Friday, April 11, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOW REVIEW: Clint Holmes provides honest diversion at Harrah's

Traditional singer mixes up his show regularly to keep it fresh

Clint Holmes sings Mondays through Saturdays at Harrah's Las Vegas.

One of the unsung hallmarks of a true Las Vegas performer is the ability to convince audiences they're not doing the same exact show every night.

There's admittedly an art to this rehearsed spontaneity, and some of it's downright brilliant in its deviousness. In the bygone "EFX," for instance, David Cassidy and Rick Springfield would pull the same "fan" out of the audience to serenade every night. The gal was good; few suspected she was a plant.

These cons are so clever, everyone forgets to step back and ask, "Why does it have to be this way in the first place?"

Clint Holmes has flipped this mind-set on its head. He views a long-term contract with Harrah's Las Vegas not as a nightly ritual of repetition, but as a continual work in progress, where there's always room to try new things out.

While other acts spend years building and then freezing the "perfect" act, Holmes changes the songs as well as the chatter and is willing to make mistakes. He recently debuted what he calls his third "new" show at Harrah's, one that carries the subtitle of the opening song, "It's All About the Music."

But even with the basic set list now in place for a year, there's still room to tinker. Don't be surprised to hear a Christmas song in the winter or a rendition of "America the Beautiful" during the current war.

And this year, Holmes has assembled a "dream team" of 11 musicians he clearly loves sharing the stage with, and the ensemble feeling is stronger than in any of the previous editions. The songs change, but a highlight of every show is a comic segment in which band members vie for attention with their favorite old tunes.

The tinkering is essential when it comes to keeping a singer who is already difficult to describe from being too easily labeled as a "Vegas" act, "lounge" or "cabaret" star. It would be easy in these hardened times to so dismiss a performer who sometimes seems a little too desperate to please, when he's imitating Tom Jones or shaking his booty during Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat (Day-O)."

When the show is over, and all the pieces are assembled as a collective whole, people still may not know how to label Holmes. But they understand him. They leave knowing a lot about his life and they realize, even if just on an intuitive level, that they've seen an honest performance.

What's even more unusual for the Strip is that at least a third of the show consists of original songs by Holmes and his musical collaborators. This is tricky but crucial, if Holmes wants to showcase his distinct musical heritage.

The pitfalls are many. If you mix original tunes with classics, the originals had better be able to hold their own. Sometimes they don't.

Holmes got beaten up royally in Entertainment Weekly, mostly for a segment in which he and guitarist Jerry Lopez use piano and guitar, respectively, to combine two original "my girl is gone" ballads. The setting is effective, but neither song is a future standard and Lopez's bordered on the banal.

But if you don't like the risk-taking, there's always Wayne Newton. And most of the time, the personal touches work. Instead of doing all of Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat (Day-O)," Holmes now sings a brief version and then segues into "Get the Right Island," an original that maintains the tropical vibe while leaving room for a funny lyric.

At this particular show, an older patron announced that Holmes' energetic rendition tired him out. "What, you're tired?" the 56-year-old singer replied. "I was younger when I wrote that."

A tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. allows musical director Bill Fayne to subtly update "Once in a Lifetime," cementing Holmes as an entertainer who carries on the showman tradition without being a throwback.

Having both "Stand by Me" and "Lean on Me" is perhaps too much familiar feel-good material, because it's a full 50 minutes before Holmes gets to the heart and soul of the set. "America Was Waiting" is the song that tells the story of his black G.I. father meeting his white opera-singing mother in her native England during World War II.

This moving song, highlighted with projected photos, also serves to set up a showstopping sequence in which Fayne and Holmes display their operatic skills in a "duel" embracing everything from Andrew Lloyd Webber to "Porgy and Bess."

Holmes quickly swings back to "my father's side" with the jazzy original, "At the Rendezvous." But his finale perhaps best showcases the real nature of his split personality.

He combines "The Impossible Dream" with R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" and blends both with an unexpected restraint. You're expecting booming affectation, and you get the exact opposite: A contagious enthusiasm for this -- and every -- song, every night of every week.