Fear & Lounging

Bye bye Blue Note

Las Vegas' Blue Note closed its doors on Jan. 15. The venue was plagued by bizarre marketing strategies and, apparently, not enough profit. The Blue Note operates clubs in Greenwich Village, Milan, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya. Initially, Las Vegas fit well on this international list. Why not? With all Vegas' high rollers and an emerging local appreciation for culture, the place should've been embraced.

But the Las Vegas Blue Note was doomed from the start, as programmers never settled on how to market the club. At first, they opened a large concert hall with a smaller performance space off to the left. But the large hall rarely sold out and the shows were generally too specific to woo Las Vegas tourists who knew little about jazz. Plus, the Strip location and outrageous drink, food and admission costs kept locals away. (A $9 drink usually comes with dancing girls in this town! And why pay for a drink when you can sit in front of a poker machine and get one for free?)

Soon, the club was inviting DJs to do late-night dance parties no one knew about. Last spring, the club finally closed the larger room down and in its place opened Tease. The smaller space resumed the Blue Note concert schedule and with it the same identity crisis.

Apparently, the club lost money every month it was open. It was quietly put up for sale over the summer, and Jan. 15, someone finally bought it with dreams of constructing yet another dance club.

News of the sale arrived at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15, when club managers immediately closed the club and began rearranging tables and chairs before the night's artist and audience had even left. All future shows have been canceled. Those shows that were booked solely through the Blue Note seem to have no recourse, and one source wishing to remain anonymous has explained that canceled artists are struggling to receive the compensation stipulated in their contracts. Those shows scheduled in conjunction with the Las Vegas Jam Band Society, such as the Robert Walters 20th Century Congress, OM Trio and the Dark Star Orchestra are currently being rescheduled at alternate venues. Robert Walters' show will be held Jan. 23, at 9 p.m. at Danny's II. The Dark Star Orchestra and OM Trio shows are still pending.

One of the more interesting developments will be with the two Particle shows that were to be held on Feb. 15 and 16. Nine-hundred tickets had already been sold for Saturday's show and four-hundred for Sunday's, but both nights were expected to easily sell out by show times. At $17 a ticket, a lot of money is at stake. The show was being sponsored by the LVJBS but paid for by the Blue Note, with tickets sold through the Blue Note's offices. Negotiations are still in progress to relocate this show as well.

"The Blue Note, as a world-class jazz club, had a hard time making jazz work in this town from the very beginning," says George Lyons, a Sunday night DJ at 91.5 KUNV-FM and head of production for the LVJBS. "I for one am very sorry to see them go. They treated us good, and we in turn had a few excellent shows there that will not be forgotten any time soon - not to mention all the amazing jazz that they gave to us. It's sad that this situation has affected us for our upcoming promotions, but we will prevail and our shows will move to another location."

-Cory Ness

thesubstitute@hotmail.com

Chicks chastized

Chick Singers' Night, a monthly showcase of women singers at the Palapa Lounge, has been canceled. This is curious, because according to Darelle Holden, back-up singer for Tom Jones and Las Vegas director of Chick Singers' Night, "the last one was completely packed."

What's even more curious is the fact that Chick Singers' Night was free. Joyce Hsu, the Palms' representative at public-relations company The Firm, said the reason for CSN's cancellation was "low turnout." But how much does turnout matter when there are no ticket sales involved?

The Pal

apa Lounge is also the home to Acoustic Asylum, a weekly acoustic showcase hosted by Michael Soli. The Asylum moved to the Palms from the House of Blues' Crossroads room last year. The Tuesday night event is quickly gaining momentum and is, on some occasions, completely full.

So why is the Palapa Lounge hospitable to the weekly Acoustic Asylum event and not the monthly CSN show? Corrina Ryan, another person who handles the Palms account at The Firm, explained that the contract with CSN was originally for three months, and the Palms extended it to six, hoping it would pick up. It had a few great nights, she says, but ultimately, the event just didn't bring in enough business. Ryan also said there was a problem finding performers. Women were supposed to come in and audition to perform on the day of the performance, come back for rehearsal that afternoon and play that night. There were so few singers trying out that the same women ended up performing each month.

Lori Maier, executive director and founder of CSN, told CityLife in a recent phone interview that CSN is still going strong in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and Miami, and she's hoping to find another home for CSN in Las Vegas.

Holden concurs. "Hopefully, we can be up and running again in March."

-Megan Capehart

meganc@lvpress.com

Elvis banned in Vegas?

Venue logistics and bureaucracies may keep Las Vegans from experiencing a "once-in-a-lifetime occurrence": San Francisco performance artist eXtreme Elvis' March tour with the Extra Action Marching Band, comprised of musicians and miscreants who smoke, drink and bump and grind with the audience. The tour kicks off in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. However, this time Elvis has been unable to book a Vegas show. What the hell is the world coming to?

