Alakazam!! Monday's Magical Musical Cabaret

The art of comedy and illusion was a magical experience for the crowd at Kelly Clinton's Open Mic Cabaret last Monday night.  The multi-talented Kelly Clinton succeeded in taking on the full persona of master magician David Copperfield.  The music, the lights, the costuming were awesome and so were the magic bits, "The Silk," the "Sleight of Hand," the "Disappearance" ---and a lot more Hocus Pocus.  The full-house crowd went wild as Kelly performed with the help of skit collaborator and  magician's assistant Kaci Machacyk, stage manager Tommy Vinci and DJ/special effects guy, Kevin Cordova.  There were screams and tears of laughter throughout the entire room as Kelly ---dressed and made up in the likeness of David Copperfield --and never once losing character-- presented one magic trick after another.  Was that a banana, then a head of cauliflower coming out of front-seat fan, Bill Bane's  ear?  It was --- and after a Q-tip swipe of the ear, we saw a Clint Holmes' CD appear and heard an announcement that plugged Clint's upcoming show!!
Really funny stuff!  It's all on tape so one day everyone can see this incredibly funny show of talent! 
Oh what fun!!!!!
And, that was just for starters. Next came another incredible show of talent by many top Vegas entertainers!!

Kaci Machacyk got the open mic swinging with a terrific performance of the tune, "Last Dance."                                                                                                                    Kaci Machacyk will perform in her own show "The Soprano" at the Liberace Museum July 21.  The talented young women is also the host of the web broadcast Vegas 5W.  www.vegas5w.com

The truly awesome singer Lannie Counts was up next with his soulful rendition of the Marvin Gaye hit,  "Heard It Through the Grapevine." The crowd, as always, wanted more and they got it when Lannie took us into the Blues with that fabulous standard, "Georgia."  Lannie Counts is HOT!!!                             Lannie Counts is appearing this Saturday night with Kelly Clinton at the exclusive Stirling Club at Turnberry Towers.

The romantic crooner, Mark O'Toole sang with Kelly's band for the first time and he was terrific on the beautiful love song, "You Don't Know Me."  Mike Clark did an fabulous job on the keys while guest drummer Brian Czach kept the beat on Mark's second tune, "Fly Me to the Moon." .................................Mark O'Toole appears in the Ravello Room at the "M" Resort in Henderson every Saturday night starting from 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM and at various other venues in Laughlin, NV.  He also appears frequently on Wednesday nights at the Stirling Club.

Every singer that appeared this night chose to perform with the live band!!!!!!  The boys in the band, Mike Clark and guest drummer Brian Czach played all night long with only one brief break when our next performer stepped into the spotlight.  ...............Ironically, this was the night professional magician Jason Andrews stopped by to perform!!!!  Who knew that would happen?!!   Named Entertainer of the Year by Boyd Gaming,  magician Jason Andrews had more than a few tricks up his sleeve when he entertained the awe-struck crowd Monday night!!

Singer Carmine Mandia dropped in to give us his rendition of the Bobby Darin tune, "That's All."  Carmine is both a solo performer and a member of the group Shades of Sinatra. The Shades show was created by Kelly Clinton about five years ago.   Aside from their own shows,  the Shades have  opened for comedian Don Rickles several times.  ............................Carmine Mandia will be the headline performer on Sunday evening, July 18, in Kelly Clinton's Celebrity Spotlight at the Bootlegger Bistro.  He's also appearing at the Rampart Hotel & Casino, ...July 30 & 31.

If you are one of the few people that don't know who Domenick Allen is, let me tell you something about this guy with the pure heart of gold and the talent of a giant in the music industry. We will start with the heart by broadcasting a brief version of the story he presented last Monday night.  Domenick's wife, Leigh Zimmerman and thier daughter are in New York this summer.  Leigh is starring on Broadway in the hit musical Chicago so they are living the dual residence life while Domenick works Vegas or is on the road traveling the world.  Domenick is a guy 'in love with his family'.  He said he was thinking of his relationship with Leigh when he came up with the musical tribute he was about to perform at the piano "for all those couples who are one."  Wow!!!  The super talented singer/musician/entertainer blew us away!!!! .... About the talented giant, Domenick Allen is best known as a member of the rock group Foreigner.  He was also the opening act for Mr. Showman,  Liberace, for several years and now Domenick Allen headlines all over the world.  He recently appeared in the fantastic show, Vocal Soup, with Clint Holmes, Susan Anton and Martin Nievera at the Orleans Showroom.

