Thursday, June 03, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MIKE WEATHERFORD: Local musicians appeal to the masses with new recordings
The sounds of Vegas are captured forever, or soon will be, with local CDs coming in a variety of styles.
First, a local band motivated by its mentors.
The Lon Bronson Band has never shied away from descriptions of being in the Tower of Power mold. In fact, Bronson says he was first inspired by seeing the funk-rock band at the old Calamity Jayne's club in the 1980s.
Bronson's band developed its own local cult following, first at the Riviera and now on Saturday and Monday nights at the Golden Nugget. Over the years Bronson has befriended many Tower of Power players, but never had them come over en masse to see his band until after their own show at The Orleans May 22.
"I had a flash of being like a bad `Legends' performer," Bronson admits. But "after facing the jury," Tower co-founder Stephen "Doc" Kupka offered Bronson an original, unreleased song if it would motivate the band to record.
"He's giving me the impetus to do it," Bronson says. It's something he always wanted to try, but never figured he had enough original material. Now he hopes to get a "Live from the Golden Nugget" CD recorded sometime in the next six weeks.
Bronson probably will finance the project himself, but may get distribution through Kupka's Strokeland Records label.
Jazzman Tommy Vig already has a CD out and it took him only 57 years to do it. His "Now and Then" release covers music the vibraphonist recorded from 1947, when he was 9, through last year.
Vig and his singing wife Mia offer a blast from Las Vegas past when they do a 9 p.m. Sunday show at the Bootlegger Bistro for a CD release party.
Local musical entrepreneurs also might want to investigate the path of Las Vegas-based crooner Brian Evans. He cut an exclusive deal with Amazon.com to sell his new EP of rock covers done retro; sort of like Richard Cheese, only serious. "It's way better than a major label deal and they do all the in-house manufacturing," Evans says.
As a result, two of his CDs rank higher on the e-tailer's jazz Top Seller list than Norah Jones or Diana Krall. Granted, the other two probably outsell him everywhere else, but it's still something to brag about. Amazon also offers a free download of his remake of Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy." ...
Gladys Knight's representatives tell me that the May 22 show reviewed last Friday wasn't typical. In the review, I was disappointed that the show had been cut down to just more than an hour. Knight's spokeswoman says this one show was cut short because drummer Darrel Woolfolk was coming down with pneumonia and "just couldn't take it anymore."
Too bad they didn't explain that to the poor customer who paid $74 to see the show. ...
Magician Dirk Arthur closed "The New Art of Magic" at the downtown Plaza last weekend, a few days after the hotel announced the magic show would be replaced in September by a Dick Clark-helmed oldies rock revue.
Producers of the Clark show originally said they would wait until the end of August to take over the room. A Plaza spokeswoman said Tuesday it was Arthur's choice to go ahead and close early.
The unofficial word is that Arthur will go to the Riviera's "Splash" as a specialty headliner. He had a similar job in "Jubilee!" before going out on his own. ...
Lake Las Vegas Resort has hosted free concerts at its MonteLago Village, but will jump into bigger names and ticketed shows with a LeAnn Rimes concert on July 3.
Instead of putting the stage at the edge of the waterfront, a new 52-by-76-foot floating stage will be used to leave the beachfront property available for anticipated crowds of 1,500 or more.
The Stars on the Lake series will have three tiers of ticket prices, ranging from $40 for open lawn seating for Rimes, to a $100 VIP ticket. ...
The busy little downtown showroom at Fitzgeralds recently marked the return of stand-up comic Wild Billy Tucker with 9:15 p.m. shows Thursdays through Mondays, and a "Tribute to the Marvelettes" in the same time slot Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The casino's comedy magic show "Two Girls & A Guy" closes June 20.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays.
