It's that time of year again when the biggest Rockabilly Weekender of the year descends upon Las Vegas, NV every Easter. Well, almost every Easter. One year it was moved to the following week due to an early holiday coinciding with March Madness held in Las Vegas. It actually made the flight cheaper. But I digress.
It's Viva Las Vegas! This past week, my Instagram feed has blown up with photos of pre-VLV preparation, The Orleans Hotel, ladies in their lovely vintage attire and slot machines. To all that I say, "To Hell with Viva!" It just isn't the same anymore.
My first Viva experience was 2002, and I went every year until 2008. Those were some good times. I recall paying only $60 for my ticket, and the event didn't even sell out. The security was lax, so I made it a point to just attend Viva without a ticket. I ALWAYS got in. Regardless, I spent most of the time on the VLV peripheral.
It was always fun heading downstairs to watch the free Rockabilly shows. At the Gold Coast, all the VLV events were upstairs, but there were several stages downstairs as well. Performances were usually by wild (raw) Rockabilly bands quite different from the 1950s rock n roll influenced bands. The Moonlight Cruisers were my favorite band out of Los Angeles. They were known as the "Cumbiabilly" band based on their fusion of Spanish and Rockabilly music. The area was packed with fans; quite possibly drawing more of a crowd than the VLV bands.
The car show was always free with Saturday its biggest draw. The lot was open round the clock with several pop up acoustic performances from bands throughout the U.S. (though mostly California). You could hang out in the lot even at night where most people shot the breeze over booze and cigarettes. It would take hours to meander around the lot because often you'd stop and chat with different car owners, bands and other VLV patrons. Since the lot was on the top level, there were great views of the mountains.
And, of course, the vendors were always open to all visitors; ticket or not. It was a mix of true vintage and reproduction clothing. I avoid repros like the plague. Why wear the same mass produced dress that everyone else could wear at Viva? (I'll talk more about this later.) Wearing true vintage is a guarantee that you won't run into a person with the same outfit. One thing that has always been good about Viva is the vendors. I bought quite a few vintage dresses; some I still own today. Usually I always waited until the last day to make my purchases. That was when sellers got desperate to sell their inventory to avoid hauling it back to where ever they came from.
Though I always had gone with friends, I strolled about solo. I felt that was how to truly enjoy the experience and meet new people. My conversation with various patrons often came with a cocktail. I don't think I ever bought a drink. Usually conversations with men consisted of tattoos (so many of these guys wanted to tattoo me), music and dancing. With women it was clothing, hair and accessories.
I skipped about 3 years of Viva trips before finally going back in 2012. No more Gold Coast. It was now at The Orleans. The new venue significantly changed the atmosphere, aura and appeal of Viva Las Vegas. First of all, I didn't even buy a full weekend pass. I bought the car show pass. I thought, "wow, they're actually cashing in on this?" I figured I could get in to the main event, but it was pretty difficult. There were so many people at Viva of which about 90% looked exactly the same. Bettie Page Clothing and Stop Staring dresses, cherries, polka-dots, roses pinned in black hair, victory rolls (in the 50s???? That was long out of vogue). I counted (literally) about 18 Bettie Page dresses...all the exact same style and cut but different colors. Most of the patrons were really young with stuck-up attitudes. Of course most of the guys looked the same; t-shirt, cuffed jeans, pomps, converse, a mean mug and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon (which, by the way, is the WORST tasting beer; there's a reason why they're cheap); but at least they were nice.
The following year, I went back; this time buying the 4-day pass. I literally paid double than what I had originally paid back in '02. It was more of the same; only worse. At the record hops, I found myself strolling and bopping more than jiving. I really wanted to dance with new people, but Rockabillies are not social dancers. They only dance with their significant other or they have a tight circle of friends to dance together. I danced most with Anthony, my go-to guy for dancing at all the Rockabilly events in the Bay Area (and, again, he was my go-to guy at Viva). I also danced with some of my old friends from Los Angeles. But once I asked guys for a dance, their partners had this look of horror as if how dare I dance with their man. It's only a dance not an engagement. That's just how this community is.
I rarely spent time at the event itself. I ended up leaving the area to browse the Burlesque Hall of Fame, the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum. I got my swing dancing fix at a local venue (and the dancing wasn't really up to par). I dined at restaurants on the revamped old strip and made the requisite stop at Frankie's Tiki Room. It was more of a Las Vegas trip than a VLV experience. This wouldn't be a bad thing, only I felt I wasted $120 on an event that wasn't even worth that amount.
VLV just isn't what it used to be. I kept thinking about how much I missed the old Gold Coast days when the event seemed purer without all the sour attitudes that you see at Viva today. After my last trip, I said, "Nope. I'm done. Clearly this is for a different generation of Rockabilly culture." In fact most people who went during the earlier years had the same sentiment. As the days approached VLV 2014, most of us out here in the Bay Area backed out in favor of the new Rockabilly RockOut in October. From its description, it looks like the days of yore; a Rockabilly event back at the Gold Coast. It's still overpriced, but it looks like I'll be paying more for nostalgia.
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| The Old Viva Days. 2003-2008 Band: Moonlight Cruisers. Andrew Martinez (RIP) Roy Vargas before he became "Varga" and forgot about all us little people. |
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| New Viva Days: 2012-2013. Note that there are fewer pics of the actual event. More time was spent outside the event. |
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