No ‘Mr. Roboto’ for Santana; Brad Garrett turns cool in ‘Fargo’; ice follies at Sin City Theater

By John Katsilometes

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 | 6:15 p.m.

The Kats Report Bureau at this writing is Earl of Sandwich, which is billed as “The World's Greatest Hot Sandwich,” at the recently renovated Caesars Palace Forum Food Court. Around the horn here we have aStarbucks, Tiger Wok & Ramen, Smashburger and Phillips Seafood.

The entity that bills Earl of Sandwich as the greatest of all hot sandwiches is the company itself. They are very good sandwiches, but you would need to create a sandwich for all time to knock off the Bobbie at Capriotti’s. Earl has one similar, the Holiday Turkey, and at this moment has an advantage because the counter is about 15 feet from here.

Elsewhere, across the way the Colosseum is set up for the latest run by Elton John, who closes Saturday night. It was Sir Elton who once said, “Music has healing powers. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” It helps when you have composed and performed some of the greatest songs in rock history. The Elton of John could go on for hours, but stops at a little less than two, so his fans can pour from the showroom and hit the tables, or pick up a sandwich.

As we wait for our order to go, let’s go:

• Carlos Santana continues his philanthropic activity. On Wednesday, he unveiled his latest project, a partnership with Hermes Music U.S. in which he donated 80 guitars to Monaco Middle School of Las Vegas. It turns out that Monaco has a burning Mariachi band, which was invited to perform a few numbers for Santana and his band at the donation ceremony at House of Blues. “One day, we will be your opening act,” Santana called out to the band as it hung out afterward to catch some of the Santana band’s sound check (the show continues its current run Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and from Jan. 28-31).

Santana also said work is continuing with the long-anticipated album “Santana IV,” as he is joined by original band members Neal Schon, keyboardist Gregg Rolie, drummer Michael Shrieve and percussionist Michael Carabello. Santana says work is about 50 percent complete. These guys are in no hurry to finish, and Schon is about to join his former bandmates in a Las Vegas residency when Journey takes over the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel from April 29-May 16. Recording on “Santana IV” will overlap into the set of Journey shows.

As is customary, Santana embraced whimsy with an air of spirituality when talking of his current stage show. “It’s almost like a cover band, and everything we cover, we make it ours, whether it’s ‘Oye Como Va’ or ‘Black Magic Woman,’” he said, adding that there are indeed some non-Santana covers in the setlist, including “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson. “"With Michael Jackson, we took the music away from the synthesizers and took it back to where it was more organic, and orgasmic too. … If you have too many synthesizers, it becomes really unnatural, very robotic. I love hugging real people, not a robot. Not that I’m robot-phobic or anything like that … but there is something more elevating, spiritually, about hugging a person.”

Well, I had never considered that Carlos Santana would be robot-phobic. He’s a universal hugger, musically and otherwise.

• Brad Garrett, who continues to slug it out at his comedy club at MGM Grand, has landed a “heavy” role on the next season of the FX series “Fargo.” Garrett is playing Joe Buto on the series, which returns this fall. In a text, Garrett, who co-starred in “Everybody Loves Raymond” through that show’s entire nine-year run, said, “It’s not a huge role, but joining another amazing cast.” Guest stars for next season include Nick Offerman, Kieran Culkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeffrey Donovan and Angus Sampson.

Garrett, who has already revealed he is working on a network pilot with David E. Kelley, plans to release his autobiography “When the Balls Drop” in May. The publisher is Simon & Schuster. And, he returns to the place he reliably refers to as “the basement of the casino” from April 6-12.

• Not since “Ice From Russia” closed at the Riv in November 2009 has frozen water played such a prominent role in a Strip performance. It all transpired Saturday night at the Sin City Comedy show at Sin City Theater in Planet Hollywood. Veteran standup Dennis Blair, who spent about 25 years opening for George Carlin across the country, was performing a familiar bit in which we parodies Johnny Cash singing “Folsom Prison Blues.”

What happened next is a first in Blair’s career, and there are not too many “firsts” left for a man who has spent a quarter-century in front of crowds at comedy clubs. A guy in the audience flung a cup of ice at the stage. He missed Blair and was summarily run from the club.

However, as Sin City stage manager Daniel Coryell posted on his Facebook page, the guy left behind his company credit card. As Coryell wrote, “If you are ever in Mississippi, stop by Moak Custom Cabinetry and say hello to the owner. Maybe even throw your drink at him so he can see what its like to be (messed) with while working.”

As Cash himself sang in his ode to prison dwelling, “I hear the train a comin'/It's rollin' 'round the bend. And I ain't seen the sunshine/Since, I don't know when.” Which has not a lot to do with a moron throwing ice at a standup comic, but, dang, that’s a great song.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.