Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Check this out, ma man...
Check this out, ma man...
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The Iceman
1673 posts
May 21, 2014
4:25 PM
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http://bigbluesbender.com/ ---------- The Iceman
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Frank
4326 posts
May 21, 2014
4:46 PM
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Good God, that gig is Rick Estrins element - bet he is one happy bluesman :)
"The Big Daddy Baller Package"... is SOLD OUT $1500.00 per person - you know were Rick will be hangin :)
Good enough just isn’t good enough, is it? You want more? How about VIP checkin, a designated concierge accommodating your Bender requests, a private pool cabana for your party (includes food and drink), premium seating, catered meals in the Bender Hospitality area, and an Artist meet and greet! (subject to artist availability) casinosuite Each of these Penthouse Suites are totally unique, and truly capture the spirit of The Big Blues Bender! Over 2100 square feet of lavish Las Vegas real estate, with commanding views and classic pedigrees. You want to stay in Frank Sinatra’s suite? How ’bout the suite from the movie Casino? This is the heart of Classic Vegas with modern appointments all at the heart of 4 magnificent nights of Blues. Does it get any better than this?
Last Edited by Frank on May 21, 2014 5:23 PM
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1847
1808 posts
May 21, 2014
6:11 PM
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sin city blues bender
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica "but i play it anyway"
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atty1chgo
932 posts
May 22, 2014
10:58 AM
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My girlfriend Linda and I went last year. It was supposed to be at Rio Hotel, but due to some alleged contractual dispute I am not privy to, it was changed to the Riviera Hotel the week before the event. The rumors were that they had not booked enough rooms etc.
The acoustics for the shows was sub par. The hotel rooms cost less at the Riviera, but the difference in money was not credited to my knowledge. The Riviera is an aged hotel with fairly crappy accommodations. The rooms are not very good at all.
Then they dropped the price for the Festival at the last minute in order to (I am guessing) fill it. As some sort of sop to those who had paid in advance (and had paid considerably more) we were offered "VIP seating", which supposedly would be closer to the stage. This was all promised before the Festival weekend in communications postings by e-mail. When the Festival started, it turns out that there were TWO tiers of VIP seating, and everyone at the Festival was a "VIP". Of course the first two rows of all of the shows were roped off, and most of the time remained unfilled. This pissed many people off. They had late night jams in the casino lounge, a narrow affair with VERY limited seating, so that was a waste of time.
They had some shows in the pool area of the hotel, so if you were lucky enough to get a room there that weekend, you got free blues music, paid for by the saps - like most of us - who overpaid and did not get what we were promised. The acoustics there were not that great either.
They had Tedeschi-Trucks Band and Robert Cray in a large wedding ballroom, the sound systems sucked, the sound was bouncing around all over. The sound was REALLY that bad.
The only high points for me were getting to meet Robert Cray when I got off of the elevator on my floor to call it a night (on the last night - he was leaving after his gig) and having an extended conversation with Curtis Salgado (we have mutual friends in the Portland area). Both of them are absolute gentlemen. The clips I have posted of Curtis in a duet are from that weekend.
We are going on the fall Blues Cruise this year, and not wasting our money on this event. I don't care HOW many artists and of what stature they get, these people running this thing DO NOT KNOW HOW to run an concert event. And I don't care how it is described - the Riviera Hotel is not too good. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. And the hype for Sin City "Blues Bender" is one hell of a lot of lipstick, in my opinion (the name was changed from "Sin City Soul & Blues Revival" because, I guess, of the litigation that was anticipated or is allegedly presently ongoing).
Let the buyer beware.
Last Edited by atty1chgo on May 22, 2014 11:37 AM
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