No barricades for Joe Walsh in Strip return
Jhas sorted out his career away from the Eagles. Crucial to his strategy is to keep the Eagles alive.
“We weren’t ready to be done yet,” says Walsh, who performs — solo — Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at the House of Blues. “We spent a year grieving, and we grieved, and we wanted to at least try. It didn’t seem right that the Eagles were finished.”
Walsh conferred with Don Henley about re-igniting the Eagles after the death of Glenn Frey in January 2016. Walsh sought out Frey’s guitarist son Deacon Frey and country star Vince Gill to join him, Henley and Timothy B. Schmit for the “Classic West” all-star show at Dodger Stadium on July 15 and the “Classic East” concert at Citi Field in New York two weeks later.
“That is the band,” Walsh says, referring to the refurbished Eagles. “I talked with Deacon, got him up to speed. I called Vince, because he would cover all the bases musically and vocally. Everybody said, ‘I’m all in,’ and we have reinvented the Eagles. We’re playing a bunch of dates next year.” Walsh says he likes the cozy informality of the House of Blues.
“I loved it, because I don’t get a chance to play places that small very often,” he says. “I kind of graduated to a little larger scale, whether wanted to or not. But it reminds me of the old days, where the audience is right in front of you and not pushed behind some barricade.”
Return of Shecky
Shecky Greene was back at the Italian American Club on Sunday night for his first visit since he broke his right hip and upper femur in a fall in February. “I had to break a hip to get a free dinner!” said Greene, who caused quite a stir at Justin Shandor’s Elvis tribute show in the club’s main room.
Shandor, the 2010 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Contest champ, ventured offstage to say hello to Greene, who was leaning on a cane while seated next to his buddy Gene Kilroy. Greene grabbed the mic and said, “Elvis opened for me at the New Frontier in 1956 and — sorry, Elvis, I know you’re up there listening — this guy is better!”
With love!
I often say, and frequently think, column fave Jassen Allen would have been a Motown superstar if he had been born in another time and place. Such as the mid-1940s in Detroit.
As it is, Allen is ours, and he’s heading up a spirited show, “With Love — Luther Vandross & Friends” at 7 p.m. Friday at the Freedom Hall Theatre in Anthem and at 7 p.m Saturday at the Starbright Theatre in Sun City Summerlin.
Allen, who also produces the Mondays Dark shows at The Space between his many gigs around town, performs a powerful tribute to Vandross. Also in the production, the Not So Background singers Nikki Logan, Avana Christie and Sherell Davis summon Whitney Houston, Etta James, Natalie Cole and Donna Summer.
Backed by the With Love Band, this show kicks it up real good and at $20 is a deal, for real.
From the Factory
Straight outta Brooklyn, veteran comic and actor Victor Dibitetto headlines the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Dibitetto garnered an audience through his 28-second “Bread and Milk” Youtube video, whose signature (and only) line is, “I gotta get da bread and milk!”
Kind of hypnotic, actually. Dibitetto also played Gino Chizetti in the 2015 comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” a film skewered by critics that happened to be filmed at Wynn Las Vegas, which leads usto…
Who Wasn’t Where
Steve Wynn, not seated or sighted at the Raiders stadium groundbreaking on Monday night. In a moment reminiscent of “Waiting
For Guffman,” a chair with Wynn’s name attached was left vacant in the front row. He happened to be out of town.
Who Was Where
Vaunted timepiece proponent and hip-hop icon Flavor Flav at Mike Tyson’s “Undisputed Truth — Round 2” show Monday night at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at the MGM Grand … Bally’s headliner Tom Green, dropping in on Lydia Ansel’s DJ set Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel … Comic actress Kym Whitley (“Next Friday” and “Young & Hungry”) at the 8 p.m. Saturday performance of “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace … and Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys at the Planet Hollywood Resort attended the 10 p.m. Thursday performance.
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. Tuesday:
1. Police say drug deal led to shooting on Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas police believe a drug deal gone bad Tuesday morning on the Strip led to a shooting that left one man in the hospital and a suspect on the run.
2. In stirring Las Vegas groundbreaking ceremony, Raiders rise up for those lost
The stadium in which the Raiders will call home here won’t be completed until 2020, and yet already the NFL team has merged with Las Vegas in a way no one could have imagined.
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A Northern California man killed two neighbors with whom he had been feuding before he went on a shooting rampage Tuesday at apparent random sites in a series of attacks where he killed two more people and injured 10 before police fatally shot him, officials said.
4. Raiders launch work on stadium in Las Vegas
The Oakland Raiders’ philosophical Commitment to Excellence has become a Commitment to Las Vegas.
5. Raiders checking out Henderson for practice facility
The Raiders are in negotiations to build their Southern Nevada practice facility on a vacant 55-acre lot west of the Henderson Executive Airport, Mayor Debra March told the Las Vegas Review-journal on Tuesday. As of 9 p.m. Tuesday:
1. Raiders remember Las Vegas shooting victims at groundbreaking
During the Oakland Raiders groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas, Raiders owner Mark Davis spoke about how important it was to pay tribute to Las Vegas shooting victims at the event.
2. Raiders stadium groundbreaking
Gilbert Manzano, Rick Velotta and Ed Graney recap the ceremony for the Raiders Stadium groundbreaking.
3. Raiders pay tribute to Las Vegas shooting victims in groundbreaking ceremony
The Raiders organization opened the stadium groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas with a tribute to the Oct. 1 shooting victims and first responders.