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Best of Las Vegas 2009
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Las Vegas Review Journal 2009
Guest Pick
VICKI PETTERSSON: KILLIAN’S ANGELS
Combine a taste for...Las Vegas Review Journal 2009
Guest Pick
VICKI PETTERSSON: KILLIAN’S ANGELS
Combine a taste for rock 'n’ roll and a shot of Irish attitude and what do you get? Killian’s Angels, the all-female Celtic rock band that is Las Vegas author Vicki Pettersson’s pick for Las Vegas’ best local rock band.
Killian’s Angel’s members play everything from original tunes to Irish songs to “classic rock songs with an edge,” says Pettersson, author of the “Signs of the Zodiac” series of otherworldly fantasies set in Las Vegas.
The ladies are apt to switch up instruments as the night progresses, Pettersson adds, “and they laugh and make jokes during their sets, and they just have a lot of fun.”
Killian’s Angels usually can be found playing the pub circuit hereabouts, including regular gigs at Brendan’s Irish Pub at The Orleans. And, as far as Pettersson is concerned, the ensemble meets admirably her criteria for best band.
“I like anything remotely cultural and fun,” she says. “And, something that goes outside of the box.”
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John Katsilometes captures a moment at the Orleans when a figure from old Vegas gave up an E-string to save a band
[+ Show ]
Today: May 07, 2007 at 7:14:20 PDT
John Katsilometes captures a moment at the Orleans when a figu...Today: May 07, 2007 at 7:14:20 PDT
John Katsilometes captures a moment at the Orleans when a figure from old Vegas gave up an E-string to save a band
The request from the stage was both urgent and unlikely. "We have an emergency: Does anyone in the audience have an E string for a violin?" Killian's Angels frontwoman Beth Mullaney asked Saturday night during the band's appearance at its regular haunt, Brendan's Pub at the Orleans.
The scene reminded of when Monty Hall used to ask contestants on "Let's Make a Deal" for odd items in exchange for cash: "Anyone with a plastic fork gets $50! Anyone carrying a pair of tweezers gets $75!" As the crowd chuckled, the Irish-tilted quintet's violinist, Adrienne Lefebvre (standing in for Lisa Viscuglia, who is also a member of the "Monty Python's Spamalot" orchestra) scrambled to find a replacement for the string she had just snapped.
It seemed a lost cause as the all-female band slipped into the requisite jokes about having no spare E-strings, but plenty of G-strings. But at Mullaney's plea, a dapper, silver-haired figure in the back of the club took action. Longtime Vegas musicians know the man well: he is venerable violinist Sasha Semenoff, who has been performing in town for at least 50 years. Semenoff's quartet was a fixture at the Dunes in the mid-1960s, and he played the orchestra leader on the "Aces High" TV show in the film "Casino" (he also had a cameo as a waiter in "Honeymoon in Vegas"). I met Semenoff in November 2005 when he performed during a wedding ceremony for Margaret Nixon and Francis Murphy of Defiance, Ohio, the couple who exchanged vows while seated in motorized scooters at the drive-thru "Tunnel of Love" at the Little White Wedding Chapel.
Semenoff retrieved a string from his violin, which was in his car at the casino, presented it to Lefebvre and, like a king of life-saving apparition, faded from the scene. Lefebvre was still shaking her head at the end of the show, saying that she would never forget to pack spare strings again. Mullaney added, "I just asked as kind of a joke. How crazy is that?" Very, and it was an old Vegas moment money can't buy.
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February 1, 2009
Monday, 02 February 2009 09:32 Kate Mucci
Traveling Memory Lane to get to the Future
Most of the people who know Richard and I as hosts of Matrix News probably are not aware that, for many years, we were professional musicians in Las Vegas. I played Celtic harp, and Richard was, and still is, an incredible guitar player.
Like most musicians, we played a lot of one night or one weekend gigs. Since the harp doesn’t exactly make for nightclub or bar music, we were pretty well limited to coffee shops, intimate parties, restaurants, that sort of thing. But from the time we moved to Las Vegas from California, we had our eyes set on the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Its medieval theme seemed designed for our duo, Crosswynd, and we decided that, by hook or by crook, we would somehow get to be part of the hotel’s cast of “strolling entertainers”.
It took a couple of years and a lot of persistence, but finally we scored an audition (beating out 200 other acts) and became part of a troupe of entertainers who are among the most talented anywhere. Oh, certainly, there are more famous and definitely richer musicians and singers and magicians out there, but I can tell you that there was more talent housed in the dressing room on the second floor of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino than you will find just about anywhere.
So it was our good fortune to be a part of this troupe, and to play our music for literally millions of tourists on the Las Vegas strip for many years. It was one of the best times of our lives, and to Mike Hartzell, the Director of Entertainment who kept renewing our contract year after year, we are eternally grateful.
But we decided to give up that amazing gig (what were we thinking?) and fly out on our own again, to tour, and eventually, to begin this latest phase of our life, producing Out There TV and now Matrix News. But we have stayed in touch with a few members of the cast and this past weekend, the 10th anniversary of our departure from Excalibur, we caught three of them at one of their engagements with their new group, an incredible Celtic rock/country band called “Killian’s Angels.”*
We expected just to catch a couple of sets, then come on home, but to our delight, about 15 other members of the troupe happened to also show up to see the band. It was like ten years had never passed. It was like we had just walked out of the dressing room door one night and come back the next morning. No different.
