Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Silverton rising with Springsteen tribute

"Bruce in the USA," a Bruce Springsteen tribute act, plays tonight and Saturday at the Silverton.

Because we can (horribly) sing the words to every song on the Boss's seminal 1975 album, "Born to Run," we're perhaps a little biased regarding all things Springsteen.

So we asked Gregg Maltby what he thought of the show.

Maltby, a Las Vegas resident, is a lighting designer who did three tours -- more than 400 shows -- with Springsteen and his E Street Band over a nine-year period in the 1980s and 1990s. Maltby now tours with Huey Lewis and the News.

"Simply, it is scary. Matt Ryan looks so much like Bruce and has his moves and sound down so well that I freaked out the first time I saw them," Maltby told us.

"It is really a trip. I mean everyone in the group is a dead ringer for the guys in the band, and the sound is fantastic. If you saw them onstage in some arena, I bet that most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Maltby was so overwhelmed that he volunteered to man the light board for the Silverton shows.

Standouts in the cast include redhead Diane Fabiano, a onetime Miss Pennsylvania and Miss America contestant (and "Showgirls" at The Rio performer) who does a dead-on Patti Scialfa.

With his bandana and slick guitar work, Matthew Sullivan does a mean Steven Van Zandt. Sullivan's other Vegas gigs include stints with David Cassidy and Clint Holmes.

And Clarence Clemons -- the Big Man -- has nothing on jazz sax player and longtime Vegas resident and entertainer Keith Martin, who portrays Clemons in the show.

The act's manager knows from tribute shows. Jerry Peluso also reps Las Vegas Hilton headlining acts Trent Carlini, who is widely acknowledged as one of the world's top Elvis Presley impersonators, and The Fab Four, a Beatles tribute group.

Lava flow

Every day perhaps 100 press releases, e-mails and other announcements cross the VegasBeat transom.

The most entertaining one Thursday was from The Mirage, which thoughtfully passed along an updated volcano eruption schedule.

For your information, through Sept. 30, the explosive attraction in front of the hotel will erupt every 15 minutes between 8 p.m. and midnight.

To help with your planning, during the month of October, it starts erupting at 7 p.m.

Then in November and December, when it gets dark earlier, it erupts beginning at 6 p.m.

Cookin' good

Longtime Steve Wynn associate Grant MacPherson has officially been hired as the executive chef of Wynn Las Vegas.

He had been working on Wynn's new Macau property. Previously he opened Bellagio with Wynn, handling all culinary operations for its first five years.

Also, Frederic Robert has been hired as executive pastry chef of the new resort. Robert has spent the last 25 years working with French Chef Alain Ducasse.

Newsmaker

Sandra Bullock was on the set of the KVWB Channel 12 "WB News at 10" on South Jones Boulevard on Wednesday.

She watched as some scenes for "Miss Congeniality 2" were filmed. Among those playing reporters were real-life WB reporters Erika Chao and Guy Farris and the station's anchor, Rachel Smith.

"It was a lot of fun for us and a real perk for the 'new guys' in town," Smith told us. Their broadcast is six months old, and is the latest news addition to the market.

Skin in town

Rick "Doc" Walker, a starting tight end for Joe Gibbs' 1982 Washington Redskins, is in Vegas for a few days.

Walker is a broadcaster -- he co-hosts a radio show in D.C. with former Georgetown hoops coach John Thompson and has his own nationally syndicated show on Westwood One. He is in town scouting locations for Vegas-based broadcasts.

Wednesday night Walker and an old East Coast friend of his, Michael Politz (who publishes Las Vegas Food & Beverage magazine), had dinner at Charlie Palmer Steak (Four Seasons) before heading off to see George Wallace at Flamingo Las Vegas.

Wallace and Walker are old friends, sort of. The comic's brother Steve Wallace played against Walker when Wallace was a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

Fight fans

Lots of celebs arriving in town today for the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Lamon Brewster/Corey Spinks vs. Zab Judah boxing card Saturday night at Mandalay Bay.

Expected at the bout and at the afterparty that CMX Entertainment and VegasHotSpots.com is tossing at Curve (Aladdin) include Drew Carey, Ginuwine, Damon Dash, Quincy Carter, Michael Vick and Kato Kaelin.

VegasBits

New home: "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton" is now in final negotiations to broadcast out of the Golden Nugget. A deal with the Stardust fell through last week. The show was hoping to ramp up production this week and get back on the air this month, but that will not happen. Sources say the expected return-to-air date is May 17 ...

Dinner: "CSI" star William Peterson had dinner at the bar at Charlie Palmer Steak on Tuesday ...

Fan: Penn Jillette saw Clint Holmes' show at Harrah's Wednesday night. Afterward they spent nearly an hour gabbing about music -- not many people know that Penn plays upright bass ...

Set: The likely Phil Collins show we wrote about a few weeks ago has been confirmed. The former Genesis drummer and vocalist hits the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Aug. 28. Tickets, priced from $75 to $125, go on sale April 17 ...

Also set: Rod Stewart also has an upcoming MGM Grand date, it was announced Thursday. Tickets, also priced from $75 to $125, go on sale Saturday for an Aug. 7 show ...

Club: Jeffrey Choderow was spotted at Mandalay Bay this week. He is a business partner of TV restaurateur Rocco DiSpirito, and is planning to open a nightclub atop The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, just underneath the planned rooftop restaurant of Ducasse. The temporary name of the new space is Wet, because of the extensive design use of waterfalls, spouts and fountains.

From Sun wires

The film is out there: David Duchovny expects that Mulder and Scully will ride again one day.

Duchovny said a second big-screen installment of "The X-Files" remains in the works. Though he doesn't know the plot, Duchovny said "X-Files" creator Chris Carter has signed off on the story premise.

"I'm dying to hear it," the 43-year-old actor told the Associated Press. "So now it's just a matter of making sure everybody can get together at the same time and do it."

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