Las Vegas roadtrip

I've still got 3 more BRMC shows to blog about, so bear with me. The Las Vegas show was supposed to be the last one of the tour, and it was. Somehow, it was only the start of more adventures for me, Suzanne, and Jodi (and Kimberly after the Berlin video shoot). I'm really glad this was not the last time we'd see BRMC because the show was too short for a last show. I guess it was a nice break for BRMC after a long tour, but it would have been disappointing if we hadn't seen them in Texas, then later at Little Radio and Mezzanine.

After a surprisingly fast drive from Southern California (maybe 4.5 hours), me and Suzanne were on our way to the Las Vegas airport to pick up Michele. We were a little late due to a few lanes being closed on the way to Vegas, but we made good time due to light traffic and Suzanne's speedy Mustang. We didn't know exactly where the airport was at first, but got there pretty easily because there are more noticeable signs in Nevada than Texas.

We made our way to Planet Hollywood, which used to be Aladdin, where we were staying. It was a little confusing getting to the front desk, but we found our way to the room after roaming around the casino and shopping mall for awhile. After playing some slots, we met up with Michele's friend Liz, who was staying at Paris with her dad. We took a taxi to Jillian's, where Jodi was already waiting in line. The venue itself was pretty strange, it was an arcade with a bowling alley and pool tables upstairs.

BRMC, Sarabeth Tucek, Magic Mirror @ Jillian's 6-19-07

Peter was playing some songs I'd never heard inside and Robert was on his phone outside of the venue for awhile. Later, they were both outside talking with Sarabeth Tucek and other friends, while some fans from the line went up to take pictures with them. We were let in pretty early, like around 6:30 PM or something. The schedule showed that BRMC would only be on from 9 PM to 10:15 PM, which is extremely short compared to their usual 20-25 song sets.

Magic Mirror opened the show. We saw the singer/guitarist of the band at the front earlier doing something with the list. Sky Parade was advertising that Magic Mirror was opening the show, but I'd never heard them before. They played a really great set, I can't really remember now what they sounded like, but I do remember liking their music. Sarabeth Tucek joined them for one song, but I couldn't hear her at all. Luther Russell was playing keyboards with them too. I will have to check them out again (http://www.myspace.com/magicmirrormusic)

Sarabeth Tucek and Luther Russell were up next, giving us a pleasant acoustic break before BRMC. Peter sat and played guitar with them on what I later learned was a cover of "Fearless" by Pink Floyd. It sounded very familiar and was a lovely song. They probably had lots of friends in the audience because they seemed pretty relaxed during this show.

The setlist for BRMC was short, only 13 songs printed... though it did include a couple long ones ("American X" and "Heart + Soul"). Robert threw in his Dylan cover, which added Pinball Wizard at the beginning and he sang a capella near the end before starting up with the acoustic guitar again.

Took Out A Loan
Berlin
Lien On Your Dreams
Ain't No Easy Way
Weapon Of Choice
Punk Song
Window
666 Conducer
American X
Fault Line
Devil's Waitin'
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (which wasn't on the printed setlist)
All You Do Is Talk
Heart + Soul

Despite the short set, it was a good performance by the band. They've been touring a long time already, so it made sense that this show would be shorter. At the end of the show during "Heart + Soul," Robert broke a bass string and had to switch basses. This didn't stop him from playing until the very end and even jumping out to the barrier, where all the front row fans could just reach out and touch him. And they did... he did return to the stage and they ended with their trademark feedback on their pedals. It's always a nice way to end a show.

After the show, we waited around a bit to see what people were doing. Not much it seemed. I was starving before and after the show, so Michele gave me some trail mix she'd bought before the show. That filled me up until we decided to drive over to the Hard Rock Hotel in Theresa's Beetle. That was an adventure in itself because there were 6 of us and it only really held 5. I was the lucky one who got to sit on Suzanne's lap in the front seat. The police officer in the van stopped at the light was looking over at us, but fortunately, didn't stop us.

When we got to the Hard Rock, we took some photos at the Pink Taco before getting to a restaurant that was still open. Michael Been happened to come in right after us and sat at the table next to ours. He remembered us and came over after he finished eating and gave us the opportunity to ask any questions we had about the band. I had heard about Peter as a psychedelic dancer in a video that he made during his solo career and asked him about it. He said that he didn't have a copy of the video. He continued telling us about how the band members lived together for 4 years and didn't talk, which must mean they communicated telepathically or with sign language. And he did say that Nick was the strangest guy he'd ever met, which isn't such a surprise.

After he left and we had all finished eating, we went to the casino to try our luck. I was really too tired to do anything at that point, but Theresa offered me a dollar to try some video poker. It went pretty fast. After she lost another dollar at the machine she was sitting at, she said her goodbyes to everyone and went back to her friend's place. Suzanne and Jodi lost a little more, while Michele and Liz watched Wic and Grant gambling at a table. We all left soon after taking a taxi back to our hotel, which wasn't too far. We walked Liz back to Paris and went back to Planet Hollywood for some much needed sleep.

The next day, we dropped Michele off at the airport and drove Jodi back to Fitgerald's, which was right next to Jillian's. We made a stop at Starbucks for coffee and did a little more gambling. Then we said our goodbyes and were off to California. Me and Suzanne stopped at Calico Ghost Town on our way back, which was pretty cool. It was a lot busier than it looked and we had some food. I did have those kick ass hot wings which I blogged about earlier, inspired by a very cool rock n' roll dad. The rest of the drive back was pretty smooth and I slept a lot for the next 2 days.