On a recent Friday night, hours before doors open, the kids are starting to line up to see Crossfade and Seether co-headline an all-ages show at the House of Blues. Max McAndrew, the club's talent buyer who booked the show, was pleased —if not entirely surprised—that the concert sold out (which means 1,800 tickets):

"I had a good hunch it would do really well. It was a very strong package. Last time Crossfade was here on their own was a Monday night and we did over 1,000 people. So I knew putting the two together, it would be a really strong show."

Not every show, of course, delivers the numbers. The night before the post-grunge metal bill of Crossfade/Seether sell out, alternative country heroine Lucinda Williams made her second appearance at the Las Vegas House of Blues. I happened to have been one of the few and the proud who saw her first concert at House of Blues and let's be generous and say there was plenty of elbowroom and good sight lines to the stage. In fact, the crowd was so small that you could, as I did, simply walk up to the front of the stage and see the show. Anyway, that was in 2004. As for attendance the previous night, according to McAndrew: "Actually, we had a little less this time than last time." McAndrew is quick to note that there could be many reasons for this drop: "I don't know if any of that was fallout from the hurricane, the gas prices or the day of the week—last time she was here was a Friday night and this was Thursday."

Long term, however, McAndrew remains unshaken in his commitment to keep bringing Lucinda Williams to the House of Blues in Las Vegas: "She is just a very talented artist and somebody we look to invest our time in." And despite the drop in attendance from her last concert here, McAndrew is optimistic about Lucinda Williams' future in Las Vegas: "I think at one point she will probably get to a point in this market where she will develop a fan base where each time we bring her we'll get a couple hundred more people in here."

Sad to say, even this modest hope seems a stretch. Williams is a classic critic's darling: She has never made a video, isn't played much on commercial radio and has certainly never had anything close to a hit. I honestly think odds are she is far more likely to gain another couple Grammy Awards than sell 200 more tickets in Las Vegas. Being a huge fan of Lucinda Williams I would love to be wrong. Of course, even if McAndrew is correct, in a market as competitive and expensive as Las Vegas, no promoter outside a casino could ever afford to keep booking Lucinda Williams shows while awaiting the fulfillment of the prophecy that she will one day have an audience as large as her talent. And, no casino would care enough about breaking Lucinda Williams to bother trying.

At heart, this commitment to music is what makes the House of Blues in Las Vegas somewhat different. Yes, it is a company that wants to earn a profit, but it is also one that incorporates into its mission statement goals like: "To celebrate the diversity and brotherhood of world culture. To promote racial and spiritual harmony through love, peace, truth, righteousness and nonviolence." And outside of that, while many companies sponsor nonprofit organizations, few are as closely identified with their public service as HOB is with the House of Blues International Foundation, which sponsors, among other outreach programs, "Blues Schoolhouse" that brings music education to public schools. Or more accurately, public-school students are brought to the House of Blues to see a live band offer up an introduction to the blues and to explore the folk art that makes the House of Blues the only concert halls in the nation that also are legitimate museums.

But for most Las Vegas music fans, the House of Blues is the only place on the Strip that regularly offers the hipster acts music geeks love, like Lucinda Williams or Ben Kweller (I think I see McAndrew actually wince when I ask about the numbers on the Kweller/Camper Van Beethoven show) or to see a national act do a show at a reasonable price: Crossfade and Seether was only $18 in advance (most shows are under $30 and many under $15 a ticket). Crossfade and Seether is also an all-ages show and for young music fans the House of Blues offers more all-ages shows than any other venue on the Strip. (The Hard Rock offers all-ages shows, too, but the House of Blues is alone in terms of volume of concerts and range of music. It isn't an exaggeration to say that in a busy month, the Joint at the Hard Rock is likely to have as many shows as the House of Blues has on tap on a typical week.)

