 |
Category: Music
 Las VegasJan 31 - Feb 4Sunny yet ChillySo, here we are now in Las Vegas. A bit of a turn in a different direction, on many levels. But this marks the second leg in our journey, and we are now beginning to head back East. We still have many weeks ahead, but at least our trajectory is in the right direction that leads us back home.
Las Vegas is where our banjo player's momma lives, and we were able to hole up in her home for a few days, and feel the family love and hospitality, and also got a chance to give Las Vegas its dose of Old Time music.
This first night, we decided to tackle the Strip, and headed down to the corner of Bally's and Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon. They have these pedestrian bridges that tourists can use to cross over from one casino to the next, so we holed up in a corner, and played away. It was Saturday night, and folks were out, carrying their hand grenades (drinks that are poured into these very long and thin-necked plastic containers that have a "hand grenade" like vessel on the bottom to hold on the alcohol that tourists can get), and trying to dance to the music that we played.
We don't know what it is about mountain music, and the effect it has on folks, but for some reason, upon hearing our Appalachian tunes, folks feel the urge to start hopping around on their legs in a fashion that reminds us of monkeys or apes in a zoo. Passerby's then feel the need to grab either their pal or a random stranger and try to enact a do-si with a partner. All the while, holding their drinks in hand. And this isn't just Las Vegas specific. I think it may be universal.
Regardless of our audience's maneuvers, Las Vegas proved to be a fun town to busk in. We did get shuffled around a lot by sheriffs and building security officers, but everyone gave us cheers, and said they needed more music like us. I'm not sure if we'll come back to Las Vegas for the busking, or street playing, but maybe we'll find ourselves back there for a show or two.Day Two of LVGoodsprings, NevadaOur one and only show in Las Vegas was a pre-super bowl party at a great, old and western classic bar called the Pioneer Saloon. It's been around since 1913, and is noted to be the place that Clark Gable came to for a drink after he found out his wife had passed away from a tragic plane crash in 1942. They have a room dedicated to Clark Gable and his wife Carole Lombard, posted with framed pictures, and newspaper clips, etc. You can check out more information about the saloon at: http://www.pioneersaloon.info/index.htm
But the show went well, and it was just so fitting to be able to play our music in this old bar. Dusty old wooden floor planks, big wide old fashioned bar counter with a great big mirror behind it, old patterned tin-metal interior and exterior walls, smoke from cigarettes and dust being highlighted by the afternoon's sun rays. The clientele is pretty much all locals, with an occasional tourist or two. The locals are these supremely generous and down-to-earth ex-hippy, ex-hell's angels type characters that ride their Harley’s and wear their leather pants. It kind of reminded us of the scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventure where Pee Wee walks up to an old biker bar, and topples over all of their bikes, yet befriends them by doing a silly Pee Wee dance on top of the bar with huge white platforms and the song "Tequila" playing from a jukebox in the background.
We didn't have to do any silly dances, nor did we topple over any bikes, but we did make new friends. And again, the comment we've been hearing a lot while out on the road, "We love what y'all are doing! We need more acoustic roots music like this here!"
We hope to be back to the Pioneer Saloon, even if it's just to share a shot with the gang, and partake in the desert sun.
Here are some pics to peruse from our time there:
 
        Day ThreeLas Vegas Strip (Take Two)We decided to head down for one more night of busking, and see what else Las Vegas would give us. Our first attempt was near one of the hotels that has a huge "volcano" setting outside of its main lobby entrance. The volcano, probably every ten minutes or so, has a huge pyro- light show for tourists to stop and gander at. When the show begins, you start to hear these loud, tribal-esque drums loudly playing from speakers, and water is shot from the moat that surrounds the volcano, and fire is somewhat shot out from the top of the volcano. This goes on for about three minutes or so, and reached its climax with a big water, fire finale.
We thought it would be a good idea to wait around, and after the show, we would start up tunes, and catch the crowd as they moved along the strip to the next tourist stop. But, instead, the crowd cleared out in the other direction, and we literally played to ourselves and passing cars. We laughed it off, and decided to move to another location.
Luckily, the second spot was much more profitable, and we never got hassled by cops nor security guards. I believe we were right out front Harrah's. I guess the county doesn't want you playing on their streets, and the casinos don't want you playing on their property. It can be a battle, but we just kept playing the out-of-town card if they came to hassle us.
Busking can be very worthwhile if you can put in the time. We played for a good long while, and ended up making enough for gas, food and some left over cash that went into our pockets. But, regardless of the dough that might have been made, we were sure happy to know that this was our last night in LV.
Here's a few more photos of our time in L.V., N.V.:
 
And now on to Salt Lake City!
7:12 PM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|