Thursday, Feb. 1, 2001 | 8:55 a.m.
Everyone in the Arizona Charlie's East lounge knows Louie.
The 85-year-old retired wheat farmer seldom misses a chance to politely lead a woman (her age doesn't matter to him, it seems) out to the dance floor, where he shuffles to music performed by his favorite entertainer, Ron Livingston.
Louie a nickname for Charles Lewis Martin is easy to spot. Although he's only about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and slightly built, he always wears a black cowboy hat and plaid Western shirt. And he's always dancing.
"I quit (going to) Sam's Town when (Roxy's Lounge) went to rock" last year, Louie said.
Sam's Town opened in 1979, the same year Louie sold his farm in Oregon and moved to Las Vegas with his wife, who died five years ago.
"We were married 50 years. Danced all the time. I've always been a dancer. One night (at Sam's Town) I danced 65 dances with my wife without stopping," Louie recalled.
He is one of a couple of hundred fans who follow Livingston around. "Louie's here every night. He follows me wherever I play," said Livingston, a one-man band who sings pop and rock 'n' roll standards at Arizona Charlie's East, where he performs six nights a week.
But the country songs are what has made him a popular attraction on the Boulder Strip for six years.
While the Las Vegas Strip is 5 miles of dazzling casinos and megaresorts with high-priced rooms and fancy restaurants, the Boulder Strip is a series of small-to-medium-sized casinos, car lots, inexpensive motels, fast food establishments and bars that mostly play jukeboxes and karaoke.
Casinos that have lounges and showrooms (or lounges that are showrooms) include the Castaways (formerly the Showboat) Boulder Station, Sam's Town, Nevada Palace, the Longhorn and Arizona Charlie's East (the newest in the area).
Boulder Highway stretches for more than 20 miles, from where Charleston Boulevard and Fremont Street meet to Boulder City. For accounting purposes, the state Gaming Control Board considers the entire route the Boulder Strip, and lists 27 major gaming establishments in the general area (some of them, such as the Reserve and Sunset Station, are not even on Boulder Highway itself).
The Boulder Strip Association, an organization of several casinos and other businesses along the highway, however, limits the Boulder Strip to the area to 6 miles, from East Charleston Boulevard to East Tropicana Avenue.
"We are recognized nationally as the Boulder Strip," said Beverly Prather, who is president of the association and a sales manager for Sam's Town. "Our mission has been to promote this area as a resort destination."
In addition to the casinos, there is a handful of small, dark bars, popular blue-collar watering holes such as Dylan's (a country bar only open on weekends), the 4 Mile Bar, Dew Drop Inn, Heiney's and the Silver Saddle. The Library, a strip joint, recently joined the entertainment parade.
RV parks, mobile homes and residential areas are mixed in among the many businesses that cater to locals and provide an alternative for tourists who want to get away from the dense crowds, hectic pace and the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip.
The players
Livingston, a 48-year-old native of Canada, came to Las Vegas seven years ago to seek his fortune after a song he wrote, "Going Nowhere and Getting There Fast," was featured in the 1993 film "Cool Runnings," a story about an Olympic bobsled team from Jamaica, starring the late John Candy.
"They shot part of the film in Calgary (Canada) and part in Jamaica," Livingston said. "When they chose my song, I thought that was an omen and moved down here."
His first two years here he supported his family by driving a cab while playing at different clubs. He eventually developed a base of fans and became a full-time musician.
"It took a couple of years to get on my feet. I was playing and working -- I played at Tony B's for a couple of years," he said. "I've played most of the lounges (on Boulder Strip). A drive down Boulder Highway is like a drive down memory lane for me."
Livingston has been playing at Arizona Charlie's East for several weeks and is looking forward to a long run there.
When he steps on the stage at 4 p.m., the lounge quickly fills with 40 or 50 of his fans, and a handful of casino patrons who wander over when they like what they hear.
"Locals don't want to go to the (Las Vegas) Strip for entertainment," Livingston said. "They don't want to get into all that. The Strip caters to a different crowd. People from here wouldn't be comfortable on the Strip. A lot of the patrons we get up and down Boulder Highway like oldies, country, Elvis, Engelbert (Humperdinck). There are not a lot of venues for them on the Las Vegas Strip."
Livingston studies the Boulder Strip, watching it evolve. "The Silver Saddle (at Charleston Boulevard and Fremont Street), they're catering to Hispanics. They used to have country bands," he said. A new club, called Tu Nuevo, is about to open in the area.
"I've been up and down Boulder Highway for six years," Livingston said. "I've played the biker bars as well as the casinos."
