be just that, as well as a home for original folk art and a source for quality, southern-inspired cuisine.
Since Live Nation acquired HOB in 2006, the two companies have been dedicated to giving back. In honor of the venue’s 20th anniversary, $1 from every concert ticket sold during the 20 month celebration will go towards “Action for the Arts,” a program that promotes cultural understanding and encourages creative expression. Additionally, in the spirit of the founding values of House of Blues, venues across the nation provided 20,000 Thanksgiving meals to the needy in 2012.
(more…)
Tags: 20th anniversary, 20th anniversary of House of Blues, blues brothers, Dan Aykroyd, hob, House of Blues, House of Blues Dallas
Posted in House of Blues Dallas | No Comments »
Posted by
Caitlin Clark |
February 13th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Who: Flogging Molly 
When: Saturday, Februay 16 @ 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 2200 N Lamar St, Dallas, TX 75202
Tickets: $33-$40.50
Flogging Molly is Irish. Like really, really Irish. They’re so Irish in fact, that they’re 9th annual Green 17 tour is basically just a month-long Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. But for the fans who have followed this eclectic mix of punk rock and traditional Celtic music, they don’t just want Flogging Molly to come for Saint Patrick’s Day; they need them to come.
An opportunity to see Flogging Molly live is an experience. Their look and sound may be perfect for someone looking to have fun and drink heavily on Saint Patty’s big day, but what has kept the Green 17 tour a staple for nine years is Flogging Molly’s explosive and passionate live shows.
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Tags: 20th anniversary of House of Blues, Celtic Punk, dallas concerts, dallas saint patrick's day, flogging molly, green 17 tour, House of Blues, House of Blues Dallas, house of blues foundation, saint patrick's dayd
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Posted by
Laura Stillo |
April 14th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Kina Grannis performs at the Kessler Theater Sunday, April 15, Doors at 7, Show at 8pm. The below interview was conducted in October 2010, when Grannis appeared in the Cambridge Room at House of Blues.
Kina Grannis is freezing. The green room at the House of Blues, which is adorned with funky wallpaper instead of living up to its namesake, is entirely too cold for the month of October in Texas, and Grannis’s thin black sweater isn’t helping very much.
It’s the Fall of 2010 and Kina is getting ready for her performance in the Cambridge Room, a cozy environment perfect for her fans that take her lyrics to heart. The audience will be able to get close enough to the stage to shout out their requests and see her fingers fly across the frets.
We begin the interview, and within moments, she and I are talking like old friends. Put two California girls in a room in Texas and they’re bound to bond over the lack of palm trees in the Lone Star state. After a stint in Austin, Kina can relate.
Photographer Emili Carmichael is taking pictures of Grannis during our conversation. “I feel like that light is probably doing scary things to my face!” she laughs as Carmichael’s flash emits a blinding light and the camera shutter clicks open and closed. It is pretty much impossible to make this girl look anything but gorgeous.
The first time I heard Grannis’s voice, I was casually listening to The Sixty One, browsing for new artists to add to my self-professed awesome collection of underground singers when I stumbled across her cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence“. My ears have forever submitted to her sweet voice and talent powerhouse. Her music is a comforting blend of honesty and hope. Grannis, the eternal optimist, has a way of writing the most dismal affairs into positive, uplifting melodies. (more…)
Tags: Cambridge Room, dallas events, Dallas Live Music, House of Blues, House of Blues Dallas, Imaginary Friend, Kessler Theater, Kina Grannis, Laura Stillo, Stairwells, USC
Posted in Backstage with YouPlusDallas, House of Blues Dallas, Kessler Theater, Laura's Lineup, Music, Now hear this, Photos, Up-Coming Events | No Comments »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
November 22nd, 2011 at 5:25 pm
People love things that are cute. That’s an obvious statement; yes, which is why YouTube is filled with enough home videos of puppies and kittens to keep the masses entertained for years, or at least until a different ‘cute fad’ takes its place.
Ximena Sariñana (pronounced: hi-MEN-a sari-nyanah), one of Mexico’s most talented exports, is freakin’ adorable. Like, surprised kitty status adorable. This weekend, in the House of Blues Cambridge Room, Sariñana took the stage to massive applause, consulted her black Macbook, and opened her set with “The Bid,” off her latest album.
A crossover artist, Sariñana has a massive following in her home country. Her 2008 album, Mediocre, was praised by Rolling Stone as “one of the strongest debuts from a female singer-songwriter since Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me.”
Presently, Sariñana is taking on a new challenge for herself: bringing her music to the States with her first (90%) English self-titled album, released this July on Warner Bros Records.