 

Come blow your horn Martin Mancuso, the crowd loves you!! They truly do appreciate this talented musician/dancer who always puts on a fabulous show!  This night Martin hit it with the "Chicago Blues,"  blowing that Sax like nobody's business.  With Martin on stage was the fantastic guitarist, Tony Drake who took over the spotlight when Martin took a break.  Tony Drake was awesome!!!  Martin Mancuso stepped back into the spotlight for an incredible finish!!!!  YES!!

The fabulous singer, Laurie Cook and her band members, explosive drummer LJ and the Sax man Scott took us back to the 60's with a sensational performance of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and that rocking tune "New Orleans."  Kelly said she thought the hot drummer LJ was about to "spontaneous combust" on his spectacular solo! The word is out that Laurie Cook and her band did a killer show when they performed in Kelly's Sunday Night Celebrity Spotlight at the Bootlegger recently.  The group will be one of about 30 bands performing at Hot August Nights a major Las Vegas fundraising event For Kids Now on Aug. 20, 21 & 22.

It was about that time in the show when Kelly lets loose with the moves and she did it with her hair flying to the beat Go Kelly, Go Kelly, Go Go Kelly!!!!

The super talented Michael Jackson impersonator and a terrific singer/musician in his own right, Isaiah Mercado came on stage with a whole different kind of MJ tune.  Isaiah said he figured if he only did MJ's up-tunes all through a show he could "die" so it was time to slow it down a bit with a the beautiful ballad from the King of Pop, "She's Out of My Life."    Wow, that was so fine Isaiah!!  ....................................................Isaiah Mercado has "all kinds of stuff coming up."  Details later.

Talk about "all kinds of things coming up"  our next performer, Michael Cagle can't wait to shout out all the "huge stuff going on" in his career.  He has to hold off on the latest breaking news but we are sure to hear about it very soon. Michael has been working at "making it in the music business"  for some time now and it looks like tenacity and hard work is about to pay off.  Monday night Michael Cagle sang his heart out during his wonderful performance of "Neither One of Us."  We are all rooting for you Michael Cagle!!!

The magic never stopped all night!!!!  Kelly called out for "Summertime" in the key of C and up stepped  the incomparable Clint Holmes to join his lovely wife in a duet.  The couple sang together and then Kelly stepped aside to let Clint do his  thing.  If you haven't seen Clint Holmes perform you are really missing a show from this one-of-a kind entertainer!  As Kelly said at the end of the performance it was as if  "Clint was possessed by the magical musical God."

Clint Holmes is appearing at the Suncoast Showroom on July 10 & 11.

The crowd was really happy to see the young rockin' guitarist Merritt Mullaney back at the open mic. He's only appeared here a few times but the fans easily took to Las Vegas newcomer right from the start.  This Monday night Merritt shared his spot with Bootlegger host and singer, J.T. Thompson.  While J.T. took the vocals, Merritt rocked on his electric guitar on the tune, "The Weight" by the group, The Band. 

It was a terrific duo performance.             Merritt Mullaney may be heading back to S. Dakota very soon to continue you his Piano Performance program at his home- state university.  Merritt said he would rather stay in Las Vegas if he can and that he is looking into the Music major programs at UNLV.  For now it is wait and see.  We all wish good things for Merritt Mullaney.

The beautiful and very talented singer, Napata Mero` was up next.  Her first remark was "You call this an Open Mic?  This is fantastic!" 
Napata is from San Francisco and she was in town visiting the friends who brought her to the Cabaret.   She did a really outstanding performance of the Etta James tune, "At Last." 
Nepato Mero` is fantabulous!!!!