Things change so quickly in Las Vegas that unless you lived here before Mandalay Bay was built, it's hard to recall what entertainment was like on the Strip before House of Blues opened to the public with a Bob Dylan concert on March 2, 1999. Russell Jones, general manager of House of Blues Las Vegas, recalls the period: "For a long time Vegas had that stigma that people only ended their careers in Vegas. A lot of people avoided it for years. Going back seven years ago the perception was finally starting to change. I would like to think House of Blues helped change that perception. We do so many of the younger, up-and-coming and just-breaking acts."

It seems a fair statement. To imagine Las Vegas without a House of Blues, look at the club's schedule for any given month and realize that at least 75 percent of those bands probably could not find another booking in this town. These are shows from the jazz of Pat Metheny to the spoken word of Henry Rollins that are a boon to locals but that still require a few tourists' warm bodies to justify the guarantee required for a Vegas concert.

Journalist Doug Elfman covered live music in Las Vegas for the Review-Journal from 1999 to earlier this year, and he asserts the importance of the club to the Las Vegas community's music scene:

"Without the House of Blues you don't have scores of concerts in Las Vegas. They probably have nearly 200 concerts a year. The House of Blues brings in all of the up-and-coming acts and all of the cool acts. Over the years they brought in the Strokes before they were huge, Liz Phair and all kind of alternative bands. If there were no House of Blues the city of Las Vegas would lose most of its national touring base and that is not even close to an exaggeration. The sound is the best in town in terms of indoor venues."

So while the Hard Rock and the Palms compete for the event concerts from Kanye West to the Rolling Stones, the House of Blues' bread and butter comes from offering regular concerts that cover as diverse a range of genres as possible. Yet, at the same time the good karma generated by the venue brings in more than its fair share of serious event concerts along the way, too. In 2001, Axl Rose debuted the new addition of Guns N' Roses lineup with the band's first show in seven years here. (Well, it seemed a big deal at the time.) In 2003, the Beastie Boys played their first U.S. show in years as a benefit for Jam Master Jay's family at the House of Blues, and the show sold out in 24 seconds. Last year Aretha Franklin chose to make her return to Las Vegas, after decades away, at the House of Blues. These acts could all have played bigger rooms. This year Franklin came back to the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Photo by Iris Dumuk

These big shows just scratch the surface. In addition to the sold-out Seether and Crossfade show, in the days following the Lucinda Williams concert, there are sold-out concerts from John Mayer and Oasis—and both those acts could easily pack far larger rooms. These shows come about in a variety of ways. Mayer was hoping to do a more intimate show with a trio. In the case of Oasis, McAndrew in part credits a good relationship with the band's agent.

But it's also true that touring bands have a well-known fondness for the House of Blues clubs. From sound systems to catering to personnel, quality control is hard to come by on the road. And after years trying to build a fan base, by the time a band can pack stadiums they can easily get so obsessed with show conditions that we get to read all those fun riders that get posted on websites. (Remember the famous parody in Spinal Tap when Nigel could not make the meat and the bread fit together in a sandwich?) But from the moment the tour buses hit any House of Blues, a band knows what to expect. And more importantly, so does the tour manager.

Drums and amplifiers are labeled with band names and cluttered about the area leading from the bus dock to the stage. An occasional blast of air-conditioning mixes with late-afternoon heat as Thomas Cassara, a stagehand at the House of Blues, directs people and moves equipment. Cassara has been greeting those tour buses and helping set things up for shows at the House of Blues for over six years. When Seether arrived, he already knew Ivan, the group's tour manager, from forays to Vegas with Sum 41 and The Disturbed (in that sense the rock world can be amazingly tiny as booking agents endlessly reuse a good tour manager). "He's with a lot of the metal bands and the rock guys," Cassara says. The tour manager and Cassara get together at once, and according to Cassara:

"I re-familiarize him with the backstage area, the dressing rooms, the stage. We immediately get into talking about the guest list, passes and credentials. What they're bringing in as equipment: Do they have a backdrop, are they bringing in a soundboard and the lighting rig? These are things that are advanced before the day of the show but sometimes change."

