I can still remember my first show at the House Of Blues on Sunset Blvd. I was seeing Zeds Dead for the first time, and the stuffy, intimate room seemed like an ideal setting to experience one of the premiere bass acts in 2011. Since then, I’ve seen more than just electronic acts at the HOB, including Flogging Molly and even Linkin Park. However, this iconic and legendary venue, part of a chain across the country, is on its last legs.
Last year, news began to surface that HOB Sunset was on borrowed time, though rumors had swirled for a year or two prior. The project would demolish the current venue to make room for multiple projects, including a mixed-use hotel and residential area, as well as ad space.
All told, there will be 149 hotel rooms, 40 residential condos, five affordable housing units, a 6,000 square foot digital billboards and up to 35,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, plus a nightclub.
Business and operations will shut down on August 7, with “employee layoffs starting at the end of this month.”
Fear not, as House Of Blues is still looking for a new location in Los Angeles, after their search for another location in West Hollywood ended up “fruitless.”
Still, as EDM Tunes astutely points out, this will be a large blow to WeHo’s rich cultural history as another of its landmarks goes down in smoke.