Oh, sure, we’ve all aged a bit. Some of us are… gasp… grandparents, others have young children, some have left show business, many have taken other directions with their music or are managing other entertainers. But for a few hours Saturday night, we were all again the strolling entertainers at Excalibur, as supportive and excited about each other’s careers and lives as we were when we shared a corner of the second floor of the Medieval Village, and all feeling very blessed.
So, you’re asking, why is Kate sharing this with us? What does all of this have to do with The Matrix News? We all go to reunions; we all have wonderful memories of friends and co-workers. What’s so special?
That, dear readers, is the point. It is special. The friendships and bonds that we have forged at different phases of our lives will keep us going through the next few years. It is the support of those who share our history, who share our passions and who share our hopes and dreams that will get all of us through what could be incredibly difficult times as our country, indeed the world, goes through this next phase of development. And that is why I shared this story with you.
Our guest this past week, Lindsey Williams, warned that we could expect a complete collapse of the American financial system in 2009. Everything that we know will be disrupted, according to Lindsey, and we will find ourselves facing food and housing shortages, fewer and fewer jobs and many of us who should be retiring in the next 10 years will not be able to do so. Our nest eggs have been raided by the scavengers of corporate greed, and the crooks at the top of the pyramid are doing their level best to take every stick of real estate and make us all into serfs once again.
Of course, none of this is new to many of our viewers. We’ve been advising for years to prepare by learning gardening skills, by getting hard assets (gold and silver), by getting out of debt, all of those standard things. But Lindsey said something very important in this interview (in episode #324), and the accidental reunion this last weekend reinforced it in my mind.
Lindsey Williams reminded us how important it is to have our spiritual house in order as we go through these changes. Now, because he is a Pastor, Lindsey means that in the Christian sense, but getting your spiritual house in order certainly does not have to be a religious experience. It also means feeling at peace with yourself, your choices, even your body. It means being at peace with and appreciating your family, not for the things they can give you, but for the love and support you can give each other. It means recognizing and honoring the friends you have, and taking Joy from every minute and every small blessing.
There is no doubt that we are entering a phase of great change. Life in two years will not be anything like it is today. Change can be very painful, or it can be a wonderful adventure. It’s your decision.
And that’s why it is so important to remember where your strength truly lies. It is not in the banks or the governments or the schools or even the churches. It is in your heart and your soul and your friends and your family, whether you see them every day or if you only remember them fondly from days gone by. It is in the gratitude you feel when someone does a simple favor; it is in the joy you get from paying it forward.
So – here’s to all of the people who have touched our lives, and whose love and support will get us through whatever lies ahead.
*(If ever you get a chance to see Killian’s Angels in Las Vegas, do so. Every one of the band members is an incredibly talented musician and a great entertainer.
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Killian's Angels on Wikipedia...From unworthy back to worthy, in just one day
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From unworthy back to worthy, in just one day
By Kristen Peterson
Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (2 a.m.)
...From unworthy back to worthy, in just one day
By Kristen Peterson
Wed, Jan 14, 2009 (2 a.m.)
Killian’s Angels is back on Wikipedia among the online listings for bear bladder drums and the 50 species of sea kelp.
The Las Vegas Celtic rock group was bumped from the online reference by an anonymous editor, who suggested that the band lacked significance or importance.
On Tuesday the Las Vegas Sun published a story about the incident and explained how Wikipedia entries can be created and edited by any user in just about any country and how the Killian’s Angels listing was deleted, despite its music on the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto IV” and featured on a national radio ad for “Jeopardy!”
By Tuesday afternoon, Killian’s Angels was back on Wikipedia.
Jay Walsh, spokesman for Wikipedia, could have predicted the outcome.
Sometimes furor over a deletion leads to a newspaper article, he said, which leads to notability that warrants a Wikipedia page.
Such is the case for Killian’s Angels. The news reference for the band? The Sun story about the band not being on Wikipedia.
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Band is in millions of homes but not on Wikipedia
By Kristen Peterson
Tue, Jan 13, 2009 (2 a.m.)
The online reference Wikipedia includes listings for bear bladder drums in Greenland, country music in Palau and seven dozen names for the jew’s-harp.
But you won’t find mention of Killian’s Angels, a Las Vegas Celtic rock group that has cut two CDs and is featured on the wildly popular computer game “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
Wikipedia’s editors have refused to allow the band to be listed because it is not significant enough, certainly not as important as, say, the 50 species of sea kelp.
Killian’s Angels has developed a devoted following in and around Las Vegas and hit the big time when “Grand Theft Auto IV” pumped its “The Celtic High Step” into millions of living rooms around the world.
But when googling the game, lead singer Beth Mullaney noticed that the Wikipedia listing for the soundtrack had Wiki links to all the bands — except for Killian’s Angels.
No problem there. The band just needed to create a page. That couldn’t be too hard.
Wikipedia, the international online encyclopedia, provides information by the people and for the people and claims up to 700 million users. Anyone can add. Anyone can edit. Killian’s seemed notable enough. In addition to “Grand Theft Auto IV,” the band received national exposure for its “Killianized” radio jingle for “Jeopardy!”
So Kate Silver, a Las Vegas-based writer and Killian’s fan, wrote and posted a simple synopsis for the band.
