Prima Jr. upholds a legacy
Louis Prima Sr. was the ultimate casino lounge entertainer. His jumping, jiving and wailing - as per one of his more famous songs - energized Vegas crowds and made him a cult figure. Son, Louis Prima Jr., has continued the tradition of scratchy-throated singing, cornet-blowing and scramble-hipped dancing. The younger Prima will no doubt honor dad with versions of "Just a Gigolo," "That Old Black Magic" and his signature song, "Sing, Sing, Sing." Resorts has taken the old-timey entertainment route and, especially with the demise of the Sands, could corner a market that has had too much Yes but isn't ready for the Killers.
Louis Prima Sr. was the ultimate casino lounge entertainer. His jumping, jiving and wailing - as per one of his more famous songs - energized Vegas crowds and made him a cult figure. Son, Louis Prima Jr., has continued the tradition of scratchy-throated singing, cornet-blowing and scramble-hipped dancing. The younger Prima will no doubt honor dad with versions of "Just a Gigolo," "That Old Black Magic" and his signature song, "Sing, Sing, Sing." Resorts has taken the old-timey entertainment route and, especially with the demise of the Sands, could corner a market that has had too much Yes but isn't ready for the Killers.
Resorts Atlantic City, North Carolina and Boardwalk, 8 p.m. tomorrow, 7 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, $25, 609-340-6300, www.resortsac.com.
Humperdinck's still here
Though hard-rocking baby boomers may not want to admit it, some of the more popular songs of their era were quite placid. In April 1967, for instance, the two best-selling records were "Something Stupid," by Nancy and Frank Sinatra, and "Release Me," by Engelbert Humperdinck, a guy named Arnold Dorsey who took his stage name from an old Austrian composer. Forty years later, Humperdinck is still a hot ticket. He's sold an amazing 130 million records and is probably at least as sexy as Ludacris.
Tropicana Casino and Resort, Iowa Avenue and Boardwalk, 9 tonight and tomorrow, 7 p.m. Sunday, $35-$125, 609-340-4020, www.tropicana.net.
So's Paul Anka
While reinvented crooner Rod Stewart is wowing them in the Borgata's bigger venue, a rocker with more Top 10 hits is performing for about one-seventh the price in the smaller Music Box. Paul Anka had charted singles in each of four decades and No. 1 songs in three of them. And that doesn't count "My Way," which he wrote. Though he had his first big record, "Diana," supposedly about his crush on his baby sitter, in 1957, he's only four years older than Stewart.
Borgata Casino Resort & Spa, One Borgata Way, 9 tonight and tomorrow, $45 and $54, 609-317-1000, www.theborgata.com.