OK, I'm a slacker. Summer's got the best of me. That and three of my favorite artists playing back to back nights in one of my favorite outdoor venues (Dylan, Lesh, and Phish at Deer Creek) means it's time for "Best of Venue of The Month". So we dig back into the archives to October 98, for Legends Lounge in Las Vegas, written by Lee Abraham before he was a jambands.com columnist.

So, next month will be Stanhope House in Stanhope, New Jersey. That's right kids! If Vegas has a nice music venue, we can even find one in New Jersey.

As always, please either help by writing about your favorite venue (venue@jambands.com) or by convincing my mighty editor (who deservedly gave me grief) to fly me to venues.

Until then, stay safe this summer.

Legends Lounge
Las Vegas, Nevada By Lee Abraham
-Kind Vibes Pulse Deep within the Neon Wasteland's Cold, Cold Heart

An old friend I never got to meet used to sing, "Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart, you just gotta poke around." Sure, that line applies to alot of towns, but none more so than wild and wacky Las Vegas. With so many bright lights and crazy sights, it's easy to forget that people actually live in this 24-hour town.

Contrary to popular belief, there -is- more to Las Vegas than just slot machines, all-you-can-eat buffets and Elvis Impersonators. Somewhere beyond the Las Vegas Strip's neon glow there's a tie-dyed stage that radiates with its own brand of entertainment. Mostly kind-tune, groove stuff with intense live shows that feature extended improvisational jamsoyou know the type!

Situated in a little retail shopping center in the northeast part of town, Legends is a few miles from the strip, a 15-minute or so drive, depending on traffic. Except for paintings of multi-colored, dancing bears gleefully hoisting beer mugs on the front window's blackened glass, Legends appears from the street to be a typical Las Vegas "video poker" bar.

Once inside however, it's readily apparent that there's very little about Legends that's "typical." The most striking aspect of the bar is the "Psychedelic Tie Dye Stage," to the left upon entry. True to its name, large and colorful tie-dye tapestries serve as the backdrop. The stage is large enough to comfortably situate most bands and is in good view from virtually all points in the bar. The room itself has excellent acoustics, a potent sound system (Mackie board, Genz Benz mains), and is a pleasure to play from a musician's standpoint.

Not a large room, Legends has a capacity of 250. The area directly in front of the stage is open for dancing with a couple of old but comfortable couches on both sides. Posters from touring and local bands that have played there cover the walls. A control panel for the multi-color spotlights is on the wall right behind the soundboard, and more often than not, anyone feeling particularly creative can get their hands on the dials and participate in the action.

A bartop across the back of the dance floor is -the- spot for folks that want to sit while watching the band. This is also where flyers for upcoming shows, as well as free music magazines and other cool stuff can be found.

The horseshoe shaped bar area is stocked with a wide selection of Microbrews and Imports, and of course, there's video poker machines for all those that need more than music, alcohol and a few well-paced lava lamps to keep their interest. Snappy conversation and inside information on which bands are "the best" are also on tap from Jan, Tina and Sue, the finest bartending trio in Las Vegas.

Although Las Vegas is known as the "entertainment capitol of the world," it's a town built on gambling and most entertainment options cater to tourists. While travelers are good for the local economy, they are not a prime demographic for all night barefoot jamborees and psychedelic hootenannies.

Due to the entertainment imbalance, locals in search of kind music are left swimming upstream like leftover salmon against the surreal, lounge-act mentality flowing from the casinos. As a groove-slinging David among the neon muzak Goliath's, Legends is a safe haven far enough away from the glitz and glitter to stand as -the- lone cool music outpost for Las Vegas locals.

Vegas hipmeisters weren't always so fortunate. Let's flash back to the '70s, when it all began

Rudy Jalio, owner of Legends, went to his first Grateful Dead Concert in 1973, and he's been a Deadhead, as well as an avid concert taper, ever since.

In 1978, Jimmy Carter was president, the Bee Gee's Saturday Night Fever soundtrack was Billboard's #1 album and the stock market was at 840. That summer, Rudy graduated from Rutgers in New Jersey.

