I would have paid good money to bring a Rat Pack member back from the dead and drag him to the Palms last Thursday, just to see the look on his face when we walked into the Lounge. Sofas, pattern-carpeted floors and burgundy-curtained walls may have been throwbacks to a bygone Vegas era, but on this night the sort of intimate venue that once housed Sinatra, Martin and the rest of their clan felt unmistakably 21st-century.
Hyped Australian rockers Wolfmother threatened to blow the speakers off their moorings as they sent their heavy, proto-metal sounds past the bar lining the Lounge's perimeter to the slot machines and blackjack pits far beyond. As curious passers-by stopped for a peek through a small opening in the curtain, the trio played to a crowd of just 175—comprised of radio contest winners and VIPs with the right connections—huddled just a few feet from the action on the stage.
"Once they go big-time, we can say we saw them in a tiny place," said Las Vegan Morgan Adamczyk, who scored two passes as the 20th caller during a promotion on KOMP 92.3-FM. Adamcyzk and his friend, Laura Hammer, watched the 10-song set from behind a short, metal barricade that separated the respectful, if occasionally indifferent, audience and a buzz band that sold out upcoming shows in Los Angeles and London weeks in advance.
"Who's playing tonight? Is it Static X?" Las Vegan Jesse Forrester asked minutes before the show began. Forrester, who picked up passes from a buddy at KOMP, and his friend, Sara Wright, stuck around for the first few songs before rightfully concluding that Wolfmother doesn't sound anything like Static X and heading for the exit.
Actually, Wolfmother doesn't sound much like any of today's metal scene favorites. Vocalist/guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist/organist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett clearly prefer the bluesy psychedelia of Led Zeppelin, Cream and early Black Sabbath. The three musicians generated a couple of playful, White Stripesy numbers ("Apple Tree," "Joker & the Thief"), but found far more success when they plowed through tougher stuff like "Colossus" or proggier pieces such as "White Unicorn" and "Mind's Eye."
It was all likely to please Paul Hanna, frontman for self-described "cock-rock" outfit Annex, in town from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and considering a permanent move to Southern Nevada. Hanna, who got in thanks to a friend at the Palms, spent the moments before Wolfmother went on drinking beer and admiring the band's old-school equipment. "There's too much crap going on nowadays in rock," the tattooed Hanna said. "Guys scratching records in the background ... that's not rock 'n' roll. Keep it simple. Crank it up."
Wolfmother certainly did that, and fans who didn't get to hear and see the results might soon get a chance to, judging from the many cameras filming the event for possible future release. If it does become available, it's a safe bet Lee Boelen and Hayley McDonnell will be first in line to pick up a copy. The Australian natives leaned on the barricade and waved their country's blue flag, singing along with every song and earning a personal visit from Ross after the show.
"We lined up for three hours to see them on Conan in New York City, but didn't get in," Boelen said. "They're really big in Australia," added McDonnell, who won tickets in Vegas by doling out on-air spankings on 107.5-FM earlier in the day. "We'd never be able to see them in a place like this back home."