Sunday, August 02, 2009
Fremont Street
Did you know that Fremont Street and Boulder Highway are the same? Small county, ain't it?
This post is for anyone visiting Las Vegas between now and Labor Day, plus anyone who lives here or near here. I'm talking about the Fremont Street Experience Summer of '69 celebration. I remember the summer of '69, and I really was there. There, in my case, being Boca Raton Florida, home of an incredible flock of blind retirees who insisted on driving as if there were no lanes, but I digress. The bad news is tha
t you've missed some good stuff. The good news is that there is still time to get in on it.
Consider the Hippie Nation Gallery, if you will. It is owned by John Van Hamersveld, now of Las Vegas, who did a lot of album covers that people over 40 will most certainly recognize. There are some original ink works available for a lot of bread (get that '60's slang?) plus a lot of album covers for a whole lot less. Inside the album covers you'll find the original vinyl recordings. Talk about a bonus buy!
If you've seen the Fremont Street Experience you still haven't seen it this summer. It's the best I've seen so far, a heckuva lot better than that lame alien thing they run sometimes, and of course if you were there in '69 you've gotta like the music. On Independence day they ran Jimi Hendrix doing the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock. Nobody to this day knows how he made his guitar sound like that.
My point is that you have five weeks, plus a few days, to get down to Fremont Street and check out the Summer of '69 activities. The place really isn't too crowded in Summer, you know. We were there most recently last night, to drop in on Mayor Oscar Goodman's 70th birthday party. Know what the "official martini of Las Vegas" is? The Good Man -- basically chilled Bombay Sapphire Gin. I had one with a touch of vermouth and an olive. Happy Birthday, Oscar! He's just over ten years older than I am, so I wish him many more years. If he drinks as much gin as they say, he'll look the same when he's gone, but that's another story.
Local or out of town, check out the Summer of '69 today!
Steve
BIG PS -- I don't often do this, but I am republishing this post to add this embedded video. It was shot by Jack LeVine after we'd left the party. Do check Jack's blog at http://veryvintagevegas.com, by the way. I'm stealing this, so don't tell him, okay? It shows John Van Hamersveld taking pictures of his own artwork as it is projected above. I've seen the show a couple of times and it is the best I've seen from Fremont Street to date. So, with only a smidgen of further ado, here's the video:
Groovy, baby!
This post is for anyone visiting Las Vegas between now and Labor Day, plus anyone who lives here or near here. I'm talking about the Fremont Street Experience Summer of '69 celebration. I remember the summer of '69, and I really was there. There, in my case, being Boca Raton Florida, home of an incredible flock of blind retirees who insisted on driving as if there were no lanes, but I digress. The bad news is tha
t you've missed some good stuff. The good news is that there is still time to get in on it.Consider the Hippie Nation Gallery, if you will. It is owned by John Van Hamersveld, now of Las Vegas, who did a lot of album covers that people over 40 will most certainly recognize. There are some original ink works available for a lot of bread (get that '60's slang?) plus a lot of album covers for a whole lot less. Inside the album covers you'll find the original vinyl recordings. Talk about a bonus buy!
Photo by Tami Cowden
If you've seen the Fremont Street Experience you still haven't seen it this summer. It's the best I've seen so far, a heckuva lot better than that lame alien thing they run sometimes, and of course if you were there in '69 you've gotta like the music. On Independence day they ran Jimi Hendrix doing the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock. Nobody to this day knows how he made his guitar sound like that.
My point is that you have five weeks, plus a few days, to get down to Fremont Street and check out the Summer of '69 activities. The place really isn't too crowded in Summer, you know. We were there most recently last night, to drop in on Mayor Oscar Goodman's 70th birthday party. Know what the "official martini of Las Vegas" is? The Good Man -- basically chilled Bombay Sapphire Gin. I had one with a touch of vermouth and an olive. Happy Birthday, Oscar! He's just over ten years older than I am, so I wish him many more years. If he drinks as much gin as they say, he'll look the same when he's gone, but that's another story.
Local or out of town, check out the Summer of '69 today!
Steve
BIG PS -- I don't often do this, but I am republishing this post to add this embedded video. It was shot by Jack LeVine after we'd left the party. Do check Jack's blog at http://veryvintagevegas.com, by the way. I'm stealing this, so don't tell him, okay? It shows John Van Hamersveld taking pictures of his own artwork as it is projected above. I've seen the show a couple of times and it is the best I've seen from Fremont Street to date. So, with only a smidgen of further ado, here's the video:
Groovy, baby!