Great, right? Not really.
The page was deleted that day.
Band members were slightly confused.
“I can’t see who would have found that thing and complained because it was barely up for a few hours,” band member Ginger Bruner says. “But what do I know? I’m just the tuba player.”
“It just seems random,” Mullaney says.
Who would abruptly boot the Angels off?
The answer lies in the way Wikipedia works.
Jay Walsh, a spokesman for the online encyclopedia, explained: “It could be one person. It could be a group of people. What makes Wikipedia work so well is that it’s an active editing process. It’s a platform that anyone can come and edit. They can add and they can remove. Wikipedians may ask, ‘Is the article notable?’
“If a page is deleted it is because there usually isn’t information available to sustain it as a topic.”
It may have been because Silver mentioned the “Jeopardy!” jingle but not “Grand Theft Auto.” By the time she logged on to add it, the entry was gone.
She contacted the deleter and provided the information, but the page was never reposted.
The mysterious deleter is among the more than 75,000 active contributors who edit more than 10 million Wikipedia articles in 260 languages.
The authority to remove pages belongs to relatively anonymous “administrators.” About 1,500 of these volunteer editors are working in English, and Walsh says that an active Wikipedian might make a couple of hundred edits a week.
Someone from New Orleans deleted a page on Libby Lumpkin, art historian, writer and lecturer and, until recently, executive director of the Las Vegas Art Museum. A young woman in Finland deleted Las Vegas artist David Ryan. “Xezbeth” deleted another Las Vegas band, A Crowd of Small Adventures.
The Killian’s Angels page? That was deleted by Hbdragon88, who cited a Wikipedia guideline saying that the entry “does not indicate why its subject is important or significant.”
Walsh says it’s not uncommon for an item to be deleted the first time it is posted. Bands have a particularly hard time because their information can seem promotional rather than informational.
“There are thousands of people out there and anyone could say, ‘This shouldn’t be an article,’?” Walsh says. “There are hundreds and thousands of bands, how does one band distinguish itself from another?”
Articles that last, he says, usually include high-quality references, high-quality text and neutral information. Newspaper articles help. Brevity is key.
“The biggest and the best articles on Wikipedia started out with two sentences,” he says.
Silver’s post — her first on Wikipedia — was precise and included the basics: all-female Las Vegas band, versatile play list, Celtic flair, two CDs and radio honors. It listed the band members — Mullaney, Bruner, Dolly Coulter, Lisa Viscuglia, Vita Corimbi and Nannette Fortier (all professional musicians with impressive resumes) — and their instruments — violin, tuba, mandolin, tin whistle, guitar, keyboard, harmonica, drums, bodhran, spoons, bass.
It’s possible that Hbdragon88, who did not respond to requests for comment regarding the deletion, found the band’s page through the “Grand Theft Auto” link.
That administrator has edited dozens of Wikipedia posts on video games. Other edits include articles on sports, history, politicians, cameras, movies, and random topics: the Golden Raspberry Award, General Motors, United Kingdom Bank rescue package, Sylvia Plath, Las Vegas hotels and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Hbdragon88 edits almost daily — swapping a photo, changing tone, shortening entries and general copy editing, making sure somebody was “hanged” and not “hung.”
Hbdragon88’s page tells us that he or she hates “sunshine, kittens, puppies, lava lamps (apparently), happiness, free speech, lists of Jews, your articles, opposition to the Cabal, dissent, oranges, Wikipedia.”
Whether Hbdragon88 knows the band is hard to say.
Mullaney says, with a laugh, that she didn’t set out in life to be on Wikipedia when she grew up. But the absent page does hurt the band, she says. “People can’t cross-reference us to get to more information.”
The band has received e-mails through its Web site from “Grand Theft Auto” fans who like “The Celtic High Step,” which is played during a scene in a New York City beer garden.
For now, readers on the “Grand Theft Auto IV” page will have to leave Wikipedia to search the Internet for more information on the band.
But hey, it’s not over.
Wikipedia is evolving. Starting over is common, Walsh says.
“We encourage people to be patient because eventually they will come into Wikipedia. It’s possible.”
Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at kristen@lasvegassun.com .
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Fabulous Las Vegas by John Katsilometes
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John Katsilometes, Fabulous Las Vegas, Las Vegas Sun, 11-30-2006
I have it (although some say I'v...John Katsilometes, Fabulous Las Vegas, Las Vegas Sun, 11-30-2006
I have it (although some say I've lost it) on good authority that Brendan's Irish Pub at the Orleans will indeed remain in its current form and won't be morphed into yet another fabulous Las Vegas nightclub. The name will change and the music schedule will be pared to Fridays and Saturdays; one band scheduled to continue performing at Brendan's is one of our free favorites, Killian's Angels ...