The wonderful husband and wife team, Lisa Gay and Tony Drake were up next with yet another sensational open mic performance.  Lisa took the vocals as Tony led the band on guitar for their first tune, "For Once in My Life."  As always Lisa and Tony did a excellent show of talent.  The crowd always wants more so for their second number Lisa gave out her fabulous vocals on "Love Makes a Woman."  Then she invited Kelly to join her on closing out the number.  Oh what fun and plenty of super talented by Tony Drake, Lisa Gay and Kelly Clinton.

Kelly said the super talented Lisa Gay and Tony Drake have been in town less than a year and they are making their mark in the Las Vegas music scene. Just this past week they appeared on the Dennis Bono Show and on July 10th they are working with the fabulous Woody Woods at Lake Las Vegas.

Google Lisa Gay and Thrill for lots more info.

And the winner is!!!  Yes that's right, the next singer at the open mic, Cristina Ventre recently won the member's talent contest at the Stirling Club!!  When we watched  this beautiful young woman perform as she did Monday night, right away we knew how Cristina blew away the contest  judges.  She's incredible!!  Cristina sent out the beautiful Italian lyrics of Caruso.  What a voice!  Then when the crowd called for an encore, Cristina did an astonishing performance of "I Will Always Love You."  Wow!!!!
Cristina Ventre you are really  good!!!!!

Who could follow Cristina's act? 

Well it was none other than her Dad, Gianfranco Ventre who serenaded us with the Italian lyrics of the romantic tune "Arriverderci Roma."  It was a beautiful performance by a very fine singer, Gianfranco Ventre.


This was the last performance of the "magical musical" evening at Kelly Clinton's Open Mic Cabaret on July 5, 2010.

Thanks to everyone for coming!!!

Looking forward to seeing you all next Monday night!!!

Perform,
Promote Your Gig,
Dine In,
Chill Out,
It's Always a Blast!!

Kelly Clinton's Open Mic Cabaret

Bootlegger Bistro
7700 Las Vegas Blvd So.
Dining reservations:
702-736-4939

It's me Kelly Clinton!!

The Buzz: The Show Sizzles Every Monday Night!!

The show sizzles every Monday night at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret   ---it's the hottest weekly show of talent in Vegas. With the dynamic Kelly Clinton as the MC,  the show always starts off with a blast!  Monday night it was Kelly as Kelly with her comedic intro song, "Bald Headed Men." She loves them!!! Just ask a guy named Rob who gave Kelly a shining (pun) example of the kind of man who turns her on. The audience was in stitches as Kelly played it to hilt with Ray and a couple of other bald headed men!! It was an explosive opening for one more fabulous evening of hot entertainment!

The open mic began with a welcome back to singer/musician, Isaiah Mercado, one of the most sensational Michael Jackson tribute artists we’ve seen in a long time. Isaiah arrived in Las Vegas a few months ago and showcased his professional talent right here at Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret at the Bootlegger Bistro. In a matter of weeks he was out on the road with bookings all over the country! This night Isaiah Mercado gave us a terrific performance of MJ’s “The Way You Make Me Feel.”

The very talented musician/singer and tribute artist, Isaiah Mercado just turned 24 and he is well on his way to a fabulous career in the entertainment business.

Next up was the super talented Malia Civetz.  The 16-year old Malia has so many professional performances under her belt she is certainly on her way to stardom. Malia showed her stuff with an awesome version of “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” recorded by Whitney Houston and written by Grammy award winning songwriter, Diane Warren. The crowd loves Malia and she followed up with a second tune in an entirely different musical style, the swinging version of the Sinatra tune, "World on a String.”
Malia Civetz appeared with her group, Breakthrough, at the opening of Toast of the Town, the new Thursday afternoon show at Sam’s Town. The Las Vegas Academy student also relayed the story of how she got a call the day before a recent Dodgers vs. Yankees game asking her to sing the very next day. (She has performed many times for the opening of pro sports games) Malia answered the call and performed the next day at Dodger stadium before 56,000 fans!

There were several young performers at the open mic this week ---all of them were terrific singers.  The youngest was the phenomenal Kaela Victoria Jonson-Smith who came by for her second show at the open mic cabaret.
Ten-year old Kaela knocked us dead with her unbelievable performance of “Listen.”

