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Posted January 21, 2010

What a long strange trip its been...

After a successful tour of New England, including 8 shows in 10 days, I returned home to find I was near collapse from what I thought was simply exhaustion from too much partying with the gang in Worcester...

We began planning out much needed rest, a vacation we always take around this time of year, sort of a recharge and energize thing before the new year hits.l

Turns out I was having serious issues internally, and after a visit to Spring Valley Hospital, was admitted for a major surgery to remove a large "mass" that was discovered growing in my body...

Two weeks later, and minus 18 inches of my colon, I came home to recover from the whole episode, and now feeling chipper, I am ready to tackle anything that 2010 can throw my way.

Many thanks for all the heartfelt cards, emails and phone calls from so many concerned friends...all is well now, and I expect to be back to 100% soon.

I am rehearsing now for my new show "Steve Dacri IN YOUR FACE" set to open at the Las Vegas Hilton February 17. We have a one year contract, I am looking forward to working this one, in the gorgeous and intimate Shimmer Showroom. See you there...

Check out my column every week on Vegas Inside Tips, called VEGAS MAGIC

Posted November 29, 2009

(LAS VEGAS, NEVADA) - Planning for the big end-of-the-year trip to the cold winter of New England, where my partner in crime Ray Perrone has arranged a tour for me that will bring me to the old stomping grounds. We'll spend 2 weeks there, dodging snow storms and seeing old friends and family, and I will be performing some interesting gigs.

We start with visit to the Ezen Manor in Concord, New Hampshire, then after a gorgeous drive down to Boston, a few nights in Boston's plush 5 star waterfront resort, the Boston Harbor Hotel, where my first show takes place. We'll also be filming interviews there for a film project I have been working on forever, so we will see many of our original wedding show cast members as I attempt to bring this project to a conclusion and get it sold.

Then, it's off to the McCabe Estate in Westboro, our base of operations in the Captain Tara Suite with innkeepers Judith and Thom keeping us warm and full of vodka. I have shows Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Monday is a dinner show in La Scala Restaurant in Worcester, Tuesday it's back to Boston for a comedy club headlining appearance at the Mystery Lounge in Harvard Square, then Wednesday out to Springfield for a lecture performance for the Society of American Magicians, Thursday it's back to Worcester for a wild night of Cigars and Magic at the Victory Cigar Bar, then a night off. I'm tired already just writing about it.

Saturday I visit Sherry's House for the Why Me Foundation to do a special show for the kids and their families who are dealing with cancer. That night, at the Fifth Amendment in downtown Worcester, I will present my show at 7 pm, then again on Sunday in the same joint in a matinee at 3 pm.

Got all that?

Surely there will be some celebrating going on Sunday eve when all the shows are over, then it's off to New Hampshire for a couple of days of fun with Paul and Kim back at the Ezen Manor. BY then, we should be sufficently frozen and ready to return to Vegas to thaw.

STEVE DACRI IN YOUR FACE - THE UP CLOSE MAGIC EXPERIENCE...

That's the title of the show at the Las Vegas Hilton, hope you all like it.

The Las Vegas Hilton set up a photo shoot for the new show, and we have been meeting with prop and wardrobe people and planning the promotion for the new show set to open in the Shimmer Cabaret on Wednesday February 17, 2010. Very exciting and a pleasure to be working with such cool professionals at the Hilton. They are just as excited about the new show as I am.

I will be writing from Massachusetts for the next couple of issues. If you happen to be in the area for any of the shows on my tour, come by and say HEY.

Have a great week,

Watch the current Fat Boy Open short film HERE.

Check out my column every week on Vegas Inside Tips, called VEGAS MAGIC.

Posted July 19, 2009

Saturday night at the Cannery and the place is packed. Many people wearing loud Hawaiian shorts, shorts, it's a summer night in Vegas, hot and clear, and perfect weather for the beach. And the Beach Boy who came to town to rock our world with the songs he sang as a founding member of the Beach Boys.

