Full House: House of Blues booked solid with a variety of performers

Spencer Patterson

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 8:45 a.m.

The sign hanging over the stage at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay reads "Unity in Diversity."

Sounds like a leftover "Flower Power" catchphrase from the Summer of Love, right?

In reality, though, it refers to the venue's forward-thinking booking philosophy, one that encompasses virtually every genre of music, and even stand-up comedy.

"People that aren't familiar with the brand might picture House of Blues as being a venue where all we play is blues music, which isn't true," said Rob Benson, talent promotions manager for the Las Vegas branch of the eight-city national chain.

"We are actually all about the diversity of musical artists that we bring in."

That approach has helped the House of Blues -- which celebrated its sixth anniversary in Las Vegas on Wednesday -- maintain a consistently full concert calendar, while competitors have routinely sat dark or, in some cases, gone out of business altogether.

"Without the House of Blues, it would leave (Las Vegas) with nothing," said Jeff Higginbotham, who operates local music Web site www.yourlocalscene.com. "They do a great job of bringing diversity to the town."

Book 'em

Though the venue has been a Strip mainstay since opening its doors March 2, 1999, with sets by the Blues Brothers and Bob Dylan, the House of Blues' offerings have been most impressive over the past 18 months or so.

That's no coincidence. In October 2003, the company brought in talent buyer Max McAndrew from its Cambridge, Mass., branch. For the first time, the Las Vegas franchise had its own in-residence booking coordinator.

"Before I got here, they'd always had the talent buyer based out of Los Angeles," McAndrew said. "They wanted to see how this would work, and I think being here is a huge asset to the company. Living and breathing the Vegas vibe helps."

Benson, who previously worked for House of Blues in Orlando, Fla., agrees.

"It's worlds different than it was (before McAndrew)," Benson said. "Our original talent buyer booked shows for L.A. and for Las Vegas. Whatever he booked for L.A. would also get booked in Vegas, and sometimes that wasn't a good match.

"Some shows do really well in L.A. but don't mean anything in Las Vegas, and vice versa."

As examples, Benson pointed to emerging or "underground" acts that might sell out their first appearance in Los Angeles, but struggle to attract fans to the 1,800-person-capacity Las Vegas House of Blues.

"I think musically, Las Vegas is a little behind the West Coast," Benson said. "So we've had Michelle Branch, Norah Jones, Jason Mraz ... all these artists when they were breaking that didn't do as well here as they did in California."

Even so, Benson and McAndrew remain committed to seeking out such acts, in part to develop early relationships with future stars.

"We're always looking to break bands, and I don't think there are a lot of other venues in town doing that," McAndrew said. "We're always looking for that up-and-coming act that maybe doesn't do that great the first time, but the second time in is going to sell out. We want to build that relationship."

In 2004 the House of Blues staged several indie-rock shows, bringing in critically acclaimed bands such as Bright Eyes, the Faint and Grandaddy. All were risks in a town without a college rock radio station, and none came close to selling out.

But McAndrew said he believes that as Southern Nevada continues to expand, so will its residents' musical tastes.

"Once you present a show like that in the marketplace, it opens up the door for more shows to come through," he said. "I think there are certain artists within the indie crowd -- like Built to Spill or Modest Mouse -- that we can put together here in Vegas and make it successful for the band and for the concert-going public."

Hopping crowds

While most venues in town shy away from hip-hop bills, the genre has been particularly good for the House of Blues in recent years. Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Nas and Mos Def are just a few of the big names to perform at the club, with most of them packing the house.

"Hip-hop and R&B shows do very well here," Benson said. "They do very well everywhere, but we tend to pace better on those shows than our California counterparts."

The House of Blues has also been home to quality country acts, including Willie Nelson, Wynonna and Lucinda Williams.

And of course, the venue remains a regular stopover for a wide range of touring pop and rock acts from David Byrne to Alanis Morissette, Queensryche and New Found Glory.

In that way, it mirrors McAndrew's own personal willingness to branch out musically.

"I listen to everything," he said. "If you look at my CD collection you'll see Otis Redding next to Neil Diamond next to Godsmack next to Bright Eyes. I'm all over the board."

One area McAndrew concedes he can learn more about is the local scene, which couldn't be more different from the one he left behind in metropolitan Boston.

"On the East Coast there are so many college and universities, you get a ton of really, really good local and regional acts," McAndrew said. "Here, the city is still building and there are still a lot of artists putting themselves together and coming up in the market. So that's one thing I'm still learning about here."

Higginbotham, for one, believes the House of Blues can be home to more local talent. He has staged two multi-act local events there since McAndrew took over, and hopes to do more in coming months.

"We had crowds of 800 and almost 1,000 at our two shows there, which was great," Higginbotham said. "And there aren't many other venues in town for local bands to play."

Along with its musical offerings, the House of Blues began booking stand-up comedians last year. The endeavor started as something of an experiment, but before long the venue was attracting top names such as Bill Maher and Dave Chappelle, the latter for a sold-out, five-night run.

"We wanted to see if people would come to a music venue to see a comedian, and it turns out that they do," Benson said.

Know your audience

Although top-tier acts such as Prince and Aretha Franklin attract hordes of tourists to the House of Blues, McAndrew and Benson said the venue primarily books its concert schedule with Southern Nevada's full-time residents in mind.

"Locals really are the bread and butter for our concerts," Benson said. "So we really book the shows based on the local market, figuring that the tourists are either going to come or not going to come. Some want to see a Cirque du Soleil show, or do something else. There's so much competition.

"But the locals are the ones that are going to come to us over and over again."

And appealing to locals means attempting to keep prices within a reasonable range, McAndrew said.

"We're very conscious of that. We try and keep our ticket prices in check," McAndrew said. "Our ticket prices are as low as $15 and they go up to $50, $60, with V.I.P. seats for like $70, $80 for seated shows.

"It really comes down to knowing your audience," Benson added.