Kaela Victoria Jonson-Smith studies voice at the LaBlanc Academy.

We were in for a real treat with our next performer, musician/producer/arranger, Jeff Neiman. Jeff produced Clint Holmes latest CD, Re-Imagined,  ---and he has been working as Clint’s musical director since the Fall of 2009. The super pianist, Jeff Neiman performed an awesome solo in concert at the grand piano featuring music from Phantom of the Opera.

Jeff Neiman will host the Toast of the Town show at Sam’s Town this Thursday, July 1,  at 2 PM. Jeff will also perform as musical director for Clint Holmes at the Suncoast on July 10 and 11th.

Kelly Clinton picked up on Jeff’s performance by presenting her own version of the music from Phantom in her operatic voice.  
JT Thompson did the Kelly 'catch or quick pick-up'  when she took her 'after the opera number fall.' 

Though she makes it appear comical, Kelly really can hit those notes using her voice in high range. Go Kelly, Go Kelly!

The very popular Lannie Counts was up next with his amazing performance of “Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder. Lannie is one fine singer with a truly remarkable range. We always looked forward to seeing Lannie perform every few weeks or every couple of months when Kelly first started the Monday night open mic over a year ago at the Bootlegger.  But Lannie said once he started coming in every week over the past few months ---now he is “addicted and I can’t stop!”

As always, the crowd can’t get enough of Lannie Counts either so they demanded more and the fabulous singer obliged with the Motown tune, “Just My Imagination.” Suddenly Clint Holmes joined in from the audience and moments later he was on stage with Lannie for an incredible duet jam session that Kelly  described as  “Magical stuff.”

Lannie Counts wrapped up the his fantastic solo spot and the crowd went wild!!! Wow, that was so hot!!

Be sure to catch the incredible Clint Holmes at the Suncoast on July 10 & 11. Make your reservations now.

Tickets go fast!!  The billboard painting was brought in from home by Kelly Clinton.  It was a surpise moment for her husband Clint Holmes.

The word is spreading about Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret and the talent from California have been driving in to perform at the popular cabaret show. This week we saw the gorgeous singer/songwriter, 18 year-old Lauren Diaz perform her original tune “You Ain’t Nothing to Me.” The talented musician accompanied herself at the grand piano as she sang out the lyrics in her amazing full voice.
Lauren Diaz drove in from Hesperia, Ca. just to perform this night at the Bootlegger. She was on her way back home when the show ended. Come back anytime Lauren.

It was Richelle Riviera’s first appearance at Kelly’s Cabaret.  Richelle Riviera spent the last year or so on cruise ship tours before coming back to Vegas to settle in for a while. The pro performer had the band behind her when she gave her tremendous presentation of the Billy Holiday tune, “God Bless the Child.”

Everyone was very pleased to see the amazing singer Bobby Black accept Kelly’s invite to step up to the mic. Bobby gave an awesome performance of the fabulous Michael Buble` arrangement of “Cry Me a River.” The crowd roared for Bobby Black and he gave us another outstanding presentation of “Faithfully” by Journey...... Bobby Black is sensational!!
As you may or may not know, Bobby Black was a solo performer with plenty of professional experience when we first met him several years back at Kelly Clinton's original Monday night gig at the Bootlegger. As the story goes, two other pros, Mark Giovi and Bill Fayne also sang at the weekly gig and one night former Bootlegger manager, Ruthie Catalano suggested they sing together. That was how the now famous group the Las Vegas Tenors came to being. Later another awesome tenor, Teddy Davey joined the group and not long after Mark Giovi took the starring role in the show “Bite” at the Stratosphere.
Bobby Black was headed for Aruba on Tuesday for a cruise ship tour with the Las Vegas Tenors.

Between acts the fabulous multi-talented Kelly Clinton kept the crowd roaring with laughter with her witty off-the-cuff comedy including an amazing multi-character improv version of her own soap opera ----and with hysterically funny call backs to her new found bald-headed love, Rob. Expect the unexpected whenever Kelly Clinton is on stage!! Gotta love her!!

