Cannery ready for major Club scene this weekend

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 8:52 a.m.

The Cannery opened its doors for the first time on Jan. 2, but this weekend marks another major kickoff for the North Las Vegas property's music venue.

Tonight The Club welcomes its first major national act, the Neville Brothers, for three shows in connection with the venue's Mardi Gras celebration. Doors open at 7 p.m. each night, with the concerts slated to begin at 9.

"This will be our first large-scale national act," said Edwin L. Ridenour, director of special events and entertainment for the Cannery. "We waited until the weather got better."

Weather is indeed a critical factor for The Club's event organizers, since a significant portion of the theater's 3,200-person capacity seating is in an enclosed outdoor area just beyond the concert hall's retractable outer door.

Barring rain, that outdoor space should be an ideal home for this weekend's Mardi Gras festival. Concert-goers will also find New Orleans cuisine and street-style performers waiting for them when they arrive at The Club, located at the corner of Craig Road and Losee Road.

"We're a festival-based, event-based facility," Ridenour said. "And most everything we'll do will be in three-night runs."

The Club features state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems. But the venue's primary asset might be its flexibility.

The Club was designed to accommodate diverse acts, from intimate jazz and blues performances to full-scale rock concerts. Walls, seats and the lighting rig can be moved and re-configured to provide clear sightlines from different areas of the room itself, from the outdoor area and even from the adjacent buffet eatery.

"We have such a flexible space," Ridenour said. "If you want to come to a club, we have that. If you want to come for a major festival act, we have that."

This weekend the Cannery will also host events in conjunction with Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup race.

"We want people to come out and enjoy what we're doing," Ridenour said. "The goal is to have every person in the valley come to see us at least once a year."