New Year’s show a streak of misfortune for Ricky and Co.

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 8:56 a.m.

What: Ricky & the Redstreaks New Year's Eve Party.

When: 12:15 a.m. Tuesday.

Where: San Remo's Chateau Ballroom.

Admission: Free.

Rating (out of 5 stars): **

Ricky & the Redstreaks is one of my favorite bands.

They play old-time rock 'n' roll, a little country and a little boogie.

Usually the group, which has been together for more than 30 years, is full of fire. But something was lacking in its performance New Year's Eve in the Chateau Ballroom at the San Remo -- the fire's flame was on low.

This is the first year the hotel has thrown a New Year's Eve party offering free entertainment. Planners chose a party band that should have made the event a sure-fire success.

But the party's fireworks fizzled.

Outside the hotel, located east of the Tropicana and across the street from MGM Grand, an estimated 300,000 revelers welcomed in the New Year along the Strip and at other hotels.

But the Redstreaks' set didn't begin until almost 12:30 a.m., after the fireworks had died down and all of the kissing, hugging and celebrating was over.

And the Redstreaks' party never really got started.

I have seen 3,000 and more dancers going crazy at a Redstreaks concert at the Stardust during the National Finals Rodeo. But only about 100 revelers were in the Chateau Ballroom at any given time for New Year's Eve (actually, New Year's Day), and only a few couples took advantage of the dance floor.

That could have been because of what I believe to have been a questionable decision to not start the party inside until the party outside was all but over. Perhaps the hotel didn't want to compete against all the hoopla on the streets.

Or it could have been because it was almost impossible to get to the San Remo. Even though it isn't exactly on the Strip, it is close enough to have been affected by street closures and the redirection of traffic.

Or perhaps it was because the small hotel is in the shadow of the giant MGM across the street and was unnoticed by the throngs.

It was a sad evening, party-wise -- something rare for the Redstreaks, whose name was taken from a comment Paul McCartney once made in an interview. McCartney, riding the pinnacle of success at the time, said he missed the old days and he would like to just rent a hall and call his band something like Ricky & and the Redstreaks and make music.

The members of the Redstreaks have been making great music for a long time. Founders Ray Brown and John Jackman had rival bands when they were in high school in Placerville, Calif., in the '60s. After they graduated in 1968 they joined forces and formed a rock 'n' roll band called The Train, which played top 40 hits.

The Train became Ricky & the Redstreaks.

In 1976, after touring small clubs around the country for several years, they happened to be playing at a club in Cheyenne, Wyo., at the same time the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo was going on. The rodeo cowboys and their fans dropped in on the rock 'n' roll band and by the end of the rodeo, the Redstreaks were the biggest draw in town.

Since then they have been a favorite on the rodeo circuit, playing 10 or more rodeos a year in addition to regular dates at clubs.

The band spends about 24 weeks a year on the road playing rodeos and nonrodeo dates. They frequently come to Vegas. Their next dates, all at the Stardust, will be Jan. 21 to Feb. 2; April 8 to April 13, May 13 to May 18, July 29 to Aug. 3 and Nov. 4 to Nov. 9.

While Redstreaks fans at rodeos tend to be young and reckless and full of energy, those at Tuesday night's event (or Wednesday morning's) were older and not as spry.

The musical talent is till there, but I believe what was lacking was synergy. The Redstreaks feed off the energy of the hyper rodeo crowd during the National Finals, and the crowd in turns feeds off the energy of the band.

It seemed that everyone was left hungry at the New Year's Eve quasi-bash.