Columnist John Katsilometes: It’s (Not) a Wonderful Leif

Monday, Jan. 31, 2000 | 9:36 a.m.

John Katsilometes is the Sun assistant features editor. His column appears Mondays. Reach him at kats@vegas.com or 259-2327.

He hit town on a mission. The red Spandex pants were gone, replaced by jet-black leather. His hair, once a mass of wavy blond locks, was concealed by a leopard-skin bowler.

His face bore a scowl, his chin a menacing goatee.

Yep, Leif Garrett was made over and primed for a comeback. His sneering, grind-it-out band Godspeed was set to play the chic House of Blues -- as the main attraction, not an opening act -- just days before the Super Bowl.

But on Wednesday, House of Blues officials spiked the show. Too few tickets had been sold. Fewer than 20, even.

Nineteen, to be exact.

At any local pub -- P.T.'s or Legends or the Barking Frog -- that's a poor crowd.

At the 1,800-seat House of Blues, it's embarrassing. And sad. It's just 15 more people than Garrett's four-piece band. The entire crowd could've easily shown up to the show on a single CAT bus. Or four Cadillac Northstars.

Nineteen? Not enough to play a regulation football game. The entire graduating class at Podunk High.

The official reason for the cancellation, coming from the House of Blues booking department in L.A., was that Garrett had "a scheduling conflict." Probably emergency dental surgery, brought on by meager ticket sales.

Something, clearly, went wrong. It's not as if Garrett doesn't carry name recognition, time-faded as it is. There was a time, in the late '70s, when a film of Garrett performing "I Was Made For Dancin' " would've filled the House of Blues (albeit with a horde of wailing, hormonally charged teenage girls).

It's also not as if Garrett entered the Las Vegas airspace ducking the radar. He opened his heart (and tear ducts) to VH1 on a famous "Behind The Music" episode last year. He spoke of the familiar trappings of teen stardom -- booze and drugs and acute fear when his fame faded. He consented to an emotional reunion with his friend Roland, left paralyzed after a car Garrett was driving crashed. Millions watched their tearful reconciliation.

Garrett was also featured on similarly scintillating VH1 specials such as "Where Are They Now?" and "Before They Were Rock Stars." He agreed to talk to the Sun in a Sunday Q&Accent feature, pontificating about how he wanted the band to remain untainted by the Leif Garrett-teen idol affiliation and stressing he didn't want the band called the Leif Garrett Band.

But the House of Blues, sensing that a faceless band called Godspeed wouldn't arouse ticket sales, advertised the band as "Godspeed featuring Leif Garrett." While Garrett's management company insisted on distributing pictures of Garrett with Godspeed, House of Blues used an old photo of Garrett, without the band, to promote the concert.

The strategy didn't work. Or did it? Maybe without using Garrett's name the show would've sold even fewer tickets. Eight, maybe.

Las Vegas has been home to plenty of comebacks, but is not kind to everyone. Maybe Garrett's group could perform as a local house band -- Godspeed might fit in well at Pink E's, jamming to the Kinks' "Lola" while off-duty card dealers play 9-ball.

There's no telling where Garrett's comeback will take him. Probably nowhere. Nineteen is an appropriate ticket number. For all his efforts, Leif Garrett left Las Vegas still a teen idol.