“Monster Circus” conjures up visions of a werewolf on a trapeze or a mummy walking a tightrope.
But these “monsters” are musicians performing in a circuslike atmosphere — sort of a heavy metal Cirque du Soleil.
“Musicians use the term when we want to describe someone who is a great player — proficient, exciting,” says Tony Montana, the former Great White bass player who is producing “Monster Circus.” “That’s where ‘monster’ came from. ‘Circus,’ I just wanted it to have a lot of elements in it, like a circus.”
The result is a stage full of ’80s rockers from top metal bands sharing space with acrobats, aerialists, freaks, sexy dancers, clowns and an irreverent ringmaster.
“Monster Circus” makes its debut Thursday at the Las Vegas Hilton and plans to run indefinitely for six nights month.
In addition to Montana, resident monsters include Rudy Sarzo, bassist with Dio and formerly with Whitesnake, Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne; John Corabi, guitarist and vocalist, formerly with Ratt, Angora, the Scream, Motley Crue, Union and ESP; and Bruce Kulick; guitarist with Grand Funk Railroad and formerly with Kiss. Each month they’ll be joined by guest monsters.
This month it will be Dee Snider of Twisted Sister.
When Snider got a call from Montana, he thought “Monster Circus” sounded a lot like “Camp Freddy” — a casual event that featured an all-star band playing cover tunes. Snider had performed with Camp Freddy and knew the musicians with “Monster Circus,” so he agreed to be a guest. But he discovered something different when he showed up at the Hilton.
“I arrived on the day of the show for a quick rehearsal and I thought, ‘Wow. This is not Camp Freddy,’ ” Snider said during a telephone call from his New York home. “When I got there I saw the scope of what they’re trying to do, saw Tony’s vision. I was pleasantly surprised with what he put together.”
He says the show is a natural for Las Vegas.
“It’s a perfect marriage of Vegas and ’80s style rock ’n’ roll, heavy metal,” Snider says. “The ’80s metal was always about the party, the fun, the rebellion, the larger-than-lifeness — and that’s Vegas, by definition.”
Snider didn’t hesitate to be a guest monster even though he may be one of the busiest men in show business. For a dozen years he’s hosted the syndicated “House of Hair” on more than 200 radio stations and he’s the voice behind “Fangoria Radio,” which airs on Sirius and XM satellite stations.
He’s just started production on a horror film, “Strangeland: Disciple,” a follow-up to “Strangeland,” the 1998 film he wrote and starred in. He’s also planning on a solo tour next year with his Band of Doom. He’s working on a musical based on Twisted Sister’s 2006 album, “A Twisted Christmas.”
He still performs about 20 dates a year with Twisted Sister, although that’s down from 300 in its heyday.
“Honestly, it’s a bit of a distraction, as much fun as it is,” Snider says. “It has become my hobby. It’s fun to fly in and play for 10,000 to 50,000 people and then go home, but I try not to do it too much. When you go on the road you’re steeped in it while your life back home is going on without you. You can’t hit a pause button and go out for six months and come back and press the on button and start from where you left off. You’re missing a lot of life being away from home.”
There will be other guest artists, some of whom may be surprising.
“There are some artists out there we know to be closet metalheads,” says Montana, who lives in Los Angeles. “It’s well known that a couple of big country artists are absolutely crazy for it — when they perform, people are going to be floored.”
The idea for “Monster Circus” began to form about 2 years ago when Montana looked at all the tribute bands playing in L.A.
“I thought it would be really interesting if we could get a bunch of guys from the actual bands themselves, put together a great set, make great music,” says Montana, who was headed to the Consumer Electronics Show when it struck him that Vegas would be an ideal location for his show. “I was driving across the desert, I just thought this would be a perfect place for this kind of music. It’s a celebratory kind of hard rock, and Vegas is just the place to do it.”
The Hilton, where Elvis Presley held court, is the ideal location for a show of this kind, he says. “We’re happy to be in what we consider to be the true Vatican of rock ’n’ roll — in the Elvis room.”
Guest artists such as Snider should give “Monster Circus” some staying power as a Vegas draw.
“It will never be the same show two months in a row,” Montana says. “We’re always going to be bringing in someone and building a set around that performer who won’t just have to do his hits. They can do what they want.” Snider, for example, plans to do a couple of Ozzy Osbourne songs.
“This show will allow artists to stretch themselves and audiences are going to have a good time,” Montana says. “People need this kind of entertainment right now.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Monster Circus”
When: 11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and March 26-28, April 16-18 and 23-25, May 21-23 and 28-30
Where: Las Vegas Hilton Showroom
Tickets: $39 to $86; 732-5755
Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.
Copyright 2009  Las Vegas Sun
