It’s not just Kenny G’s music that soars
Kenny G isn’t just a great saxophonist and golfer who occasionally hits under par. He’s also “an excellent pilot” who has landed his amphibious plane on Lake Las Vegas.
G will perform April 1 at The Venetian ($50-$150) after flying from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for two hours and 20 minutes (70 gallons at $4.50 per gallon; roughly $315).
People frequently rib G about his plane, because it’s called a de Havilland Beaver.
“It is the best name for a plane in the world,” G says. “Every time you land it, somebody’s going to get on the radio and go, ‘Nice Beaver.’ And then I’ve got my line, I go, ‘Thanks, I just waxed it.’”
(That’s a joke from the movie “The Naked Gun” if you’re unaware.)
But seriously, Kenny G propels over America every summer, and his favorite spot to fly over is a roughly 80-mile stretch around Lake Powell, not too far from here, because it’s a safe, lovely ride.
“My plane lands on the water,” he says. “I’ve landed on that lake many a time, and spent the night there many a time. It’s really, really great.”
Kenny G got clearance to land on Lake Las Vegas once.
“They gave me permission to fly in, I landed, docked it up, and walked right over to where the stage was,” he recalls. “It was the coolest thing ever,” adds G, who has a new bossa nova album out called “Brazilian Nights.”
What does Kenny G do up in the air?
“Once I get past the Rockies, and I’m in the middle of the U.S., and I’m just flying along the Great Plains,” he says, “I’ll turn the radios off. I’ll take my headphones off. Put some earplugs in. I open up the windows, and I just fly.
“To see the topography change from the West Coast to the East Coast is a great feeling,” he says.
He’ll fly into Midway in Chicago sometimes, like giving himself a treat, but usually he goes to little airports.
“I’ve landed in airports where there’s no one there except a self-service fuel tank. You put your credit card in, you fill your plane, and you keep on going,” he says. “I’ve done that a million times.”
And if he so desired, he could put a hand out of the window to feel the breeze, just like we do in cars. He doesn’t recommend it, though.
“I open the windows all the time. But be careful. It’s a lot faster up there. Your hand will go flying back fast. I’ve done it.”
CHEESE MUSIC IN ‘BATMAN V. SUPERMAN’
Longtime Las Vegas lounge band Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine told me Monday that two of the group’s songs will play as background music in the upcoming “Batman v. Superman” movie.
He said he couldn’t disclose which songs, because of shhhh, movie magic secretive blah blah.
The film is directed by Zach Snyder, who directed 2004’s “Dawn of the Dead” and put Cheese and Lounge in that film, too, performing “Down with the Sickness” on-screen.
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine are based in Los Angeles, but they used to perform here frequently; lately, every now and then. I have no idea why a hotel hasn’t made Cheese and Lounge a weekly event. They’re bananas-fun.
On Friday, they headline at Sunset Station ($62-$83), playing funny/good lounge covers of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy,” Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice” and other pop and rock songs, while promoting the new album “Supermassive Black Tux.”
For the Vegas show, the band will add Vegas guitarist Mitchell Sigman, of the band Droids.
I interviewed Cheese for 29 minutes and 35 seconds, but there’s no reason to go into that, because we just argued vociferously about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which I like to call “the worst movie of all time.”
UFC GAME SHENANIGANS
Las Vegas is the seat of the UFC, of course, and there is a new UFC fighting video game with Vegas venues on the market, “EA Sports UFC 2,” garnering middling reviews.
The review aggregate site gamerankings.com (similar to RottenTomatoes.com but for games) has “UFC 2” at 76 percent good.
“‘UFC 2’ is too sterile, too rigid and too predictable to ever feel like a genuine representation of a sport that has built a dedicated audience thanks in large part to the reality that anything can happen at any moment,” industry-leading IGN.com declared in a 6.4 out of 10 review.
On Monday, it was reported gamers can play-fight as a new character if they let the game update online: UFC commentator/Mirage comedy headliner Joe Rogan.
However, in typical, hubristic console game fashion, the only way you can fight as Rogan is to use the old Konami secret hand controller code, according to mnrdaily.com: On PS4, click up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, O, X, options button.
Xbox One, click up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, menu button.
Dear console game companies, this code isn’t a cute, fun way to connect to the past. It’s annoying. If people pay $40-$70 for a game, just give them the whole game!
CIRQUE DU TAKEN FOR GRANTED
On Friday, many of us once again trotted out to a Cirque du Soleil charity event, a fancy show at The Smith Center that included new, one-time-only acts presented by Cirque performers from across the Strip, raising $6.5 million for One Drop, which helps set up clean water systems in parts of the world where people often die of drinking polluted water. Bravo.
I thought it was the best One Drop show yet. Spectacular, even. But a few locals who have seen many Cirque shows said they were burned out on Cirque. One or two prominent people sat in the lobby, waiting for the after-party. Such is the state of mind of we the entertainment-spoiled locals.
TICKET ON SALES
Widespread Panic will noodle-rock the Hard Rock Hotel July 8-10, with Dirty Dozen Brass Band in the opening slot. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday via 888.9.AXS.TIX or www.axs.com. On Monday, the promoter disclosed only the worst-seat prices, $55, not yet the better-seat prices.
The Go-Go’s are billing their Aug. 26 show at Mandalay Bay Beach as one of their final stops on a farewell tour. Tickets go on sale Friday. The promoter disclosed only the worst-seat prices, $40.
Doug Elfman can be reached at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman. On Twitter: @VegasAnonymous