Relentlessly watchable, Sariñana brings the colloquialism “smiling with her eyes” to life. During the song “Shine Down,” co-written by TV On the Radio’s David Sitek, she energetically bounced up and down between verses, politely gleaming at her band.
“Hola, como estan?” Sariñana asked coyly, smiling to the audience, her long, curly brown hair pulled into a side ponytail resting on her shoulder.
“I just released my second record, which is my first record all in English,” Sariñana began, introducing her latest single, “Different,” a cheery, piano-driven alt-pop song with a sunny whistling melody that appears in all the right places. “Gracias por entender,” she said, later thanking the audience in two languages, leading into the notion that the night’s set would be akin to a Spanish (or English) lesson. (more…)
Tags: Cambridge Room, dallas events, Dallas Live Music, House of Blues Dallas, Junior Hernandez Photography, Laura Stillo, Mediocre, Ximena Sarinana
Posted in House of Blues Dallas, Laura's Lineup, Music, Photos | No Comments »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
September 8th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Tim Halperin is startling. The YouPlusDallas team is standing in line for our press passes at the House of Blues box office, when Halperin unexpectedly descends a staircase near our position in line; a bold move for any artist, especially skyrocketed-to-fame American Idol alums. He could potentially encounter a teenage screaming mob at any point in the open. When he catches the eyes of a girl with long blonde hair, she immediately runs up to him upon recognition, freaking out on cue, but this doesn’t shake him. Handling the situation in a professional manner, pictures are taken, hugs are given, and finally, it is my turn to approach the blue-eyed singer. “Hey!” he says, energetically shaking my hand, “Is everything going okay?” Fulfilling our last minute video interview request, Halperin charms the box office into granting us an extra photo pass and we head into the venue to set up for our interview.
His wrists are covered in bracelets, beaded, woven and banded multicolors engulfing his forearms: decoration that will color his time at the keyboard in the hours to come. Wearing a white T-shirt under a puffy brown vest, Halperin guides our team the back way through the House of Blues kitchen and up the freight elevator. The doors open to the exclusive Foundation Room and we settle into a colorful side room, the walls adorned with images of kama sutra poses.
“American Idol,” he exhausts a sigh heavy with the weight of life-changing memories, “good times.” Having recently come off a successful stint on the 10th season of the unflinchingly popular reality television show, Halperin ran into a bit of an issue following the season’s end. “I couldn’t release my own music for a little while and that was hard for me because I had been a singer-songwriter for a couple of years, so coming off the show was difficult; but on the flip side, it was incredible.” (more…)
Tags: Artist Interview Sessions, Cambridge Room, Dallas Live Music, Dallas Nightlife, Emili Carmichael Photography, House of Blues Dallas, Laura Stillo, Tim Halperin
Posted in Backstage with YouPlusDallas, House of Blues Dallas, Music, Photos | 3 Comments »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
August 4th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Leave it to Mark Foster to make preppy trendsters latch on to indie-pushing mainstream music like a tennis ball to Velcro. Los Angeles-based band Foster The People has infiltrated pop and rock radio stations like an infectious plague, seeping into the bloodstreams of hi-top clad teens and twenty-somethings following the release of their debut album. And it seems as though Dallas can’t get enough.
Strange city, Dallas is. And by strange, I mean interesting rather than weird. Perhaps puzzling rather than interesting. The city has somehow managed to fuse what are usually opposite genres of style, creating some new breed of indie/hipster and preppy/posh. This new breed was recently dusted around House of Blues like pollen after a storm. (more…)
Tags: Foster The People, Gilt, Gilt City Dallas, House of Blues Dallas, Laura Stillo, Mark Foster, Paris Hilton, Pumped Up Kicks
Posted in Events, House of Blues Dallas, Laura's Lineup, Music, Photos | 1 Comment »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
July 13th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
If years were auditory, my 2004 would sound like Taking Back Sunday’s second studio album Where You Want to Be. I guess my ‘listening genre’ could pretty much be classified as ‘singer-songwriter’ heavy, but I have to throw a little rebellious hell in there every once in a while to keep it interesting. This is one of those fires.
Last week, the Long Island-based band, together on and off since 1999, performed at House of Blues Dallas following the release of their self-titled fifth studio album.
“Taking Back Sunday?” a coworker asked me before I embarked on my interview with the alternative band. “That’s a little intense for you, isn’t it?”
Negatory. If anything, they’re a volume-cranker.
“What are you thinking?” drummer Mark O’Connell asks guitarist John Nolan, who remarks on the heavy question. O’Connell notes the filthiness of his shoes, how he should probably purchase a pair of non-stage sneakers and whether or not they are machine-washable.
