Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

John Katsilometes rocks to Prince, who gave a brief preview of his show at the Rio

He is usually cloaked in purple, but took the stage in something close to cantaloupe. He performed only a medley of three songs - two of which we knew, and a third we could not identify. He's a vegetarian and his personal chef runs his new fine-dining restaurant, but the tasting menu features a meaty dish called Pine Organic Lamb Center Chop.

And on a night when members of the local media were invited to check him out, he made but one comment from the stage: "We want to see you here every weekend." Then he lofted his orange guitar (a Fender Stratocaster, from where I was standing) into the dance pit and vanished. At that point the crowd didn't know whether to dance, schmooze or flick their Bics.

Leave it to Prince - always a master of mystique - to keep Las Vegas on its toes. The 48-year-old artist performed for about 15 minutes on Wednesday night at his new 900-capacity home, the 3121 showroom at the Rio (the showroom formerly known as Club Rio). Prince will be the resident headliner Fridays and Saturdays in an extended engagement expected to last at least a few months.

Prince's sample-plate performance did nothing to dispel his stature as a great live performer as he soared through a quickie set that included "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy." And what his new venue lacks in sound quality - you feel the bounce of echo around the back of the room - it makes up for with its intimacy and club feel.

If Prince performs a healthy complement of hits each time out, he should do really well there.

But it's more than music at the Rio. The hotel's new Prince-ified restaurant, 3121 Jazz Cuisine, is under the care of Executive Chef Lena Morgan. This operation is far more extravagant than, say, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville at another Harrah's property, Flamingo Las Vegas. It's cool and quiet, and the food and service are superb.

Although he is expected to embark on a U.S. tour next year, Prince's schedule for the foreseeable future will be anchored by his commitment at the Rio. But we do know what he's doing on Feb. 4 (at least according to published reports): performing at the halftime show at the Super Bowl in Miami.

NoteMart

As of Thursday afternoon there was no ticket information (or any other information) on the Rio Web site about Prince's performances. Tickets are $125 apiece and are available at Ticketmaster, the Rio box office or at VEGAS.com. This is for future reference, as this weekend's performances are listed as sellouts ...

Harrah's executive Don Marrandino took in the Prince event and reported that Toni Braxton is performing to near-capacity audiences at the Flamingo. Marrandino put the number at 90 percent capacity, a remarkable recovery for the striking R&B vocalist after a rocky opening ...

The Las Vegas home for the legendary and recently closed New York music club CBGB is reported to be downtown Las Vegas. This, according to MTV News, which said that as of July 7 club owner Hilly Kristal plans to move the club - including its stage and bar - to Las Vegas and have the new venue open in spring 2008. If that is true, it's good for CBGB - and great for downtown ...

The knee injury suffered by Wayne Newton last month is the reason he gave to Los Angeles Times writer Martin J. Smith for being unable to lead Smith on a tour of the nooks and crannies of Las Vegas. Newton canceled at the last minute, but Smith wrote a wild account of the experience for last Sunday's L.A. Times magazine ...

High horses: The equine performance show "Cavalia" is bringing its 50 horses to Las Vegas today on a Boeing 747 cargo plane. They are all in first class; no word on how security checks are conducted for 50 flying horses ...

Recapping the predictions of handicapper (and one day, Senate hopeful) Wayne Allyn Root, in Tuesday's elections: Root was right about the Democrats taking the House of Representatives, but the Dems' seizing the Senate was a slight upset. Root is now in discussions with Penta Broadcasting (the network that syndicates Papa Joe Chevalier's sports talk show) for a nationally syndicated radio chat show. Root was also reportedly at the Palms over the weekend filming a new poker-themed TV show (the details have yet to be announced, but one person I know who gambles probably too much at the Palms said Root drew quite the crowd on Saturday) ...

Cari Marshall and her daughter, Dana Marshall, are co-chairwomen of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America's "Guts and Glory 5K Walk," scheduled for 9 a.m. Sunday at Hills Park in Summerlin. There is no entry fee, but walkers are asked to raise a minimum donation of $100. The project is a labor of love for the Marshalls - Dana, 17, has battled Crohn's disease since age 3. Cari is the daughter of Art and Jayn Marshall, who co-founded the Marshall-Rousso women's clothing chain ...

Unique road show: Spotted and recorded, a plate on a silver Chevy Blazer: YOUNEEK.

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