Description
The Knack – Live At The House Of Blues (September 25, 2001) – RSD Double Blue Vinyl Records
Record Store Day 2022 release limited to 1,500 copies.
Recorded live at the House of Blues, Hollywood, on Sept. 25, 2001
Live at the House of Blues by The Knack is a live album, recorded during a 1998 performance at the House of Blues in Los Angeles and later released in 2002. It captures the legendary power pop band in top form, delivering a high-energy set that spans their career, from their late-1970s breakthrough through their 1990s comeback efforts. This performance serves as both a retrospective and a revival, showing the band still capable of sharp hooks, tight harmonies, and punchy rock grooves decades after their explosive debut.
The Knack originally shot to fame with their 1979 debut Get the Knack, which included the iconic #1 hit “My Sharona.” That song—and the album’s retro-pop aesthetic—earned them comparisons to the early Beatles, but also provoked backlash due to its overt sexuality and media saturation. By the time of this 1998 show, the band had regrouped with much of its classic lineup: Doug Fieger (vocals, rhythm guitar), Berton Averre (lead guitar), Prescott Niles (bass), and Terry Bozzio (famed drummer from Frank Zappa’s band) sitting in on drums for this live performance.
The setlist for Live at the House of Blues includes many fan favorites and deep cuts:
“My Sharona” – The inevitable showstopper, still full of swagger and guitar crunch.
“Good Girls Don’t” – Their second-biggest hit, filled with double entendres and pop precision.
“Baby Talks Dirty,” “Oh Tara,” and “Frustrated” – Songs from their early albums that highlight their blend of teenage angst and pop-rock sensibility.
Tracks from their 1990s output like “Rocket O’ Love” show that the band hadn’t lost their songwriting chops.
A cover of The Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing” pays homage to one of their most obvious influences.
The performance is tight, raw, and energetic, with Fieger’s vocals sounding remarkably fresh and Averre’s guitar work cutting through with clarity and force. Bozzio adds a heavier, more intricate rhythmic flair to the set, lending a bit more bite to the arrangements. While the original recordings often leaned toward polished studio sheen, these live versions have a garage rock vitality that plays up the band’s roots in 1960s power pop and British Invasion rock.
Live at the House of Blues was well received by fans and those familiar with the band’s deeper catalog. It helped reinforce The Knack’s reputation as more than a one-hit wonder—highlighting their influence on power pop, new wave, and even later garage rock revival bands.
Live at the House of Blues is both a celebration and vindication: a seasoned band looking back at its career with energy and conviction, proving that beyond the hype and backlash of their early fame, The Knack were always a tight, clever, and melodically sharp rock band worth remembering.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Pop Is Dead
Baby Talks Dirty
Oh Tara
Can I Borrow A Kiss
Another Lousy Day In Paradise
Good Girls Don’t
One Day At A Time
It’s Not Me
Harder On You
Siamese Twins (The Monkey And Me)
Seven Days Of Heaven
Tequila / Break On Through (To The Other Side)
That’s What The Little Girls Do
Frustrated
(She’s So) Selfish
My Sharona
Let Me Out
Last Train To Clarkesville
