Donny & Marie billboard speaks volumes for what it conceals

Tommy Rocker at Tommy Rocker's. Photo by: John Katsilometes

Louis Prima Jr. Photo by: Brian Brown

Performers set to appear Sunday include (from left): Rick Faugno, Domenick Allen, Bill Fayne and Vincent Falcone. Photo by: Courtesy Photo

You can't help but notice change in the billboard, a rectangle colored a brighter shade of fuchsia than its surrounding background.

Something's amiss here.

Then you might remember, hey, wasn't Chip Lightman's name once scripted on that billboard?

Yep, but not today. I'm speaking of the Donny & Marie billboard on Swenson Street just south of Tropicana Avenue, which promotes the Osmond siblings' show at Flamingo.

Now in an altered state, the billboard's message once listed Chip Lightman as the show's producer, but since Lightman has sued Donny & Marie for breach of contract, he's been papered over, unceremoniously but in a dainty, pinkish hue.

It seems sort of temporary, like you could pull it away pretty easily to return Lightman's name to the signage. But I wouldn't count on that happening. We'll see how the new billboard reads.

Grin and parrot at Rocker's place

Of the notoriously addled Parrot Heads who follow Jimmy Buffett across the country, Tommy Rocker jokes, "It's a fun group, wearing grass skirts and cocoanut bras — and that's just the men."

True, but Rocker owes a lot to the Buffett fans, and thousands are back this weekend to celebrate Buffett's sold-out concert tonight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The party at Tommy Rocker's Mojave Beach Bar & Grill started Friday afternoon as hundreds of Buffett fans turned up to see Rocker's music outfit, Conched Out, perform with members Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. The show went deep into the night, with Rocker himself taking over in his open-mic, sing-a-long format.

Today, Rocker's band is part of a carnival celebration in the alley just north of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville at the Flamingo. "Parrot Heads are usually a carnival unto themselves, but this is a real carnival," Rocker says "I'm talking, rides and everything. It'll be great." The party starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs 'til 5 p.m. Tonight's party rolls along after the Buffett show lets out.

This is the biggest weekend of the year for Rocker's cantina, which thanks to business from City Center employees is rebounding nicely after his ill-fated attempts to turn the club into a strip joint in 2005. That effort petered out in two years.

"Yeah, that wasn't such a good move, retrospectively. You have to deal with a lot of pimps and drug dealers — and that was just the bar staff," Rocker jokes, once more. "But we did it, and now I have that on my résumé."

Prima Jr. set for 100th birthday party

Mark this down: A Dec. 7 party honoring the 100th birthday of lounge legend Louis Prima is set for the Fremont Street Experience, on the outdoor stage in front of Binion's casino (and, at one point, again a hotel). Louis Prima Jr. and the Witnesses featuring vocalist Sarah Spiegel are to headline the Pearl Harbor Day/Prima anniversary event in an ongoing effort to draw attention to Prima's influence on Vegas entertainment and culture — the culture of high-quality lounge performers, specifically. One day Prima should have his own star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, if anyone ponies up $20,000 to fund that star on Prima's behalf.

A more prominent tribute would be a street named for Prima, or renamed for him. Streets are more obvious things than stars, and they do not have to be built, just renamed, as Prima Jr. notes. Maybe we put the star on the street, and that street can be Reno Avenue just off LV Boulevard, emptying out across from Excalibur and Luxor. Or, somewhere else. Updates on this effort as merited.

Williams show Sunday at the Rio

"The Joe Williams Music Scholarship Concert" honoring Sammy Davis Jr. is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at Crown Theatre and Nightclub at the Rio. Joining the performers is Bill Fayne, making his second concert appearance in Las Vegas since undergoing surgery last November to have his cancerous esophagus removed.

He has performed aquatically, or specifically on cruise ships, since then. His appearance last weekend at the Suncoast with the Las Vegas Tenors, joining Bobby Black and Teddy Davey, was his first since he was treated for his throat condition.

Fayne, Rick Faugno, Domenick Allen, Vincent Falcone, Marlena Shaw and the ever-affable Pete Barbutti are the scheduled performers for Sunday's show. Tickets are $30; call 702-733-8229.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.