Probably a question best directed to Tommy

Im not sure if you are aware of this little shin-dig that happenes Once a year in Las Vegas Nevada, since I know you live no where near there , nor do the Cats, but Incase you dont, Its a little thing , ( Actually a pretty BIG thing ) called Viva Las Vegas, held in , yes, you guessed it VEAGS, and Its for 1 weekend out of the year , and this past weekend, was Its 11th year! One of the casinos hosts it, usually the Gold Coast, and Its well, Its exactlly what it sounds like, Its a Rockabilly Convention / Rockabilly weekend, / "VIVA LAS VEGAS" is actually what Its Officially called , and I always wondered if there was any chance that ohhh I dunno.... THE FREAKING STRAY CATS would ever "show up there" I cant Imagine the Frenzy it would cause, but I sure would LOVE to see it go down! Now I know that all of the Cats live a ways away from eachother, and Just getting up and going out to do stuff like this isnt a fast and easy thing /job for them to do, but It only happens once a year and Im guessing that they might be able to pull it off, with a whole years advance... So Tommy, what do you think is Brians take on the whole Rockabilly Convention, and do you think Its a possibilty that they would EVER concider making an appearence there ? Afterall, you know him better than anyone else here =) So what do ya think ? Do us die hard Rockabilly VIVA LAS VEAGS go-ers have any hope at maybe seeing them there , ohhh lets sayyyyy maybe NEXT YEAR IN APRIL ? What do ya think Brian & the cats would say ?

viva Las Vegas = really rockabilly

Here They come in their cuffed levi's
Hair slicked back theyre real tough guys
black tshirt and a bad attitude
better not step on their blue suede shoes

livin in a time thats long since gone
its not quite right theres something wrong
look there goes another betty page
get with it chick its all the rage

CHORUS

Hes really really really rockabilly
really really really rockabilly
he pissed in his pants
hes to drunk to care
hes wearin 1956 underwear

theres neo rockabilly
theres pysco-rockabilly
theres starbucks orange country rockabilly
theres euro-ja-ja-wir-machen-rockin rockabilly
influenced rockabilly
theres australian-shrimp-on-the-barbie-carry-your-surfboard-to-sears-to-buy-your-rolled-up-levi's rockabilly
theres rock-a-johnny rocka-a-sally rock-a-hillbilly
its all so stupid and its just plain silly

(CHORUS)

The man at the door
he's a rockabilly guy
he said you cant come in
your pompadours to high
better grow them sideburns
get a tattoo on your neck
drink pabst blue ribbon
drive a rockabilly wreck

has it come to this?
I want a new job
rockabilly retards and rockabilly slobs
it used to be fun to play the guitar
now I just want to run real real far
(CHORUS)

It's a joke

What the whole Viva Las Vegas thing, or the song you just posted ????

Seriously "Viva Las Vegas" makes me think of a museum.

The futur of rockabilly is not on the past

LOL. So I take it your not a real big fan of Sin City and Its little weekend tribute thingy! ... LOL I know what you mean I guess, It kinda felt a little like Halloween there, but at least the music was alright ! =) LOL

Its interesting to hear diffrent peoples takes on the whole Viva LV. THING, WHICH IS EXACTLLY why I wanted to know about Brians ! I wonder what thier opinions ( The Cats ) would be on it ...

has it come to this?
I want a new job
rockabilly retards and rockabilly slobs
it used to be fun to play the guitar
now I just want to run real real far

The best lyrics in rockabilly for many years

Hell yeah, the future is not in the past.....

Just came back from VLV and I really didn't see the snob scene I always hear about.

Yeah there was 1956 underwear and all them cuffs - but nobody gave me any crap cause I didnt have cuffs or slicked back hair.

I saw plenty of people wearing Social Distortion, Brian Setzer and Stray Cats tees.

I think the people that would bitch and moan about strictly rockabilly are the hard asses that probably dont make up much of the real numbers of people that attend.

It was a lot of good music, cool cars, cool jive dancing (they even played some BSO) and lots of cool cats and kittens.

Fun-in-vegas-billy

K, Scott, and DONT YOU THINK THAT IT WOULD BE A BENIFIT if the Stray Cats decided to play there ! Can you imagine how many tickets would sell. IT WOULD BE SOLD OUT! I guarentee it. Every single person who showed up for that weekend would buy a ticket ! I dunno , man , I see alot of dollars signs when I think of the tickets they would sell. IT WOULD BE COMPLETE CHAOS IF THOSE CATS SHOWED UP TO DO A SHOW ! Too bad it will probably never happen...