John Katsilometes, Fabulous Las Vegas, Las Vegas Sun, 1-18-2006
Orleans moments... At Brenden's Irish Pub, as Killian's Angels charged into the Charlie Daniels Band classic "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," the band was joined by a woman dressed in a black shirt and pants, wearing red devil horns and a matching pointed tail who wielded a plastic pitchfork in one hand and a tiny golden fiddle in the other. Her right arm was covered by a black sock displaying the bone structure of the forearm and hand (to make the ensemble look even more demonic, I guess). She acted out the entire song, sprinting from one end of the stage to the other, then at song's end placed the golden fiddle under a mike stand - where it somehow got stuck. It was an exhausting performance…
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"Killian's Angels - The Ladies Room"
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Killian's Angels
Cd review
June 14, 2004
Las Vegas “City Life”
Killian's Angels
THE LADIES RO...Killian's Angels
Cd review
June 14, 2004
Las Vegas “City Life”
Killian's Angels
THE LADIES ROOM
(Self-released)
It's getting tougher and tougher to describe local favorites Killian's Angels as simply an "all-woman Celtic band." The all-woman part is still true, but for all the Celtic flavor and covers, it seems more appropriate to describe Killian's Angels as a rocking folk outfit that knows how to raise the roof and put it back on with a lullaby.
The band -- Beth Mullaney, Satomi Hofmann, Ginger Bruner, Dolly Coulter, Lisa Viscuglia and Nan Fortier -- is likely one of Vegas' highest concentrations of musical talent, and shows its chops on its second self-produced disc, The Ladies Room -- a huge leap, both in production and material, from its first release.
Produced by Bruner, The Ladies Room (available at www.killiansangels.com) manages to capture the band's live energy while sounding crisp and professional. The instrumentals are particularly good, and show the band's range. Killian's Angels can go from goofy jigs like "Whiskey in the Jar" to heartfelt and accomplished songs like Mullaney's "Fisherman's Daughter" with aplomb. Even a hoary chestnut like "Danny Boy" (a song that, really, no one besides a plastered tenor in a County Cork pub should sing) is redeemed when the band turns it into an up-tempo rollicking romp halfway through its maudlin refrains.
Not all the covers are entirely successful -- a version of the Pogues' "If I Should Fall from Grace with God," mysteriously renamed "Let Me Go" in the track listing, lacks the fire of the original -- but overall, the Angels strike just the right tone with their interpretations. This is one Ladies Room where no one is going to lie down on the couch.
GREGORY CROSBY
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Trip advisor reviews
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Killian’s Angels Reviews from online individuals on trip web sites:
Traveler rating:
Las Vegas...Killian’s Angels Reviews from online individuals on trip web sites:
Traveler rating:
Las Vegas: The Orleans Hotel & Casino: "Good Spot"
Jun 4, 2006: A TripAdvisor Member, Cork, Ireland Compare prices with: Off the Strip but complimentary shuttle buses running regularly to and from. Helpful staff, rooms big, comfy beds. Irish bar had live music by a band called Killians Angels. They were excellent and probably anywhere else there would be a cover charge to see a band of this quality. Food was good, plenty of it and reasonably priced. Would recommend.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Las Vegas Notes
I passed the holiday week in Las Vegas... don’t miss our favorite all-girl band, Killians Angels. Yes, they’re named for the beer.
Posted by Steven... | Link to this Entry | Comments [2] | 1/2/2006 10:32 AM
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Review of Tom Sawyer, featuring Killian's Angels.
”Local girls group, Killian's Angels, provide solid rockabilly accompaniment, often leaping into the scene's action from their side stage perch, and further proving my theory that violin should be included in every band.”
Review from Las Vegas City Life, Kelle Schillace, June 2006
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More from Tom Sawyer...
“And the six members of the all-female band Killian's Angels sound great and expertly interact with the cast.”
Las Vegas Review Journal, Anthony DelValle, June 2006
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Still more from Tom Sawyer:
"...all-female Killian's Angels, at least it's a foot-stompin' hootenanny (the hootenanniest being "Ain't Life Fine")"
Review from Steve Bornfeld, June 2006, Las Vegas Weekly
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Killian's Angels
Las Vegas' all-girl Celtic band.
We're not sure whether they solve crimes during the day, but we know that by night, Killian's Angels are entertaining audiences and building a sizable fan base with their mix of traditional Irish music and original pop/jazz compositions. Guitarist Beth Mullaney is lead singer for the five-piece band. With her are bassist Ginger Bruner, drummer Nan Fortier, and musicians Satomi Hofmann, Dolly Coulter and Lisa Viscuglia, all of whom play more than one instrument, sometimes during the same song. Dancing in the aisles is a common occurrence during the Angels' upbeat concerts. Their covers include everything from Alanis Morissette and The Proclaimers to Van Morrison and The Waterboys. The Angels also have a repertoire of originals, represented on their recent 12-track, self-titled CD. -- David Hofstede
Music: Irish/Celtic, Rock
Group-friendly
User reviews and ratings
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FirstName: Sean
LastName:
Title: Owner/Operator
Company: Surety Management Group
Address: New Offices in the Works
Comments: You are an amazing group of singing women. I have heard you on the
local radio station here and I am just absolutely stunned. I hope you can make
it here to Nashville some day but in the meantime I will be purchasing your CD
(after I get paid of course) and sharing it with everyone I know. I am sure a
couple of friends from Dublin will be pleased! Good Luck in your life's
journeys.
~Stevie
Thank you.
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Comments: Top O' The Mornin'..To You All!!
It's been a while since I have heard the Beautiful Sounds of Killian's
Angels..
I have returned to Las Vegas and I am in the process of opening "new"
offices for the WEST COAST VENUE!!
We are still in Atlantic City, NJ...The Good Lord Willin'..
Slainte'
Sean ...Himself
Thank you.
