Hicks gives Eastwood credit for 'entertaining' RNC; Station Casinos ...

Courtesy

?American Idol? Season 5 winner Taylor?Hicks.

By John Katsilometes

Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012 | 6:19 p.m.

Bryan Schnitzer

Taylor Hicks at Surrender Nightclub in the Encore on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012.

A rake of the scene, which this week included a trip to Radio City Music Hall in New York and Girls, Girls, Girls Gentlemen?s Club in VegasVille.

And that was just Thursday.

Onward:

? Taylor Hicks came out of his appearance at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., impressed by the scope of the event (15,000 credentialed media members and an arena audience of 18,000 delegates caught his attention) and Clint Eastwood?s decision to take the stage without the use of a teleprompter or prepared speech.

In terms of political affiliation, Hicks has described himself as apolitical and has also said he would have performed for the Democratic National Convention if summoned.

?My job in the program was to give the convention a spark and get everybody excited,? Hicks said in a phone conversation Friday from Reno, where he is appearing at Harrah?s through Monday night. ?Never thought I would open for Clint Eastwood and Mitt Romney.?

Backed by the G.E. Smith Band (Smith is the longtime band leader on ?Saturday Night Live?) and wearing a charcoal-colored suit, Hicks performed ?Takin? It to the Streets,? covering the Doobie Brothers classic.

Hicks? performance led to the appearance of Eastwood, whose onstage banter with an empty chair occupied by an invisible Obama played out like a scene from a David Lynch film.

?I talked to him right before he went on,? Hicks said. ?He was going without a teleprompter, semi-off the cuff, so I knew it was going to be really entertaining.?

Really, really entertaining.

Hicks is still not signed to perform again in Las Vegas, which seems only a matter of time and timing. There has been no official word out of Caesars Entertainment about Hicks? return to Bally?s, where he roared through Indigo over the summer. But I?d wager he?ll be back, something long-term, and I?d make that wager at the Bally?s sports book.

Courtesy

Lon Bronson performs at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch.

? Whenever prompted, Lon Bronson bemoans the trend of resort companies pulling high-caliber talent out of lounges, or replacing lounges with nightclubs. The venerable bandleader and trumpet player is working against that trend, in partnership with Station Casinos entertainment director and visionary Judy Alberti. Starting Friday at 10:30 p.m., the Lon Bronson All-Star Band is performing at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch. There is no admission charge to put the core band of 15 musicians and vocalists onstage.

As Bronson said in the latest episode of ?Kats With the Dish,? this is the model that hotel-casino employed generations ago, when entertainment was used as a ?loss leader,? bringing top-flight performers into the lounges to play free of charge. The payoff was those acts lured customers who otherwise would not walk through the casino doors.

?We have two resort chains, we?ll call them Ford and GM, who would not do that,? Bronson said. ?Stations is doing it, and I?m just crossing my fingers that they keep with this policy.?

In the arrangement, the hotel keeps the bar take and pays the band a flat fee to appear onstage.

?Stations is the last corporation to be doing this in Vegas,? Bronson said. ?This is the way Vegas used to be, and in my opinion the way Vegas should be: Free shows, charge for the alcohol, but give the shows away.?

Bronson?s band has been one of the city?s top acts for more than 20 years since breaking out at Riviera?s Le Bistro Theatre for Monday night performances that drew many of the city?s top artists (and a host of visiting entertainers). Having performed over the years all over town at such hotels as Golden Nugget and M Resorts, Bronson?s band had most recently had performed alternate Thursdays at Ovation.

?We?re very fortunate,? Bronson said. ?It?s like ?The Three Bears?; this one is just right.?

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Article source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2012/sep/01/hicks-gives-eastwood-credit-entertaining-rnc-stati/

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