Static X ZZ Top

Thursday, August 14, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Go: Where to Go, What to Do & Why

By James P. Reza

In the heavily remodeled venue formerly known as Drink, Ice Las Vegas (699-9888) opened last week with two packed mid-week VIP parties showcasing performance artists, a cadre of the city's sexiest go-go gals and serve staff (many lifted from the Foundation Room), progressive music spun by some of Vegas' finest DJs, top-flight sound, and a nitrogen system that not only blankets the dance floor with dense fog but also mercifully chills the indoors by about 20 degrees, turning Ice into Nipple City, U.S.A. With its spare, modern industrial look, Ice feels like the prototypical warehouse-cum-nightclub in Manhattan. The music mix--DJ Frankie spinning deep house and lounge in the front room, Robert Oleysyck doing up progressive house in the main--thankfully eschews the predictable hip hop/Dance Top 40 playlists of other Vegas nightclubs. If opening weekend is any indication, Ice may very well succeed where other clubs have not by drawing both A-listers and the average clubber, and making both feel comfortable. Mirroring the interior that mates a raw with a polished look, weekend Ice crowds arrived in both limos and low-rent runabouts, sporting everything from Prada to street style. Yes, there's bottle service and VIP entrances, but there's plenty of bar space and even some seating for non-VIPs to rest their feet. It's perhaps the first nightclub in town, since the early days of Utopia, that seems capable of mixing the two successfully, but whether the vibe can be maintained and improved remains the club's biggest challenge.

Gen X redux

In the late 1980s, when UNLV's radio station was nationally recognized for its college rock programming, the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall hosted alt.music concerts of bands pulled directly from KUNV playlists. This was long before the Hard Rock Hotel or the House of Blues raised their curtains, so these infrequent campus shows--featuring eclectic artists such as Jane's Addiction, Echo & The Bunnymen, Morrissey, and the Beastie Boys--were the social event of the quarter, whether you liked the artist or not. It will be interesting to see how many of those now thirtysomething former students will be in attendance at the Vegas return of Gene Loves Jezebel at the Boston on Thursday (Aug. 14, 9 p.m.; 368-0750). A band that melded the gothy guitar rock of The Cult with the gothy fop rock of The Cure, Gene Loves Jezebel primarily appealed to a narrow demographic of disaffected collegiates of ambivalent sexuality, even after breaking into the American Top 100 with "Jealous" in 1990.

Also appealing to those of ambivalent sexuality (which seemed like everyone in the 1980s) were Human League and Animotion, both made-for-MTV synth-and-style slaves whose oh-so-80s tarted-up MAC-robot looks and post-Kraftwerk analog rhythms captured the attention of the nation's New Wave. Of the two, Animotion was barely a blip (of course you know "Obsession," but what else?), releasing only two albums. Human League scored four hits, and following the recent minor resurgence of synth-pop, has released its ninth effort, Secrets. See both bands together Saturday at Sunset Station (Aug. 16, 8 p.m.; 547-7969).

Billie reborn

After all the shiny lights and thumping electronic rhythms of Ice and the Human League, nothing sounds better to us than a dark, candlelit basement speakeasy, where the bourbon is poured heavy and the sounds are all human. Chatter silences as Etta James steps into the narrow spotlight, clears her throat, and dives headfirst into the century's most sincere ballad, 1961's "At Last." From there, it's a night of tortured R&B delivered through a voice that, although it has roughened through the decades, still maintains the kind of soulful integrity necessary to deliver classics such as "All I Could Do Was Cry." The Hilton Theatre is hardly an intimate speakeasy, but Etta James will be there for two shows anyway, Friday and Saturday (Aug. 15-16, 10 p.m.; 732-5755).

Later this week, sultry torch balladeer Norah Jones will play a sold out show at the Hard Rock's Joint. Riding the success of her second effort, 2002's Come Away With Me (on Blue Note Records, it should be noted) Jones--daughter of noted sitar specialist Ravi Shankar--is a jazz pianist and vocalist whose musical roots can easily be traced to Etta James and Nina Simone. Yes, she's the daughter of an influential musician and a hottie too, but Jones has carved out her own well-earned niche informed by jazz, R&B, and girl rock. If you can score the seats, Monday's show should be phenomenal (Aug. 18, 8 p.m.; 693-5066).

Beautiful bass

Going against the stereotype of the stoic bassist who stands back, does his job and keeps the rest of the band in line, jazz/funk/fusion player Stanley Clarke has stood up front with the best in jazz--Art Blakey, Chick Corea, Jean Luc Ponty--and emerged as one of the world's best bassists before anyone had even heard of Les Claypool. Currently touring behind 1, 2 to the Bass--his first album in eight years--Clarke visits the Boulder Station on Friday (Aug. 15, 8 p.m.; 432-7777).

Meanwhile, bass-heavy Texas dirty boogie, in the form of ZZ Top (and bassist Dusty Hill) comes to the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Wednesday (Aug 20, 7:30 p.m.; 632-7580). Capitalizing on the then-new medium of music video, ZZ Top layered their boogie rock vids with images of flashy hot rods and sexed up girls in skirts up to there, taking on a nearly paternal role for themselves. Though now mostly relegated to classic rock radio, ZZ Top has released six albums since 1983's popular Afterburner, including the new Mescalero.

Losing our religion

What would a week in Vegas be without an alt.metal show for X-107.5 to get all sloppy over? This week, it's dark industrio-goth-metalists Static X, playing at the House of Blues on Friday (Aug 15, 8 p.m.; 632-7600). Balancing the alt.rock scale with its thoughtful, spiritual guitar rock is Live, performing Friday at the Palms (Aug 15, 9 p.m.; 9442-7777). While fans and detractors alike have debated endlessly about the intense spirituality and vague Christian theming of their music, the quartet does things like naming their latest album Birds of Pray. It's not as if no rock band has ever written from a Christian perspective before (U2, anyone?), so if the music moves you, then what does it matter?

James P. Reza is the editor of the Best Places-Las Vegas guidebook. E-mail nightlife, cultural event & dining tips to jpreza@cox.net. Deadline is the Saturday prior to publishing.