While Livingston has run the gamut along the Boulder Strip, Dino Perilli, 46, spent 11 1/2 years at one location, the lounge at the Longhorn.
"I believe that made me the longest running lounge act in Las Vegas at one location," said Perilli, whose stage name is Dino Danger.
In October Perilli ended his long-term gig to devote more time to his company, A Party Production!. He also became entertainment director for the Longhorn.
Similar to Livingston, Perilli says he had a major following -- people he got to know over the years, and with whom could exchange banter during the course of a show.
"I prefer to hang out on Boulder Highway," Perilli said. "You get some tourists out there, they find their way to the cheaper hotels, and they always remark how much friendlier it is."
The newest kid on the Boulder entertainment block is Van de Guzman, who has been at the Castaways lounge for six months.
The Hawaii native (whose show has gamblers applauding from across the room) has been a Las Vegas resident for 12 years. He spent five years at Vacation Village, but has played at the MGM Grand and several other major venues around town. He, too, has a following of several hundred fans who are gradually finding him at his new location.
"I prefer Boulder Highway (to the Las Vegas Strip) because there are more locals," de Guzman said. "Tourists are OK, but locals are my big supporters. I'm very happy with the position I'm in right now."
All three men know how to work their crowds.
"(In) most of the shows on the (Las Vegas) Strip, music is not the main focus. It's magic and impersonators. But we don't have a lot of big shows on the Boulder Strip, we have lounge acts," Livingston said.
"This is where it's a bit of a throwback. It's old-style entertainment, where interpersonal skills are important. That's not so much the case on the (Las Vegas) Strip, where you don't have to connect with the audience."
Back in time
The Boulder Strip is caught in a time warp.
Livingston compares it to the Las Vegas Strip of 30 or 40 years ago.
"The Las Vegas Strip used to give things away to bring people in, but not anymore. They want to make a profit off everything, off food, entertainment, rooms," Livingston observed. "Today it's a 'must see' place, and so they can afford to up the prices because they've got the tourists coming in, they've got the people.
"But Boulder Strip, if they didn't offer deals on food, rooms and entertainment, they wouldn't get the people. Giving things away is a long-established way of doing business at casinos. You subsidize everything else to bring the gamblers in. That's what built Las Vegas."
Some might describe it as overbuilt: Showrooms that seat 1,000 people and concert halls that seat 15,000 dominate the entertainment scene along the Las Vegas Strip.
While some casinos on Boulder Highway, such as Sam's Town and Boulder Station, book well-known entertainers into their showrooms, lounge acts are still an important part of the Boulder Strip's entertainment mix.
Meanwhile Sam's Town spent $86 million sprucing up its interior, recently completing an expansion that included the addition of a 1,100-seat showroom, Sam's Town Live!.
"We're getting headliners, acts that appear on the Strip -- but for lower ticket prices," said Susan Hoving, the casino's director of advertising. "We just had Creedence Clearwater Revisited for $25 to $40. Little Richard is coming (Saturday and Sunday), and admission will be $25 to $35. You can see George Jones (Feb. 9-10) for $35 to $45."
Sam's Town is expanding its entertainment variety (it is opening an after-hours club later this month for the younger crowd), but it is not totally ignoring its country roots.
"We offer a wider variety now, but we still offer country," Hoving said. Travis Tritt will be the featured entertainer the first weekend in March, when the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing's Winston Cup series is in town.
Hoving said Sam's Town is not competing directly with the Las Vegas Strip. "We can't compete with the Strip. We're not big enough to compete, but we can compete on price," he said. "We're giving people a nice alternative. We have a niche."
While Boulder Strip might be similar to the Las Vegas Strip of the past, most of the venues recognize their limitations and are satisfied with their niche.
"We're going to live and die by the locals," said Kelly Cropper, 46, entertainment director of the former Showboat.
Cropper, a Las Vegas resident for 35 years, has no delusions about Boulder Strip's future.
"We're never going to be another Las Vegas Strip," he said.
The Castaways has booked de Guzman for its lounge, and twice a month is bringing in entertainers who have national name recognition, including '60s group Herman's Hermits, which will perform Feb. 21-25.
Boulder Station has booked headliners for some time. Upcoming engagements at the Railhead include shows starring jazz singer Diane Schurr, country stars Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn and Ronnie Milsap, and one-time pop stars Jerry Vale and Don McLean.
Perilli said he likes what he sees happening on the Boulder Strip. "They're bringing in national entertainers. (Casinos) are building up their lounges, making them more attractive."
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