Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 | 8:23 a.m.
On the surface, Thursday night's R.E.M. show at Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center will simply be another concert for a facility that has hosted hundreds over the past 20 years.
Willie Nelson, U2, Bruce Springsteen and even Luciano Pavarotti have performed at Southern Nevada's largest indoor venue since it opened its doors in 1983.
Look a bit closer, however, and you'll notice Thursday's event differs from all others in one significant respect: its date. R.E.M. performs on Sept. 11, two years to the day after the worst terrorist attack in United States history.
Fans expecting additional layers of security at the T&M may be in for a surprise, though. According to Daren Libonati, executive director for the Thomas & Mack, Sam Boyd Stadium and Cox Pavilion, the arena will remain in its usual state of preparedness.
"We're not doing anything out of the norm," Libonati said. "Obviously, because it's 9-11, it will be in the back of everyone's mind. If anything, it puts people at more attention.
"But we don't want to create an atmosphere of fear. We want to make people comfortable."
A recent Associated Press story reported that many top-tier musical acts, including Aerosmith and Kiss, Steely Dan, Cher and Springsteen, have opted to make Thursday an off-night on their current tours.
But Buck Williams of Progressive Global Agency, who books shows for R.E.M., said he felt it was important for the band to carry on as usual, regardless of the date on the calendar.
"Personally, being a Vietnam veteran, I think it's totally important to forge ahead and not succumb to the pressures of terrorists," he told Billboard.com last week.
Thursday's R.E.M. concert has also been tagged to the arena's 20th anniversary Loverboy played the venue's first rock show on Dec. 18, 1983 and Libonati stressed that he is focused more on that than on the coinciding Sept. 11 anniversary.
"We're not looking at it as a 9-11 anniversary date. It just happened to be that this landed on that date," he said. "We don't want to be disrespectful to the families that suffered from what took place then, but we want to look forward and let people get out, have fun and celebrate our 20th anniversary."
Libonati said his staff has taken physical measures to secure Sam Boyd Stadium, the Thomas & Mack and Cox, though for obvious reasons he did not reveal many of those details. Libonati did say that specially trained dogs are often behind the scenes at those venues.
The most important change, according to Libonati, has been in awareness. At a motocross event in May at the Thomas & Mack, one of Libonati's employees noticed an unattended suitcase and immediately notified authorities. A bomb squad was called, and the item was taken outside.
"They went through their typical A-to-Z guidelines," Libonati said. "It ended up being alcohol, a promotional device. Because he left it unattended ... he plainly forgot it. But, to us, why did he forget it? We went to Stage One, Stage Two ... we broke it down and got it out of there."
Libonati said he was pleased because the employee was not a vendor or an usher, but someone who had listened during one of Libonati's security sessions. He and his staff also attend an annual crowd-management seminar conducted by the International Auditorium and Arena Managers.
Sam Boyd Stadium's capacity of 36,800, second only to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in area venue capacity, might make it a target, but Libonati said a perimeter fence that has existed for years is an invaluable security measure.
"We can get into a lock-down mode quickly and check any vehicles before they get close to the facility," he said. "We're very comfortable with that."
Since 9-11, Libonati said everyone involved with UNLV's facilities take a lot less for granted.
"We pay more attention, in and around the workplace, more than anything," he said. "That's the biggest effect 9-11 had. It's opened everyone's eyes to what's going on around them. We've learned to be a lot more visual, knowing what to look for and what not to look for.
"We look at people differently, knowing what they're carrying and their behavior patterns. We've gone deeper into behavioral patterns, whereas, in the past, maybe we've overlooked some things. There's not a lot we can prepare for, other than trying to make everyone's experience as easy as possible, yet as safe as possible."
Concerns over security at music and sporting events have come to the forefront since Sept. 11, 2001, with many terrorism experts speculating that such large gatherings could be targets of future attacks.
Metro Police Sgt. Tom Page, who works with the department's special events section, said his unit monitors happenings around town to determine which require special attention.
"If it's a high-profile event, we contact our homeland security bureau to see if they want to do a threat assessment," Page said. "But a lot of the hotels have their own day-to-day security policies, and Thomas & Mack events are handled by (the) UNLV (Police Department)."
Officials at Southern Nevada's hotels and casino music venues declined to discuss what specific security measures have been put in place since the attack of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our security people feel the more you openly discuss your security arrangements, the less secure you become," said Gordon Absher, director of public relations for Mandalay Bay, home to two large venues, the Mandalay Bay Events Center and the Mandalay Bay Beach.
"I can say that anytime you get a large number of people in a building, you're concerned about security. The safety and security of our guests and our employees is always foremost in our mind."
Yvette Monet, spokeswoman for MGM MIRAGE, said, "Security is always changing, in light of 9-11 or not. We have a program that's always evolving, as new technology becomes available."
Stand-up metal detectors have been in place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena since before Sept. 11, 2001. The security force at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay utilizes hand-held wands, while The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and the Huntridge Theatre often ask guests to submit to pat-downs before entering.
"What we've done is increase the awareness at the employee level," said Yale Rowe, vice president of marketing for the Hard Rock Hotel. "Our security takes every event seriously, and we haven't had anything occur here outside the standard stuff that happens at concerts."
archive
