Friday, Oct. 13, 2006 | 8:01 a.m.
Five years ago Gold Coast President Kelly Edwards used to tease a young bellman who, although a conscientious employee, would show up to work wearing makeup and "goofy shoes" and grandiosely talking of making it big as a rock star.
Today that employee is indeed a superstar whose band occupies the No. 2 spot on the Billboard album charts. The former bellman is Brandon Flowers and the band is the Killers, whose "Sam's Town" was kept off the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts in its debut week by "The Open Door" by Evanescence. The Killers' tribute to Las Vegas, named for the hotel on Boulder Highway, has sold 315,000 copies and the band recently appeared on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live."
And not long ago, casino executive Edwards was bigger than the band.
"I haven't seen (Flowers) in a long time, but I did tease him occasionally because he would mention where he was playing (in those days it was likely the now-defunct Cafe Espresso Roma) and I heard that all they did was covers and that they wore makeup," Edwards said with a chuckle during a phone interview this week. "I said, 'I don't want to see some fluffy band playing covers wearing makeup.' And he had these goofy shoes, at least I thought they were goofy. But I'm not really up on fashion."
Edwards said Flowers took his job seriously, however. In interviews Flowers has corrected journalists who referred to him as a "bellhop" by saying, "bellman."
"He was always a good employee. He was great with the customers," Edwards said. "But aside from hearing that he was in a band, I never paid attention to that part of his life. You know how it is, there are a lot of people who are in bands who think they're going to make it ... In this case, he definitely went somewhere."
Edwards is familiar with the proverbial rags-to-riches tale: He started his hotel career at the Gold Coast 15 years ago.
"I worked at the pool, handling towels," he said. "I was a pool attendant."
NoteMart
Independent American Party gubernatorial candidate Christopher Hansen's stage-crashing at Monday's Jim Gibbons-Dina Titus debate at Bally's has made Hansen something of a pop celebrity around town. "I was at the gas station (Wednesday) and a guy came up to me and said, 'I thought that was great!' Hansen said Thursday. "I was at Vons and a woman said the same thing. I got a wonderful e-mail from the plumbers' and pipe fitters' union. They loved it." Hansen said he got the idea to protest the absence of third-party candidates at Monday's debate from Titus herself, during a chance meeting at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport last month. "So you can blame her - she said I should protest, and I did," said Hansen, who ambushed the stage shouting that he deserved to take part in the forum (and was then quickly hustled away by Harrah's security ) while proudly wearing an American flag dress shirt. "I got 10 of these on sale at the Bass Pro Shop for $10 each, seven pullovers and three button-ups. They're not made in America, of course. I think they were made in Indonesia. We don't make anything in America because we've shipped all of our jobs overseas." ...
Stand-up comic/novelist Rita Rudner is signing copies of her latest book, "Turning the Tables," from 3-4 p.m. Saturday at the Forum Shops at Caesars. "It's unusual for me to be at the Forum Shops in this capacity. I'm usually the buyer, not the seller," Rudner said Thursday in an e-mail message ...
NBC has confirmed that it is going forward with a show called "Poker After Dark," that will air at 2:05 a.m. daily except Sundays. The show is an hourlong poker competition series in which six pro players compete for a $120,000 prize ...
We hear that the famous Sunset Strip club Roxy has pulled out of its plans to open a nightclub in the space once occupied by Ra at the Luxor. In that space will be a state-of-the art venue operated by Pure Management Group. The steakhouse Aspen 702 (which boasts Wilmer Valderamma, Nicky Hilton and Nick Lachey as partners) and the nightclub LAX are also in the plans for that spot ...
Ever wonder what happened to the bassist for the Stray Cats? No? No matter. Lee Rocker appears at 3 p.m. Saturday during the third annual "Rockabilly Rod Reunion" at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The event begins today and runs through Saturday at the speedway and at Sam's Town Live; tickets are $15 for adults, $6 for kids ages 6-12. Kids 5 and under are admitted free of charge. Call 632-8213 or go to www.rockabillyrodreunion.com for information.
The executives of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts all have befitting vanity plates. President Myron Martin has LVARTS, Chairman Don Snyder has PACMAN and Vice Chairman Keith Boman has LVPAC.
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