After seeing Pat Dinizio in his show Confessions of a Rock star at the Riviera, last week, I am now a raving fan of the man and the show – for all the wrong reasons!
My Own Confession
When I met Pat Dinizio at the pre-show media event, I had no idea who he was or what to expect. I even told him that. He said “I’m the man…” Complete with flashbacks to that line in a cult classic movie… This would not be my first movie flashback of the night. He was some goofy dressed guy in a “Archie comic” style hat, wandering around saying hello to everyone. Sorry Pat, I was raised on country and jazz with a little Elvis thrown in for good measure.
Everything I hate, I loved
Moving into the theater, we ended up front and center. Dam glad I did… It was THAT good of a show. The show started with a video of all my favorite memories of my childhood. Movie clips, famous scenes, from the all the movies I grew up with. Clips from TV series we all remember and some other flashbacks I don’t want to reveal.
After a brief introduction of the man who saw an Elvis movie when he was seven and was hooked on Rock Music from that point on, we are introduced to “The Man,” Pat Dinizio. Complete with Happy Pebble style shoes, simple black pants and shirt with that darn hat… He broke out with a classic rock song done it old school.
What I mean by old school is you had three men on the stage. One lead guitarist (Pat), A 12 string bass guitar player and a drummer. Yes, I said a 12 string bass. It was Awesome. The guitars looked and sounded like they were plugged into an old vacuum tube Marshal amp sitting on the side of the stage.
If you are too young to remember this style of set up or the pure sound of music like this, you may want to go see some other synthesized lounge act and leave the real music to the adults. Or you can sit back, take notes and be blown away by a true musician doing what he loves in the way it meant to be heard: Loud and raw. That alone will stir up memories for those of us of a certain age!
Than he stopped to talk. I hate when people I paid money to hear, do that. Stop for some forced idle chit-chat with the audience. But, this wasn’t idle chit-chat. This was a man who became a rock star by emulating his idols who later got to meet his idols and to learn that those who influenced his music also rocked out to HIS music. And he was still awed by the experiences he lived. No ego, just humbleness as he talks about his journey.
Here is a guy who lived some of rock’s greatest moments and met some of the greatest people in rock and roll history. He wrote songs for them and opened for them. Only to hear them play his music. His fame came at the age of 31 with a band named for a line in a famous Saturday morning cartoon. ( The Smithereens) He hit stardom late, while working for his father’s trash company. (the story of this last part, is worth the price of admission alone, I promise you)
I was torn between loving his music and wanting to hear more of it and wanting to hear more of his stories. Not only are they weaved perfectly into the music he plays, they add to your experience of the show.
At one point, he confesses or gives us a secret to music success. For those of us struggling at our jobs… For those of us who spent years in school and slaved away to achieve a livable pay scale… he lets us know that some of the greatest selling rock songs.. the ones everyone knows and has made the song writer rich beyond his wildest dreams, were basically two and three cord guitar songs that any monkey could write or play!! Think about it….
We also got to meet the CEO of the new Riviera. He stated that they are going back to what made the Riviera and Vegas famous… Finding great talent, giving them an opportunity to do their own things and making it happen. After seeing this show, I have to agree, they are doing things different. I will be going back to see this show again… Soon! You Should Too!
(Photo Credit: Amy O’Brien)
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