Kelly spotted musician/singer Jamie Hosmer in the audience and with a little enticement from Kelly and Bobby Black,  Jamie took over the grand piano and floored the crowd with his awesome performance of the Elton John hit tune, “Rocket Man.”   Though Bobby promised Jamie he and Clint Holmes would sing with him -- and they were on stage--- Clint said Jamie didn’t need any help from them, he was doing so fabulous on his own. Wow, what a great performance by Jamie Hosmer!!! We’d love to see him at the Cabaret again!!

Jamie Hosmer is a member of Las Vegas’ leading band, Santa Fe. Santa Fe performs at the Bootlegger on Wednesday nights starting at 10 PM.

Next up,  musician/song stylist April Spain blew us away at the grand piano singing her incredible version of “I Love Being Her With You.” April just arrived back in town after a long absence. She has worked with Kelly’s musical director, Mike Clark in the past and both Mike and drummer, Billy Adams were featured in solo spots during April’s performance. The crowd loved her and April Spain did a fabulous show on her second number, “Just the Two of Us.” Wow, welcome back April Spain!!!

The boys in the band are really hot too!!

Another beautiful young woman, Yvonne Silva was up next. Yvonne was a singer before pursuing her current profession as a Maitre' D at Mandalay Bay. She wants to get back into singing again and Yvonne Silva showed her stuff with a terrific performance of the Etta James tune “At Last.”

Yukon Jack Logan was back this week. The guitar-playing singer had the band backing him up on his marvelous performance of the Johnny Cash tune “Solitary Man.”

Yukon Jack Logan performed his own show at Sea World for over a decade before making the move to Vegas in recent months.

Our next performer, Murry McKay had the crowd rocking as he danced and sang the up-tune “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters. This is such a familiar tune to many of us it’s really hard to believe it was first released back in the early 1980s and made it to Billboards Top 100 Chart on it’s second release in 1984. Where does the time go?! The song was also selected by the Recording Industry Association of America as one of “The Songs of the Century.” Murry McKay did a great job on this memorable tune.

Our own JT Thompson was about to wrap up the show with track music but the DJ Jake Klein who was filling in for the one and only Kevin Cordova didn’t have the version of “Christopher Robin” that JT sings with. That could have been a bummer but JT decided to perform
A cappella and what an outstanding job he did!! JT Thompson did an astonishing performance of the Kenny Loggins tune!! Great Job JT!!

To our surprise and Kelly’s too, there was one more act that wanted to go on. The late arrivals had come a long way from Los Angeles to do the show. The duo act just barely made into town in time but they did get on to close the night out. Guitarist/songwriter Shana Golden and singer/lyricwriter Gina Jirouard gave a wonderful performance of their original tune “Ageless Mirror.” The girls from the group Kona Wind are in the process of recording “Ageless Mirror” on their new CD of the same title. Their earlier CD release, “Come Into My World” has already sold over 4,000 copies.
Kona Wind usually performs as a five piece band in their shows. They have worked as an opening act for many big name performers and have done their own show at the Cannery in Las Vegas and at many other venues. They were in town for a performance this week. Check them out at www.konawind.net

Before bringing the night to a complete ending, there were celebrities in the audience that deserve a mention. Kelly had no idea the cast members of “Rain” the Beatles musical were sitting at a large table watching the show until the very end of the night.  Kelly was delighted to have them at the Cabaret and to hear the announcement “Rain:  The Beatles Experience” was going to Broadway this Fall!!!
Congratulations to the entire cast!!

Once again Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret came to a final close following a dynamite evening of fantastic performances. Thanks to the great entertainers who perform, our friends and fans who are such a great audience ---and to Kelly Clinton and her A-Team, Musical director Mike Clark and drummer Billy Adams, Bootlegger host JT Thompson and filling in for Kevin Cordova this week, DJ Jake Klein.
Please join us again next Monday night at the Bootlegger Bistro for Kelly Clinton’s Open Mic Cabaret, the best Monday night show in Vegas!!

Perform, Promote Your Gig,

Dine In, Chill Out


It’s Always a Blast!

Bootlegger Bistro, 7700 Las Vegas Blvd. South


Dining Room Reservations: 702-736-4939