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| - I would give this venue negative stars if I could. This is just for the main concert venue, not the restaurant, by the way. First off, the sight lines are absolutely awful. If you're not on the (very small) main floor or in the balcony it's almost impossible to see the stage due to the very low ceilings. I didn't spend $30+ on tickets to watch a show on the television, thank you very much, and I don't really want to be packed in like a sardine on the tiny floor. And since the ceiling is so low, the sound gets extremely compressed. It's terrible. This is supposed to be one of the trademark music venues for Cleveland, and to have such basic flaws in the design of the venue is inexcusable. It's simply a terrible setup for a music venue.
After that add on the worst security I've ever had to deal with at a venue. I am a writer and often have press and photo passes. At one particular show I was taking pictures in an area reserved for photographers with my photo pass. A security guard grabbed me and yelled "Either you get out or I'm throwing you out." He was extremely aggressive. This is not uncommon. I've been to over a hundred concert venues around the country and this House of Blues is probably consistently the worst with security being heavy handed for absolutely no reason.
After all of that, the drink prices are crazy, the attendants in the bathroom get mad if you don't tip them for handing you a paper towel (which I never asked you to get for me), there's no dedicated area for smokers (I'm not a smoker but I have friends that are, you have to leave the venue to smoke), and on and on and on. I can't think of a single redeeming factor for this venue. I wish that artists that cared about their fans would stop performing there and go to one of the other great venues in Cleveland. Unless there's a show you're absolutely dying to see, stay away from this place.
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