Bob Dylan and Bono Celebrate Opening of Vegas House of Blues

To mark the opening of the Las Vegas House of Blues, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi and John Goodman – and 300 friends – made a grand entrance astride their Harleys. But all that horsepower couldn't upstage the event's real spectacle: Bob Dylan and Bono doing an encore of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." As Dylan's band began, the U2 singer walked on, grabbed a six-string and freestyled a bit: "Here we are in the House of Blues/Black tie and cowboy shoes/Not much to win but a whole lot to lose/Feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door." It was a roof-raising finish to a seventy-five-minute set that began just after midnight and included "Gotta Serve Somebody," the new "Million Miles" and the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil." Grand opening, indeed.

This story is from the April 15th, 1999 issue of Rolling Stone.