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Comments: I had the privledge of hearing your great music Saturday at the
Orleans. You played a variety of sounds in which, with a variety of instruments
and great vocals made even the most ardent football fans stop and listen. Your
music is wonderfull and I would reccomend that people go out of their way to
hear your unique celtic group. I am looking forward to hearing great success
with your music. Please inform me of your itenerary.
Sincerely;
Thomas
Caledonia Highlanders
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FirstName: Danielle
Comments: Love the Jeopardy commercial, can't wait to hear your music.
Thank you.
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I made a side trip to LV two weeks ago to hear the band on a business trip to LA.
I truly enjoy the band's music, stage presence and enthusiasm.
Best wishes,
Frank
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I've seen the band several times at the Orleans. I had a business trip to LA a few weeks ago and happened to check the Orleans website and saw they were appearing there October 20-21, so I took a side trip to LV and caught them both nights. I guess you could say, I enjoy their performance.
Frank
--------------------------------------------FirstName: Jan (nickname...Jazz
I just got home from spending 5
days at the Orleans for the Gene Pitney concerts (yes, all of them). What a
pleasant surprise to go into Brendan's after the concerts, for something to do
and find Killian's Angels. I'm sure you saw my friend and I sitting as close to
the front as possible (on the right side of the stage). We helped close the
place all 3 nights you were there. We really enjoyed your music and you
probably saw us clapping along quite a bit. We will be back to the Orleans next
year for more of Gene's concerts and hope you will be there at the same time!!
Best of luck to all of you and I will be ordering a CD soon! And send those
e-mails!
Slainte!
Jazz
Thank you.
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Night of the Frozen Angels
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Night of the frozen Angels
At Frigid Friday, where mittens outnumber people 2-to-1, the activity i...Night of the frozen Angels
At Frigid Friday, where mittens outnumber people 2-to-1, the activity is sluggish in an alley behind the Arts Factory, just north of Charleston, a snowball's throw from Main. Three lonely figures dot the 30 otherwise empty chairs in front of an impromptu stage. Another four revelers huddle in the warmth of a portable space heater. Beer sales, I am told, are slow.
At 7 p.m., a Very Important Person takes the stage and welcomes the, uh, crowd. "This is a really ‘cool' place to be!" he chortles. "Sorry about that." Even bad puns are welcome at this point—rolling your eyes helps keep them from freezing in their sockets.
Members of Killian's Angels trickle onto the stage and grab their instruments. They're dressed more for the Iditarod than First Friday. Guitarist Dolly Coulter hides under a bulky wool coat, scarf and stocking hat. Drummer Nan Fortier's colorful scarf is her only apparent submission to the cold. (She'll later tell me it's hard to hold the drumsticks while wearing mittens.) Ginger Bruner, who plays bass guitar and tuba, sports a leather biker jacket. Lead singer Beth Mullaney manipulates her guitar and mandolin strings while wearing fingerless gloves.
Killian's Angels play around 100 gigs a year, and Mullaney says nearly half are outdoors. And this isn't even the coldest—remember our miserable St. Patrick's Day weather? Besides, she says, cold trumps heat any day.
"I prefer the cold," says Mullaney, who lived and performed in Minnesota before moving to Las Vegas 14 years ago. "At least you feel like you're not going to pass out from exhaustion. We played an outdoor gig in August when I didn't think I was going to make it. The paramedics had to come up and give us ice packs to keep us cool."
On this night, the Angels beat the cold with hand-warmers in their pockets, multiple layers of clothing and three thermoses filled with life-giving fluids—chicken noodle soup, herbal tea and hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps.
They try their best to keep their fans warm with a bouncy set filled with Irish music and pop covers that they've "Killianized." For example, Bruner's tuba provides a solid backbone for Chumbawamba's one hit, which they call "Tuba-thumping." And you haven't lived until you've heard an Irish-reggae reel or a tuba-driven version of The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams."
"We never do cover songs the way people expect," says Mullaney, whose group calls Brendan's at the Orleans their unofficial home. "We tell people our music is ‘Irish and more,' and that's what we give them."
After a pretty straightforward version of Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun," the band jokes about needing sunscreen, and as the crowd in front of the stage grows, a handful of fast-tempo songs gets some fannies shaking, and not just to stay warm. But the biggest victory of the night? Bruner's lips never stick to the tuba.
Patrick Donnelly
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Everyone's Irish when Angels perform
[+ Show ]
Everyone's Irish when Angels perform
By LAURA CARROLL
VIEW STAFF WRITER
August 2007
sara T...Everyone's Irish when Angels perform
By LAURA CARROLL
VIEW STAFF WRITER
August 2007
sara Tramiel/ViewKillian?s Angels members Beth Mullaney, left, and Adrienne Lefebvre perform at Brendan?s Irish Pub inside The Orleans on June 16. The group will perform on Aug. 20 at the Rainbow Library Amphitheater, 3150 N. Buffalo Drive, 8-10 p.m.
With the ladies from Killian's Angels, valley residents can catch Irish fever any time of the year at Brendan's Irish Pub inside The Orleans.
The band, made up of Beth Mullaney, Lisa Viscuglia, Dolly Coulter, Ginger Bruner, Nan Fortier, CJ Borden and Adrienne Lefebvre, keeps audiences lively with Irish drinking songs, rock and roll covers and original music written by Mullaney.
