Anyone been to a Concert at House of Blues DTD?

[dtnrhi]

Regarding Christmas gifts, I was looking to go to a concert next February at House of Blues in Downtown Disney. A group my cousin and I love are not coming to Phoenix on their next tour, so I'm thinking about making a trek to Anaheim to see them! Unfortunately, my AP will be 19 days expired by this time, so it will NOT be a parks trip.

Has anyone ever been to a concert at House of Blues? What's the venue like?

All tickets are general admission. Is there seating or is it standing room only?

How early should we arrive for the concert (we would be driving from Phoenix day of the show that is a 7PM start on a Friday!)

Does the Venue validate parking for Downtown Disney?

This would be a Christmas gift, and a super budget-friendly trip. I have access to codes that will get our concert tickets for free (normally $24.50 each) and since I am a sweeper, I have an ample amount of gift cards I've won to various restaurants so food would be free as well. I can get a hotel for a night for only $11 using a combination of rewards points. I'll even have cheap gas (oxymoron, much?), only spending about $80 roundtrip by already buying discounted gas gift cards elsewhere. Any unforeseen spending would come from $75 of Visa Gift cards I've also won. (I'd obviously have extra funds accessible, but would try to NOT draw from them unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.)

Counting meals, tickets, and hotel, I'm literally talking less than $100 out of pocket (basically gasoline and hotel) for a two-day trip to Anaheim. I could get more free concert tickets for other siblings/cousins to help make the cost seem more reasonable (being entirely serious.. my six year old sister thinks she's coming, and it being an appropriate group, I don't know if I will deny her hopes.) making the average go from $50 a person to $25. However, I don't want to drive 10 hours and 700 miles roundtrip to be disappointed with the venue and experience in which we see the show.

Would this be worth it?

 

[Pinocchio #1 Fan]

Anaheim HOB is standing room only. There are a few seats, but you have to purchase VIP or some such nonsense to get them. If you think the show will be packed, your best bet is to eat dinner there. That way, you get to enter the venue earlier than the rest of the crowd, so you can pick where you want to stand. If you are not extremely short, this shouldn't be much of an issue. I never do this when I go with my buddies, but if my wife goes, she is 5'2", so I do the dinner thing.

They have a no camera policy. If you have a camera, they will tell you to either take it to the car or to check it in. There is a fee to check it in. They tell you that the camera policy is at the request of the artist, but since I have never been to a show there where this wasn't the policy, I suspect it is a building policy. However, they don't seem to take issue with using your phone to take pics.

They do validate parking. What you do is keep on the wristband they give you verifying that you are old enough for alcohol, and you show it to the parking cashier on the way out. They do not physically validate your parking ticket, as the validation stamp only covers you for 5 hours, and sometimes the shows run late. The wristband gets you comped on parking even if you arrived at noon.

Hope all this helps, if you have more questions feel free to ask.

 

[Meghatron]

If the band has an opening act (or two, or three) be prepared to stand for hours in a thick crowd wherein other folks will be constantly trying to jostle you back to stand in front of you, despite the fact that you were there first. This even happens during the headliner show. I'm not sure what would convince me to see a show there again as general admission, and I'm not sure I'm a big enough fan of any performing act to justify the price of VIP seating. It is like the old days of Southwest boarding, before there were numbers, only it's not over in a few minutes.

If there is ANY way to see this act in another venue, do it.

 

[iKristin]

This is the WORST HoB I have ever been to and I've been to most of them. I saw Hanson there in 2011 and ended up actually leaving and went back to Disneyland instead of staying for the whole show because it was that bad. The only time I ever enjoy shows at that HoB is when I purchase a seat upstairs. So I would recommend that. If you buy food in the restaurant that day or an item in the store you get "skip the line" which can get you closer but it's still not a great set up.

 

[dtnrhi]

Hmm... after the first review, I went ahead and got four tickets. They were free, luckily, so I could always resell them for less and still make a profit. The group we were trying to see is Karmin. They have one opening act, and I have never even heard of the guy. They have a show in San Diego the following night, but I wouldn't be able to get my cousin in due to drinking-age restrictions in effect there, (I'm only 18 myself, but in order to get someone in that is under 18, you must be 25..) so that is why I chose Anaheim. (It is an all-ages event.)

My worry is (and you can mark my words) that this group is going to really break through before the end of the year when they release their new album. I don't want HOB to oversell the venue, which I have read online that they are notorious for doing, then denying entry at the door due to excessive amounts of tickets being sold. (The possibility of this SCARES me, actually!)

I will obviously have to think this over. I have about 100 days until the show, so an immediate decision is not necessary.

Do you think a concert ticket will suffice for parking validation since I won't have a drinking bracelet?

Is there re-entry at events at HOB?

 

[Pinocchio #1 Fan]

Hmm... after the first review, I went ahead and got four tickets. They were free, luckily, so I could always resell them for less and still make a profit. The group we were trying to see is Karmin. They have one opening act, and I have never even heard of the guy. They have a show in San Diego the following night, but I wouldn't be able to get my cousin in due to drinking-age restrictions in effect there, (I'm only 18 myself, but in order to get someone in that is under 18, you must be 25..) so that is why I chose Anaheim. (It is an all-ages event.)

My worry is (and you can mark my words) that this group is going to really break through before the end of the year when they release their new album. I don't want HOB to oversell the venue, which I have read online that they are notorious for doing, then denying entry at the door due to excessive amounts of tickets being sold. (The possibility of this SCARES me, actually!)

I will obviously have to think this over. I have about 100 days until the show, so an immediate decision is not necessary.

Do you think a concert ticket will suffice for parking validation since I won't have a drinking bracelet?

Is there re-entry at events at HOB?

There is no re-entry. They have an outdoor smoking patio.

Also, they have a handstamp which tells the bar you are not old enough to drink, and the stamp will also suffice to get you out of the parking lot at the end of the night. It may be something else now, but long story short, you won't have to worry about paying for parking. I really don't think this show will sell out. When they oversell, it's usually when they have a very famous band there, like Social Distortion(unbelievably huge in OC) or George Thorogood. I think you will be fine. That being said, I agree it is the worst HOB around. I have been to a ton of them, and while they all kinda suck, Anaheim is the worst one.

As far as this band breaking big when the album drops, the people in OC are the last to get hip to new bands, so without a hit single it's unlikely that they will pack the place three months from now. I think you will be fine. I in no way mean this in an insulting manner, but people under 25 tend to love HOB, whereas people over 30 tend to hate it. It's just different things people expect at different points of their life.

Look at it this way. Even if the place fills up and you stand in the back, it's not that big of a place. If they pack HOB now, it will probably be the last time you see them in a room this small, so it will be a nice memory either way. You are only young once, take a road trip!

 

[MychaelP]

Also beware that the Standing Room Only is very crowded, even parts of the 2nd floor are standing. If felt to me as if I was in the first 50 feet of a major rock show, so be ready to have zero personal space and if that is important to you, go see the band elsewhere.
I've been to two shows there and both times the band started at least an hour late. However by the time they were done, there were no parking attendants so I just drove right now and didn't have to pay anything anyway.

 

[iKristin]

Yeah they are VERY much notorious for over selling. I went to the HoB Chicago a month ago and they oversold the show by a couple hundred and STILL let everyone in so it was jam packed. Luckily I already had a good spot so it didn't both me; but I watched everyone looking so uncomfortable and packed like sardines