Ex-Raiders great to sing with 70-piece rock orchestra

The original idea for David Perrico and the Raiders House Band was for the Las Vegas musicians to perform for the team during home games at Allegiant Stadium.

This concept is now branching out.

An ex-Raiders great is performing with the band at The Smith Center, and so are the famed Raiderettes.

This harmonic convergence is David Perrico and Pop Symphonic headlining at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Reynolds Hall. Perrico brings his trademark, high-quality, super-sized collection of musicians and singers to the party. Perrico has built a 70-piece rock ensemble, the core of which is the Raiders House Band.

The orchestra is led by Perrico on trumpet and Allegiant Stadium singers Lily Arce, Fletch Walcott, Serena Henry and Rockie Brown.

“This is going to be a very high-energy show,” Perrico says. “We have a great lighting design, lasers, LED video. This is a real rock-orchestra production.”

The show is filling up Reynolds Hall’s lower level, about 1,600 seats. No balcony sales. Tickets are $29-$69 (not incuding fees), go to thesmithcenter.com for intel.

The new wrinkle for a symphonic show at Reynolds Hall is the Raiders’ contribution. Henry Lawrence, who played on all three Raiders Super Bowl championship teams, is guest vocalist.

From August. Three-time ⁦@Raiders⁩ Super Bowl champ Henry Lawrence sings w/ David Perrico & The Raiders House Band at the team’s party celebrating Cliff Branch’s induction into ⁦@ProFootballHOF⁩ in Canton, Ohio. More on this pairing later #Kats ⁦@reviewjournal⁩ pic.twitter.com/Mhfsk7MGVj

— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) July 8, 2023

The baritone-voiced Lawrence takes on songs with the same force as he floored defensive ends in his playing days. The offensive tackle who wore No. 70 on the gridiron proved as much singing with the band at Cliff Branch’s induction party at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton last August.

Lawrence also sang with the band during its holiday show at Myron’s at the Smith Center in December. The Raiderettes, also in that show, are back in full force. The 34-member dance team is performing four numbers.

“This show is another product that is a Vegas— you know, how do you do a symphony in Vegas?” Perrico says. “This is how we’re going to do it.”

Raiders owner Mark Davis hired the Perrico Pop Strings band as Raiders House Band prior to the 2021 season. The team plays pregame and during breaks in the action at Allegiant Stadium.

Perrico is once more mixing contemporary pop and rock classics, writing a stack of new arrangements for such hit-makers as Earth Wind & Fire, Bruno Mars, the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, AC/DC, Foreigner, Celine Dion, Chaka Khan, Heart, James Brown and Kansas. Plan for ‘70s rock, ‘80s glam and R&B across the decades.

The collective vision from the Raiders’ entertainment team and Perrico’s is to merge their brands, creating something uniquely Vegas, cloaked in Silver & Black.

“I will have a Raiders segment in the show, where I pay tribute to the Raiders and my work with the Raiders, ongoing,” Perrico says. “Obviously, that’s the Raiderettes and Henry Lawrence, and a couple of the compositions are really iconic, ‘The Autumn Wind’ and what you might hear at the Death Star.”

The show might feel like the pre-preseason kickoff to the 2023 season.

“All of my bands, my ideas I’ve put together have been a product of how we can become cutting-edge,” Perrico says. “These are the Raiders, this is Las Vegas, and we want to just do something so much different and over-the-top, you can’t get it anywhere else.”

More Shore

Because this is Vegas …

Pauly Shore has confirmed that he was originally seated at the table at Aria’s Catch restaurant eventually occupied by Britney Spears’ party after Wednesday night’s incident involving NBA phenom Victor Wembanyama. Shore had been seated, then got up to use the lavatory.

When the onetime MTV star known as “The Weasel” got back, Spears’ party was at the table.

The superstar’s husband, Sam Asghari; manager and friend, Cade Hudson; and another unidentified individual were in the dinner party. Hudson handed Shore his items, which included shades, phone and (yes) a fanny pack. Shore and Spears reportedly laughed about the incident.

Shore said only that the original reports, from ET and later TMZ, were accurate. But he didn’t want to talk about it. “Sry,” he texted.

Spears had arrived at Aria from Resorts World, where she usually stays on quick trips to Vegas. I have said that if the “Toxic” singer ever sought to return to the stage, Resorts World would lead the pack. But it seems, for now, she’s OK with her one-woman, Instagram dance parties.

Tease this …

With great multiplicity and conviction, informed individuals are saying to watch The Venetian for Kylie Minogue’s new Vegas-splashed production. Not in the theater, either. Something new. Watch for this. Minogue fans should be giddy.

Cool Hang Alert

Somewhere we mentioned Earth Wind & Fire. We return now to Tyriq Johnson’s fantastic EWF tribute, Serpentine Fire, which plays Arizona Charlie’s Naughty Ladies Saloon at 8 p.m. Saturday. Naughty Ladies is busy with tribute acts, and this one is fabulous. No cover, so have the time of your life (called fantasy).

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.