Vegas Event Insider
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Bill Walton’s Grateful Dead Obsession: 880 Shows, One Legendary Life
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. In September of 2016, I met Bill Walton in his suite at the Venetian to interview him for my Book “Rock Vegas.” The following blog includes insights, pictures and stories that made up the life of…
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The Grateful Dead Close Out Five-Year Sam Boyd Stadium Run
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Sam Boyd Stadium: Final Dead Run The Grateful Dead had a 5-year Sam Boyd Stadium run, and year four came with complications. Routing issues pushed the shows into mid-June, forcing them to start around dusk, right…
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Grateful Dead Opening Acts: The Secret Sauce of Dead Shows
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. The Grateful Dead: Opening Acts “Sometimes the lights all shining on meOther times I can barely seeLately it occurs to meWhat a long, strange trip it’s been“ The Early Years: Growing the Dead’s Vegas Presence The…
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Sam Boyd Stadium: Preparing for the Grateful Dead
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Prepping Sam Boyd Stadium for the Dead “You’re sick of hanging around, you’d like to travelGet tired of travelling you want to settle downI guess they can’t revoke your soul for tryingGet out of the door,…
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Deadheads Teach County Commissioner A Lesson
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Not Such a Strange Trip After All Clark County Commissioner gets lesson in the power of the tie-dye April 27th, 1991, was a beautiful mid-70s-degree day. A $23.50 ticket got 60,000 fans in to see Santana…
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Booking The Grateful Dead in Sam Boyd Stadium
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Booking the Dead in Sam Boyd Stadium In the eighties, While Deadheads flocked to the Aladdin for the annual show, I made my way across the valley to see Bob Barsotti, Bill Graham’s promoter rep. With…
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Venues That Shaped the Grateful Dead: Ice Palace and Aladdin
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. In 1971, the Grateful Dead played the Ice Palace in Las Vegas and then the Aladdin, before they grew big enough to fill Sam Boyd Stadium. The Ice Palace When it comes to live music history…
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The Grateful Dead: Concert Experience
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. A Grateful Dead Concert “And now, for something completely different” -Monty Python A Grateful Dead concert is a destination, communal experience from a band that was more conscious about their fans’ experiences than the precision of…
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Vegas and The Grateful Dead
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Vegas and the Grateful Dead “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” When Dead & Company exited the stage after their iconic 30th performance, I contemplated the path they and Las Vegas have taken and how…
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Vegas Event Insider: Introduction
By Pat Christenson Vegas Event Insider is a weekly blog covering the history and stories about the Las Vegas event industry. Las Vegas didn’t become the Entertainment Capital of the World by chance. It took decades of vision, strategy, and bold decisions behind the scenes. Introducing Vegas Event Insider — a new weekly blog written by longtime…
