#TaylorHicksinVegas ~ One Year and Counting!

Bally's Poster captured by Gary Hathaway

Taylor Hicks marked an anniversary last week. He tweeted:

“One year and counting! @BallysAC @ParisVegas in #Vegas #greatgig #thankful.”

On June 26, 2012, he became the first American Idol with a headlining residency in Las Vegas opening at Bally’s Indigo Lounge.

That night, a packed house welcomed the newest Las Vegas headliner. Bally’s Kelly Frey tweeted the moment:

Photo shared by Bally's-Opening Night

It was a turnaround for the long-touring musician. Taylor Hicks was in one place. Fans were now the ones making travel plans. And they did, coming from all over the world.

A new band took the Vegas stage behind Taylor, among them Jamie McLean, Brian Gallagher from his 2007 tour band, and long time music director, Brian Less. The musical talent and chemistry packed on to the small stage were as good as it gets. The energy blew the roof off, almost literally.

Photo from Bally's Martin Martinez

The music was new and old. On a set list of twists and turns, what was next was as unexpected at the nearby slots rolling up sevens. There were tracks from The Distance, his current album, classics from Elvis, and blues and soul favorites from this songwriter’s large repertoire. Las Vegas had a new mix and a new genre it coined ‘roadhouse’—raw, rockin’ and really good! From the energy-spiked, foot-stomping opener, “Country Living,” to Elvis’ classic closer, “Viva Las Vegas,” the show made you dance, grabbed your heart, and left you singing!

Entertainment…indeed!

The stage was small. The sound, the energy, and the experience were not. In an arena, you are part of the crowd. In this small, intimate setting, sometimes referred to as Taylor’s Las Vegas living room, you were part of the moment, the music, and the show—you were all in it together. Taylor chatted between songs, thanked the military in the audience, and delivered funny lines like the best comedians in the city. He grinned and thanked those who voted for him on American Idol!  It all resonated with guests as an evening of great entertainment in a cool little corner of the Vegas Strip!

After the show in an informal meet and greet at the merchandise table, guests could meet Taylor, have items autographed and take pictures. The take-away of a personal connection with the Vegas headliner was appreciated and remembered.

Taylor’s stunning new Vegas wardrobe brought back chic jackets like those of the 2007 National Tour along with western shirts that, no doubt, had never seen a horse. And nothing had to be packed onto a tour bus.

Photo by DNJ Morton, al.com

The little lounge show grew with every rave review and creative new moniker—‘searing soul,’ ‘rootsy rock,’ the ‘real deal.”  Shows were sold out. The Las Vegas entertainment community embraced the ‘new club kid,’ and the show was named one of the Top Ten “best of Las Vegas.” It became a vibrant part of the Las Vegas landscape. The Bally’s headliner joined the community is supporting charities, walking the Red Carpets in fine fashion, and smiling from the covers of local magazines.

It was success all wrapped up in a cool little lounge in Las Vegas!

It quickly outgrew The Indigo located just off the gaming floor at Bally’s. In January, 2013, the little lounge show that was packed to overflowing with really good musicians and people eager to hear them, moved a short step away to the larger Napoleon’s Piano Bar at Paris Las Vegas. The guitars didn’t bump into the drums.

More people came to experience what writer, Chaz Lipp, described as a backwoods ‘smoky roadhouse with a hot band.’ Napoleon’s Piano Bar that had been home to dueling pianos, champagne and cigars, now rocked with dueling guitars and smoky roadhouse.

Opening Night-Paris Las Vegas, Photo by Ashlee DeMartino

Who knew that Las Vegas would be a hotbed for ‘roadhouse,’ that the American Idol who auditioned there in 2005 would be the first to return to a long-term residency, and that new success would be waiting right where it had started?

Success is where you make it.  Taylor Hick seemed hell-bent on making this another success with hard work and musicians who love playing music. It paid off...again.  He’s winning big in the town of the elusive win.

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to Taylor Hicks and to all those who made year one in Las Vegas memorable and successful!

Cheers! And best wishes for more success and good music in year two!

Years hence, we will say, “We saw you in Vegas!”