Photo by Iris Dumuk

This should all be seamless. Indeed, that's the experience of Seether's front man Shaun Morgan: "I love the House of Blues venues. The environment is really cool. But it is also the people who work there, the sound, the lighting. Every single one of them is awesome."

Morgan is in Seether's dressing room kicking back with his band mates. The room is thick with Marlboro smoke and there are some random girls floating about who all have barbed-wire tattoos. It is clearly a comfortable change from the tour bus. "And the catering is the best at House of Blues," Morgan says. "I love the catering." Indeed, the platters of fruit and cheese around the room do seem to have been pretty well cleaned off by the band.

Of course, there is more going on than what the band sees backstage. The next night, Brian Stovall, director of music operations, is on hand to oversee about 50 House of Blues staffers required to work for the sold-out John Mayer show. According to Stovall:

"I make sure everybody is here and that everything—the bars, the stage, the front, everything—is clean and tidy. After that, 45 minutes before the doors open to the show we will have a pre-shift meeting with all the operational staff to let them know any of the nuances of the shift. Tonight we have an all-ages show so we have to get everybody off the casino floor in an orderly fashion. And tonight it is a no-smoking show per the artist's request, so I let them know that."

The House of Blues accommodates artists in other ways, too. According to Stovall, "A month ago we had a request that the air conditioner be turned off in the building. So we do that kind of stuff." A month ago would have been in August and that must have been a hot show for staff and audience alike! "Still, something will come up. You go into these shows expecting about 15 unexpecteds. That's why we need to be so operationally tight. A band will want to do a later sound check and that will affect our door. Everyday without fail, something will come up that has to be addressed at that moment even if it is people who come up expecting to be on the list and are not on this list."

Take, for example, the Holy Ghost who has come down from the mountain and arrived at the House of Blues box office on this night for his tickets to the concert and a pass to John Mayer's dressing room. The problem is he is not on the list. According to the box office worker, Fish:

"This guy came to the window and he goes 'I am the Holy Ghost. I am the Son of God. I've been living up on Mt. Charleston for two months without any human contact and I have come down because I really want to go backstage and meet John Mayer, because it would really mean a lot to me.'"

Fish double-checked the list and the Son of God was still not listed by Mayer. "I said, 'Well, it's not going to happen.'"

This sort of thing may be one reason why Stovall told me that John Mayer requested an extra security guard to stand outside his dressing room. Though far less lofty than the Holy Ghost, slightly more credible is the woman who was not on the list, yet explained at the box office that she should be thanks to a complicated connection that somehow involves Fender guitars. Kim Garcia, the box-office supervisor on duty, sends Fish with a note backstage.

Garcia has been a well-known member of the local scene for over a decade. Among the clubs she has worked at: the Castle, the Sanctuary, the Huntridge Theatre and Tremors. Of course, all of those clubs tried to live off of locals alone and no longer exist. For the past three years she has found a stable employer with The House of Blues. (The House of Blues in Las Vegas employs almost 500 people.) And in today's music environment, a good job with benefits is a beautiful thing. And while Garcia brings a lot of local credibility with her, she also brings a lot of practical experience in the concert business. And for a show like tonight that includes dealing with the name- droppers:

"Listening to all the stories, people wanting to try and meet the band, people knowing everyone. It is amazing how people can't just go to a show, watch the band and enjoy the band."

It turns out Garcia's instincts about the woman with the Fender story were good. The call comes from backstage to add her to the list. Garcia scrambles to get her tickets somehow to the sold-out show. "This happens every show, people walk up to the window and their tickets aren't there and we have to figure it out. And sometimes it takes making a call or sending a note."

Finally, a VIP host for Mandalay Bay appears with a look of desperation in his eye, begging for two tickets to the sold-out Mayer concert for one of his players. Though not part of the casino, House of Blues goes out of the way to cultivate good relations with Mandalay Bay. And though Garcia has to do some serious digging about and the situation looks dire for a few moments, she somehow scrounges up two unclaimed comps to accommodate the VIP host. Greedily and gratefully the host asks: "How much do you want?"