Double Down Saloon proprietor Moss says, "I'd love to book them, but the bar just isn't big enough for a 45-piece marching band." Fuzz from the Cooler Lounge says, "They could play here if they are willing to pay the ASCAP/BMI fees themselves." (Note: This is an issue that has been dogging the business for some time.) Asked if he'd be interested in promoting this show, Travis Price from Advance West says, "I don't think I'm extreme enough."

For the uninitiated, eXtreme Elvis causes controversy by performing Elvis classics in the nude. However, according to the artist's news release, "No one has ever been hurt or arrested at one of our shows." As for his offensive stage antics, he's willing to make compromises: "I haven't thrown shit at anyone for a year and a half." If they can't book a show, they may just come here and perform ... wherever they want.

Anyone brave enough to book this event can contact eXtreme Elvis at elvis@extremeelvis.com.

-Poizen Ivy

poizenivy@sincitysounds.com

Beaten but not broken

The band's name stems from the exclamation of bareknuckle boxing champ John L. Sullivan. When Portland's I Can Lick Any Son of a Bitch in the House hit the Double Down stage Jan. 17, the members exhibited the same swaggering bravado with their electrifyingly honest, roots-rock that knocks your socks off and proceeds to shake you by your big toe.

Frontman Mike Damron summed up his songwriting inspiration with "as a species we're sick, but as individuals we're fuckin' beautiful." "Saturday" is a happy sounding number, filled with childhood memories, yet with a dark and unpleasant underbelly. The title track from Creepy Little Noises, which he introduced as "a song about blowing your head off with a shotgun," fully captures his heartfelt, yet gut-wrenching style. Some of SOB's new works are more politically focused and "Rock Star" offers satirical commentary on the state of the music industry, something Damron hopes to never get caught up in.

Former Las Vegans Damron and drummer Flapjack Texas, along with bassist Mole Harris and guitarist "Handsome" John Burbank, will be ba

ck in March to support a new CD called Fuck 'Em All But Six, a reference to the number of pallbearers needed at a funeral.

-P.I.

Math for bears

Minus the Bear loves Las Vegas. After performing at Tremors and Cafe Espresso Roma to packed houses, the quintet has made Vegas a regular stop.

"A lot of kids seem to know our music there," says frontman Jake Snider. "The last time we played [at Roma last fall], it was absolutely packed. It was a complete surprise to us that Vegas would have that kind of response."

Since the band's November debut, Highly Refined Pirates, reviewers have been quick to label Minus the Bear a "math rock band," a term that mainly addresses guitarist Dave Knudson's intense tapping style. On the record, his technique is tight and precise. That combined with rich rhythms, unusually jazzy chord progressions and smooth vocal lines result in a highly textured exploration into the more complex regions of rock 'n' roll. While the term sticks, frontman Jake Snider actually disagrees with it.

While the Bear attributes much of its success to the health of Seattle's current music scene - which according to rumor is experiencing a rebirth (hold on to your shorts, America!) - the band has successfully branched out to to California, Oregon and, of course, Nevada. With an active touring schedule extending well into March, Snider believes his band's technical emphasis doesn't seem to be deterring listeners from finding the grooves.

"Ultimately, I think that the music's pretty complex," he says, "but we use, for the most part, basic pop song structures that make the complexity more digestable."

Minus the Bear plays the Huntridge with Piebald, Noise Ratchet and My Chemical Romance on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. Tickets: $10. Info: 702-678-6800.

-Holly Kintz

kintz@lvpress.com

Superbar Sunday

Two new martini bars are slated to open for this week for Super Bowl weekend (Jan. 24). Both are swank, upscale and sophisticated. But then what else would you expect from the creators of Light in the Bellagio?

Caramel, also located in the Bellagio, features opaque marble tables, hand-blown glass sculptures and round table ottomans, in what the club itself describes as a "hip, high-energy atmosphere." The music is fit for mainstream pallets and fans of timeless rock legends (i.e., the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or Frank Sinatra), and the signature martinis are served in chocolate and caramel coated glasses. The place is definitely a shoe-in if you want to impress a date. But don't forget a big wad of cash, because if you want some patŽ with your aperitif, my guess is you won't get a bargain.

Mist is a little more chilled out. Located in Treasure Island, it aspires to be a "neighborhood bar," at least according to Light's PR. Featuring TVs (the best in plasma technology, of course) and high fidelity frills (like football and rock videos), the bar is focused more on style and comfort than on elegance and luxury.

Caramel and Mist will both be open from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m., Monday through Friday, and from noon until 4 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. No cover. For more info, call 702-894-7330.

-Jarret Keene

Got questions or feeback? Contact Jarret Keene at 702-871-6780 ext. 347 or keene@lvpress.com.