Viva, Las Vegas!

~~~

Tonight, Taylor wraps up a series of five shows in Reno, NV at Sammy’s Showroom at Harrah’s where he has played to packed houses.  Appearances this summer at other Ceasar’s Entertainment venues will include Harrah’s Laughlin and Bally’s Atlantic City.

Tomorrow night, he is back home at Paris Las Vegas to start year two of this little lounge show that’s making a big sound in one of the biggest entertainment meccas in the world.

Buy Tickets:  http://www.parislasvegas.com/shows/taylor-hicks.html

Check out all the latest news and places of other appearances this summer at the Official Taylor Hicks Website:  www.taylorhicks.com

For more on the Las Vegas experience,  you might enjoy these blogs:

“Taylor Hicks in Las Vegas - Twists, Turns, and Tags”

http://thetaylorhickscommunity.blogspot.com/2012/12/taylor-hicks-in-las-vegas-twists-turns.html

"Taylor Hicks Rocks the Vegas Gig"
http://thetaylorhickscommunity.blogspot.com/2012/07/taylor-hicks-and-vegas-gig.html

For our archive of everything Las Vegas and Taylor Hicks, visit Connections Anthology:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/connections/index/ -Thanks to Cath-tthc for keeping the memories! 

Taylor Hicks~Our 2012 Top Ten List~The Beat Goes On!

You gotta’ love Vegas in 2012! The year revved up with the first American Idol opening on the Vegas Strip with a summer residency. It ended there with more to come!

We look back and celebrate the glitz, the tunes, the hype, and the happenings that made 2012 a very good year in the Taylor Hicks community!

10. 'Soul Power' Soars on Social Media 
It was a continual build of twitter followers @TaylorHicks in 2012 for the Vegas headliner who tweeted his forays around Vegas, sojourns across the country, sports galore from the couch and the stadium, and candid randomness that kept followers engaged. With few exceptions, daily tweets and RTs kept this entertainer connected with his followers.  Social media also allowed fans to be a part of the Taylor experience as concert goers shared their pictures and experiences from Las Vegas and other events.

9. Before There’s Vegas, There’s Business as Usual
Not waiting around for Vegas to call, Taylor started 2012 with appearances, (one in Las Vegas) from New England (with the Jamie McLean Band that would later join him in Las Vegas) to the Bahamas to the Race to Erase MS benefit in California. There were TV appearances. He joined the ever-captivating Southern charmer, Paula Deen, for cooking up Roadhouse Eats on The Food Network. He played the dating game on FOX’s new fun show, “The Choice,” and made friends with fellow show competitor, The Situation, of Jersey fame.

8. Vegas Headliner Connects with the Community
Special Olympics, Nevada Wild Fest Dock Dogs competition, the Wrangler National Rodeo Finals, and other musicians’ shows brought this headliner into the community. He attended charity events, local happenings, and entertainment shows like someone coming to stay a while. This “club kid” was at Stifler’s for what was called the “show of the year” by John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun.

If the face of Vegas is anything, it is glitzy. The glamorous Idol joined the glitzy star power walking the red carpet, or orange carpet, at openings, shows, and charity events. His carpet-worthy fashion and style was a parade of photogenic highs.

7. Media Matters
The Las Vegas media laid out the welcome mat with interviews, coverage, and stellar reviews. They were in the audience at The Indigo and came back. Bally’s marketing people presented their new headliner with genuine enthusiasm. Bally’s Kelly Frey: “ @TaylorHicks killed it @BallysVegas tonight! So proud to have him as our newest headliner.” The “searing soul” music of one media story became known as “roadhouse,” an appropriate moniker since it saw much of its growth as the young, struggling Taylor Hicks played at what is called America’s Last Great Roadhouse, Florabama, on the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast—a long way from the Las Vegas Strip. Local TV, print, radio and social media enthusiastically brought Taylor Hicks and the Vegas experience to the forefront. A very long list of major and memorable media events in 2012 for the Idol gone Vegas headliner included Huffington Post, CMT Insider, and Hollywood Reporter, to only name a few.

6. New Saw’s Juke Joint Opens
The restaurateur, Taylor Hicks, opened a new casual eatery.  Literally overnight, the former Ore Drink and Dine, opened in the Birmingham area by Taylor and partners, turned into Saw’s Juke Joint, a locally acclaimed Saw’s BBQ. In the laid back comfort of the Juke Joint, Taylor still shows up to entertain and jam with local musicians like Gip Gipson.   Here, he entertains on Thanksgiving:

5. Vegas Gig Goes Viral on American Idol

The gig was out of the bag in April, as Taylor sat in the American Idol audience and announced to Ryan Seacrest and a global audience that he was opening at Bally’s in Las Vegas—an appropriate place for the big news since he was the first American Idol to have a residency in the entertainment capital. Twitter exploded with the announcement, and it was one of several times in 2012 when Taylor Hicks was trending on social media.

4. “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “Eastwooding” Roust the RNC

Saying that he was honored to celebrate the political process, Taylor appeared on the closing night stage at the Republican National Convention in a premier spot just prior to Clint Eastwood’s now pop-culturized ‘speech.’ Just before going on, Taylor met Eastwood backstage and later commented that he knew Eastwood’s appearance was sure to be ‘entertaining.’ It wasn’t the first time these two crossed paths. Taylor performed a stunning “Gran Torino” at special request of Eastwood for a 2010 charity event in Los Angeles.

3. Roadhouse Lights Up the Vegas Strip
A little bit country, a lot of rock and roll, and downright raging, the Vegas music took the town by storm, and this town had seen the best. They hadn’t seen Taylor Hicks and a kick ass band that made “roadhouse” cool on the Vegas strip. Together, they created what one writer called a force that would show up on Dopler radar! New music with a touch of Vegas like “That’s Life” and the finale, “Viva Las Vegas” fit neatly along side music from Taylor’s current album, The Distance, to create a set list that rocked! A new rendition of “In the Ghetto” revered Elvis but was uniquely Taylor Hicks. The poignant “19” honored our troops and reminded us of what we owe our service men and women. A little bit of country, “Country Living,” written by guitarist Jamie McLean, blew the roof off. Musical guests joined Taylor and the band on stage, including John Popper of Blues Traveler.

After all, it IS about the music.

2. Residency Runs Through 2013
The summer run slated from June into August never lost its opening night momentum as fans came in from everywhere and local Vegas guests packed The Indigo at Bally’s.  The stunning reviews lasted and rumors started early that Taylor Hicks would be back. He did return in October with the announcement that his contract with Ceasar’s Entertainment was extended through 2013! Shows continued into December and dates are now available from January 21, through November 23, 2013--links below for dates and tickets.

1. Roadhouse Soul Opens at Bally's

Our top story choice for 2012 has to be #TaylorHicksinVegas. In the official announcement from TaylorHicks.com and Bally’s Vegas, Taylor expressed how honored he was to follow in the traditions of the renowned Vegas stars of live entertainment. On June 26, 2012, the newly refurbished Indigo Room at Bally’s was packed for the opening of this American Idol winner who auditioned for the show in Las Vegas in 2005. Two of the city’s music icons, Clint Holmes and Kelly Clinton Holmes were in the audience and tweeted that this was “the real deal.” And it got better. Music lovers filled The Indigo night after night. Vegas couldn’t get enough of the Southern soul ramped up to roadhouse raucous by Taylor Hicks and the Vegas band. Saying he could just go downstairs and do his show each night, Taylor called it, “Not a bad gig.”  Seriously.

And the beat goes on...