"They are comps," Garcia says. Without waiting for a further explanation, the Mandalay Bay host seizes the tickets and is gone by the time Garcia finishes with: "They are already through the system. I can't charge for them."

But the guest list isn't the only thing Garcia and the box-office workers have to contend with while distributing what she estimates to be about 75 percent of the tickets—through will-call—to the sold-out Mayer show. The Internet begat at least one fresh problem:

"There are things where people buy tickets on e-Bay and it is under the original seller's name. You have problems like that on high-profile shows like tonight. We get to hear people's sob stories that end with, 'I bought that on e-Bay.' It doesn't happen a lot. But I tell people, 'Always buy your tickets from the venue directly.'"

Another problem is cameras. Cameras have never been allowed in concert halls and most tickets make the point in the small print on the back. But this is Las Vegas and many guests are also tourists who arrive at House of Blues concerts with a camera in tow, anyway. Patrons are required by security to check their cameras at the box office.

At John Mayer, dozens of cameras fill every available space on the desk around Garcia. "We've had as many as 150 cameras," Garcia says. So many cameras are checked at each show, in fact, that Garcia says House of Blues had to hire an employee to check them (hence the $2 charge to check a camera).

For John Mayer, however, there is a glitch in the system. The camera-check employee has a shift that starts at 6:30 (this worked great at Lucinda Williams when the doors opened at 8:30 and even for Oasis when doors opened at 7). But the sold-out Mayer show opened its doors at 6 and for the next 30 minutes Garcia and her staff add checking the dozens of cameras to their duties.

By the next morning, Sunday, September 11, you would never know there had been a sold-out rock concert in the House of Blues the night before. In fact, the vibe of the place has been transformed—long communal tables with food everywhere, a Delta-inspired buffet, featuring actual gospel performers making a joyful noise. The Gospel Brunch in some ways defies common sense: This is church music that mixes freely with an audience that can be very secular just off a casino floor that many would see as a temple of the profane. Yet in many other ways it is a perfect fit. Gospel, of course, is an authentic American music nurtured alongside the blues, jazz, country and folk music that the House of Blues celebrates.

According to Sylvia St. James, national director of Gospel Brunch for House Of Blues: "We had Gospel Brunch in all the venues that had opened previously. So it was natural that we would try it here in Las Vegas." Still, St. James admits the ironies of bringing the gospel to Vegas weren't lost on her: "This had its challenges. Even though people may not come to Las Vegas looking for a gospel experience, they most definitely enjoy it. They may see it as a party-ready thing. But it continues long after they leave. People may find gospel music entertaining but it has that touch of eternity in it. It touches our spirit where it is eternal and it goes with them when they leave. I hope they take that joy that we experience in the music with them."

St. James is not just an executive of the Gospel Brunch; she is a talented gospel singer who shares her reflections between performances with the gospel family band, The Gastons. Dressed head to toe in white, her street clothes and make-up are spread out across the same dressing room that Seether occupied just days ago with their mix of girls and beer and the air thick with cigarette smoke. Not even a cigarette butt remains from that night now. And because of the date and the events in New Orleans (where St. James has many friends from the House of Blues who were in that city), St. James seems particularly aware of the spiritual side of the Gospel Brunch:

"It is September 11 and walking on stage I feel touched by the tragedy that did happen and the tragedy that is happening now. But at the same time, because of my faith, my prayer is that those fallen in life are now risen in Christ. My prayer is that God has mercy on those souls. Though I have despair, I have hope for all the families that they will see, touch and embrace their loved ones again. That is the hope of my faith."

