The Panther Burns, Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones, the Devil's Duo at the Sand Dollar Downtown, Sunday August 28, 2022

 

I first saw and met Mr. Tav Falco and his Panther Burns back in the early 80's and, of course, saw every show that I could after that, including super-fun backyard parties and more. As much as I admired the man, I can't say that we were ever close friends or anything of the sort, but I was happy to hear from him earlier this year and that he remembered me and reached out for help with a show in Las Vegas. I, in turn, reached out to promoter friends and Brian Moy, who puts on his Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Parties, was able to set this up at one of Vegas' newer venues, the Sand Dollar Downtown, in the historic Plaza Hotel in Downtown Las Vegas, and was able to get enough sponsorship to make it a FREE show! The Devil's Duo was more than happy to be able to open up the night for this living legend!

Of course, we don't have any photos of us playing (if anyone has some, please send them our way!), but thanks to the night's soundman, Glenn, we had a fine, fun set with a reasonably good crowd of early arrivals. With songs ranging from old murder ballads, country numbers and covers from the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and even the Velvet Underground, we got a great response and had a fab time. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to be there bright'n'early for our set!

New to us was Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones, relatively recent transplants to the Vegas area and apparently a fluid lineup based around keys'n'guitar, though tonight they had a full rhythm section. Their music ranged from rockabilly to garage to exotica and most everything in between! Certainly a different sounding combo, which is nice to find here in Las Vegas, so we will be looking forward to hearing more from them and seeing how the group evolves.

Of course, it's always a pleasure to witness any version of Tav's Unapproachable Panther Burns (who are actually very approachable, nice guys, as well as fine musicians), and this combo, culled from players from around the world, are very sympathetic to Mr. Falco's sometimes idiosyncratic musical excursions. Drummer Walter Brunetti and bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi flew in from Italy to meet up with guitarist Mario Monterosso in Memphis before hooking up with Tav on the west coast and starting the tour. This is the same lineup that appeared with Tav in 2019, the last time he was in Las Vegas, and they have a terrific style, with Mario being particularly impressive as he played some fab guitar lines around Tav's numbers. The trio opened the two sets (and closed the second set) with surfy instrumentals such as "Pipeline", "Rumble", a medley of "Ghost Riders" and "Telstar" and some of Mario's originals - he has his own solo releases as well as his work with Tav, which should also be explored. 

Besides unique interpretations of tunes like "Have I The Right", "Me and My Chauffer Blues", "Marie Laveau", "San Antoine", a wild remake of Alex Chilton's "Bangkok" (appropriate as Tav spends at least part of his time in Thailand now), and one of Tav's signature covers, "Brazil" (done with an appropriate amount of chaos to emulate the take from the Bruns' debut), there were Falco originals with Tav playing some fantastically noisy slide guitar and playing harmony lines with Mario, as well time spent simply wowing the crowd with his well-honed dance moves. 

While not jam-packed, the club had a significant audience and, with the help of sometimes Swank Bastards cohort'n'dancer, Szandora, many got up on the dance floor to trip the light fantastic to the groovy sounds. Tav changed outfits in between sets - a true professional - and kept the energy flowing from start to finish! Another truly amazing display from the incomparable Panther Burns!

Once again, a huge thanks to Brian Moy, the Sand Dollar Downtown and their super helpful and friendly crew, soundman Glenn, the bands and especially everyone who made it out early and stayed late! A night to remember for sure!

(BTW - The Sand Dollar Downtown is a fine venue - real stage and PA, seating available, big dance floor, reasonably priced drinks and easily accessible, even for bands loading in, which is a big plus for a Casino venue. Hopefully, there will be more hip shows like this happening here!)