J.T. the Brick, wife grateful for Stones
J.T. THE BRICK and his wife, Julie, owe it all to the Rolling Stones and the fabled Center Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The Stones are still rocking. So are J.T. and Julie.
The Center Bar, sadly, is not. The popular “Mad Dog Sports” host on Siriusxm and veteran broadcaster (whose legal name is John Tournour), attended the historic Stones show at The Joint at the Hard Rock on Feb. 15, 1998. It was the day after Valentine’s Day, but love was still in the air.
The Brick had a front-row ticket to a singularly wild Stones show on the “Bridges to Babylon” tour. The series was playing arenas except for the Vegas date, which jammed 2,000 fans into the old Hard Rock music hall (today’s Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas).
We took to calling that Stones concert the Fire Code Show, for its potential violation of capacity limits.
The concert was remarkable musically (an opening spree of “Satisfaction,” “You Got Me Rocking” and “Flip the Switch”) and for its superstar celebrity turnout. The list was dotted with such name-checks as Jack Nicholson, Sting, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Gwen Stefani, Jenny Mccarthy, Dennis Hopper, Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson.
The Hard Rock casino floor was raging. As was customary in the Center Bar’s golden era. J.T. sidled up to a stranger at the bar. She was solo, having won the opportunity to buy a balcony ticket by dropping her ticket to a previous John Mellencamp show at the Joint into a drum for a random drawing.
Julie’s name was chosen, and she was set for the Stones show, further mapping this couple’s path to destiny.
“We started talking, and I said I would find her in the balcony during the show, and during Sheryl Crow’s seti grabbed a pass, which was a medallion, and took it to her and brought her down,” J.T., who works frequently as host and emcee of Las Vegas Raiders events, said Friday. “What a night. It was the greatest show they have ever done, in my opinion. Julie and I started dating the following week. But if I were three feet in either direction, it would’t have happened.”
John and Julie were married in September 1999, and this year celebrated their 22nd anniversary.
“Everything I have in my life is because of that night,” said the Brick, who has a pair of front-pit tickets to Saturday’s show at Allegiant Stadium. “I’m not even going to tell you what they cost. But we had to be at this one.”
Three Stones throws
A trifecta of memories from Stones shows caught in Vegas, and one during my days in Chico in Northern California:
■ Nov. 18, 2005, MGM Grand Garden: Early in the show, Mick Jagger chugged a bottle of water, then kicked the container into the crowd.
The bottle landed just over the heads of Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers, a random development as the two were at the show as fans.
This was just as the band kicked into “Tumblin’ Dice.” Jagger also seized on the city’s hot tourism slogan, saying, “I’ve heard that new slogan, ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ Does that mean my money, too?”
That concert fell in the midst of a remarkable run at the Grand Garden, during which Paul Mccartney and U2 also played there, the zenith of the venue’s 28-year history.
■ May 11, 2013, Grand Garden: Katy Perry arrived for an unbilled, but expected, duet on “Beast of Burden.”
She and the band had sent word over social media that she would be onstage. What wasn’t planned was Perry popping Jagger in the face with the mic during the wild performance. The tour also marked the return of guitarist Mick Taylor, a Stones stalwart from 1969 to ’74.
■ Nov. 4, 1989, Oakland Coliseum: Going off the Vegas listing for this historic show, the first concert at the Coliseum or in the Bay Area after the ’89 Loma Prieto earthquake. My father had fluked his way into tickets, hearing on the radio the show was about to go on sale and pulling into a Tower Records store (a depiction of this ancient ticket-buying process can be found on hieroglyphics on the side of the Coliseum).
This was the “Steel Wheels” tour, with Living Colour opening. Getting to the Coliseum was a grind, with access still curtailed because of freeway damage. Jagger said he was grateful to be performing a show less than three weeks after the tragedy. “Northern California is a great place to be, but you don’t need me to tell you that.” No matter the conditions, the Stones have always answered the call.
Flat gone
There are no plans to revive “Exhibitionism,” the Rolling Stones memorabilia display at Palazzo. Co-producer Adam Steck of SPI Entertainment said Thursday that the exhibit had satisfied its expectations, closing Feb. 25, 2018. There was talk at the time of a return trip. The installations included sets, guitars, drums, costumes, and re-creations of the band’s flats from London in 1962.
Cool Hang Alert
Keeping in the rock mode, the ace cover band Alter Ego plays Saturday at the First Street Stage on the Fremont Street Experience from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. The band will toggle with the George Thorogood and the Destroyers set on the Third Street Stage. We grooved to Alter Ego during the June 1 reopening of live entertainment at FSE. They sounded great, even up to 4 a.m.
The Review-journal is owned by the family of Dr. Miriam Adelson, the majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates Palazzo.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section.
His “Podkats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal. com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal. com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @Johnnykats1 on Instagram.