St. James had an eventful week, herself; a few days earlier she organized and led the gospel choir that backed Kanye West on "Jesus Walks" at the Katrina benefit that aired on every major network. The weight of that experience would be enough for most people to need a little time to recuperate, and it speaks volumes about her dedication to the Gospel Brunch that after singing for an audience of millions across the entire country she is still so gung-ho and enthusiastic to spend her Sunday doing two shows for a few hundred people in Las Vegas. In fact, she says the experience refreshes her and this week she needed it. "It is horrible what did happen and has happened. But it is an opportunity for all of us to find the heart of God in our own hearts. We have never seen anything like this in our own country. After September 11, it was tragic, painful and horrible. But then I saw the heart of America revealed. Americans came together like never before and it made me so proud. And now we have New Orleans. And we are going to find our compassion, and we are going to find our hearts and love. We will not forget those who have been lost in the tragedy. But it is my prayer that through the tragedy that we find a greater love within ourselves and a greater ability to give and care beyond ourselves."

It is a hope that is fair to have not only for individuals but also for companies. Or at least that is the view of Matthew Waggoner, who has only been with House of Blues for a few months since he moved to Las Vegas from Austin after accepting a position as music-hall manager here. There were almost 300 employees at the House of Blues in New Orleans before Katrina. Waggoner says he's pleased to see how House of Blues has tried to respond to them: "You hear about House of Blues as a company, and there is all this lip service about caring, and I think it is good to get here and at a moment like this see that the words and deeds match." Another House of Blues employee says there has been a continuous stream of e-mails containing corporate plans to benefit those New Orleans employees.

General Manager Russell Jones says: "One of the challenges has been communication, just trying to track everyone down. As of last week, of the 295 employees we were about to get information on, 170 to 180 of the employees were from there. We set up our own company website and hotline number where employees can call in or other people can dial in and leave a message. We also set up the outreach number for the people in New Orleans so that in addition to them filtering their information to us, we could filter back to them information on assistance." One reason employees from New Orleans should phone in to the House of Blues is salary: "The company is continuing to pay everybody's salary for, I think it's three weeks for whoever we can find."

And remember: The House of Blues, unlike the casinos in the region, does not have gaming to boost revenues. Mandalay Bay is only a landlord. And so, cash is perhaps a bit harder to come by and concerts that raise it are ones that don't produce rent for the clubs. Still, the Chicago House of Blues just had a fundraiser for the New Orleans employees that raised $60,000. "Each venue is reaching out, trying to put something together. I know we've made calls to bands trying to put something together here," says Jones. Already at the House of Blues retail store in Las Vegas there is a special section set up to raise money for employees who lost everything in Katrina. "I would hope we would have something pinned down soon," Jones says. "I know if we can get a big-name act in here we can raise significant dollars."

Not only that, but each House of Blues is offering jobs to any New Orleans employee who wants to stay with the company. Jones says: "The venues around the country are picking up whoever is interested in going. We are finding ways to find work for those employees. A lot of people right now want to get back and see the status of their homes. So, probably in the next few weeks we'll have a lot more people who will start to come to the venues."

House of Blues in Las Vegas already has picked up employees from the New Orleans sister club. According to Jones, "We have more coming each day. We have a few of the managers. We have a handful of the hourly employees already coming out. We partnered up across the street with The Residence Inn. They have been great to us. They are helping us put employees up with temporary housing to help get them re-established. We are assisting people with the relocation finances to get people out here. We are taking these people under our wing and adopting them. We are doing fundraisers for them within our own staff. And we are going out to collect the things they need from socks to shirts. Most of them are coming out here with almost nothing."

There are over 700 pieces of American Folk art displayed around the Las Vegas House of Blues restaurant, concert venue and offices. One theme that reoccurs in many of the works is images of water flowing out of control, bursting through bonds. Much of this art transplanted to Las Vegas originated from the Mississippi Delta region, and was made by artists who survived the floods of 1927 when 13 levees broke and more than a million people were displaced. It is a favorite subject, as well of many of the classic blues songs, including Charley Patton's "High Water."