During their performances, the female musicians transform many popular songs into something altogether different, giving classic rock songs an Irish edge. "That all came out of her head," said Viscuglia of Mullaney.
"I grew into my Irish name big time," Mullaney said. "It works well for us because it's so varied, you can do whatever."
Known for their instrumentation, the ladies of Killian's Angels play an assortment of music-making devices, including a harmonica, a melodica (a modified harmonica with a small keyboard on it), a keyboard, a violin, drums, guitars and the "rock and roll tuba."
"We all have different things that we do musically," Mullaney said.
These things include Bruner's strolling tuba act, which extends to unassuming slot players outside of Brendan's, where she frequently gets thrown back into the bar by hotel security. During an Angels' performance, audience members can expect multiple Irish toasts and lots of wise cracking, but really it's the way the ladies switch between so many different instruments and play to one another that seems to get the crowd pumping song after song.
"She's actually a band in a box," Viscuglia said of Mullaney.
"We're very versatile," Coulter added. "I get to stretch out and play more instruments."
While some aspects, like the toasts and seeing many instruments, are standard at a Killian's Angels performance, other things, like what songs they play, are not.
"I cannot stand doing the same set list even twice," Mullaney said.
"We have songs we haven't done in years," Bruner agreed.
Don't bank on every Angel being at a performance, either, because the women are busy, and you never know who's going to make an appearance. "We kind of roll the dice to see who shows up," Bruner joked.
For instance, the band has three or four substitute drummers, and Viscuglia's substitute, Lefebvre, may show up on a night when Viscuglia is there, making for an interesting fiddle performance between the two ladies.
"I have the most fun playing with these people," said Viscuglia, who's played with musicians like Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
Coulter agreed and said the band, which has been together since 2001, is probably one of the best things that ever happened to her.
Killian's Angels also has a die-hard fan base who, according to the band members, even make them cookies.
"As the newbie in the group, I think rarely do you find a band that's so engaging with the audience," Lefebvre said. "They're very transparent with their gifts."
"We've had letters from all types of people saying that we made them feel welcome. That makes me feel really good," Mullaney said.
"Everyone who walks in there falls in love with them," Lefebvre added.
As for the Angels' future, Bruner wants to play more festivals, and Mullaney hopes to have the band do some traveling, if their busy schedules permit.
The group has recorded two CDs, which are available online at Amazon.com, CD Baby and the band's Web site, www.killiansangels.com.
The group also can be hired to do personal performances.
Killian's Angels will perform on Aug. 17 and 18 inside Brendan's at The Orleans, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and on Aug. 20 at the Rainbow Library Amphitheater, 3150 N. Buffalo Drive, 8-10 p.m.
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NOISE: Calling All Angels
[+ Show ]
NOISE: Calling All Angels
Killian's Angels brings culture to the lounge scene
By Josh Bell
Wh...NOISE: Calling All Angels
Killian's Angels brings culture to the lounge scene
By Josh Bell
Where: Fremont Street Experience
When: 7-9 p.m., March 13; 7-11 p.m., March 17
Tickets: Free
Info: www.vegasexperience.com
Killian's Angels
Where: Minstrel's Lounge at the Excalibur
When: 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Mondays
Tickets: Free
Info: 597-7600
It's one in the afternoon, and the women of Killian's Angels are having breakfast. We're at the Sherwood Forest Café inside the Excalibur, where lead singer and guitarist Beth Mullaney, bassist Ginger Bruner and drummer Nan Fortier are working their way through coffee, eggs, hash browns and a pancake. Yes, one pancake between the three of them.
The trio, along with Satomi Hofmann, Dolly Coulter and Lisa Viscuglia, constitute the aforementioned all-female, Celtic bar band. But their music is more than just Celtic, they've got aspirations outside the bar scene, and they may even welcome a male into their ranks in the near future (only temporarily, of course).
The Angels have played everywhere from your standard-issue Irish pubs to a lumberjack convention at the Rio ("That was a weird gig, man," Bruner says), and they're booked Mondays for the rest of the year at the Excalibur's Minstrel's Lounge, bringing their mix of Irish folk, rock, pop and country to unsuspecting tourists from around the globe. Just don't call them a lounge act.
"We're bringing Killian's Angels to the lounge, instead of bringing the lounge to Killian's Angels," Mullaney says. They're still playing various other shows around town, and they'll be busy on St. Patrick's Day, with sets heavy in traditional Irish music at the Fremont Street Experience.
Just as they're not a typical lounge act, the Angels aren't your typical bar band, either. Although an average set includes covers of everything from Alanis Morissette and The Proclaimers to Van Morrison and The Waterboys, the band also has a whole repertoire of originals, represented on their recent 12-track, self-titled CD.
"We don't want to not do any of the original stuff," Mullaney says, so they throw in quite a few of their own tunes even at the lounge gigs. "People respond well to it, they really do. It gets to be that fun thing where they're singing along."
There's even an Angels fan by the name of Robert Valentine who's been to every single show save one—when his mother died. "We've had people just be walking by, stop in their tracks, come in, sit down, and then tell us afterwards that we saved them a lot of money at the tables," Bruner says.