The venue is too small for Stray Cats - there would be a huge fight just getting in and getting a spot to see the band.

But its a great place to see bands from areas that you wouldn't normally see.

Oh yeah , I didnt think about that .LOL Where they gonna play at .LOL But thats what I mean , can you just imagine the PANDEMONIUM if they were to actually show up for the weekend ! JJJEEEESUS CHRIST ! Complete Chaos ! .lol. But it just seems so natural to wanna see them there , ya know what I mean !

The future of Rockabilly might not be in the past , but I see that doesnt stop you from using your Gene Vincent pic to represent yourself on the forum here , and Taggy Jess's picture looks kinda " OLD "... Hmmmm...
I think I smell some " contradiction" here ..

None the less, I am still interested in hearing Brians take on the whole Viva Las Vegas thing !

I believe both Laurent and Jess said the FUTUR(E) of rockabilly is not (in) the past. Rockabilly's past is to be glorified and revered. But not at the expense of running off new talent who contibute to its evolution. You can look the part, embrace the past, and still be open-minded and excited about the future.

Nobody's indicting everyone who ever wore a pomp or cuffed their Levi's, not even and especially not Brian Setzer. While the "rockabilly snobs" do exist, they are a very small and occasionally vocal subset of a much larger group of people who are just trying to have a good time.


Personally, I've never really thought of Stray Cats as a great rockabilly band. They're just a great band. Period.

Label-billy

Rick, well put

Rick,
Perfectly said. Stray Cats were/are a killer-great BAND. I was there in 1980. Music was SO eclectic then, so cool, so daring that in 1980-81-82-83, the Cats were a great BAND. Sure, it was easy to throw the box around them, but as a MUSIC fan during that time, they were top 10 and they were IT. Label or no label. They were another group of young guys PLAYING MUSIC. M U S I C. And they looked cool as hell to boot. Look at the inner sleeve of Rant-n-Rave and tell me that Brian, Jim and Lee were concerned about "looking the part" like alot of these purists today. Please.... Rockabilly rules, no f'in' doubt, but put your own stamp on it! Anything else is friggin' karaoke or a tribute show.

Don't get me started. (oops. I already may be.)

1981 was an amazing time to be a music fan. I welcome ANYONE to debate that.

Love,
Tommy

Ive been going to Viva Las Vegas for 10 years, working the show for 3 years.

There is a huge misconception about what type of people goto Viva Las Vegas. Yes you do get some snooty purists, but they are not the majority, FAR from it.

Stray Cat Lover wrote:

The future of Rockabilly might not be in the past , but I see that doesnt stop you from using your Gene Vincent pic to represent yourself on the forum here , and Taggy Jess's picture looks kinda " OLD "... Hmmmm...
I think I smell some " contradiction" here ..

Wanna see my 2008 underwear

taggy jess wrote:

Stray Cat Lover wrote:

The future of Rockabilly might not be in the past , but I see that doesnt stop you from using your Gene Vincent pic to represent yourself on the forum here , and Taggy Jess's picture looks kinda " OLD "... Hmmmm...
I think I smell some " contradiction" here ..

Wanna see my 2008 underwear

No it's okay Jess, you can keep your pants on


Kid.

The question isss... DO YOU WANNA SEE MINE TAGGY JESS. LOL 2008 undies .LOL. Thats great!

This may be an aside but.... I've always found "scene purists" to be rather annoying and culturally conservative. When I was a kid, I was equally into the Grateful Dead as the Dead Kennedys. Of course the hippies looked down on me for my punk tendencies while the punks ridiculed me for my hippie tendencies. As a progressive, I always thought the idea of music scenes was to have fun and hang with people with whom you share some similar tastes. But it often becomes just another excuse for snobbery and exclusion. I found fashion nazis during the swing era of the late 90s as well. Because I've never been one to join groups and where their "uniforms" I just don't relate or understand this mentality.

Personally, I'd love to spend a weekend in Las Vegas listening to a bunch of rockabilly bands I might otherwise never hear and checking out some cool cars. But if there's going to be a big attitude because I'm not wearing an officially sanctioned costume, that's a big buzzkill.

Personally, I'd love to spend a weekend in Las Vegas listening to a bunch of rockabilly bands I might otherwise never hear and checking out some cool cars. But if there's going to be a big attitude because I'm not wearing an officially sanctioned costume, that's a big buzzkill.

That is EXACTLLLLYY how I looked at it, Thats why I went =)