~~~~
With shows continuing in Vegas and the prospect of new music on the horizon, 2013 will be another great year at Taylor Hicks!  Stay tuned!

Catch #TaylorHicksinVegas 2013 ~~

UPDATE 1-13-2013:
Although unconfirmed at this time, it has been reported that roadhouse on The Strip moves next door to another Caesars Entertainment venue, Paris Las Vegas' Napoleon's Lounge when Taylor returns to Las Vegas January 21st.  Tickets are on sale for the new venue:
  http://www.parislasvegas.com/casinos/paris-las-vegas/casino-entertainment/taylor-hicks-detail-detail.html


Taylor Hicks Performing at Bally’s Las Vegas by TaylorHicksTV:



~~~
Photo credits:  
@TaylorHicks Twitter Profile - DearWorld 
"The Choice" - FOX TV
Taylor on the red carpet - StarPulse
Saw's BBQ - sandgpie   
Announcement on American Idol - Access Hollywood
What's On Vegas Cover - What's On Magazine
Clint Eastwood and Taylor - The Hollywood Reporter
On stage at The Indigo - Martin Martinez of Bally's
Returning in October - Taylor Hicks via Twitter 

~~~
For more on the Vegas music, see blog below, “Twists, Turns, and Tags.”
For more of everything Vegas and beyond, visit The Taylor Hicks Community Anthology ~ Connections:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/connections/index/