JohnnyQ's Blog

OK, so what do I know about Gospel music ?

I guess not that much, really.

But if you were a huge Gospel fan, you probably would have already gone to see the
House of Blues Gospel Brunch at the Mandalay Bay casino.

So this review is for the rest of us.

The ticket price is $ 42 including tax. ( Disclosure: I finagled a free ticket from an i
nternet site ). The $ 42 includes brunch and approx a 45 minute gospel music show.

I arrived a little early, parked the rental car up in the self park garage, and then
strolled around the casino a bit. I had been there before, but on a Sunday morning
I was struck by how open the lay-out was, with lots of room and machines spaced
out nicely.

I would venture an educated guess that this casino has the least amount of machines
per square foot of floor space anywhere in LV, which I liked. Now, if they would just
get some better paytables for VP in there. But I digress.

When: Sunday’s at 10:00 and 1:00
Visited: July 24, 2011
Where: House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.

There was a short line to get in at 10:00, so I milled about and got right in about
10:15. I was seated with a couple of 20-somethings from Florida, up close to the
stage and just off to the right side. The venue is smaller than I had imagined, and
I don’t think any seat was more than about 50 feet from the stage.

I figured the brunch would be an upscale spread, if the ticket price was split about
50/50 between the food and the entertainment. Well, brunch wasn’t quite up to that
price level. There was typical breakfast fare, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, and
French Toast.

They also had fried chicken. Ho-Hum.

The fresh fruit and the dessert selections were pretty good.

So, don’t go expecting a gourmet brunch. But you won’t leave hungry, either.
The servers were quick and pleasant.

Now the show. If Gospel music is your thing, then by all means go. The 4 singers
and about that many additional musicians all were very talented. I ran into some
folks who I saw groovin’ and clappin’ during the show afterwards in the elevator,
and they said they really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

But if you’ve only heard of Gospel music and aren’t a huge fan, I think you can find
something better to spend your $ 42 on. I did like their rendition of the one song
they did that departed from the gospel format, the Black Eyed Peas “I gotta a Feeling
( that tonight’s gonna be a good night)”,

Recommendations:

Improve the Buffet quality one notch.

Add in another pop song.