Zowie Bowie again in CBS party plans
WHEN he was 12 years old, Chris Phillips attended a fancy Las Vegas production. The star of the show ventured into the audience that night in 1978, making it to the Phillips family’s booth. He shook the kid’s hand and said, “Welcome to Las Vegas, young man.”
“I saw this guy with great hair and white teeth and a lot of charisma,” Phillips recalls. “That’s when I said, ‘I want to do that.’ ”
The star was Tony Orlando, the big room was the theater at the Las Vegas Hilton, today’s International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas.
Arriving full circle so many years later, Phillips and his Zowie Bowie backing band are playing New Year’s Eve at that very showroom. The show runs from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and is free, all general admission, seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
The show is a component of the regional CBS “Countdown to New Year’s Eve
2022” special on KLAS. The broadcast runs at 8:58 p.m. to 12:35 a.m. Pacific time, featuring live performances across the country and reaching 13 Nexstar Media Markets (specifically L.A.; San Diego; Sacramento; San Francisco; Fresno; Bakersfield; Portland, Oregon; Denver; Grand Junction; Colorado Springs; Salt Lake City; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Honolulu).
Nexstar Media reports the show will reach 17 million households. A year ago, the cross-country coverage generated an additional 6 million streams online. The event is again a fundraiser for Souper Bowl of Caring, which raises money to tackle hunger in each market.
Coverage will include an appearance by Strat Theater headlining magician Xavier Mortimer and cast members of “Absinthe,” “Ka” and Blue Man Group. The citywide fireworks show from the rooftops of Aria, Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood Resort, Resorts World Las Vegas, The Strat, Treasure Island and
The Venetian is also set for broadcast. Nationally, pop star Scotty Mccreery is the featured headliner.
The telecast is to be hosted by actor and comic Michael Yo and broadcast news personality Nikki Novak, along with popular Vegas broadcaster JC Fernandez of KLAS’ “Las Vegas Now” and meteorologist Anthony Bailey of affiliate CBS47 in Fresno. The central broadcast position is reportedly the Fremont Street Experience.
Zowie Bowie’s performance is the band’s first ever in that venue, after arriving in Las Vegas in May 2006. Phillips’ regular band is backed by vocalist Jaime Lynch ,a six-piece horn section and four ZB Showgirls enlisted by Chris’ wife, Jennifer Phillips, who runs that operation.
The NYE show is similar to the Cbs-nextel broadcast from the celebration ushering in 2020 at Circa, when Zowie Bowie played the Stadium Swim pool deck with just a camera crew, support staff and no live audience present. That broadcast went across the West, too, memorable in part for Lynch’s performance of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” when she was nearly blown off the stage.
This year, the Fremont Street Experience is hosting an all-star NYE show starring Vanilla Ice, Village People, Bobby Brown, Tone Loc and Flock of Seagulls.
ZB, a weekly headliner at Fremont Street’s Third Street Stage will play entirely indoors this year, following its International Theater show with an open party at Westgate Cabaret from 12:45 to 2:30 a.m.
“We will literally be running from the broadcast show in the main room to do our after-party band show,” Phillips says. “It will be a party, I promise.”
No-go for Go-go’s
The Go-go’s are opting for a Valentine’s Day party on the Strip, rather than a shindig ushering in the new year.
The reunited 1980s hit-makers have moved their shows originally set for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at the Venetian Theatre back to Feb. 11-12. Both shows were sold out.
The band announced on social media, “A member of our team recently tested positive for COVID. ALTHOUGH WE ARE, OF COURSE, VERY DISAPPOINTED, we will be following proper protocols and postponing our upcoming west coast dates.”
The band also canceled shows set for San Francisco, L.A. and San Diego. The Gogo’s have sparked renewed interest after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October.
The band said new dates would be added soon, but that seems already to be in process. The Venetian’s website listing The Go-go’s shows hyperlinks to Ticketmaster, which has shows on sale for Feb. 11-12. A few scattered seats remain as the balance is held for original ticket holders.
Ticketmaster has emailed those ticket buyers, “We’ve worked with the Event Organizer to reschedule your event and make sure you still have the chance to attend. Your tickets are still valid for the new date.” Live Nation is the presenter of the Go-go’s appearances at the resort.
The Review-journal is owned by the family of Dr. Miriam Adelson, the majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian.