Considering that he's traded barbs with the likes of John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray in his illustrious on-screen career, it's high praise indeed to elicit even the most miniscule of chuckles from Dan Aykroyd.
Sitting with the famed funnyman this sun-drenched afternoon at a Mohegan Sun press conference aimed at hyping the impending Connecticut opening of the House of Blues Aykroyd co-founded, your friendly neighborhood Nightcrawler had to admit& he was equal parts surprised and tickled to achieve the honor at no less than his opening line of questioning: "Hello, Mr. Aykroyd. I have to ask—did you ever, in your wildest dreams, imagine, when you embarked on this entrepreneur/restaurateur path more than a decade ago, that you'd be sitting on the roof of a parking garage in Uncasville, Connecticut talking about multi-million-dollar House of Blues facilities?"
Aykroyd explained that many is the seemingly unlikely dwelling to eventually call itself a House of Blues, from abandoned multiplexes and former Woolworth stores to alligator farms and the L.A. house where director Raoul Walsh is said to have snatched John Barrymore's body from a funeral home and placed it on Errol Flynn's couch.
Still, he maintains that the pairing with Mohegan Sun—which is slated to include a 1,500-capacity music venue, a 250-seat casual dining restaurant and some 261 House of Blues-themed rooms in the new 39-story hotel—is particularly special in that the Connecticut casino has swiftly "quieted skeptics" and "shown the world they are the greatest executors of world-class entertainment."
Although puffery like that is as common at such functions as oversized scissors and gold spray-painted shovels, it's quickly apparent that Aykroyd's accolades may in fact be rooted in firm conviction.
He knows all the players by name& even the lay of the land, citing the preservation efforts by Mohegan on the Thames River and the land surrounding major highway corridors. Maybe he's just done his homework, but typically, visiting Tinseltowners around these parts have the geographical awareness of someone freshly beamed down from an alien aircraft.
But as the guest of honor excuses himself to graciously take some more photos with other VIPs on hand, the Crawler spots yet another face in the crowd—that of legendary concert promoter Jim Koplik—and decides that perhaps the best answer to his next question lies there anyway.
Aykroyd may be the face of this Blues, but when it comes to deciding exactly which bands will perform at the new venue, it is Koplik who will really have the run of the House. And just how will a fourth venue complement what Koplik and his Live Nation are currently doing with Mohegan and its existing three?
"I'll give the perfect example," Koplik says. "Obviously, this House of Blues isn't finished yet, but if it were, I'd of course know that Billy Joel is coming here for 10 nights. Now Billy's a friend, and I happen to know that he loves '60s British music& Dave Clark Five, The Zombies. So I'd book bands like that at House of Blues and try to get Billy to come over and sit in one night& maybe have them sit in with him another. And generally create environments where magical things like that can and will happen—which I'm certainly excited about."
The Mohegan Sun House of Blues experience is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.
As Blues lovers count down the days to that auspicious occasion, Gabrielle Blanchette of the Wormtown Trading Company (www.wormtown.com) informs us that her sixth annual Strange Creek Campout—occurring at Greenfield's Camp Kee-wanee May 24-26 and featuring Max Creek, Strangefolk and nearly four dozen other jam faves—is taking measures to ensure it will be remembered for years to come.
"We're going to collect items for a time capsule and bury it on camp property," she explains. "If we're all here in 2028, we'll dig it up and hopefully remember that, at this time, at least, there are communities out there who live through live music and being with one another."
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
