HOUSE OF BLUES
Opens on high note

By Dave Davis

The red carpet was replaced by a block long tunnel of tarps and 13 giant gas heaters. Evening wear gave way to heavy coats and blue jeans.

But inside Cleveland's new House of Blues, the atmosphere Sunday evening was anything but chilly. More than 2,000 people showed up for the gala opening of downtown's newest mega-club, a party that had more than a touch of Cleveland.

People arriving in one limo looked around for paparazzi. "Outsiders," joked an onlooker in a Browns jacket. No photographers appeared. Just friendly police to move the barriers and part the crowd.

The event began with headliners Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi thundering up to the club on two glittering Harley motorcycles. Aykroyd, of "Saturday Night Live" and movie fame, is a board member of the House of Blues, which operates clubs in seven other cities besides Cleveland.

As he stopped the motorcycle, Belushi, younger brother of the deceased Blues Brothers co-founder John Belushi, pumped his fist for the crowd and yelled, "All Right." Euclid Avenue roared.

Euclid Avenue roared as 200 members of the Medina Century Harley Davidson Club filed in behind the stars as 200 members of the Medina Century Harley Davidson Club filed in behind the stars.

Inside the lobby, musicians shared beers with construction contractors and a few concertgoers, business people, and politicians stopped to wonder what the new club would mean to Cleveland.

"This is going to draw more people downtown, and we need more people downtown," said Eugene Schwartz, bass guitar player for Robert Lockwood Jr., who helped open the show. "It's just great for Cleveland."

Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell greeted people at the door. "This is really symbolic of the emergence of Euclid Avenue as an entertainment district," she said. "Our hotels are full. We're really seeing people come back downtown."

Aykroyd and Belushi donned their black suits, white shirts, black ties and black fedoras for the evening's finale as the Blues Brothers. Aykroyd, who performs under the stage name of Elwood Blues, and Belushi, who goes by Zee Blues, opened their set with a rousing performance of "Sweet Home Chicago."

Their set was part blues-bash, part gospel-tent revival, part rock 'n' roll frat party. They offered shout-outs to Cleveland, including a wild rendition of "Time Won't Let Me," by Cleveland's own, the Outsiders.

Arich Berghammer, House of Blues national director of operations, said the club threw the party as a big thank-you to everyone who helped it open. Forty-two others, who did not get an invitation to the party, got in after paying about $300 each in an Internet auction. The money went to charity.

Music and fun aside, city leaders are hoping that the club—with a 1,200-seat music hall, 300-seat restaurant and six bars—will boost development in the Euclid Avenue and East Sixth Street area.

And like the cornerstone of any new development, the House of Blues certainly had enough opening hype. More than a week of events built up to Sunday's party in a series of "soft" opening events that began with a christening concert by Cheap Trick and also saw Rock legend Eric Carmen reunited with the Raspberries Friday night, after a 30-year separation.

"It's a great place to play," said the Raspberries' Wally Byrson, who will return with the band to the club's stage for a New Year's Eve concert. "They made it right."

Cleveland Plain Dealer / November 29, 2004