Friday, August 17, 10 p.m.
Jew juss can’t miss eet!” the tiny casino floor person says, pointing very specifically in the very general direction of the entire rest of Green Valley Ranch Casino. “Oh, you’d be surprised,” I tell her, but smiling politely, nodding furiously. I then try my best to follow her solemn directions: “Juss look for dee colors.” I quickly find the Irish pub, and just beyond, the newly opened Terra Verde restaurant, Green Valley’s answer to Red Rock’s Terra Rossa. The marquee outside the parking garage blared as I was pulling in that Chef Rock, the winner of reality TV’s Hell’s Kitchen, would roll in to claim his prize kitchen at Terra Verde on September 10.
Pressing on, I find Hank’s steakhouse and a whole lotta Green Valley Ranch I’ve never explored before. When I finally round the corner at Sushi + Sake (and emerge a little too dramatically from a bank of slot machines), it is to the familiar voice of Gwen Stefani. Well, not quite. It kind of sounds like her, only a bit more throaty. But I’ll take it, because this must be Ovation! I imagine for a second that perhaps I should get a standing ovation for successfully finding Ovation Showroom/Nightclub, but I don’t wait around to find out from whom.
From the casino bar in front of the stark white edifice (lit up Barbie pink as in “dee colors”), I can see right over the bartenders’ shoulders into the showroom, where a woman is holding tight to her microphone and giving Gwen a run for her money. A hiply dressed young man crosses the stage, dodging the many instrument-wielding band members and the long, thin arms of two backup singers. Every seat at the bar is taken, but I can see that plenty of seating awaits me inside the club ... Now, if only I could get in there. I walk left—nothing. I walk right, passing the bar again, and learn that the backup singers also double as go-go dancers; they glide in tandem across the stage like showgirls while I travel to the far right of this semi-circular bar, hoping to discover a door. “Aha!” A plain white door. But is it a service entrance? Nope. Only a chest-high sign for house band Rich & Famous gives any indication of the goings-on inside.
Still, I am very satisfied with Station’s choice to name its band Rich & Famous, thus uniting two of the principal tenets both they and reality TV have tried to instill in our hearts and minds: Maybe we won’t all get a chance to actually be rich and famous, but we can spend a few hours in their presence three nights a week when lead singers Andrea Adams and Brandon Nix cover Top 40 and poppy party music, their backup singers and four-piece band rocking their way into our hearts Thursdays at 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 10 p.m.
With seating for over 400, Ovation presents concerts early in the evening—think Macy Gray and Everclear—with Adams and Nix taking over the pie slice-shaped showroom and stage after. “Hey there, how you doin’?” Nix chirps cheerfully between lyrics, shaking my hand as he makes his way down the line of the bar midsong, reappearing seconds later back on stage. He doesn’t miss a beat as he and Adams volley the spotlight back and forth between them, him taking the lead on such tunes as Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and her on Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty.” The pop comes naturally enough to both, and they don’t even flinch when busting out a substantial Latin-lite set complete with Santana’s “Oye Como Va.” But the real treat—for both them and the dance-happy crowd—is the solid-gold disco set where both are clearly in their comfort zone.
“That dance floor’s making me blush,” heaves a breathy Adams, all rocked out in glittery stripes and tiny hot pants, “with some of that stuff that’s going on ...” Indeed, the crowd—a pleasantly 50-50 mix of men and women, ages 25-50—is getting frisky! Some couples even appear to be trained dancers, and these pull squealing singles up from their booths for “Boogie Wonderland.” I hold on to my surprisingly comfy seat and enjoy the fact that my Absolut Ruby Red and soda only cost me $9 (and that’s including my customary $2-per-drink tip!). I may not be famous, but, assuming I can find the door whenever I do decide to leave, I will at least be $1 richer for it!
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at [email protected] and visit thecircuitlv.com to sign up for Xania’s free weekly newsletter.