The Las Vegas location offers the novelty of being
housed inside the Mandalay Bay Casino, but the club
itself delivers few surprises for anyone who has attended
a HOB concert before.
There's the usual trademark ramshackle exterior and
multi-level performance area adorned with junk-art
accents and above- average sight lines (watch out
for the pillars on the main floor, though). The Bok
Bar area adjacent to the theatre has a particularly
fine array of bottle cap creations from folk artist
Jon Bok, whose work is collected by such stars as
Julia Roberts and Madonna. The attractions lineup
is wonderfully eclectic, ranging from punk to country
to jazz, and mixing up-and-coming bands with legendary
veterans such as Etta James. Besides offering up great
acts to shake your moneymaker to, HOB's regular club
events also make it a favorite dance spot, with nostalgic
boogie nights such as Flashback Fridays.
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As colorful and hip a venue as any other House of
Blues in the world and perhaps a little more so. The
HOB's floor area is given over to standing room, with
good sight lines save behind those four beams that
support the stadium-seating balcony (which is truly
the place to be). "Outsider" art covers
the walls - in fact, not a single surface in HOB isn't
painted or textured in some fabulous way. The sound
mix is clear and evenly distributed, but for some
minor slapback by the rear floor bar. Sunday morning
boasts a gospel brunch that you absolutely must indulge.
Without any irony whatsoever, we declare the Vegas
HOB our hands-down favorite of the chain. You might,
too.
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