Al Jardine will always be a Beach Boy, just like Paul McCartney will always be a Beatle. And just like Paul was one of the founders of the iconic rock band, Al was with Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson when they formed the Beach Boys, and for those of us in the audience last night, if you closed your eyes, you were listening to the unmistakable sound of the Beach Boys. Heck, Al sang lead on a lot of the songs anyway, like "Help Me Rhonda", which closed the show. (his voice was also inserted into a lot of the recording because he sounded so much like Brian, so when Brian was not available to sing on a recording, in came the Jardine voice.)

He still looks the same, a bit more gray and a few more lines, but the voice is perfect, and now he gets to round out the famous Beach Boys harmony with his two talented sons, Matt and Adam, who carry on the Carl Wilson and Brian Wilson notes to absolute perfection. It was as if Carl was up there on that stage, it was fantastic.

When the Beach Boys ceased to be an entity due to the untimely deaths of brothers Denny Wilson (drowned) and Carl (cancer) and a legal mess surrounding the name and just who had the right to call themselves the Beach Boys, Al continued to play the music, and eventually, many of the musicians who had been playing with the Beach Boys live and in the studio came to play with Al, keeping the music alive. The musical director is Billy Hinsche, who appeared with the group throughout the years starting in 1968 and his band are original Beach Boys backup musicians. I remember Billy from the days of his first band, Dino Desi & Billy, as well as his constant presence at most Beach Boys concerts I witnessed. (During the last song I waved at Billy, wondering if he could see me, and he made a point to wave back and give Jan and I "thumbs up". Later backstage, he came up to me and said, "You didn't think I could see you, did ya?". He was genuinely happy to see us, and that warmth, that attitude extends to everyone in the band, from Al on down. Especially "Carl Wilson's favorite bass player" Ed, and ace drummer Fig, both of whom have been with the touring Beach Boys since the early days. There are no egos in the group, they love playing together and they love to be able to honor the music.

Every song is note perfect, every harmony is flawless, the sound is eerily close to the Beach Boys - as close as anyone could get it seems. And according to Al, he remains very close to Brian, who played on Al's recent album and his new one due out early in 2010, Brian was thinking of coming to play with Al in Vegas on this engagement, but a commitment in Germany became a conflict. Which means we may see AL and Brian back onstage together at some point, as it should be.

And you can feel the love up on that stage. There's Proud Pappa Al flanked by his two sons, and the boys certainly love and respect their dad and the legacy that he represents. They also grew up on the music, and learned to sing from Carl and Brian, so they feel its their duty to get it right. And they sure do.

Afterwards, Al Jardine is not happy, he's disappointed with the harmonies tonight, he thinks they blew it. Not so. As I reminded him, all of us who work onstage put a very high level of expectation on ourselves and our performance. We know how good it can be, so when it's slightly off in some way, we tend to notice things the audience never sees. They sounded nearly perfect tonight, and Al was really glad to hear that. "You would know, then," is what he said, and thanked me for the insight. I have probably seen the Beach Boys, from the early days through the time I opened for them in the 70's through now, at least 40 times. This was as good as one could get, very faithful to the original sound. Naturally, being the perfectionist Al is, as well as the rest of the guys, they know they can be better and get bothered when they don't hit those levels all the time.

Getting to the end of the concert, they finish "Help Me Rhonda" and it's standing ovation time, the third one of the night. They come back for a rousing 2 song set, and they are joined by the Rip Chords, who opened for Al and were doing the Beach Boys sound before the Beach Boys existed, and the crowd remained on their feet for "Fun Fun Fun", (the song the Beach Boys used to open with for years), the perfect ending to a perfect concert.

Afterwards, both Al and his son Matt remember when I was the "Psychedelic Magician" who opened for them back in the 70's. I will surely never forget those special memories.

What a great evening. Al, thanks to you, the Beach Boys live on. I thank you, the rest of your fans thank you, and Brian thanks you

Check out my column every week on Vegas Inside Tips, called VEGAS MAGIC.

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