Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

It’s Vegas … Straight Up as Chris Phillips opens gig at South Point

Chris Phillips

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Chris Phillips, out of his Zowie Bowie dance-band mode, opens a show-band production Saturday, June 11, 2016, at South Point’s Grandview Lounge.

The music varies, as does the attire. Sometimes he’s in torn Bad Religion jeans, an American Apparel T-shirt and enough bling to sink a buoy. Other times, he’s in a full tux, evoking an image of the modern-day Rat Packer he has long hoped to inhabit.

This is Chris Phillips, a classic Las Vegas soul trapped in a dance-party production show. Sometimes we refer to him as Zowie Bowie, other times just Chris, but regardless he always brings the party. Phillips-as-Zowie Bowie filled Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort for nearly a decade and has drawn hundreds to Third Street Stage on Fremont Street for his more recent Thursday night performances.

Phillips, in his Z.B. mode, appears with the requisitely beautiful and powerfully voiced Nieve Malandra and a rhythm section that moves easily through such dance staples as “Uptown Funk,” “Get Down Tonight” and “Let’s Get it Started.” That format has made Phillips a consistently popular showman among locals from the moment Marley Taylor and he opened Rocks Lounge in 2006.

But Phillips has long attempted to at least expand beyond that Top 40 dance-fever concept, if not shed it altogether. As we once joked, succeeding in a dance band is a lot like being in the Mob: You get out, but they keep pulling you back in.

It’s not as if Phillips hasn’t at least made some nominal effort to evolve his career. Just as he was refurbishing his band to take on a more inventive musical approach, he broke with Station Casinos to embark on some yet-untraversed, undefined path. That was in March. Since that announcement, we have learned that Phillips/Zowie Bowie is at once clinging to the dance-band format while developing a more refined stage act.

Keeping with what works, Zowie Bowie has just opened a pool residency — a rare term, this — at Downtown Grand’s Citrus rooftop recreation space formerly known as Picnic. Phillips is performing free shows in the Zowie Bowie Top 40 format at 9 p.m. each Friday through the end of September.

And if there is one area where Phillips amps up the energy even more than a lounge, it’s at a Las Vegas pool. Admission is free, as is the vibe, at these shows. He will continue to perform Thursdays on Fremont Street, and also alternate Saturday nights, in an open-ended run at Third Street Stage.

More interesting is the show-band performances planned for Phillips at South Point’s new Grandview Lounge. Starting June 11 at 10 p.m. is something originally, and tentatively titled “Zowie Bowie Is Chris Phillips,” which is sort of like revealing that “Batman Is Bruce Wayne.” Yeah, we know. Also, South Point Entertainment Director Michael Libonati, who authorized an $80,000 investment in the Grandview Lounge, called out, “Chris Phillips! Exposed!” to me over the phone, at which I said, “It's been done, but enough about his personal life …”

At the end of this process, in a text exchange Thursday afternoon, I tossed out, “Vegas … Straight Up.” Phillips seems to like that title. Maybe we’re on to something …

Anyway, the point is that Phillips is presenting a show with a classic spirit in a swanky Las Vegas lounge. There is an admission price in the 250-seat room, $15, with a drink included. Walk in and get groovy as Phillips sings “For Once in My Life,” “World On a String” and “Lady Is a Tramp.”

“Unlike some things and shows I do, this one is really close to my heart and very important to me,” Phillips says. “It’s what I truly enjoy doing more than anything and what I wish to be my ongoing future.”

Phillips has added a full horn section, led by veteran Las Vegas player Chandler Judkins. Where the original version of Zowie Bowie thundered through such Las Vegas venues as the Pub at Monte Carlo, the Lounge at the Palms and Club Madrid at Sunset Station, the new act is to remind of the great show bands that once permeated Las Vegas lounges.

This effort is but a cornerstone of a larger effort spearheaded by Libonati, who is bringing in side projects by “Jersey Boys” co-star Travis Cloer and “Baz” music director Chris Lash on July 11 (more on that show in an upcoming column). Also, magician Seth Grabel is set to perform in the room this summer; the date for that has yet to be announced.

Of course, Zowie Bowie will factor into this mix. The Top 40 act will never fully die, similar to the Terminator, always marching blithely forward amid the sound and pyro. Phillips will shift to the dance party each night at 11:40 and sprint to a 1 a.m. finish.

By then, luck will have been a lady, and Chris Phillips will have realized at least a few moments of his Las Vegas dream.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram at Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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