Despite the intricate woodwork and ornate balconies designed for easy access to booze, on Nov. 10 the House of Blues was home to a more sobering topic: raising money and awareness about the genocide in Darfur. A slideshow of somber images didn’t seem to dampen the drinking, as three people collapsed on the floor next to sound booth before 10 p.m.

The House of Blues hosted The Beautiful Girls and State Radio as part Rock for Darfur, a one-day event where 47 bands on four continents played to raise money for Darfur activism. Though the spirit of the night was helping Darfur, the atmosphere was closer to apathetic.

The Beautiful Girls, an Australian band, opened the night without a mention of the genocide while State Radio, a more politically vocal band, referenced the night’s event by twice mentioning the pair of booths back by the coat check. Both mentions drew applause, but the energy started low with the Beautiful Girls’ set and stayed that way as few people outside the main floor went so far as singing along or even bobbing their heads during State Radio’s set. When State Radio played Sudan, a song off their new album Year of the Crow that was almost tailored for the night, the response was subdued.

Aaron Sleger, 18, didn’t come to the concert to support Darfur, but he also didn’t know either of the bands. Even though Darfur activism was prominent in Sleger’s high school and he has donated money before, a friend’s recommendation and a famous venue got him to the concert.

Other concerts happened in Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Scotland and Tasmania in addition to many throughout the U.S. Among the performers were Fall Out Boy, Puddle of Mudd, Megadeth and Maroon 5.

One dollar from each ticket went toward organizations fighting the genocide in Darfur. The featured organizations were Oxfam International, which runs refugee camps along the Sudanese border, and Save Darfur, a coalition of organizations working on Darfur issues.

Click to hear State Radio leader Chad Stokes Urmston talk about what people can do to get involved in Darfur:

Behind a pile of buttons and an e-mail sign up list, Sara Murray worked the booth for Oxfam International, an organization working to solve injustice and poverty through programs ranging from emergency relief to political advocacy in major governments.

Considering the high school-to-college demographic of the crowd, Murray was aiming for interest and email addresses, not donations. Next to her green buttons were pamphlets about a high school senior Oxfam sent to the Darfur region to tour the refugee camps and some areas inside Darfur.

“I think [the high school student’s story] is an appropriate age connect with the people who are here,” Murray said. “It is a really accessible way to introduce people to the issue.”

Though Murray suspected much of the audience was there for the music, she said that soon after the doors had opened she’d talked to a handful of people there because of the Darfur connection.

But even the politically active said they were mostly there for the music.

“I am a State Radio fan,” Cassidy Duran said. “[But I’m here] more ’cause the Beautiful Girls are opening for them.”

Duran, who is involved in Amnesty International and has given money to Darfur causes in the past, was doubtful about how politically conscious the audience was. At a State Radio show in Madison, Wisc., Duran asked people in line if they knew the story behind one of State Radio’s popular songs, “Camilo.” Few knew the song referenced 28-year-old Sgt. Camilo Mejía, who refused to return to Iraq after fighting there for six months and was sentenced to one year in jail. Mejía had given a speech in Madison right before the concert, but the audiences of the two events didn’t share many members.

“Sometimes [fans] don’t necessarily let the message sink in, they just kind of rock out,” Duran said. “I think eventually that osmosis will happen. I hope.”

Next to the Oxfam booth, a group of college students were hoping to jump-start the osmosis process by promoting small actions individuals can take.

“Right now our big thing is Darfur Fast, which is December 5,” said Columbia College student Jo Feldman, who heads the 70-member Columbia College chapter of Students Taking Action Now for Darfur (STAND). “It’s one day where we are asking people to give up one thing they would normally do, like buying a cup of coffee or buying lunch for themselves, and take that money that they didn’t spend on that day and give it to Darfur.”

Feldman and other STAND members also promoted two new Darfur documentaries: Darfur Now and The Devil Came on Horseback.

Darfur Now features six stories, including one of Hotel Rwanda star Don Cheadle, in their fight to save Darfur. The Devil Came on Horseback shows the genocide through the words and photographs of former U.S. Marine Captain, and official military observer, Brian Steidle.

Feldman said she has seen a couple fans with Sudan shirts and hats, but that she partially attributed that to the idea that “it is hip now to be into social activism.”

Whatever the audience’s motives for attending the concert, Aaron Sleger, a STAND member from Indiana University and big State Radio fan, thought the band was doing the concert with pure intentions.

“They’re not out here to gain…publicity or money or anything,” Sleger said. “They are out here to create a good kind of awareness.”

Click to listen to a live recording of State Radio’s song Sudan from their new album Year of the Crow: