When did Boston became a forgotten pit stop between Providence, R.I., and Burlington, Vt.? "You're kidding, right?" should be your response, but without a flagship concert venue, this city has suffered a live-music drought as more and more bands skip Beantown on their winter tours.
There is always the TD Banknorth Garden, the impersonal king of caverns, but unless your band has gone platinum at some point, this is an unlikely option. A few blocks away is the Orpheum Theatre, which is probably as old as the city itself and holds 2700 patrons, rather uncomfortably I must say. With its early curfew, abrasive security, and heinous alcohol restrictions, the fans have shown disgust and bands are starting to avoid the peeling lead-paint walls of the aging theater. Located in the Theater District, The Roxy has the potential to be a solid venue, with its crisp sound and a spacious floor, but it struggles to adapt to the grungier concert crowd as it prefers to operate as a dance club on most nights. Closer to home, the Paradise Rock Club is a unique room that lives and breathes live music, but with a capacity of only 650, it is often overlooked by mid-level bands that favor the far more spacious Lupos in Providence, The Higher Ground in Burlington, or simply skip New England all together. There are so many more venues to mention, including Harpers Ferry and The Middle East, but none are large enough to alleviate the problem on their own.
The Avalon Ballroom, the king of the Lansdowne Street strip, is responsible for this drought. But The Avalon is also the only concert venue that can save this city. Last fall, the 2000 person-capacity night club closed its doors to undergo a $14 million renovation. The existing club will be joined with neighboring club Axis to form a premier concert venue. Just recently, owner Patrick Lyons sold the venue to music giant House of Blues. The new 2500-person concert hall will don the popular House of Blues tag, which is owned by Live Nation and operates 10 venues nationwide, all of which bring in a wide range of notable artists.
This move also helps to ease suspicions of The Avalon complex returning back to its dance club ways of recent years. All too often, shows would be cut short to give way to the club crowd, and rightfully so, considering this crowd is more likely to spend heavily. Also, among music fans, The Avalon has been known for employing a highly unreasonable security staff. This may be attributed to the diverse gap between the concert crowd and the club crowd, which can vary drastically from night to night. Now that the venue has one focus, both the artists and fans will benefit. Luckily for us, the Boston House of Blues, which is expected to be ready within the year, will end this live-music drought.
2008 Woodie Awards
