New layer of Cheese at Hard Rock Hotel
Vowing to “get all of our work out of the way before George Bush kills us all,” Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine is back in town and onstage Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel. This will be an uncommon show even by the obtuse standards set by the slicked back, leopard-jacketed lounge lizard and his snappy three-piece band: The performance will be filmed for an upcoming concert film, staged in the Joint, so a few edicts have been handed down by Cheese (real name: Mark Jonathan Davis) and his henchpeople: Don’t interrupt the performance, be considerate of your fellow cheese fans, and (cough) drink responsibly. Violators (of the rules and, we assume, each other) will be ejected.
But the show promises to be a rollicking affair, as Cheese said during a phone interview a few days ago. “It’s going to be a long show, we’re going to throw in a lot of stuff we want to try out, and stuff will be cut for the movie. We’re telling people to plan on being in the movie, and telling people to dress up lounge-y, in velvet jackets and smoking jackets. You’d be amazed at how many of those jackets show up at our shows anyway. …”
Cheese has assembled a fairly stable career of “swankifying” classic rock, heavy metal and rap songs, giving up that Vegas feel, baby. “Suck My Kiss,” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Me So Horny” by 2 Live Crew, the Killers’ “Somebody Told Me,” “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A Lot, and even Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire” have been slathered with Cheese over the past few years (I first witnessed a Cheese show in 2000 at the old Venus lounge, the space taken over by Tao, at the Venetian). His latest CD, “Dick At Night,” a collection of warped covers of TV theme songs, is on sale now (go to www.richardcheese.com).
Though Cheese’s gig at AJ’s Steakhouse is over – that happens when the venue closes, which AJ’s has – but is looking for an alternate spot at the Hard Rock. “Some sort of dinner show, traditional cocktail-lounge dinner show, would be good,” Cheese said, without providing details as to which Hard Rock spot would host such a show. “People who eat are more likely to have fun.”
A noted Bush loather, Cheese is also planning a “Lounge The Vote” registration campaign, saying, “I make my political views known. We hope to tip the scales, indeed.”
Tickets to Saturday’s show are $15 and $30. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the groove starts at 9.
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Plug this: The Fab and Yellow Brick Road are performing a dual-headlining gig Friday night at the Railhead at Boulder Station. The Fab is playing the entire Let It Be album (the original, not the remastered, stripped down Let It Be Naked) and there will be an all-star jam-a-roo with Fab and YBR members (YBR’s David St. John is a former Fab-ian). Doors at 7:30 and the event is free (as a bird).
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Author Dennis Griffin, quoted in the Mob Memories story I wrote for last week’s issue of Las Vegas Weekly, will be featured February 20 at the Winchester Cultural Center in a lecture titled "Las Vegas and the Mob." Griffin has written several books drawing from the mob’s history in Las Vegas, including "The Battle for Las Vegas and Cullotta – The Life of a Chicago Criminal," "Las Vegas Mobster" and "Government Witnessed.” Call 455-7340 for information; check your .38s at the door.
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PL8 in my head: BRUUUCE on the back of the Toyota Corolla driven by Las Vegas radio personality Dennis Mitchell, a huge Springsteen (and Beatles) fan. Mitchell is the emcee of the Friday Fab-YBR show, BTW.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes, who also hosts Our Metropolis, a weekly issues and affairs show, each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM, can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected].