Music conference splits event after shooting
Tinagural Emerge Music + Impact Conference is significantly shaking up its schedule after the Oct. 1 tragedy on the Strip.
Instead of a three-day conference staged at multiple venues on Nov. 16-18, Emerge has consolidated its music showcases to a single event at Brooklyn Bowl. The balance of the festival, with conferences and music performances, is being moved to either February, March or April of 2018.
Acts that have already been signed to play the festival in November are now being sought to perform the one-off show. The date has yet to be determined, but is targeted for Nov. 16, 17 or 18. A plan to address concerns for those who already booked tickets to the three-day event is being sorted out.
Some of the proceeds from that show are being donated to families of those who were affected by the shootings at the Route 91 Harvest festival.
Rehan Choudhry, the conference’s founder and lead visionary, said the horror at Las Vegas Village prompted the shift in strategy.
“Like many of our neighbors and partners, the recent tragedy and loss experienced in our hometown of Las Vegas has had us soul searching,” Choudhry said Wednesday via email. “After some consideration, we decided that the inaugural Emerge will be stronger and more impactful if we make being good neighbors our priority in this moment, and then present our full program in the spring.”
Choudhry said Emerge’s original concept of featuring 100 acts and 30 speakers had not changed with the split in the festival’s debut.
“Sparking conversation and change through music and culture is at the heart of Emerge,” said Choudhry, who founded Life is Beautiful and is also the former entertainment director at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. “We look forward to bringing that spirit to our city.”
Venues already booked for the festival are being sought for the event next spring. Brooklyn Bowl, the Joint and Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel and Caesars Palace’s Absinthe Tent and Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace were all set aside for the Nov. 16-18 events.
Karaoke Island
Tuesday night’s “Sing for Strength” charity karaoke event at Ellis Island Casino and Brewery was a hit. We can quantify that: The night raised a staggering $100,000, with Ellis Island owner Gary Ellis pledging $1,000 for every song performed from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. to the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund for victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting.
The total was boosted by UFC President Dana White’s matching contribution for every singer.
He did not sing, promising after “two more beers” he’d take the stage.
He “two-beered” us for four hours.
It was a whole thing, folks. In a four-hour spectacle emceed by this scribe, those who hit the stage included Vegas notables Bill Medley and Bucky Heard ofthe Righteous Brothers at Harrah, Rudy Ruettiger, subject of the movie “Rudy”; the Las Vegas Gene and Chippenpaul from Sin City Kiss and “The World’s Greatest Rock Show” at the Stratosphere; Paul Johnson, also of “Rock Show;” Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton-holmes; Jaime Lynch of “Peepshow” and “Fantasy”; the cast of Rat Pack is Back at Tuscany Suites; Chris Phillips and Nieve Malandra of Zowie Bowie; Planet Hollywood magician Murray Sawchuck; Paul Shortino of “Raiding the Rock Vault’’ at Hard Rock Hotel; Frankie Scinta of “The Scintas at the Plaza”; longtime Vegas comic Kathleen Dunbar; singer/songwriter Kaylie Foster (daughter of Hammond master Ronnie Foster); Lindsey Simon of KLAS 8’s “Las Vegas Now”; Tedd Florendo of KLAS “8 News Now”; Vegas lounge great Ronnie Rose; Lannie Counts of Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns (who performs his “Cooke” tribute to Sam Cooke at the Italian American Club on Oct. 27); ex-“jubilee” cast member Laurie Caceres; Dick Feeney, producer of “Rock Show” and “The Rat Pack is Back” at Tuscany Suites; Robyn Vincent of Swing City Dolls and the Whip Its of Carnaval Court at Harrah and Geena Mattox, late of “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular.”
I was allowed to sing Steve Martin’s “King Tut,” for a cool $1,000. Never has bad singing felt so good.
John Katsilometes column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @ Johnnykats1 on Instagram. As of 9 p.m. Wednesday:
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