House of Blues
By Tim Bullard

Lynyrd Skynyrd onstage at the House of Blues. (photo on left)

Two mysterious helicopters deplored over the horizon, circling the House of Blues North Myrtle Beach at Barefoot Landing May 4 with blue floodlights and a bullhorn crackling "ARMED AND DANGEROUS!" The newest and largest (57,000 square feet) House of Blues had a grand opening May 3 with Buddy Guy performing and a special premiere concert May 4 with The Blues Brothers, James Brown and special guests. Since then, the movie stars and bands have been drawing big crowds.

Chuttering, backfiring choppers roared through blue smoke to the front gate and inside as James Belushi, on a BMW Beamer, Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and HOB founder Isaac Tigrett thundered in with GOP Gov. David Beasley who wore leather garb, tanning bed sunglasses and a cigar, having scored a Harley recently from his wife as a present.

Six-year-old Lucas Pisano of Martha's Vineyard, dressed in sunshades and a black suit, played a harmonica Saturday night as people pitched bills into his hat. "His mother is Judy Belushi-Pisano," said his nanny Kerri Quigley. "He's the greatest. He's Judy's second husband's son." Blues guitarist Koko Robetcho of New Orleans swigged at a Tabasco bottle between numbers in the 300-seat restaurant.

"Yeah, I like that man," Robetcho said in a Cajun twang. "It's nice. This is our first time here. It's a beautiful place. This is bigger than the one in Los Angeles."

Inside the 2,000-seat venue Buddy Guy's guitarist almost upstaged his boss as Guy ripped through Jimi Hendrix's "Strange Brew," the Allmans' "Southbound" and "Fever." Goodman, Belushi and Aykroyd performed an abbreviated show out-of-costume as The Blues Brothers Saturday, singing "Sweet Home Chicago." A cab driver said Goodman tipped him $10 for a $3 ride from Windy Hill to HOB. "He didn't have nobody with him. He said he liked taking cabs because he doesn't like drawing attention," the cabbie said. "He's a nice guy. He's down-to-earth."

Aykroyd with daughters and Belushi on stage the night before opening night when Buddy Guy performed.

The Blues Brothers Show Sunday featured several songs off the movie soundtrack with Steve Cropper, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Donald "Duck" Dunn, "Blue" Lou Marini and others. Eddie Floyd emerged from backstage to rouse with "Knock On Wood" and Cropper's "6-3-4-5-7-8-9." The crowd went berserk when actor/singer Travis Tritt joined the band on guitar. Impatient fans booed waiting on Brown, tugging at the quilt curtain and peeking up its skirt from 12:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. when the Godfather of Soul finally emerged, performing until about 2:30 a.m.

"THE SOUUUULLL GENERAL!" crooned Brown's announcer who later draped a sparkling cape over Brown for the ersatz ending. Aykroyd was dancing on the bar upstairs with his wife, actress Donna Dixon. Brown's soulful "It's A Man's World" was captivating; "Living In America" featured go-go girls wrapped in red, white and blue. Brown was presented a large, glowing birthday cake by Belushi, Goodman and Aykroyd in mid-show.

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