"I always thought it was ironic that we ended up in Vegas because June 1st, 1978 was the day we left, and that was the day gambling was legalized in Atlantic City," laughs Rudy.

In 1985, after a series of travels through the northwest and a few years in the restaurant business, Rudy opened Cicero's Pizza in Las Vegas. In 1991, he organized the 1st of the now annual "Grateful Dead Family Picnics," which was held in the Cicero's parking lot at their former location in the appropriately named, -Purple Sage Shopping Center-.

Over the year's Rudy's collection of live concert tapes has grown to massive proportions and literally occupies an entire room in his home. He has become an often-quoted source by the local newspapers as well as TV and radio stations regarding various issues that pertain to the local Grateful Dead scene.

"We started doing our Saturday night Dead taping events in mid '95 and right after that Jerry died and on that night the bar went crazy," Rudy looks around the bar seemingly replaying the images from that evening in his mind's eye. "The media came down and tons of people showed up. We've had the tie-in since then. People were coming because there was a sense of loss and Legends was a place to come."

"Now it seems to be fragmented. They (the Deadheads) have adjusted to the loss and moved on to other things. I don't know, maybe for some of the people the Dead aspect of things just isn't as important to them anymore. That's where the Home Grown Music Network bands have come in and filled the void for us in a big way."

Ever the innovator, Legends is the only club in the country to hold multiple-day runs for touring HGMN bands. Three excellent bands, all signed to the jamband label deluxe, Hydrophonics Records, took up residence at Legends this past summer. The Ominous Seapods and the Disco Biscuits both did extended three-day weekend jams and Juggling Suns blazed through a too short two-day stint.

"All the touring bands now know that Legends is a cool place to play in Vegas," says Tom Pirozzi, bass player of upstate New York's Ominous Seapods just before their recent gig. "Word like that travels fast. The three day format gives us a chance to stretch out quite a bit, besides doing some of the songs that we haven't done in a long time, I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to get a little bit wacky."

Coming from the opposite direction along the West Coast, Wise Monkey Orchestra, a San Diego jam band, is one of the many California groups that broke into the Las Vegas market by way of Legends.

"We consider it to be our home away from home," says Reed Stewart, WMO's manager. "Rudy is always great to us, and the vibe onstage, the sound, just the overall buzz is something we've really come to appreciate after all the touring we've been doing."

Some of the other bands and artists that have performed at Legends include: Merl Saunders and the Rain Forest Band, Moe, Savoy Brown, Mother Hips, The Uninvited, Stir Fried, Schleigho, Dexter Grove, Jiggle the Handle, Cosmic Freeway, Burnt Toast, Zen Tricksters, Dear Liza, and Chief Broom.

In addition to a steady flow of the best touring bands, Legends hosts a highly successful annual Dead Family Picnic, an annual Mardi Gras blowout, as well as frequent benefit concerts for the local chapter of NORML, the Las Vegas Songwriters Association, and Highway 61, a local Bob Dylan appreciation society.

As a catalyst for the local music scene, Rudy makes it a point to keep his eyes open for new ideas to help make things "happen." Part of that process is to look for opportunities to help local bands by putting them on the bill opening for a touring band. Some of the best Vegas bands that play Legends include: Medium Brown, Mama Zeus, Soul Festival, King Cartel, Conni Emerson, and the Mark Huff Four.

Thursdays and Fridays are typically booked with alternative, rock, reggae or blues. Saturday is the traditional Grateful Dead "tapers party," where Rudy extends an open invitation for people to bring down a cassette deck and blank tapes to make high quality recordings off weekly selections from his personal collection of concert tapes. A direct recording feed from his deck is available on a first come, first served basis. Live music from local or regional Grateful Dead cover bands also happens on Saturdays, with other, related genres also taking the stage on a regular basis.

Legends Lounge not only gives touring bands a place to play between California and the rest of the country, it's a very important venue for the Las Vegas music scene because it enables local music fans and musicians to experience the best of what's happening from all over.

The public knows this venue as Legends, however among musicians that have played there, it's referred to as "Rudy's." A subtle but profound compliment to a person that has been a friend to the local music community and in so doing, has enhanced the jamband scene in general.