I read good
reviews of Shades of Sinatra, but I worried that the location was a bit
dicey. I’ve long wanted to see the
Clarion because they do have some good
rates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_Hotel_and_Casino
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarion_Hotel_and_Casino
Wild Bill
wanted to go as well this time and I thought that two of us walking that stretch
of road would give me peace of mind.
As it turned
out, the Clarion seemed closer to the strip than I had thought and the walk did
not seem particularly threatening. I
took a look at the rooms and they seem adequate but nothing special and not as
nice as those I get at the D or certainly not as nice as the Gold Coast or the
Orleans.
On the
positive side they had refrigerators and the nicest coffee makers I have seen
with unlimited coffee (just ask at the front desk) Free wifi would be a benefit also.
However, the
pool was very dirty with papers and leaves floating in it. I could see the security guard who gave me
the tour was a bit embarrassed by that.
It was a deal breaker for me as a heated pool is part of what attracted
me to the place. I may have encountered
it on a bad day.
All the
staff seemed very friendly and easy going.
The bartender was very friendly.
I used my American Casino Guide coupon for two free drinks at the bar. I had a couple red wines which were a bit
below par. I probably should have picked
another drink. Beer on tap included the
Shock Top. The locals visiting at the
bar were very friendly and nice and they tried to be helpful on telling me how
the buses served the place. I could see
myself sitting at the bar and visiting with other patrons.
The main
security guard, Herb Bausenwein, who worked in tiny casino was on a supper
break and eating at the bar. He was very
helpful evaluating the place, but of course he would be totally positive. However, his viewpoint was helpful. I told him I would not like to do his job and
he said that being a security guard there was easy because it was always so
quiet and the rowdy left it alone. If
rowdy young folks did come it, his presence of uniform and gun seemed to make
them act, “more like adults” and calm down.
Generally, they served as overflow for people attending Conventions.
I trusted
this fellow’s advice because it turned out that his family lived just a few
blocks from where I was raised on the East Side of Buffalo and his older
brothers had gone to my Number 9 grammar school and high school. He had gone to kindergarten at Number 9. It was quite a coincidence. The neighborhood changed radically becoming a
haven for drug dealers and many of the houses have burnt down in the last
couple decades, including the house where I lived from birth through my
first college degree. It was a sad
neighborhood change really. The house
had been my grandfather’s since the early 1900’s, my father and mother lived
there until Dad died in 1966 and my Mom sold out in the 70’s. It had been an old German neighborhood in my
father’s time and a Polish neighborhood in my childhood. It did not racially integrate easily. White flight depressed property values and
gradually, the inner city moved out to engulf it in all the troubles of poverty
and drugs. Buffalo, like many Northern
cities suffered when steel mills and car plants and most manufacturing went
away, leaving a depressed and deserted area. Herb’s family stayed on longer
than most, proud of his family’s place in that neighborhood. He lived on Zenner and I have many friends
and school mates who lived there also.
They were just delightful. He loved Sinatra music and similar sorts of sounds like Burt Bacharach And Tony Bennett. He could not seem to embrace jazz, even the old jazz I love.
http://www.wgbh.org/jazz/
He thought it odd that he was put off by it. We talked a bit about British Sit Coms. They were not great fans of, “As Time Goes By” which is a favorite of my wife and I, but they raved about one I have never seen called : "Only Fools and Horses.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_Fools_and_Horses
We talked a
bit about English expressions when he used the phrase, “at the end of the
day.” I was surprised that it was common
in England too. He thought it was fairly
modern there as it is in the States. I
find the term an annoyingly cliché.
He taught me
two expressions from his area of Britain, both equivalent to “friend” or the
Australian use of “mate.” “Me duck” was one and “muka” another. It would be common to say, “Would you like to have a drink “me duck.” Perhaps I’ll start using it.
Between the
Clarion and the strip is the Convention Center and the SDX stops right in front
of that going South or North. It would be the way to be
delivered to the area. But after 12:30AM that
service would stop, so we would have to walk to the strip. I was very comfortable doing that on the way
to the show and afterwards, but I don’t
think I would be totally happy with it when alone at 2 AM. Probably nothing much happens there, as the security guard suggested. He had walked
it often in civilian clothes and thought it was safe. Were I to stay at the
Clarion, I would probably want to take the last SDX home from the poker
rooms. That might be fine.
Convention
Drive runs East of the strip just South of the Peppermill. It is an easy walk
from the Riviera and I made that walk after winning $20 on a roulette matchplay
bet at Riviera.
VP pay
tables in the little bar area of the Clarion were the worst that I have seen in Vegas. There was nothing I would play, even for
$20. This always seems an indication to
me that slots are tight as well.
The four of them did some light comedic stage antics with the music and this too seemed so much like the stuff the Rat Pack did on stage and in nightclubs of the time.
I liked this show much better than any Rat Pack show I have seen; perhaps it comes off more authentic when no one is trying to pretend to actually be a particular star but just singing the music with in the manner it was sung with the body language Sinatra used. I'm a tough audience. For a while I just stopped going to shows that impersonate because they always had a false ring. The last I saw at LVH was really bad.
Carmine did stage
bits around drinking alcohol that reminded me of the sort of antics Dean Martin
did, but his voice was all Sinatra.
I loved
every bit of itm and I’ll be back to see it again. Wild Bill seemed to like it too.
It was
hugely under attended. Of course, that
gave us front row seats. I bought the
tickets for $9.50 from Goldstar. They
were listed as free and the money was a service charge.
What a shame to see so many empty seats!
However, this meant that each woman in the audience was given personal attention by Carmine, who pretended to be a womanizer with Lisa Smith pretending jealousy.
What a shame to see so many empty seats!
However, this meant that each woman in the audience was given personal attention by Carmine, who pretended to be a womanizer with Lisa Smith pretending jealousy.
The venue
itself was an antique. In a time when
so much of Vegas has been destroyed for "improvement" here is a fine, old looking theater that Debbie
Reynolds built to play in herself.
It made the entire experience like going back into time.
It made the entire experience like going back into time.
I usually
find some small criticism or think one performer weak in some manner. I can say nothing bad about this show. Take the time to see it.
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