A Great Night Swinging Out at The House Of Blues

Heather and I had a great night out at the "new" House of Blues.

We met at the bar for drinks, and much to my dismay, they did not have Knob Creek ! They did, however, serve Booker's. So I tried one. And, okay, so I hadn't eaten all day, but before I had finished half of it, my head was spinning and I was unable to put a sentence together. I am looking forward to trying one of these again, to see if it really does pack a punch. In any event, it was a fine, fine bourbon.

Now the atmosphere of the House of Blues restaurant is designed to encourage you to party. The walls are covered with "outsider art", some of it interesting, some of it terrible and one piece, a hand made calendar by the restrooms, is awesomely disturbing and moving. It is also one of the loudest rooms I have ever been in. So don't plan on having any meaningful conversations.

The food is excellent. I had the "fall off the bone" stewed half chicken with mushrooms and onions, white rice and buttered baby carrots. The portion was enormous, and it was cooked perfectly. For dessert we shared a monstrosity that they innocuously call a chocolate walnut brownie served with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. Exquisite.

If you are going to a performance after your meal, you get to go down a secret hallway and by-pass all of the folks waiting to get in, which is kinda cool. After we were security-wanded, and had our plastic wristbands fastened securely, we were allowed in.

The venue is a very nice size, not too big and not too small. There are no seats, so everyone stands, either on the dance floor in front of the stage, or, as we did, back by the bars. The opening act was trip-hop gal Kinnie Starr, and she came out alone, and proceeded to do a little rap thing with some pre-recorded beats. As I am predisposed to hate opening acts, I wasn't expecting much. Both Heather and I thought that it took some guts to get out there all alone and we were pretty impressed. That quickly dissipated as we realized that her first number was her masterpiece, and the "songs" became more and more unpleasant. We took this opportunity to explore the venue, and noticed some seating in the balcony. I enquired if one might sit there, and I was informed by the security guard that they were private box seats, that went for $1000. We thought maybe we would just stand for the show.

Finally, Swing Out Sister took the stage. I had never seen them (well, it is Corinne Drewery that I came to see) and was very excited. The crowd was obviously very loyal and loving, and I saw many a fan carrying around old Swing Out Sister LP's...
The show was excellent, and Corinne has a charming and warm personality, and it is very clear that she loves performing. Her voice sounds just as good in person as it does on the recordings.

The only negative thing I have to say is that she had the most unfortunate A-line dress - white, with enormous red poppies all over it. Not only was it completely not flattering (as Heather commented, "She could have the body of Madonna under there - who would know?"), after every song Corinne was pulling at the neckline and shoulders. Hmm...she also looked too much like Courtney Cox. I was hoping for the black leather Diana Rigg catsuit from the Somewhere Deep In The Night CD, so you can imagine my disappointment in the Poppy Dress.

Other than tragic couture, the show was awesome, and I highly recommend catching their show if they come to your town.