Vegas in a Rush: Air Supply and Frankie Moreno meet the L.V. Phil, boosted by Elvis (and a fight)

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, April 5, 2009 | 12:43 p.m.

The towering vocalist wasn’t so much singing as shouting. “The way she looked! Was way beyond compaaare! Oh, she wouldn’t dance! With another!” The piano player hammered the keys and leapt in to harmonize, “Whoooooo!” Two saxophones were joined in full blare by a French horn, backed by a bass guitar and drums as the lead guitarist tore into a solo while taking a moment to toss back a shot of Crown Royal. Performing slightly off to the side were three classically trained violinists and one viola player. The flutist was set up behind the piano, leaning into the microphone as “I Saw Her Standing There” was given a wild, new, inventive treatment for a hopping lounge crowd that kept the cocktail servers on the run.

Yes, the air was supplied with the sounds of music last night at Rush Lounge. The Golden Nugget’s kick-it-up drinkery was aye-live, and providing the heartbeat was a collection of musicians you almost had to see and hear to believe. The great Frankie Moreno Band was the center of the fray, as usual. The unannounced guest vocalist was Graham Russell, the taller, blond half of ’80s hit machine Air Supply. The unannounced guest classical artists were a several members of the Las Vegas Philharmonic who hadn’t quite gotten it all out of their system earlier at the “Masterworks IV” performance at UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall. It was not a completely random event. Philharmonic musicians frequently stop in for Moreno’s shows at Rush Lounge, and Moreno is tentatively planning to record with a 16-piece string section from the Phil. Also, Moreno and band mates Mike Zerbe (drums) and Russ Letizia (guitar) tour with Air Supply, which was in town for a weekend at the Suncoast.

Consequently, tossed into this musical Cuisinart were French horn player Beth Lano, flutist Tina Hadley, voila player Sharon Street-Caldwell, cellist Lindsey Springer (of Bella Rumore) and violinists De Ann Letourneau, James Harvey, Jennifer Eriksson and Lisa Viscuglia (who is not with the Phil at the moment, but is recording with Moreno and is helping arrange the string-section sessions). Over at Ham Hall, the selections included Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Opus 6, and the guest artist was mind-blowing 16-year-old violin virtuoso Shannon Lee. At Rush, the guest artist was million-seller Russell, who covered the Joe Cocker cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends” and the Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman,” along with Air Supply classics “All Out of Love” and “Lost In Love.” He and Moreno also teamed for a new song they’ve co-written, “Love Sex.” There are “love” types and there are “sex” types, is the musical premise.

There was more, a lot more. We had a genuine bar fight, two guys engaged in an angry rhubarb on the floor between sets. Something about “All Out of Love” gets the blood boiling, I guess, as for a few moments Rush Lounge took on the look of Altamont Revisited. But the music could not be stopped. Late in the evening, Moreno threw the microphone set atop the piano into the audience. Snatching it was a guy standing next to me, Harry Shahoian, who looks a lot like Elvis. There is a reason: Shahoian evokes The King in “Legends in Concert” at Harrah’s and in his own local band, Rock This Town.

Boosted by the familiar horn part that played Elvis on and off the stage at the International and L.V. Hilton, Shahoian cut loose with “C.C. Rider.” The night would not have been complete without a little Elvis, a little culture, a little fisticuffs. Luckily, we made it out alive.

Update: The band members joining Moreno were sax players Tony Quintiliani and Jim D'Arrigo, and the guest bassist was Donnie Castleman, a member of Terry Fator's backing band at The Mirage. He was sitting in for Frankie's usual bassist, his brother Tony, who was in Peru gathering song ideas for the band's upcoming album (they draw ideas from everywhere, says Frankie). The YouTube clip has been updated. This is "All Out of Love," from Saturday's show.