Thursday, November 20, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Stage: Rock 'n' mold

By Newt Briggs

Ah, the good old days, the carefree time when you could borrow your dad's Bel Air and take your best girl to a drive-in movie to eat popcorn and flout the sexual virtues of the era. And, of course, there was the rock 'n' roll--not the prepackaged, commercial kind, but Jerry Lee Lewis kicking out his stool and setting his piano on fire, and the King shucking and jiving like he had an angry snake in his pants. It was the kind of thing that gave the squares fits and made you want to dance and scream and drive fast and believe that the world could be wild.

But were the good old days really all that good? Not according to Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll, which, in the course of an hour, tears away the dazzling veil of rock 'n' roll nostalgia and leaves in its place the realization that Tina Turner was kind of dull, Elvis danced like he was having a seizure and Jimi Hendrix dressed like a hobo.

As might be expected of an impersonator show, there's a wax museum quality to Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll, as if the performers were filled with formaldehyde and presented under glass. Sure, they dance and, in most cases, sing like the originals, but there's no passion behind their pantomime. It may seem impossible that a buxom woman in a short, tassled dress could bungle "Proud Mary," but faux-Tina's version comes up flat. As for Elvis, he is charming--"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to slow things down a bit, me being dead and all"--but not charming enough to win the crowd's attention during his rendition of "Teddy Bear."

The only exception is Jimi Hendrix, played skillfully by Byron Bordeaux. Decked out in a Civil War jacket, crushed-velvet pants and a gravity-defying afro, Bordeaux wheedles his way through "Fire," "Foxy Lady" and "Purple Haze," and unlike Elvis, Bordeaux actually plays his own guitar--a right-handed Stratocaster strung upside-down (just like the real Jimi). Bordeaux's performance, however, is not enough to redeem the ghosts of rock 'n' roll past. Fortunately, the Riviera sells cocktails outside the showroom. And if you get the opportunity, by all means eat the brown acid. Maybe then the good memories will come flooding back.
Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll