Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sahara’s Buck Wild’ a good idea not fully realized

Two new adult revues debuted at the venerable venue this month "Sin City Angels in the Casbar Lounge and "Buck Wild!" in the Sahara Showroom.

"Angels, produced by veteran Vegas entertainer Karin Denise, is a late-night free show. Because anyone passing through the casino can get a glimpse of the production, the performers are covered probably too covered for the taste of most fans out to see a little Sin City skin.

But if you're just out for a little fun and want to enjoy a high-energy show with decent choreography and sexy dancers, "Buck Wild! isn't a bad choice.

"Buck Wild!" produced by David Saxe ("V, the Ultimate Variety Show"), has an admission charge of $49.95. There are two versions of the show -- a covered performance at 7 p.m. and a topless production at 9 p.m.

The only thing hard-core about the topless show is the country music. If you're a fan of contemporary country, you probably will enjoy the revue.

If you aren't, then maybe you will enjoy the brief moments of exposed breasts that pop up sporadically throughout the late show.

But chances are, there might not be enough exposure to overcome any aversion you have to twangy songs, no matter how rock 'n' roll they may sound.

"Buck Wild!" is the country flip side to Greg Thompson's "Erocktica" at the Rio.

And it suffers from the same problems.

Thompson has attempted to combine a rock concert, featuring rock from the '70s and '80s, with a topless show.

The two didn't mix well. He recently announced the show was going on hiatus for a couple of months to make some changes. It will be interesting to see how dramatic the changes are.

Saxe's topless show doesn't have such a dramatic contrast. He isn't trying to mix a country music concert with a topless show -- he has blended the two quite nicely.

I'm a country music fan and have felt that a revue of some sort featuring country music was long overdue.

There are plenty of us out there -- Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and a host of other country stars routinely sell out performances in Vegas.

But Saxe might be trying to please too many people, offering a topless and a covered version of the same show (a concept he used at his "Showgirls of Magic" production at the San Remo).

The city is drowning in a sea of topless shows as it is. Why not simply provide country fans with a decent show and let the other producers bare all -- or almost all?

Some parts of "Buck Wild!" are pure corn -- especially "Hee-Haw"-type routines in which cast members pop up in a corn field and tell off-color jokes

Examples:

"We asked our son what he wanted for his birthday and he said he wanted a watch -- so we let him."

"Do you know what a tornado and a redneck divorce have in common? Either way, someone is going to lose a trailer."

But the show is loaded with talent -- the dancers are excellent, and well choreographed; host and lead singer T.J. Weaver does a great job with songs by Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks and other popular country artists.

Fiddle player Russ Hendricks has the looks of Charlie Daniels (but not the voice) and can play with the best of them.

A "Dukes of Hazzard" bit falls flat. A '69 Dodge Charger (that looks like the "General Lee" used in the TV show and movie) makes a brief appearance. It's only function is to get the women topless for a car wash. It didn't come off as sexy or entertaining.

There's also a scene involving a mechanical bull that has potential, but fails to live up to it.

Magician Nathan Burton does an adequate job with his country-themed act, which includes making a girl disappear after putting her in a giant six-pack of Bud Light.

Eleven-year-old harmonica prodigy L.D. Miller, who was one of the highlights of the show for me, is out of place here. The youngster has a lot of poise in front of an audience and he is advanced beyond his years with a harmonica.

And he does a fair job singing the blues, as fair as you can get at that age.

But this is a country show, not a blues show.

There are some bugs in "Buck Wild!" but Sahara entertainment director Ron Garrett stresses that it is going through a preview period. The show will close from Sept. 5-9 to be tweaked, and then start again a week later.

Maybe by then Saxe will decide whether to emphasize the breasts or the country.

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