House of Blues San Diego has two front doors on two different streets. The box office and the Music Hall entrance face Sixth Avenue. The smaller Voodoo Room has its own door on Fifth Avenue, under the marquee. Read your ticket before you pick a line.
The Music Hall
The main room holds about 1,100 people, and the floor is general admission and standing room. A ticket number is not a seat number. If you want to sit, the loge on the balcony has folding stadium chairs, sold as VIP seating.
Folk art covers the walls. While the club was being built, Pollstar reported plans for about 350 original pieces.
The bookings cover a lot of ground. Punk and metal bills, hip-hop tours, eighties bands, tribute nights and late DJ sets all come through, so our rock, hard rock, alternative and hip-hop pages all pick up shows from here. The Gaslamp Quarter Association counts Adele, Soundgarden, Snoop Dogg and Mac Miller among the acts that have played the room.
From dime store to music hall
House of Blues began in 1992 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, started by Dan Aykroyd and Isaac Tigrett, who had cofounded Hard Rock Cafe. Live Nation has owned the chain since 2006.
The San Diego club was announced in 1999 and took its time arriving. The opening date slipped more than once, and major construction still had not started by late 2004. It finally opened in 2005 as the ninth House of Blues, built inside a former Woolworth building on the block between Fifth and Sixth avenues, just north of Broadway.
Getting there
- Trolley. The Fifth Avenue station sits on C Street between Fifth and Sixth, at the end of the block. Blue and Orange line trains stop there.
- Parking. The club's preferred garage is on Fifth Avenue between Broadway and C Street, across from the entrance, and you can pay for it ahead of time.
- Game nights. Petco Park is a short walk south. When the Padres are home, Gaslamp garages and streets fill early, so give yourself extra time.
Good to know
- There is no re-entry.
- At all ages shows, anyone 18 or under needs to come with an adult. Shows with an age limit say so when you buy.
- The building is cashless.
- On select nights the Salvation Bar hosts the official party an hour before doors.
- Door times and bag rules are set show by show, and your ticket has the details.
Balboa Theatre and the San Diego Civic Theatre are a few blocks west, and the rest of the downtown venues are a short walk or ride away.