----------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 20, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (scroll down to middle of article) http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Aug-20-Tue-2002/living/19432658.html COLUMN: MIKE WEATHERFORD Caesars brings in Crow for concert By Mike Weatherford News of one casino concert and controversy about another remind us of how important "destination concerts" have become to Las Vegas, but how there are still a few bugs in the system. <snip non-YES content> Fans of the veteran rock group Yes are likely wishing the 4,000-seater was already finished. Many are incensed by a 90-minute time limit announced for Saturday and Sunday shows at a Park Place Entertainment sister property, the Las Vegas Hilton. News of the time restriction -- and subsequent calls for boycotts of the property -- hit the Yesworld.com Web site last week after many ticket-buyers claim they had been assured otherwise by hotel staff. The British progressive rock group has been playing three-hour shows in two sets at most venues. The group's songs are long in structure, as opposed to stretching short ones out with jamming. Richard Langlois, the Hilton's head of marketing and entertainment, offered hope of a compromise last week when he said, "we're not pulling the plug or shutting off the power to the stage" if the group plays 105 to 110 minutes. The hotel's standard contract for a 75- to 90-minute concert is usually to keep lazy acts from cutting a set too short, Langlois adds. "If (Yes) want(s) to do a couple of encores, that's their business." However, he says that because of a 10:30 p.m. starting time -- dictated by an early Smothers Brothers show -- "there's no way we can do a three-hour show." The trade-off is "an intimate, quality setting." I'd be remiss not to disclose I've been a Yes fan since 1975. So while I'm tempted to disqualify myself from even having an opinion, a couple of points are worth making: It's perhaps forgivable for the Hilton to blur a thin line separating showroom acts from veteran groups that still try to be "current" on the summer amphitheater circuit. Many of Yes' peers -- from the Moody Blues to Huey Lewis -- have consigned themselves to making their living primarily on the casino circuit, and thus playing by those rules. But when a concert is up for bid among a number of casino properties -- Sunset Station having hosted a full Yes concert with intermission last summer -- it seems like they should be bidding for the same product, or the distinction should be made clear. Misunderstandings such as these can jeopardize Las Vegas' fairly recent status of having become a destination for die-hard fans or for tours that skip one's hometown. Consider one fan's posting on a Yes chat board: " I was planning on attending at least one of the shows in Vegas, but I doubt that I'll go now. That's a heck of a drive to see Yes Lite." ... [snip remainder - no YES content] Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com