There is no concert on Monday, September 12, and so you'd think it would be an easy day for Tanya Tumminia, marketing and publicity manager for the House of Blues. But by the opening kickoff for Monday Night Football, she has been working 10 hours straight without time for even a bite to eat. This is the first time the House of Blues in Las Vegas has sponsored a Monday Night Football event and nothing about it is being left to chance:

Photo by Iris Dumuk

"There are so many logistical things that go on that you don't see. We have been planning Monday Night Football for three months now. This year we really wanted to dedicate ourselves to putting together an awesome Monday Night Football schedule for 16 weeks. We want it to be a great experience for all our guests coming through. We are really trying to market to the locals to come down here." Xtreme Radio is on hand giving away prizes, as well as a variety of other corporate sponsors including Red Bull and Bacardi. There is also a dancing troupe of girls, the Sin City Dolls, who put on a halftime show that includes audience-participation games like the titillating "pass the zucchini."

Tumminia also wants to reach out to the tourists in Mandalay Bay. "Since this is the first time doing Monday Night Football, we need to really find ways to promote it. What better people to grab than the ones who are the biggest fans who are the people at the Sports and Race Book?" Mandalay Bay's sports book is right near the House of Blues entrance, "So I had to find a way to get flyers over there and let those people know what is going on." Of course, the sort of guerilla marketing that dumps flyers without permission is not how a company operates within a casino. So after Tumminia tried to reach someone by phone to get permission and failed to hear back, at the last minute she got inspired and walked over to the sports book to ask permission and it was granted. "He was a really great guy. And he said yes, that Mandalay Bay would love to help and now we have the opportunity to get in there the right way and to start promoting."

Photo by Dash T. Himakes

Though the concert venue gets most of the attention, the inaugural Monday Night Football takes place upstairs in the restaurant where there is a smaller stage. In fact, as soon as the game is over the room is transformed for the second event of the night: Rock Star Karaoke. An actual band with a set list of about 100 songs performs while anyone who wants can get up and act the star. Watching a guy in a polo shirt spazzing through "Born to Be Wild," it is clear that this is a perfect Las Vegas fantasy experience. Unlike the Gospel Brunch, this event was created specifically for the Las Vegas House of Blues. Rockstar Karaoke is free (though if you are planning to sit through a lot of performances you are going to want to drink heavily). "You just pick a song from on the list and boom, you are up on stage singing your heart out," says Tumminia.

By the time Rockstar Karaoke is going, Tummina is passing a dozen hours on duty and though her enthusiasm remains endless, her weariness is beginning to show. Still, she is holding up better than her cell phone, which split at the top earlier in the evening and is now dead. "It is just going to be one of those really long nights," she says.

Photo by Dash T. Himake

Tumminia is then on her way across the casino to take the elevator up to the 43rd floor Foundation Room to meet a film crew shooting a promotional video for her. The House of Blues Foundation Room is usually and famously only open to members. But for the past three years this has changed on Monday nights for Godspeed. According to Tumminia, "Godspeed was created by Mike Fuller, who is a well- known local DJ and promoter. It is the only time the Foundation Room is ever open to the public."

After the filming, Tumminia must wait until 2:30 a.m. to head from Godspeed to Godspeed after-hours in OBA (the VIP lounge atop the music hall) for her last task:

"I am going there so I can be with a film crew who is going to capture what OBA is all about. It is actually going to air in LA, and I need to be there then because I want them to shoot when bodies are in the room. I expect to leave tonight at around 3:30 and then I am back at 9:30 in the morning for a meeting."

The next day Tumminia is not only in on time, she has a new cell phone by the end of the morning. Calling me on it, she goes over some of the things that have happened during the past few days that I may have missed. The list she reels off includes a corporate party that rented House of Blues for a private function, VIP parties of all sorts, various dance nights and, lest I forget, a restaurant that seats 600. "People have no idea how much happens here."

And so it goes, behind the scenes, of some typical days at the House of Blues.