Las Vegas still chasing the ’60s-cool vibe

My look at “the year ahead” on the first Sunday in January ended with fun insight from Frankie Moreno, a Las Vegas entertainer working hard to establish himself as an original voice.

“We all talk about Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. … Why, now, is that all we want?” Moreno asked of the entertainment mentality on the Strip. “When those guys came in, (casinos) didn’t tell Elvis, ‘We want a Perry Como show.’ ”

The comment came back to me during a recent stretch when we had both Bob Anderson’s “Frank — The Man. The Music,” at Palazzo and “The Elvis Experience” at the Westgate Las Vegas.

The Elvis tribute was part of a partnership between the Westgate and Graceland Enterprises, which announced a rotation of Elvis-themed shows in the historic showroom where the man himself once sang.

But the limited-run “Experience” didn’t seem to set the town abuzz. Plans for the next show appeared to have been suspended during the hotel’s recent operational hand-off to Paragon Gaming, though the Graceland partnership remains intact (an exhibit of Elvis memorabilia continues).

However, Anderson’s worthy Sinatra vehicle has been extended for the rest of the year.

And “The Rat Pack Is Back,” which has been missing the whole time “Frank” has been open, reopens July 6 at the Tuscany.

Then there’s Matt Goss, whose retro-flavored showcase in the vintage lounge at Caesars Palace steps up from two to four nights a week starting Tuesday.

However long the shadows of Frank and Elvis remain, it’s clear at least some part of Las Vegas is still chasing that ’60s cool. And rightly so. Time and legend have given a luster to the Rat Pack era that the new city still covets.

Fun and sophistication seem so separated in the new Vegas. Blowing a lot of money on bottle service at a nightclub just doesn’t have the same mystique as bribing your way into the “Summit at the Sands” in 1960.

Seeing the Frank and Elvis shows in the same time frame made me compare their nostalgia. Whatever you think about tributes — and Anderson hates the word — “Frank” is undeniably a quality presentation that resonates from the moment the lights go up on a 32-piece orchestra.

It raises the question that if the Palazzo didn’t take pride in the show and support it, what would they put in there instead? The “Panda” show again?

The Elvis tribute sought to re-create a Las Vegas Hilton show circa 1973, complete with band members in floppy hair and bell-bottoms. Yes, that “American Hustle” era has its disciples, too, echoing through Quentin Tarantino flicks into today’s club fashions.

But it wasn’t an era Las Vegas is particularly proud of, or one it aspires to get back to. On the other hand, the ’60s?

It’s telling that Anderson says he will refashion his “Frank” advertising to “define it a little differently to the 35-and-under crowd.”

Anderson’s original makeup appliances were modeled on the Sinatra of the ’70s, who was then in his 60s and covering “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round the Ole Oak Tree.”

“The new makeup is a younger-looking Sinatra,” Anderson says. “Frank Sinatra was a hip guy who appealed always to the younger generations, and this one is no exception.”

And yet, Anderson says, “this isn’t Frank Sinatra’s town anymore.”

A year is enough for the impressionist on today’s Strip.

“I’ve accumulated what Vegas can give me” in terms of credibility, he says. “Las Vegas today is a vehicle, a launching pad for the rest of the world,” in terms of selling the show to Broadway or symphony pops concerts. “If you’re here for a year, you’ve had a substantial engagement.”

Dick Feeney also points out shifting demographics that make the return of “Rat Pack” more of “a lower numbers game and a more intimate show,” which will seat about 100 to 150 people at the Tuscany.

Sinatra’s 100th birthday year is well-marketed. But Feeney points out the century mark also means “anybody his age is dead.

“And any of the teenyboppers who discovered him when he was a teen idol, they’re in their 90s or dead. Anybody who became a fan when he was in his 30s or 40s, they’re 75 or 85.”

When “Rat Pack” first appeared at the Sahara in 1998, “the mainstream fan was 55 to say, 70. Now they’re just old.”

Feeney also produces the Michael Jackson tribute “MJ Live” at the Stratosphere, which has “taught me a big lesson in demographics, I’ll tell you that,” he says.

The official Facebook page for Elvis Presley has 12 million “likes,” he points out. The Michael Jackson one has 75 million.

So if Las Vegas wants to keep chasing the aesthetic of early-’60s cool, that’s never a bad thing. I’d rather see skinny ties than sequined military jackets with epaulets on the Strip, even if the numbers tell us it should be the other way around.

Read more from Mike Weatherford at bestoflasvegas.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com.