It's that kind of appeal that sets the Angels apart, and puts them just as much at home playing for the culturati at First Friday as for vacationing families from Nebraska. While most band members have day jobs (not, however, ones that prevent them from eating breakfast at 1 p.m.), they see the Angels as their top priority. Bruner recently quit KNPR after 17 years because the station wanted to switch her to a time slot that would conflict with the band's gigs. Fortier, who drums for the Blue Man Group, is taking 10 months off to help launch the new Blue Man show in Berlin, but she'll be back. "Nan's our drummer," Mullaney says simply, though a replacement (the aforementioned potential male) will of course be necessary in the interim. Mullaney jokes that they will make the new drummer wear a dress, regardless of gender.
A few days later, I catch the band in their native habitat, the ubiquitous Vegas Irish pub ("It's the sports bar of the aughts," Bruner says). At Brendan's inside the Orleans, even short a member, the Angels fill the bar with their eclectic music. You could add "multi-instrumentalist" to each member's job description, since they all play several instruments, sometimes during the same song. Although the place is full of chatter, when a song ends, everyone cheers. A friend of mine keeps requesting "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)," and to the band's great credit, they refuse to play it. There seems to be more camaraderie between the band and patrons than with the average bar band. Valentine sits front and center.
If anyone can bridge local culture and tourist culture, it's Killian's Angels. They may not be there yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some hipsters start filtering into the Excalibur to catch the band's set. "I would love to get more people to come there on Mondays and have it be this weird thing that can kind of start," Mullaney says, "where people are going to a Vegas lounge on the Strip, and seeing something very unusual."
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A night with the Angels: Killian's Angels make Celtic-tinged rock fun
[+ Show ]
Friday, November 15, 2002
Music
A night with the Angels: Killian's Angels make Celtic-tinged r...Friday, November 15, 2002
Music
A night with the Angels: Killian's Angels make Celtic-tinged rock fun
By Gregory Crosby
Killian's Angels
When Wednesdays, 9 p.m.
Where Fado's Irish Pub at Green Valley Ranch Station
Admission free
Info 702-617-7777
The opening scene
Sunlight streams through a dark, wood-paneled office somewhere in Las Vegas. Five gorgeous women crowd around a huge oak desk, listening intently as a male voice with a thick Irish brogue crackles out of a speaker phone. "Top of the morning, Angels!"
"Morning, Killian!" reply the Angels in unison.
"Your assignment is to make it safe for people to menjoy their pints by playing good Celtic music with snap, sizzle and sparkle!"
"Don't we do that every week?" says one Angel, and the others laugh.
The other opening scene
As a matter of fact, they do indeed do that every week, currently at Fado, the Irish pub inside Green Valley Ranch Station. But there's no mysterious, musical mastermind from Galway directing them. "We needed a name when the band turned from a three-piece into a five-piece," says the Angels' bassist, tuba chick and raconteur Ginger Bruner. "We were playing at J.C. Wooloughan's at the time, and there was a poster for Killian's Irish Red above our heads while we were discussing it. Somebody said 'Killian' and somebody said 'Angels' and that was that."
Thus, Las Vegas' finest all-girl Celtic band was born. "I think we're the only all-girl Celtic band in Vegas," says Lisa Viscuglia as she warms up on her violin.
She doesn't have much room to do so. The real opening scene every week answers that age old theological question: How many Killian's Angels can dance on the head of a pin? The pin in this case is Fado's tiny stage, and the Angels wind up doing a great deal of close dancing as they maneuver their instruments and equipment into place. Each Angel seems to be a musical double or triple threat, playing multiple instruments and excelling on them all: guitars, banjos, mandolins, keyboards, fiddles, bass guitars, tubas, percussion, harmonica and spoons all prepped and ready.
The music
Lead vocalist Beth Mullaney, a singer/songwriter who has performed solo and in a Celtic duo at the Excalibur for many years, tunes her mandolin while wearing a decidedly un-angelic Devil Girl T-shirt, then switches back to guitar as Viscuglia launches into a fast-paced Irish vamp to get the evening going. Between them, Satomi Hofmann (vocals, guitars, piano) joins in, while to Mullaney's right Dolly Coulter (vocals, guitars, keyboards), her eyes hidden for a moment beneath a battered cowboy hat, swings into action on her guitar as well. Within minutes the crowd is swept up in the speeding train of rhythm the band lays down.
But it's the diversity of talents that make Killian's
Angels more than just another Irish bar band. Rock, folk, country, R&B and pop all work their way into the band's Celtic sensibility, and even the casual listener who's only dropped in for a Guinness is struck that the band could do anything, tailoring their rich store of musical lore to the venues they play. Mullaney, Coulter and Hoffman all trade off on lead vocals, giving each song, whatever its style, a personal stamp.
"Here's a little mix of countries and types, starting with a jig," announces Mullaney, and soon enough the Irish-style reeling and rocking is transmuted into a comical version of "Bad Moon Rising," with Mullaney singing "There's a bathroom on the right" in places.
Next comes the musical question "What shall we do with a drunken sailor?" which each Angel answers in her own inimitable way. By the time the band hits an unlikely but rousing cover of Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping," the crowd is theirs.
Next week's episode
More of the same. Killian's Angels, with their awesome array of musical talent, sense of fun, and eclectic takes on songs, is the best reason to make the long trek out to Green Valley Ranch Station on a Wednesday night, even better than that pint you've been dreaming of. Oh, and did we mention they're all gorgeous to boot? How many Irish bands can you say that about?
