John Katsilometes on a sly move by George Wallace to help revive a legend’s career

Friday, March 16, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.

We just can't get over the funkiness of it all.

In June 1974 George Wallace was a member of an exclusive crowd of 15,000 on hand when Sly Stone married Kathy Silva onstage during a Sly and the Family Stone concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Wallace says the place shook so much, "I thought it was coming down. I was in the back row and it was just rockin'."

No longer a spectator, Wallace has booked Stone - the same Stone famous for drug busts, for not making gigs, and for one of the strangest moments in the history of the Grammys - to perform at Flamingo Las Vegas. The scheduled (such an important word in this case) performance of Sly and the Family Stone, with Stone, is March 31 (tickets are $99 and $125 and are on sale now). Wallace four-walls the Flamingo Showroom for his performances and can book whomever he likes during his showtimes. He says he plans to perform in his regular 10 p.m. slot and Stone & Co. will follow, or he might shift the showtime to 7 p.m., as Toni Braxton is off that night.

Six months ago Wallace and his Los Angeles-based manager, Christopher Pratt, started calling anyone with an affiliation to Stone. "We've gone through sister-agent-family, everyone, to make this happen."

Stone last appeared onstage at the 2005 Grammys, when he joined a happy cluster of performers for a medley paying tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. Prior to that appearance, Stone spent more than 20 years out of the spotlight, but Wallace is not deterred. He says Stone will perform "a set of songs - a medley," and if Stone flakes he won't get paid. "It's deal, or no deal. You know what I'm saying?" says Wallace, who knows the answer.

NoteMart

"Phantom - Las Vegas Spectacular" is cutting a few shows over the next few weeks. The 10 p.m. shows on Thursday and March 29 have been canceled (as was Thursday's 10 p.m. show this week). The 7 p.m. show on April 2 has been dropped, but a 10 p.m. on March 30 and a 7 p.m. on April 4 have been added. A spokeswoman for the show said the production is making "some seasonal adjustments" based on tourist traffic trends ...

Rao's at Caesars Palace will start serving lunch beginning April 2. The menu will be scaled back from the famed Italian restaurant's dinner menu but will offer wood-fired pizza. Seating will be restricted to the "Feast" area and the patio that overlooks the Garden of the Gods pool complex. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and reservations are suggested ...

It's madness (madness! I tell you): On Monday about noon, a long line teeming with eager basketball bettors (even a few who resembled, but were not, Sen. John McCain) snaked out of Mandalay Bay sports book to the "Mamma Mia!" box office. Similarly jammed was the Las Vegas Hilton superbook, which merited a moths-to-the-lamp live report from KLAS Channel 8 ...

GR8 car: Vanity plate on a red 1964 (or 1964 1/2) Mustang convertible, GITEEUP.