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Like Gambling? Like the Beatles? The only place to find both is in Las Vegas, so bring your groove on and head for the Mirage’s ‘Revolution’ club. Located at 3400 S. Las Vegas Blvd., you’ll know you’ve found Revolution by seeing all the large groups of people posing for photos in front of the giant letters spelling out ‘REVOLUTION.’ Behind Revolution is the Abbey Road Bar, which is open 24/7 when Revolution is not, which is open from 12pm to 4am. Abbey road is a groovy place, all psychedelic, white, but not the main draw, the draw being the Beatles and Revolution.
Revolution is not like any other club in Las Vegas, it has a very open feeling space , even when it get crowded, as it often does, you won’t feel like you’re packed in a can of sardines. One of the coolest aspects of the club, besides the fact of how Revolution, each night of the week are different theme nights that go along with the different styles of music the Beatles jumped to in their career, are the tables, which use a technology that lets people draw on the surface with their fingers. The drawings are then projected around the club. Then beyond the tables, the rest of the club is used alternately to mingle and stand, or dance. Revolution brings the lyrics and the age of the Fab Four to life. You’ll find live music one night of the week, as well as a mish-mash of stuff to dance to throughout.
What you’ll like the most about Revolution, is it isn’t a snooty club or ultra-exclusive, and the cover is considerably low. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to book a room at The Mirage or one of the other Las Vegas hotels that are close by Revolution, because you will be staying there until closing, or you might just head into Abbey Road. If you’re any kind of Beatles fan, then you’ll want to hang out there eight days a week!
Every great city has a good list of music venues to showcase the local and worldly talent to lift up the spirits of all who are watching. Miami has its long list of interesting music venues. It all depends on what one is in the mood for when it comes to picking clubs and other music venues. Are you in the mood for hoity toity opera or symphony? Great! Check out Knight Concert Hall also known as Adrienne Arsht Center or Lincoln Theatre and see what they have in mind for a posh night out.
If its the complete opposite your ready for than check out Churchill’s Pub it doesn’t get anymore English pub, dive, punk and rock than that. All the local bands play there eventually as well as other traveling talent. This is a true dive bar that hasn’t had a face lift since it was built but it is a good time. It has been the host of some of the great punk bands like Agent Orange and the UK Subs.
The Transit Lounge has it going on. It has a classy cool lounge vibe and great staff. The entertainment is mainly rock and offers up a chance for the up and coming to cast out a few tunes on jam session nights. They also have Karaoke nights. This is always fun when traveling with a group because it pulls everyone in and out of their comfort zone to get some great laughs.
Another notch up the classy lounge scale is White Room which features a range of live music from hip hop to rock and does it in a class act atmosphere. Check with the staff at any of the
boutique hotels. Miami USA has through out the city and see where they would send you for the style of music or entertainment that you are interested in. There has to be plenty of cool places to go in a city like Miami.
Rockville, Maryland is a lot of fun, despite the song from REM. There is a very lively social scene here, with lots of arts and leisure attractions for visitors and for locals alike. For lovely hotels, Rockville certainly has plenty to keep every discerning taste satisfied and rather pleased. It’s a place where the sweet life is possible, and vacations here help you to remember all of the important things that the world has to offer. For fans of the group from Athens, Georgia, however, it’s an interesting way to find out more about the song.
Don’t Go Back to Rockville is an REM song by Michael Mills, who was one of the four founding members of the band. He grew up in Macon, and met the rest of them in Athen’s Georgia, the place where it all came together. They were each attending the University there, and before they could graduate, they had formed one of the most influential bands in recent history. The rest of that story is a fairly sweet one. The song, however, is based on Mills’ relationship with a girl, and her parents lived in Rockville. All of the references, then, are ostensibly about the song.
It needs to be remembered, however, that this is REM, after all, and this was the only group at the time that could absorb and reflect the same hipness it was giving out. Irony and exaggeration, not to mention simple abstract babble, is a part of their songwriting aesthetic, and it’s not just Michael Stipe who can write a confusing lyric that has multiple meanings. Mills proves himself just as adept here, and even though the overall arc of the song is a plain story of love gone wrong, there are lots of side twists and turns that move it from sweet to deliciously bitter.