The two members of Taking Back Sunday are sitting on a couch in the Foundation Room, cracking jokes and relaxing post-sound check. “Yeah, we’re really cool,” O’Connell laughs. You know that whole never-meet-your-heroes adage? Doesn’t apply to them. I tell Nolan that “Existentialism on Prom Night” (product of side-project Straylight Run) is one of my favorite songs of all time. Ever. He humbly nods his head and says a genuine “Thank you.” (more…)
Tags: Adam Lazzara, dallas events, Dallas Live Music, Eddie Reyes, House of Blues Dallas, John Nolan, Laura Stillo, Mark O'Connell, Straylight Run, Taking Back Sunday
Posted in Backstage with YouPlusDallas, House of Blues Dallas, Laura's Lineup, Music, Now hear this, Photos | No Comments »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
May 31st, 2011 at 11:34 am
All right, I have to admit it. I had never heard of The Maine before seeing the name attached to the likes of Augustana on the poster for the “Boston” band’s summer tour. A fan of Augustana’s since 2005’s Stars and Boulevards, I wrote The Maine off as just some other act that was touring with a band that I was compelled to see in concert. Cool, I thought. If they’re opening for Augustana, they must be good. After ample research, I found that The Maine is a) co-headlining with Augustana (and closing the show, at that) and b) has over 77,000 followers on Twitter. Where have I been? Is some type of cultural phenomenon going on, perpetuated by iTunes, completely escaping my genius recommendations? I still don’t know. But I do know that, after seeing The Maine tear apart the stage at House of Blues Dallas, they kick some serious ass, and deserve every one of those tens of thousands of Twitter followers.
Current album Black & White harnesses a more mature sound departure from their first album (2008 Can’t Stop Won’t Stop) which is weird to say because members of The Maine are so young, I can’t imagine a three-year younger version of them being legally allowed to work. (more…)
Tags: Black & White, Can't Stop Won't Stop, dallas events, Dallas Live Music, Emili Carmichael Photography, Garrett Nickelsen, House of Blues Dallas, John O'Callaghan, Laura Stillo, Teenie Boppers, The Maine
Posted in House of Blues Dallas, Music, Photos | 1 Comment »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
May 25th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
I’m certain that Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge didn’t leave my Toyota Highlander’s 6-CD changer for the entirety of my sophomore year of high school. This was probably before I owned an iPod, or had a subscription to Rolling Stone; but I knew my Converse sneakers, inked with sharpie-drawn checkerboard patterns, reflected the type of music found on the 2004 album that drove around with me every place frequented by sixteen year-olds on Wednesday afternoons. (Like, student government meetings.)
This past weekend, My Chemical Romance invaded Dallas for two full days, parading in alternative garb across the House of Blues main stage for back-to-back nights of danger and darkness. Frontman Gerard Way sounded brilliant (save for retreating to his lower register during “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”), but lacked a certain deranged energy that I imagine usually pairs with MCR shows. As I was present for night two of the Dallas excursion, Way may have exhausted his adrenaline during Saturday’s show. I guess I expected to see the whites of his eyes a little more. (more…)
Tags: dallas events, Dallas Live Music, Danger Days, Famous Last Words, Gerard Way, Giovanni Gallucci Photography, House of Blues Dallas, Laura Stillo, My Chemical Romance, Rolling Stone, The Black Parade, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Posted in Events, House of Blues Dallas, Music, Photos | No Comments »
Posted by
Laura Stillo |
May 18th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Similar to: A drive down PCH at 7:30pm, the sun setting through your wayfarers, the wind ruffling your perfectly coiffed hair.
Last week, Southern California-based band Augustana kicked off their summer tour in Dallas, co-headlining with The Maine (who, fun fact, are actually from Arizona). YouPlusDallas met with Augustana backstage for an on-camera interview, where guitarist Chris Sachtleben asked us what it’s like to work Downtown (awesome) and said the band was wishing they could’ve seen the Lakers play the Mavs in Dallas during their time here, but after a sweep, that dream unraveled as quickly as the Lakers’ reputation.
Apparently, Augustana is now an instrumental band. During opening song “Sweet and Low” lead singer Dan Layus’s mic didn’t work; but he laughed it off with a sly half-smile, and the audience helped out with the words until the audio resurged mid-way through the song. Layus’s raspy vocals are like a gymnast in competition; his execution is always brilliant, but you still worry that he won’t be able to stick the landing – until he lands, feet together, arms up – in the perfect dismount. (more…)
Tags: Augustana, dallas events, Dallas Live Music, Dan Layus, Emili Carmichael Photography, House of Blues Dallas, Laura Stillo
Posted in Backstage with YouPlusDallas, House of Blues Dallas, Music, Photos | No Comments »
