Walking the blue carpet: Opening night at House of Blues

What can I say? I'm a soul woman.

Dan Akroyd and Jim Belushi may be in their fifties, but up on the stage at Houston's House of Blues, they still had the moves that made the Blues Brothers famous.

I don't know where they get their energy, but whatever they are using, I need to get some of it. That's because Saturday night's energetic concert was their second one of the day. They did their first one around 4:00 in the afternoon after the Rock Ride.

BLUES BROTHER ROCK RIDE

What do you get when you combine the Blues Brothers with a thousand Harley Davidsons? Well, you get one loud rumble of engines, but you also get the Blues Brothers Rock Ride.

On Saturday afternoon, Jim and Dan led a thousand bikers into downtown Houston for a chance to check out the House of Blues concert hall.

But that's not all. The bikers also had the chance to watch the sound check, eat some of the fantastic food the restaurant has to offer, and then, they got to watch a concert with Jake and Elwood Blues, also known as the Blues Brothers.

A WALK DOWN THE BLUE CARPET

I left Dan and Jim, along with the Harley Davidson team around 5:00 p.m. as I had to get back before the evening newscast. But I wasn't gone for long. By 7:30, my photographer - the amazing Christine DiStadio, and I were back at the venue checking out the people on the 'blue' carpet.

Let me just say that the House of Blues pulled out all of the bells and whistles.

Located at the corner of Dallas and Caroline, they closed down the street and lit up the building with search lights. The blue carpet was filled with VIPs ranging from the Houston Texans, to local celebrities such as Uchenna Agu (the winner of The Amazing Race) and Erica Rose from the Bachelor.

Live Nation, who owns the venue, even had an entertainment reporter interviewing people as they walked down the carpet as if they were at the Oscars.

But the people I loved the most were the ones that decked themselves in honor of the event with Blues Brothers hats, sunglasses and dark suits. They knew this would be a night to remember and if it wasn't...well, they would make it happen.

THE MAIN EVENT

The Blues Brothers concert was an invitation only event. Only 2,400 were invited to attend and believe, me...all of them showed up. The place was crowded and rocking the whole night. A part of this was because they had bands set up in all the rooms, but another part had to do with the food and alcohol. It was free and unlimited until 10:30 p.m.

Throughout the night, I spoke to House of Blues Foundation Room members from Chicago, New Orleans, and Vegas. All of them said that Houston's venue was the best they had ever been to. The place was first class entertainment all the way.

But no matter what came before the concert, nothing could compare to the concert itself. At 10:30 the Blues Brothers came on stage, decked out in their traditional suits and hats. It was then the party really began.

Dan and Jim shimmied and shaked on the stage. Jim even showed off a little (or a lot) of belly. The guys played off each other, adding a little bit of humor to the songs as only Jake and Elwood Blues could. They even pulled fans up onto the stage.

The concert was full or energy and full of fun, and even though my feet were killing me from standing all day, I couldn't help but dance through the whole thing. It was the concert experience of a lifetime and I was going to take it all in.

After the concert, the party continued into the night. I have no idea when it ended as I slipped out like Cinderella just after midnight.

But one House of Blues bartender told me that the Dan and Jim were planning to go all night long - and that he should be prepared to serve drinks until 5 a.m.