Great venue, great band, featuring The Great White himself, Bill Champlin and his Sons. What more can you ask for? I'll be back again tomorrow night to shoot more pics (Gonna have to get in the wings onstage tomorrow). Got some good ones tonight.
Melanie, Bill's publicist, gave me a copy of the Sons' "The Ariola Years" CD last night at the Santa Fe gig. I been listenin' to it today while it was goin' into my iPod. Wow, what a flash.
What an incredible body of work these cats have accomplished since the 60's. To now be up close & personal with these cats whom I have been diggin' so much for 40 years is beyond words for me.
A few of my keeper shots for now:
Above, Bill called Jerry up for some slammin' "Gold Mine" action. One more show tomorrow night. Y'all come. These peeps are rightfully legendary among musicians, and should not be missed.
PROPS
I gotta give a shout to Santa Fe fan and all-around good cat Howard Alder, who owns Optical Thursdays. When April and I were down in Florida in July to fetch my Ma and transport her to Vegas, my second pair of bifocals broke, with the screw hole stripped out on the left hinge. I taped the sumbitches together with a thin strip of black -- what else? -- duct tape to get me by till I could deal with it. Well, about 3 weeks ago my luck ran out, and the left lense fell out somewhere and is lost.
Screwed. I cannot see at night, period, without my glasses anymore. Everything's a complete blur (I had perfect 20/20 till I hit 50 more than a decade ago, dang it).
Well, Howard took my old busted rimless "Professor Gladd" FDRs and read the Rx right off the lenses, and had me some new ones made. He even fixed the old ones for a backup. He brought me the new glasses last night at the Sons' South Point gig. I been gettin' by miserably on some drug store reading glasses for the past two weeks. Ugh. The new specs are fabulous, sharp as a tack.
Howard is God. "...our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard Be Thy Name..."
He charged me less for all this than it would have cost me at the original place just to get my FDRs fixed. Steer your business his way.
Thank you, bro'.
UPDATE: A FEW MORE PICS
And, of course, the day would be incomplete absent a Vegas Media Moron Watch Update. Below, what the R-J considers priority coverage today.
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UPDATE NOTICE ON MY PHOTO POLICY The photos I shoot and post on this blog are of my copyright as of the year of their posting. However, I grant an unlimited royalty-free license for use of these images by the artists whom I support and cover. A byline would, of course, be nice. Any other use, particularly for unauthorized commercial purposes, is expressly forbidden, and will result in my hunting the perp down to have my homie Ron Crews kick the violator's ass. _______
Tamara and Bill drove in from California today. I picked up their publicist Melanie at McCarrran and took her over to South Point, and just as we pulled into the front of the casino at about 8 pm, the Champlins rolled right up alongside us. I know they had to be tired from a long day of driving, but they came to hang and sit in nonetheless. We are blessed. What great people.
Below, renowned guitarist Carmen Grillo also came to hang and sit in. Carmen is playing with The Sons on this tour. It was an extra treat to have him with us tonight.
Lots more to come, but I am beyond whipped tonight, and I gotta get some zzzz's (and gotta get up and get the pre-ordereds CDs out in the mail). Suffice it to say that the band came out smokin'. Got some pretty good band shots, and more of Bill. Stay tuned.
Don't forget tomorrow and Wednesday at South Point, the awesome Sons of Champlin! (Below, Tim Woods brought in this ancient Sons' LP)
Also, following the Sons' show tomorrow night, Michito's first-class Salsero show takes over. Gonna be a great evening.
Before I crash, I gotta give major props to homeboy Ron Crews for taking care of the CD sales tonight while Cheryl and April are gone. Really, really appreciate it. Ron just got outa the hospital Friday. Good to have him back in circulation. Thanks, Debbie, for giving him up for the night.
TUESDAY UPDATE
Well, predictably, the dogs have been goin' clinical all morning. So much for some solid sleep. At least I'll never have a burglar. "Lucie...STFU!!!..."
10:30 pm, Monday night September 17th we will again be blessed with the presence of our gracious friend, the 2-time Grammy winner -- voice of Chicago and the legendary Sons of Champlin -- Bill Champlin, who will come to hang and sit in prior to his Tuesday and Wednesday night stints with The Sons at South Point. Join us in The Lounge at The Palms. No cover, no minimum.
Great venue, great band, featuring The Great White himself, Bill Champlin and his Sons. What more can you ask for? I'll be back again tomorrow night to shoot more pics (Gonna have to get in the wings onstage tomorrow). Got some good ones tonight.
What an incredible body of work these cats have accomplished since the 60's. To now be up close & personal with these cats whom I have been diggin' so much for 40 years is beyond words for me.
Above, Bill called Jerry up for some slammin' "Gold Mine" action. One more show tomorrow night. Y'all come. These peeps are rightfully legendary among musicians, and should not be missed.
And, of course, the day would be incomplete absent a Vegas Media Moron Watch Update. Below, what the R-J considers priority coverage today.
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