By Jeanine Budd
The Lansdowne Street that most Bostonians are familiar with is about to begin a monumental facelift. No longer will clubgoers and music enthusiasts be able to find the Axis, Avalon, Rocket Bar or the Embassy across from Fenway Park. Instead, a new venue owned by House of Blues will take their place.
Despite local media reports that the Lyons Group recently sold its properties at 11-36 Lansdowne St. to the House of Blues chain, which is an affiliate of Live Nation, a representative from the group insisted that the venues are only being leased.
“Live Nation didn’t buy anything,” Alan Eisner, a spokesperson for the Lyons Group, said in an interview with The News. “The Lyons Group will continue to be the landlords and they’ll be overseeing all major construction. ”
Eisner said the construction is slated to be completed next fall and that House of Blues will add its own interior design. He said he was unsure about what their exact plans were.
“The clubs as they existed on Lansdowne were too small,” he said. “So combining the two spaces of Axis and Avalon is a good thing. We’re adjusting and expanding the seating to accommodate national concert tours and to hold up to 4,500 people.”
Despite the change, Eisner asserted that the impact on the clubs themselves will be minimal and that the basic design will stay the same, with the only difference being the venue’s name.
Some students are doubtful.
“The Axis and the Avalon were the only clubs down there that were bigger than the Paradise, but smaller than the Orpheum,” said Michele Burns, a senior music industry major. “I think making the venue larger hurts it, because then bands just won’t come here and play, or they’ll move to a place where some people just won’t want to see them. For example, I don’t like to go to the Orpheum to see certain people play, because I just don’t want to see a seated show.”
Since both the Axis and Avalon shut down for renovations last October, smaller venues have been receiving some benefits, said Tripp Underwood, bass player in local punk rock group The Unseen.
“I work at the Paradise and we’ve received a lot of shows that we normally wouldn’t get,” he said. “For example, the New York Dolls are playing. The Drive-by Truckers are coming up. Dropkick Murphys are doing two of their St. Patty’s day shows [here], which we normally wouldn’t get, because we wouldn’t be big enough.”
Underwood said venues like the Roxy are in direct competition with the Paradise during this time.
“Some bands are saying that they’d rather sell out a small room than play the Orpheum, where they’ll fall flat on their faces and only fill half,” he said. “So I think it benefits the little guy a little bit.”
David Rihoy, a freshman graphic design major who works with local bands, said he was concerned about the House of Blues ownership raising ticket prices.
“I hope they don’t start bringing in bigger acts just for the money,” Rihoy said. “Boston is one of the biggest places for independent music. If they don’t have anywhere to play, they won’t be able to do anything. But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Mike McColgan, former frontman for local group the Dropkick Murphys and current frontman for the Street Dogs, said most of the House of Blues venues he’s performed in have had a large room and a small room, which makes it easier to accommodate bands of different sizes.
“I’m hoping that when House of Blues comes to Boston, they’ll keep in mind the history of Lansdowne Street and Fenway Park. I just don’t want it to be too corporate and homogenized like some other venues in the US are,” McColgan said. “I’ve seen so many good shows come through the Avalon and Axis. I hope the new House of Blues is as good for the smaller bands as it is for the bigger ones.”
