RZA show cancelled due to fire at House of Blues

Last night, I decided to check out RZA's solo show at the House of Blues. After sitting through hours of mediocre openers, the crowd was starting to get antsy for the Wu-Tang mastermind to take the stage.

At about 11 p.m. (which is when RZA, aka Bobby Digital, was slated to begin), the smell of burnt plastic started to fill the venue. A few security guards rushed to the back, and suddenly we were all told to go downstairs. A staff member told us there was a fire in coat check (a fire in coat check in the middle of summer? weird...) A few minutes later we were told to go outside. Then, security told us to cross the street. Before we knew it, emergency vehicles arrived and staff was telling everyone to leave - the show had been cancelled and refunds would be offered later.

It sucked spending a night at the HOB with no pay off. But on a positive note, we did get to board RZA's tour bus for a quick minute. One of his entourage patted us down and we basically got to shake his hand and say "too bad about the fire, huh?" (Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera!). As one of the members of RZA's crew told us, the cancellation was "a travesty."

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Jim Collins
Jim Collins follows Chicago's live music scene for the Windy Citizen with his Live Wire blog. He recently graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a master's degree in new media. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter for one of the Sun Times News Group's suburban newspapers and a small daily in southwestern Michigan. Jim's also a music junkie, who appreciates a wide range of musical tastes. From hipster to hippy, raver to rapper, he likes it all. More