Columnist Kate Maddox: 4-NOW: These guys are really hot

Kate Maddox

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 | 9:32 a.m.

Kate Maddox's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at kmaddox@lasvegassun.com.

Finding your way through the maze of teeny-bopper bands these days can leave pop-music lovers disoriented and seeing double. In the 1980s things were much simpler -- back then the only thing that confused fans was when teen dreams New Kids on the Block changed their name to NKOTB. The horror.

These days you need a road map to get through the syrupy-sweet stylings of groups such as 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys and their dozens of clones.

Not to worry, though, Las Vegas now has a clone of its very own. And we can watch the boys in 4-NOW try to hit it big and ride the trend of cute boys in color-coordinated suits rhyming "heart" with "part" and "love" with "dove." The band consists of two Las Vegans, 20-year-old Court Petrie and 19-year-old Jayce Williams (who changed his name from Jason for band purposes) and two Canadians, 19-year-olds Derek Baynham and Charlie Lubiniecki (who needs to change his name for band purposes.)

Off to a promising start, 4-NOW has snagged a spot at Saturday's KLUC Summer Jam 2000 -- they open the show at 2 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium. The guys will be sharing the bill with popular acts such as Cisqo, Pink, Blaque, Nu Flavor and Innosense. (Summer Jam's subtitle: bands with correct names spelled incorrectly. 4-NOW should fit in like a gem.)

If you can't wait to see the guys debut this weekend, catch them at Planet Hollywood at the Forum Shops at Caesars for a free concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The early buzz on the band is pretty hot. Although they've been together for only six weeks, look for a CD sometime in the very near future, featuring a song written for them by Harrah's headliner Clint Holmes. And these guys are only 4-NOW, for now. They hope that Las Vegas locals will help them find a more permanent moniker sometime L-8-ER.

Baby's nightclub at the Hard Rock isn't the only late-night hot spot to have a few troubles recently. Rumors of violence and drugs have plagued other clubs of late.

A popular after-hours rave at SRO, a small club near the UNLV campus, was interrupted last week with ambulances and rumored drug overdoses. And Ra, the nightclub at Luxor, had been plagued with fights and angry crowds at their weekly hip-hop night jam parties.

Those who are into the late-night party scene are saying that management at all of the Las Vegas clubs should start paying more attention to what's happening with their patrons and focus less on their own wallets. Nightclub insiders also say they are certain that no one involved in the club scene wants these incidents to get out into the public radar. Tracking down witnesses, club management, promoters and/or employees at some of the clubs has proven virtually impossible.

In lighter news, Ra took a cue from repeated troubles with hip-hop night violence and canceled the weekly party altogether. The club's new Thursday night bash now has a new theme: It's a gay night dubbed "Freedom." The 180-degree switcheroo got off to a calm, and decidedly noncombative, start last week.

People are still talking about it, so I might as well do the same. Yes, that is a local PR person in a recent edition of a, ahem, low-level skin mag. I won't name names, but the young lady in question did list her real name, hometown and career. Girlfriend, you had to know the word would get out.

Richard Branson brings his crew to Baby's Thursday night. The Virgin billionaire and his entourage (rumored to be in the two- to three-hundred person range) are crossing the pond on the inaugural London-to-Vegas Virgin flight this week and have rented the Hard Rock's nightclub for a private celebration. If all goes well, Branson should then spend part of his Friday competing for the world record in blimp water-skiing.