Downtown Disney and Citywalk, once again have very different approaches when it comes to their entertainment venues. Both the House of Blues Orlando (Disney) and The Hard Rock Live (Universal) host a wide variety of groups and genres, so how do they compare?
Interior: The House of Blues is rich in details with paintings, wooden structures, a little seating, several bars, an upper level outdoor porch, easy access to the top floor and a nice, shabby chic underground music scene feel to it.
Hard Rock on the other hand is more industrial- the interior is a wide open space with a top floor, but those areas are undecorated and if there is a bar in there, i've never been able to make my way to it. It has more expensive mainstream and popular bands that come from time to time, and for events like that they put in seating. They saved the decorating for inside the Cafe it seems. As far as looks go, House of Blues Wins.
Interior: The House of Blues is rich in details with paintings, wooden structures, a little seating, several bars, an upper level outdoor porch, easy access to the top floor and a nice, shabby chic underground music scene feel to it.
Hard Rock on the other hand is more industrial- the interior is a wide open space with a top floor, but those areas are undecorated and if there is a bar in there, i've never been able to make my way to it. It has more expensive mainstream and popular bands that come from time to time, and for events like that they put in seating. They saved the decorating for inside the Cafe it seems. As far as looks go, House of Blues Wins.
Artists: The upcoming performances for the House of Blues is listed in another one of my posts on this site, and for updates on what's going on at the Hard Rock, click here. I focus more on Downtown Disney ;) Both the venues book similar artists, but HOB has more frequent performances and on nights where there are no shows, it is still open as a nightclub (mostly on Sundays and Tuesdays) on quantity, HOB wins, but on quality, it's a tie.
Price: The prices are comparable- they are more dependent on the artist and not the location. However, it is worth-while to mention that CityWalk, therefore HRL charges anywhere from $5-$18 to park your car so you have to add that to the cost of your tickets. Price is a tie.
Food: both of these venues include an attached themed restaurant. Sadly, I don't think the food at either place is all that great, but HOB is definitely overpriced. At least at the Hard Rock they have a better drink selection and it isn't as expensive (don't get me wrong, it's overpriced for what you;re getting, but its not as bad as HOB.) food is a tie.
The Winner: It's a tie. While I personally prefer the HOB, it all depends on who you want to see and where they are playing.