Posted February 22nd, 2010. Add a comment
It’s kind of impossible to talk about night life in Fort Wayne without mentioning Piere’s. Some of the most quintessential moments in concert-going history happen here, at least that’s what it’s like growing up near here. REO Speedwagon came here for their reunion tour, so that there’s time to visit teenage angst while looking at the crow’s feet on the faces of the singers who looked so innocent way back when. The midwest is a great place for undiscovered bands to linger for awhile, building a very dedicated local following so that when they do make it big it’s like a tribute to all of us for recognizing their talent. There are other moments of great music nostalgia that have a special feeling in this part of the country, and it’s enough to warrant booking a Fort Wayne hotel room and making a weekend of it.
One of my favorite things that’s happened in the past few years is the rising popularity of the tribute band. I love knowing that there are people out there who spend all of their time learning how to act like the Ink Spots. It does my heart even more good when they find some strange combination that hits gold. This is what’s happening with Frontiers, the Journey tribute band. They don’t speak much about where they’re from, although the original group is from San Francisco, the city by the bay, and I want to be there in your city.
Frontiers at Piere’s is going to be a great night all around. It’s very interesting that the band they’re imitating is also touring this year, with their new lead singer, the second replacement for Steve Perry. We would all love to see Perry go back with open arms, so we could all know he understands what our love means to him, but it’s gotten so complicated, and we all wonder who’s crying now. The new singer is good, but this band has pop quotation appeal, and that’s the way I want it, that’s the way I need it.
Posted February 10th, 2010. Add a comment
Jeremy had played the drums for as long as he could remember. He also wanted to play in a rock band for about the same length of time. When he was just three years old he remembered being allowed to sit at his uncle’s throne, which is what the stool that drummers sit on is called, and take a whack with his uncle’s sticks. Jeremy swears he can remember this experience though his family has told him that it is virtually impossible for him to do so. The one detail that he uses to prove his memory is that he fell off the throne and into the high hat cymbal while he was trying to get to the foot pedal for the floor bass drum. Of course his relatives claim that he must have heard this story while growing up and has incorporated it into his memory. Jeremy however, claims with no uncertainty that he actually remembers the incident.
He thought about that day and the many times it has been brought up in various circumstances through the years as he looked through the glass window of the American Music store in Seattle. He was home for the weekend and wanted to visit the same store he bought his first real kit in. It was raining but he tried to look in at the drums. He decided he needed a new pair of sticks and walked it. Memories came flooding back to him of the first band he joined coming here for his first drums.
Jeremy had spent the last two years in Southern California studying music at the University of San Diego. He walked back to his parents house and passed the old row of buildings and the charming luxury hotel Washington that he passed many times while growing up and thought about all of the guests that would one day be staying there to see him perform. Jeremy loved his hometown and was happy to be there. He also found himself in an interesting transition from the dreams of youth to the realities of life. In that moment he was happy with both.
Posted December 21st, 2009. Add a comment
I thought long and hard about purchasing a motorbike here in Cape Town, but the reality of it is that I don’t think it will clear customs until next week. There was a public holiday the other day, and the Customs officers have just come off a 2 week strike. So, I eight sit and wait in Cape Town for another week or hire a car or a bike. The latter option, I think is the best one, cause I didn’t come to South Africa to sit in a car. I have a friend here who has a friend the owns a bike rental business, BMW‘s, which will cost me 1000 rands a day, approximately $200 U.S., so, with with a bit of negotiating, mentioning we have a mutual friend, and treating the owner to one of the best Capetown restaurants, I got an F650 for only 550 rand and I’ll be picking her up tomorrow morning.
I’ll take the bike on a day trip up the coastline to meet up with Rob, the 3rd rider tomorrow morning. Then, the next day, ride along the southern route on the rental, so when my motorbike clears customs, we can head north to Namibia on the motorway. This will take us a full day of solid riding, and hopefully, I won’t pull a Robbie (crash a brand new R 1200 GS rental) as the excess is $2500. At least if I do crash it, I have another one waiting for me at customs. So, all is good.
The next morning, I pulled into Jeff’s (2nd rider) shed with my 600 ks on the BMW rental. We took off and boy did I make that bike work. Mountain passes, traffic jams, shingle roads, unimaginable conditioned roads and motorways. At times, I could’nt stop laughing, the ride was unbelievable. I listened to U2 and Metallica blasting in my Ipod.
Good news! The bike is in Capetown and the shipping agent has already done a pre-customs clearance. Bad news! The bike is sitting in the middle of the bay waiting to be unloaded. Could take a whole other week. Glad I got the great deal on the BMW. Cape Town is a very cool town, but seen enough of it, so I really need my bike riding.
Posted November 20th, 2009. Add a comment
