Monday, September 25, 10:30 p.m. Chris Clouse is hot. There, now that that's out of the way, I feel free to discuss the finer points of Clouse's talent. And there is talent, people. So what if his equipment keeps cutting out—the guy is magnetic. Just ask the ladies grooving on each other in front of the stage; they'll tell you. And he has that look about him that says, "I'm dangerous, yet sensitive. Now please excuse me while I grind on my ax and croon about love." I settle into my booth, pop a bottle of champagne, avoid the truffled popcorn and try not to make an ass out of myself when Clouse approaches.
He's right; there have been a few challenges. The restaurant's lounge is equipped to power a DJ's rig, what with Keith Evan holding down a Friday and Saturday night residency in the lusciously dark and luxuriously appointed room. Fleur de Lys' Chef Hubert Keller also has a penchant for occasionally jumping on the ones and twos himself. But now Clouse is experiencing periodic interruptions because his amp is plugged into a standard outlet usually used for a lamp.
The new monthly industry night is titled Fleur, and just a quick glance around the room confirms it has attracted every manner of club and restaurant worker, scenester, PR flack, tastemaker and media folk. Clouse plays alongside DJ Solomon (Kahn), his bandmate of two years since the duo met in Berkeley, California, and played alternating 20-minute sets at a party called Rotation. The sets quickly melded together to create the same unique mash-up sound found on Clouse's MySpace page (www.myspace.com/chrisclousemusic) and on his new album, Chimera, due out in October. Expect a similarly packed house at Ghostbar on October 19 for his official CD release party.
With Fleur, restaurant GM Tobias Peach has created a mash-up of his own: a live singer-songwriter performance backed by a DJ, weaving together familiar tunes for a rock-inspired local crowd in an environment that is one part dining room and one part ultralounge.
The industry peeps keep flooding in and cameras are flashing everywhere when the sound pops again, causing yet another tech summit at the stage. When the problem is fixed, Clouse goes back to killing it. On his crowd-pleasing track "Walk Away," I think I hear NapkinNights.com's Tracy Lee singing louder than Clouse himself. Clouse has an amazing voice and an enviable command of falsetto. The songs are filled with emotion and impressive understanding for someone so young, but then Clouse's eyes hint toward his being an old soul (okay, maybe I haven't got the hotness factor quite out of my system). ,p/> "We're trying to keep something cool and fresh in Vegas. We loved what we had at Simon," Clouse says of his two years of Thursdays at the Hard Rock's Simon Kitchen & Bar. He flew to Vegas from his home in San Francisco over 200 times during that span.
Things pick up at midnight with a turn toward covers of familiar rock and hip-hop songs and even resurrected favorites from the '80s and '90s. Clouse and Solomon are operating on the same wavelength as they string together track after track, when—bam!—there goes the sound again. "And for my next piece ..." Clouse trails off, joking about the abrupt end to his last song. He finishes up at 12:30, high-fives Peach by the stage, and turns things over to Frenchy Le Freak and Chef Keller, who tag-team on the turntables. I nearly choke when Keller gets on stage and tears it up on bongos and a cowbell. "More cowbell!" Clouse shouts from the peanut gallery.
Clouse chats with Chris Hammond and Sonny Barton from Rock 'n' Roll Wine, who booked him in April and again earlier this month. He also has a Wednesday residency at Slide in San Francisco and monthly appearances in San Diego, Phoenix, San Jose and LA. Clouse says he enjoys his free-agent status in Vegas but hints we may soon be seeing more of him at the Palms. Congratulating him on his MySpace page, I can't help but poke fun: "More cowbell, less lamp."
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
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