Ok, there are homages and then there are blatant ripoffs. She Wants Revenge is a blatant ripoff, mostly of Peter Murphy, with a little Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division thrown in. And I couldn't love it any more!
First off, despite their dead serious stage demeanor, I feel as if they're coming into this blatant ripoff with a sense of humor. They can't be serious, can they? Three of the songs on their debut album are Joy Division titles. They have to be kidding on that, right?
But despite, they, even more than Interpol, have captured the chilly feel and all of the details of early '80s new wave. And live: just as good.
Vegas Baby
Getting old (may) mean that you can't make the transition to West Coast time as quick as you used to. More on that later.
The best new slot machine was at our casino, the Sahara. It's Family Feud. If you get 3 "Survey says" across the payline, you get to play a mini-version of the Feud for bonus pay. Within my first hour, I'd hit for $50, which is satisfying for me.
Ostensibly, we were there for a wedding. A friend of Tom's on his 2nd marriage, and his new wife, who at 26 is 14 years younger than him, and on her 3rd marriage. The little wedding in the chapel was fun and simple. We didn't know anyone else in the small group, but even still. It was a somewhat joyless affair. We went to a chain-y Mexican restaurant in the Aladdin afterwards, and everyone was very quiet; there was no sense of celebration. The best man left before even eating to go to a show. Tom and the groom caught up on gossip. No one mentioned the wedding.It was weird. I give it 2 years. Frankly, the only reason we went was to be in Vegas for the Super Bowl.
That night we went to see Joe Rogan at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. Everyone in Mandalay Bay looks like they just stepped off the set of Growing Up Gotti. We got to Mandalay Bay about 8:30 and the show wasn't starting til midnight. We went to Rum Jungle to drink. Tom played the slots and I wandered around the Mandalay Bay shops. the Ultimate Fighting Championships were that night and there was an enormous crowd. Eventually, however, instead of going clubbing or getting more drinks, I snuck over to the sports book and pretended to study Super Bowl odds and took a 15-minute nap. Pathetic. But Joe Rogan was damn funny.
Sunday was, of course the Super Bowl. We made our normal pilgrimage to Circus Circus to check out the rotating bar made famous in Fear and Loating in Las Vegas. It was closed, so we played the slots some, and observed a guy having a meltdown on his wife/gf, which involved throwing chairs, drinks and screaming. I was preparing myself for gunplay, and was ready to hit the floor when security FINALLY came. This knocked us off our mojo for a bit. I did, however, win my parlay bet - $110 more!! And I've still got all my World Cup bets that could yet pay off.
However, I went to bed about 8 p.m. and woke up WIDE AWAKE at 3:30 Vegas time (the time I normally get up on the East Coast.) NEVER have I had such a hard time making the transition. I had a massage on Monday morning which was wonderful and also involved a sauna/jacuzzi/steamroom which I could have never left. We closed it out with dinner at Mix, (delicious) and took the redeye home.
Mostly, you gotta love a vacation where you come home with only $100 less than when you left.
