Las Vegas Sun

April 9, 2024

Failing bus doesn’t stop A Thousand Horses at Route 91; ‘Rock Vault’ shuffles lineup

Raiding the Rock Vault

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Tracii Guns and drummer Jay Schellen perform with other band members during song rehearsal for “Raiding the Rock Vault” in the LVH Theater at LVH on Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

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Carol-Lyn Liddle attends the “Divorce Party: Las Vegas!” grand-opening celebration Thursday, March 13, 2014, at Bally’s.

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is among several thousand country music fans at Route 91 Harvest Country Music Fest at Las Vegas Village.

This makes us, of course, the Village people.

Performing to great response as the sun goes down is A Thousand Horses, who earlier today were calling out, “My kingdom for a thousand horses,” as the band’s bus broke down en route to Route 91. Thus, they missed their 3 p.m. start and were rescued by some swift setup work by Gloriana, who went on an hour ahead of their scheduled stage appearance. That meant Gloriana opened the festival at 3 p.m. in a boot-scootin’ shuffle.

“They saved our ass!” is how A Thousand Horses frontman Zach Brown expressed his gratitude.

At the moment, A Thousand Horses is thumping through that Black Crowes country classic “Hard to Handle,” first recorded by country superstar Otis Redding. The point is there is a lot of crossover in these country festivals. Someone will play AC/DC by weekend’s end, if they haven’t already.

Soon will be Easton Corbin, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line, and I’d bet my boots that at least one of the FGL boys will be wearing a black T-shirt you’d buy six to a pack at Target and matching jeans. I know that because they just walked past us in the media room. Howdy, boys …

Meantime, we await Corbin (I think) as “Rock and Roll All Night (And Party Every Day)” by KISS blares over the festival sound system. Let’s rock it out elsewhere:

• Guitar great Tracii Guns’ return to “Raiding the Rock Vault” next week is not the only shift in the lineup of the indefatigable rock extravaganza at Tropicana Theater. Out is Carol-Lyn Liddle-Puffer, now duel-hyphenated vocalist after her recent marriage to Las Vegas musician and Red Rock Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales rep Patrick Puffer.

A fan favorite from the moment she hit the stage with the show two years ago (her take of Heart’s “Alone” was always a soaring effort), Liddle-Puffer was let go by Sir Harry Cowell for reasons she says are unclear. Sir Harry says everything is under control — and really, everything is always under control with “RRV,” whose uncanny capacity to survive is surpassed only by Keith Richards in the rock universe.

More than three years since opening at LVH, the show forges ahead with Starship singer Stephanie Calvert (who previously swapped appearances with Liddle-Puffer) and Meat Loaf backing vocalist Cian Coey.

An epilogue: In what has become a celebration of “RRV” alumni, the ceremony pairing of Patrick and Carol-Lynn was officiated by “Rock Vault” writer and former band member John Payne. It’s not only rock ‘n’ roll, but I like it.

Pitbull at Axis at Planet Hollywood

Pitbull kicks off his seven-show Launch slideshow »

• A day before breaking ground at his charter school, Slam!, in Henderson, Pitbull showed up at “Absinthe” on Thursday night. He did not arrive alone: In tow was a posse of backing musicians, dancers and assorted members of his production crew (including his hairstylist; not really). He hustled over to the Spiegeltent during an off night from his blazing Axis theater residency.

The Cuban-born rap practitioner had his photo taken with many of these folks, expressly tap-tap-tap twins Sean and John and Melody Sweets. We need more of Pitbull in this city. Seriously.

• Paul Scally’s test drive of Grand Laughs at Lounge at the Palms filled the room Thursday night, which was not a surprise given Scally’s popularity among his fellow Las Vegas entertainers. Geechy Guy and Kathleen Dunbar were the Las Vegas club vets who helped boost the show. Where Scally goes from here is anyone’s guess, and he is to talk about a future at the Palms with that hotel's entertainment director, Billy Conn.

The lounge has hosted comedy before with the Playboy Comedy Club in the days when the hotel was in partnership with Playboy Enterprises. Comedy is an easy fill, and Scally is a superb host with a long list of comics he can book in a regular club format.

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Human Nature’s Vegas show is the foundation of its growing global brand.

• Human Nature manager Steve Sterling says he can’t actually comment (his words) on reports that the act is leaving Sands Showroom for Harrah’s. This is one step from “we don’t respond to rumors,” and far from a denial that the affable Aussies are moving out of the Venetian.

• Jason Egan usually works himself to the bone in the days leading to the opening of Fright Dome, which celebrated its 13th opening night tonight at Circus Circus. He has dropped to 135 pounds during the run-up to opening the attraction simply because he is often working 19-hour days.

But today Egan is sitting at 160, a middleweight, and says, “I am taking care of myself and trying not to look like a zombie.” No, he has actors for that — 430 actors, actually. “This has gotten insane,” says Egan, now 37, who still manages to look as youthful as he did when we met a decade ago.

• Lydia Ansel, late of Zowie Bowie, is performing her first solo gig in VegasVille at 9:30 p.m. Monday at Rockhouse at the Venetian. Hers is the latest effort in which classic instrumentation is mixed with EDM tracks and dance beats and such. A member of Rod Stewart’s “Magnificent Seven” lineup of pretty violinists at the Colosseum, Ansel has been developing a solo act for several weeks.

She had a crash course in performing in Las Vegas with the Zowie Bowie performances at Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort, on Fremont Street and Sunset Station’s Club Madrid. This new project is worth a look-see.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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