Back From Vegas

Yes I made it back from my 11th trip to Las Vegas all in 1 piece, but I gotta say I'm really beat. We had a helluva time though, maybe the best ever. For a change I wasn't even ready to come home on Monday and had plenty of money left. Shocker.

We saw 5 different bands during 3 different shows... Sin City Sinners on Friday night at Fremont Street... Foreigner, Kansas and Styx at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night... and the awesome Steel Panther at the House of Blues on Saturday night after the classic rock triple header. All shows were great. I had no idea Steel Panther was playing there until we were walking by on the way to Burger Bar and I saw a sign. We instantly grabbed tickets and squeezed in to a packed house around midnight for a killer show. Hands down one of the raunchiest and most entertaining bands you will ever see. Highly recommended.

Back to the classic rock show, the only bad news was that for Foreigner, founding member Mick Jones was a no-show. In his place though was Doug Aldrich, so despite the fact that is technically not really a Foreigner show but a (very) talented tribute band, they completely rocked ass. Kelly Hansen is an awesome vocalist and the band was really tight. They played mostly their massive hits in their 1 hour set, like "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero", "Hot Blooded" and "Double Vision" but they also dropped a couple of songs from their new CD.

Wanna talk about my love for the 80s type bands... on the weekend as a whole between all the bands I got to see Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat), Jimmy Crespo (Aerosmith), Kelly Hansen (Hurricane), Tommy Shaw (Damn Yankees/Styx), Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake), Jeff Pilson (Dokken) and Rob Cournoyer (Raging Slab). Also we went to Sammy Hagar's restaurant so that's something, watched a KISS video tribute on the ceiling of Freemont Street and a saw a band that's straight-up hair metal Steel Panther.

Styx was great as well. I guess it's the first time I've seen them in over a decade, but I saw them 3 times in the early 80s alone. They sounded good and had a great stage show. Tommy Shaw has always been one of my favorite musicians. Here's their setlist from the show:

Borrowed Time / Mr. Roboto / Rockin' The Paradise
The Grand Illusion
Too Much Time On My Hands
Lady
Lorelei
High Enough (Damn Yankees cover)
Suite Madame Blue
Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man)
Miss America
Come Sail Away (dedicated to Ronnie James Dio)
* Encore Break *
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
Renegade

We spent most of Sunday just wandering around the strip shopping and gambling. We watched the fountains at The Bellagio and drank beer at both Sin City Brewing locations while working in some blackjack and slots, which I actually did well at both. It was a bit chilly out and we found a nice bar with some outside tables that had fire going in the middle, so we hung there a bit away from the gambling. The Suns beating the Lakers on Sunday night topped my winnings for the weekend off.

Many more stories and much fun to go into, but I'll spare you and just drop a few photos.

Viva Part 2

Good first day in Las Vegas after a pretty bumpy plane ride (one of the worst I've been on it some time... really windy out here). We started out at the newest Sin City Brewing location inside the Flamingo and played some video blackjack, then walked all the way down the strip sightseeing a people watching until we grabbed a cab at the Riviera.

We got down to Fremont Street and caught a couple of sets by the Sin City Sinners (Jimmy Crespo from Aerosmith sat in on guitar) and watched some cool video shows on the ceiling, including a great KISS themed one and a couple more from The Doors and Don McClean's American Pie. I love those video shows. Bought the new Sin City Sinners CD after one set.

We at some dinner at Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery in Main Street Station and had some awesome oysters and sushi (great combination aye) while I washed them down with a Blackjack Porter from their microbrewery, which I must say was excellent. We got a couple to go even (the beer, not the sushi) and closed out the night on Fremont before cabbing it back to the strip to close it out with some one-armed bandits. Somehow I won, which I never do on slots. I usually just play to kill time and get free drinks. I ended up just clowning for a bit for drinks and pocketed a few extra 20s before it was over.

Somewhere in there we had a huge stack of pizza nachos at The Burger Joint and were talked in to "Washington Apple" shots by girls in skimpy outfits.

Excellent kick-off to the weekend. More Sin City Brewing today along with a trip down to New York, New York and Mandalay Bay. We've decided to go to the Styx, Foreigner and Kansas show tonight, so it should be another great day.

Viva Las Vegas

Looks like a beautiful day to fly to Las Vegas. So I will.

Nothing really concrete planned for today after we arrive. Probably go see Big Elvis at Bill's Gambling Hall for happy hour, then hit Sin City Brewing and finish the night off at Freemont Street Experience watching the Sin City Sinners. All tentative I guess, because well, ya never know out there.

We're thinking about catching Styx, Foreigner and Kansas tomorrow night at Mandalay Bay though. Classic rock me! The same venue I saw Metallica and Machine Head last December when I was out there. I'm guessing there won't be as much head-banging this time around.

Friday Indeed

Well I'm off to Las Vegas again in about an hour. I'm looking forward to several days of gambling, drinking and basically anything else I feel like doing. I've also got to where I almost love the traveling part as much as the destination with all my gadgets. I sit around the airport reading, jacking around on the laptop and people watching, then get on the plane and watch movies or listen to music and read a book and sometimes I'm just in no hurry to get somewhere. I've got about 6,600 songs now on my iPod plus lots of other goodies like videos and shows. For this trip I added the Christmas In South Park specials from iTunes, featuring 7 episodes of awesomeness.

* Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo
* Merry Christmas Charlie Manson
* A Very Crappy Christmas
* Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
* Red Sleigh Down
* It's Christmas in Canada
* Woodland Critter Christmas

So I'm sitting here actually looking forward to that little mini-marathon and next thing you know I'll have a cold beer in hand and less money in my pocket.

We're meeting up with some folks for happy hour when we get checked in then I'm going to try to get in the opening of the new Cabo Wabo restaurant. The grand opening is tonight and Sammy Hagar and pals are playing. I'm guessing tickets will be tough but we'll give it a run. Tomorrow is of course Metallica and Machine Head and I'll be betting on some college football (Florida vs 'Bama!) and the UFC fights tomorrow night.

In between all that, there will be lot of blackjack, roulette, craps and great food and beer. A typical Vegas weekend I guess. Beats sittin' home.