House of Blues Changes Houston's Live Music Landscape Before Even Opening

Will Houston book like Dallas? Considering House of Blues is a chain, and run as such, there's no reason to think it won't. The most recent House of Blues to open before Houston was Dallas's venue — almost exactly a year ago, in fact — so Noise e-mailed Dallas Observer music editor Pete Freedman to see how it had fit into Big D's music scene.

"Without it, Dallas would probably miss out on a lot of shows," says Freedman, pointing out that Dallas's House of Blues opened not long after similarly sized venues Trees and Gypsy Tea Room shut down. "Plus, ours has I think four different rooms or some shit, so it can cater to a lot of different-sized shows."

"Would I prefer it if it were independent? Probably," Freedman continues. "Do I hate it as is? Probably not as much as creative types and their constant 'Keep Things Local!' rallying cries would like me to. Fact is, it helps get more people out to shows, gets more shows in town and every now and then sheds some light on some local acts — when, really, it doesn't have to."

Houstonians can only hope the same holds true here come October.

chris.gray@houstonpress.com