Steven Tyler to be reunited with famous Vegas Strong shirt
Steven Tyler sings the Aerosmith classic “Toys in the Attic,” and the woman who caught his Vegas Strong T-shirt is named Barbie Dahl.
Of course she is.
In a story you really can’t script, a Las Vegas resident and fervent Aerosmith fan nabbed Tyler’s customized sleeveless black T-shirt on Tuesday night, the second anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest festival shootings on the Las Vegas Strip.
The next day, Tyler heeded a suggestion in this space that the shirt should be presented as a museum piece at the band’s display at Park Theater. Tyler and his Las Vegas manager Larry Rudolph swiftly offered two VIP meet-and-greet packages to whomever would walk this way (sorry) with the artifact.
That’s how we met the real-life Barbie Dahl. She and her husband, Kris Dahl (whose grandfather is fortuitously named Ken Dahl), acquired tickets to the show through the veterans’ ticket brokerage Vettix, which furnishes free tickets to select shows for members of the military.
Kris serves in the Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base and secured the tickets Monday afternoon. Aerosmith had never been listed on the site before Tuesday night, so the Dahls were pretty lucky just to be at the show.
“We are extremely blessed by the entire situation,” Barbie Dahl, who along with her husband has been an Aerosmith fan since she was a teenager, said Saturday afternoon. “The concert was amazing. We had such a fun time. After all the years of listening to their music, and watching Steven on ‘American Idol,’ it was a teen dream to see them in concert.”
She added, “When I caught his shirt, it was just the icing on the cake!”
The Dahls were seated close to the runway jutting from the stage on house right/stage left. Tyler finished the song, then began toying with his shirt, performing a quick striptease for those close to the stage.
“He was gesturing like he was going to take it off, pointing at people,” Barbie Dahl said. “Then he just took it off and threw it in my direction. Of course, I fumbled it (laughs), but I found it under my seat.”
The couple are prepping for a return to Park Theater on Tuesday night, where Tyler is ready to follow through on his promise and meet the couple and accept the shirt.
To answer one question — wasn’t this shirt sweaty after the performance? — Barbie Dahl said: “I couldn’t believe it, but it was really dry, and it’s the best-smelling shirt I have ever smelled. He either uses a really good essential oil, or it was stored in a vat of roses (laughs). I was telling my husband, ‘This shirt smells so good. Smell it!’”
We’ll call the fragrance “Eau de Tyler,” sufficiently strong and worth preserving.
Looking forward to this …
Steve Martin and Marin Short are back at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Sunday night, with Paul Shaffer serving as music director. This is Shaffer’s first appearance in that role in Vegas, but not his first appearance at Caesars, where last year he headed up a couple of limited runs at Cleopatra’s Barge in 2017 and again in ’18.
I am still holding out for another Shaffer appearance on the Strip. Shaffer loves Vegas, and there are some rooms — including one in development overlooking a famous body of water — where he’d be a great fit.
Who Was Where
Siegfried & Roy celebrated Roy Horn’s 74th birthday at “Wow — World of Wonder” at the Rio on Thursday night. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday to You” in the duo’s first public appearance since their ABC “20/20” episode aired on Sept. 27.
From last night: @WOWshowvegas wishes #RoyHorn a happy birthday @rio. @SARMOTIfdn #SiegfriedAndRoy (📹@MikeCaprio) pic.twitter.com/7AXpLbE8sL
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) October 4, 2019
MD on the move
With “Evil Dead the Musical HD” loading into The Space for a limited run, Mondays Dark is moving outside for its next performance 8 p.m. Monday at the Lawn in Downtown Summerlin. The event starts earlier than usual; doors at 7 p.m. and the show is at 8. Pawtastic Friends is the chosen charity, and Motown is the theme.
On Oct. 21, the show moves to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay to benefit Freedom House Sober Living. The show returns to its usual 8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. showtimes. Music from “Stranger Things” is the theme. Tickets are $20; go to the Mondays Dark website for info.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.