Copyright 2002 Las Vegas City Life
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Fado
2300 Paseo Verde Parkway (in Green Valley Ranch Station)
Hours: Sun.-Wed.: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. (Thurs.- Sat. until 3 a.m.)
Do you really speak Gaelic?: Bless the Babel Fish and Chips.
Indian-Style Chicken Curry?: Yes, just like the Leprechauns love.
Homemade Shepard's Pie?: That's more like it.
Green Valley Ranch Casino? Named after the salad dressing?: Cool and creamy.
STINKY DREAMS
I lived in the suburbs for two months.
It was nice. A creamed jean.
People powerwalked.
I drank Italian sodas.
Women cruised strip malls in lovely ensembles.
Drive-by no graffiti. Ethnicity is user-friendly.
No sirens except ice cream trucks
and the occasional heart retiree being carted away.
Soylent Green is Purple,
Sweat Suit.
I lived in the suburbs for two months,
then the methamphetamine kicked in.
Burning holes through the tops of my shoes.
My breath became heavy dust.
I couldn't make the rent.
Thursday, July 04, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury
Gut Reactions: Pub-a-dub-dub
By Dayvid Figler
Oh, joy. One more opportunity to bemoan our populace's perpetual expansion to the mountains. Well, at least with no end in sight until the juggernaut of development abuts the immovable forces of rock and hits the "forbidden zone." Have you not heard of the forbidden zone? Somewhere behind Black Mountain is the land where apes rule the desert. Where the old El Rancho hotel sign is buried halfway in the sand. The skeletons of mob songbirds and ancient Binion card cheats strapped to make-shift crosses like Blair Witch. Each day we inch closer to encroachment on this land that time forgot. Prepare for the monkey rebellion, dear friends, and the doom that will encrust our valley.
On a brighter note, the food at Fado in Green Valley Ranch Station is delicious. Easy to dismiss as yet another chain-run Irish pub, Fado (pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd) maintains the elements of traditional Gaelic feasting, but with a new twist. I think they call it food fusion, but really, it's more confusion. Take the "boxty." According to the menu, the boxty is a "traditional dish common to rural parts of Ireland which comprises of a potato pancake, rolled and stuffed with a filling." What would Ruaidhhri an Einigh (Rory the Hospitable) and Pilib na Tuaighe (Philip of the Battleaxe) think of a boxty filled with portobello and cajun spice, or another tossed in a sweet hoisin sauce, topped with pesto aoili and jicama slaw? Personally I dub the Seafood Boxty filled with yellow rice, salmon, cod, shrimp and mussels ($11.95, garnished with a zippy black bean and sweet corn relish) hiontach (Gaelic for wonderful). Dare I say (and with apologies to any battle axe-wielding Irishman) change isn't always a bad thing.
The crew and I (you know, my peeps, posse, what do the kids call it today?) popped into Fado on a recent Wednesday night and (to sum up quickly so I can talk about something else altogether) everyone enjoyed their meals, the pints were flowing (Harp Lager, Stel Artois, Murphy's Irish Amber) and the service was right on (our waitress even had a cute, Irish brogue--fake or not, you decide). At some point, much Bush Mills Irish Whiskey was consumed. Oh, yes, to immerse oneself in another culture in the safe and recognizable confines of a hotel-casino. Fado looks the part, tastes good and blah, blah--it's an Irish Pub--check it out, especially on Wednesday nights from 9 until midnight when the free entertainment takes center stage.
Killian's Angels is an all-female collective of absolutely beautiful and extraordinarily talented musicians belting out both drinking ditties and pop songs with equal aplomb. So well-received, it was recently announced that the pub has extended their contract throughout the year. It's no wonder. In addition to their unique estro-heavy component, each member brings with her a unique flavor and a penchant for intriguing instrumentation and arrangement. Take bass player Ginger Bruner (disclaimer: I was once in a punk rock polka band called Tippy Elvis with the incomparable Frau Bruner). Ginger (to many, the voice of public radio KNPR) is equally adept on bass guitar as swinging tuba. Lead singer Beth Mullaney, familiar to anyone who's wandered into the Excalibur and spied the lovely Mullivan's Edge, lists guitar, mandolin, harmonica and bodhran as her musical specialities. The vivacious Satomi Hofmann is angelic on harmonies (not to mention wicked on the spoons) and known for her work on the Strip in numerous production shows. Hot-shit violin virtuoso Lisa Viscuglia is one of the top string players in Nevada, and plucky Dolly Coulter can strum a gee-tar like the devil herself. So please trek to Fado (if you don't live close by) for goodness sake.
That said, why oh why must the valley be stretched so thin? (Yes, I'm back on that). Imagine if we were more densely packed...if all the rich people and retirees lived in harmony in the city proper, too. Would there be a call for more intellectually and culturally interesting projects? Would a performing arts center be such a Herculean endeavor? Would there be more centralized acts of charity benefiting the children and the homeless alike? Could the city take the shape of the dreamers of the '50s making a desert into a livable oasis? Nah! This is Vegas, buddy. Enjoy your faux suburbs and your "authentic" Irish pubs while you can. Things implode. Stretch to the mountains. Stretch to L.A. Stretch until you're paper thin and the wind whistles through your skin. Here come the monkey monkeys.
supersonic
