Scored a last minute ticket this past Friday night to see Tommy James and the Shondells at the packed Golden Nugget Las Vegas, one of my favorite venues in town. Really satisfying gig—the ‘60s pop-rock icon jumped headlong into “Draggin’ The Line” and closed with “Mony Mony” before an encore including “Sweet Cherry Wine.”

With a muscular + tight six-piece band behind him, his voice was still thrillingly resonant. For me, it was especially cool to see James do his signature hit “Mony Mony” having heard Billy Idol perform his excellent version a week before at the Cosmopolitan. The hits kept coming: “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” “Crimson & Clover” + more.

These songs were all released on Roulette Records, which was controlled by scary Morris Levy as a front for the Genovese crime family. This is all part of James’ 2010 page-turning autobiography “Me, The Mob and the Music,” which he said onstage was finally close to being made into a big Hollywood movie.

10/27/21

Always fun to drop into Hash House A Go Go on Sahara…between their “twisted farm food” with monster portions (I had the relatively sane sundried tomato, basil + goat cheese egg scramble) and the best music in town (I heard Spoon, Curtis Mayfield, Ramones, T.Rex + Killers while there yesterday). Couldn’t resist taking the heavenly churro waffle to go!

10/25/21

Still a thrill to see Billy Idol—badass + sincere—light up a room. “I want to thank you for making my life so fucking great,” he said onstage this past Saturday night at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan to a packed crowd as part of his residency there.

His widescreen punk rock, dressed up with glam and hard rock, still dazzles. The fist-pumping hits kept coming, along with three new songs from his new EP, ‘The Roadside,’ one of which, “U Don’t Have to Kiss Me Like That,” was instantly anthemic. It was pure joy to hear Idol’s menacingly husky voice, matched with the fierce, eloquent guitar runs by Steve Stevens and the sturdy rhythm guitar of Billy Morrison. The two song-encore sealed the deal: a sparks-flying cover of “Born To Lose” (by Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers) and then…”White Wedding.” It was my first time seeing Idol (a former client) since 2014 when he released the “Kings  & Queens of The Underground “ album, for which SRO PR handled the PR including a memorable L.A. Weekly cover.

Cool how the new Las Vegas Weekly shines a super-appetizing light on the Spanish tapas scene here, including places where we’ve been/love (Pamplona + Firefly… see last photo to see Rana and me recently outside the latter) and others we need to check out (like Valencian Gold). LVW also zeroes in other non-Spanish eateries serving tapas, like Nittaya’s Secret Kitchen (right where we live in Summerlin) with its Thai delicacies including those crazy-addictive potato curry puffs. 

9/10/21
Thanking Las Vegas Weekly for pointing us in the right direction…to the newly opened Chef Kenny’s Asian Vegan Restaurant on Flamingo. We had quite a feast there this week: starting with tasty dim sum (BBQ pork steamed bun, shrimp dumpling) before moving onto to the instantly memorable entrees: Salt and pepper shrimp, Yee Shang Egglant and the House chow mein. The food was a home run on all levels—an exciting addition to the loudly buzzing Vegan food movement in Vegas. Colorful ambience, too—and the price is right. We’ll be back! (CC: Vegans, Baby by Diana Edelman)

8/7/21
In an L.A state of mind last night, we headed to Bordergrill at Mandalay Bay. Judging by how scintillating the Vegan Relleno and Chicken Poblano Enchiladas tasted, chefs/food visionaries Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken haven’t lost their touch at all when it comes to merging authentic + creative cuisine. Back in the day, Rana and I used to go to the first Border Grill which opened in 1985 as a 35-seat eatery on Melrose Avenue.