When I got an email invite the other day from Lindsey — a local PR agent I’ve been working a great deal with since becoming this site’s weekly entertainment writer just four short months ago — inviting me to an exclusive party to celebrate the grand opening of a new entertainment venue she added that I should come “just for fun” instead of showing up and working it as Photo Diva. I thought about that for a moment. and realized that I couldn’t remember when the last time was that I did anything just for fun and wasn’t entirely confident that I remembered how. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

When I got a press release a few weeks back from a local PR agency inviting me to cover the November 13 grand opening of Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar I jumped at the chance to go because I thought this would be a great place to check out and talk about as a live music alternative for those who love seeing live music but not necessarily a touring or local artist inside a showroom or arena.
Located within the south Strip’s Town Square complex, Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar is the fifth location (and the first outside of Texas) for this little entertainment chain that began in 1992 in Austin TX. The theory behind the concept is that you take a couple of piano players with charm, good looks and decent voices and have them sing and play popular songs from all musical genres on a small and intimate stage at just above floor level and invite the audience to participate.

On opening night I watched players Matt Newbold and Dean Edwards entertain and hold captive the packed room. with sing-along songs ranging from obscure TV theme songs like “Fraggle Rock” (no, really) and the typical “Cheers” to a Frank Sinatra classic of “New York, New York” accompanied by four lovely ladies pulled from the audience to do their best Rockette style kick line. (Along with the music there was banter between the two players that also included the audience that kept the atmosphere jovial but keep in mind that since this is a 21 and over establishment the jokes can be a bit racey so you might want to think twice about bringing Mom if she’s easily offended.) This type of thing can easily slide into the realm of way-too-cheesy but because of their mastery of this genre of live entertainment it, thankfully, didn’t go there, even when they had the waitstaff jump onstage and on the pianos to dance to “Greased Lightning.”
At Pete’s it really is all about the audience having a good time: singing, laughing, clapping and dancing along with those players on stage and it a great concept that would work well with celebrating milestones like birthdays and bachelor/bachelorette parties or just a night out with friends or loved ones just for fun. I would strongly recommend table reservations for larger groups.

Oh, by the way, the exclusive party I mentioned earlier was this past Wednesday and was also for Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar grand opening and while I got stuck at work and didn’t get there until it was almost over and the audience was all but gone it was still a great time without having to take photos or notes and I rediscovered what “just for fun” really means even if it was just temporary.
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