In early 2005, it was announced that Hootie & the Blowfish would lend their name, likeness, and memorabilia to the Shady Grove Lounge at the Silverton hotel-casino, in a sponsorship deal. The band had shot to prominence in the mid-'90s, not least due to an association with hit sitcom "Friends", to which they contributed a soundtrack song ("I Go Blind") and in which the band was referenced, although they never actually appeared in person. The Silverton agreement also called for the band to play three concerts a year at the Silverton’s poolside music venue. It did not give them ownership of the bar and they were not tasked with any responsibility for running it. The new décor for the Shady Grove Lounge would include an Airstream trailer with two mini-bowling lanes inside, plus the pool table received a custom "Hootie" felt (which probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but...) The casino issued a bunch of commemorative chips, celebrating its new "rock 'n' roll" credentials.
The Hootie-fication of the Silverton was the crowning touch on an extensive – and expensive – expansion of the property. Staples Center (and Silverton) owner Ed Roski Jr. added a Bass Pro Shop, lodge-style theming, and a 117,000-gallon aquarium that hosts both sharks and daily mermaid shows (and presumably was part of the inspiration behind hiring a "house band" called the Blowfish). Were it not for the Great Recession, Roski would have gone on to build a second casino and a timeshare tower on the property.
Returning to the specific question in-hand, the Hootie & the Blowfish association was short-lived and does not seem to have survived lead singer Darius Rucker’s 2008 decision to pursue a solo career as a country-and-western vocalist, although news coverage of the Hootie era at the Silverton is infuriatingly scarce and nobody at the casino would comment for the record. We're pretty sure that Hootie and the boys played the promised New Year's Eve gigs in 2005 and '06, but the last trace of an association we managed to dig up between the band and the casino was a co-sponsored charity golf tournament, with Las Vegas Chapter of Speedway Children's Charities, in June 2007, when the band apparently played one more time in "their" lounge.
Las Vegas Sun cocktail critic Matthew Scott Hunter paid a visit to the Silverton in ‘08, came across the trailer and reported, "This used to be ‘Hootie and the Blowfish’s Shady Grove Lounge,’ but the Hootie connection endured about as long as the band’s 15 minutes of fame, so now the décor is limited to a map of America, made up entirely of state license plates." Darius Rucker did return to Silverton, in his solo capacity, to play a gig in April 2009, however.
The ending of this tale is not uncommon when it comes to celebrities from the world of music attempting to push the branding envelope in Las Vegas, with Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill at Harrah's, which opened in the same year as Shady's Grove's "Hootie" makeover, Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo Cantina in the Miracle Mile Shops, and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Casino at Flamingo proving to be the exceptions to the rule.
What follows does not pretend to be an exhaustive list, but just off the top of our heads some of the casualties that spring to mind include: Lynyrd Skynrd (Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & Beer closed at Excalibur in 2012, less than a year after it had opened); BB Bing (BB King’s Blues Club & Lucille's BBQ went belly up after three years at the Mirage); Vince Neil (Tatuado Eat Drink Party is still hanging in there at Circus Circus, but Tres Rios Cantina at the former LV Hilton ranks as just one among the Mötley Crüe front man's many failed business ventures in Sin City); Flavor Flav (the rapper's House of Flavor fried-chicken restaurant lasted less than months here); KISS (the KISS Coffeehouse, promised back in 2011, failed to materialize); and the Beach Boys (Beach Boys Good Vibration Restaurant, announced in 2011 and slated to open at Bally's the following summer, was also a no-show).
