Dueling Piano Shows, Part 1: NYNY, Las Vegas

This is the first of a four-part series reviewing and comparing the four dueling piano shows on the Strip in Las Vegas.

Photo by Josh Semans, Creative Commons 2.0

Las Vegas has no lack of entertainment options both day and night.  You can go to a $100+ show and passively sit in the audience and be entertained; you can spend the night gambling your mortgage away; you can go clubbing; or you can walk up and down the Strip, ogling all the neon (among other things).

One of my favorite activities when I travel is going to hear live music. Over the past year, I’ve developed a particular fondness for dueling piano shows. They’re a good way to feel like you’re surrounded by friends when you’re actually traveling solo.  I loved Pat O’Briens in New Orleans and Jellyrolls at Disney World.  And I have long enjoyed dueling piano shows in Las Vegas.  During my recent trip to Vegas, I went to all four of the dueling piano shows on the Strip to try to get a handle on the individual personalities of each show.  Here is my first review:

The Bar at Times Square

The Bar at Times Square, New York New York:  New York New York’s dueling piano show is the Granddaddy of them all, the one that started the trend, so it’s only natural that this was the first show I checked out. Located in the center of the casino, the bar itself is pub-like, with lots of dark wood.  IF you can grab a seat at a slot or video poker machine outside the bar or a table at the little Italian fast food place across the way, you can still hear the music, but then you’re not really part of it, and it’s not as much fun.

This show has a cover charge. . .if you want to sit at a table. That costs $15.  If you don’t mind standing in a very crowded bar, it’s free. (Forget about grabbing a seat at the bar, there are no bar stools.)  They start allowing people in a little before 8pm.  In the interest of transparency, I need to tell you I received a comp for this show.  I want to thank the good folks at MGM-Mirage Corporation and New York-New York for waiving the $15 cover charge for me so I could review the show for my blog.

If you’ve never been to a dueling piano show, here’s how it works.  The pianists start playing whatever songs they feel like playing, but they really push the crowd to start making requests, because that’s when things get fun.  The “catch”  is that you are expected to tip them for your request.  The bigger the tip, the higher priority your song has.  A $20 song request takes precedence over a $1 song request.  If you’re not going to tip, don’t expect them to play your song.  Plus you’re expected to buy drinks and tip your cocktail waitress, of course.  There is a constant pitch going on during these shows to get people to fork over money.  So dueling piano shows aren’t free, but they’re still cheaper than most ticketed shows, and oftentimes more fun.

On the night I went, the first featured pianists were Al Robinson and Shaun DeGraff.  Al describes himself as “the Joe Pesci of Dueling Pianos” which is about as apt a description of a human being as I’ve ever heard.  He even looks like Joe Pesci. Al is the comedian of the group.  His schtick is that he hates 80s and 90s music and doesn’t hesitate to make vulgar hand gestures to demonstrate his dislike of it. He proves his point about classic rock when he plays a rollicking version of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” that is very high-energy and gets everyone amped.

Shaun is a ridiculously talented young man who should be a big, big star.  He has a knockout voice and can play pretty much anything.  Case in point:  He made a stupid song like “My Dingaling” sound cool, which is not an easy feat.  These two tag-teamed with the second pair of pianists, Eric Meany and Kevin Krohn.  (Kevin has amazing stamina:  He sang Meatloaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights,” which is around eight minutes long, without passing out.)

These guys know how to work the crowd, especially with some friendly competition between the standing and sitting sides of the room.  Anyone who is easily offended by sexual innuendo should probably look elsewhere for a show.  Two birthday celebrants in the audience were toasted with incredibly ribald songs and were awfully good sports about it.  You will not likely hear any slow songs or ballads at this bar.  (For the love of God, don’t request Cher or Celine Dion, or you run the risk being ridiculed.)  Upbeat, fast-tempo rock songs were the crowd-pleasers, and what the pianists seemed to want to play.

What’s it like to be here as a solo traveler?  It was fun!  As it turns out, I wasn’t the only person there solo: I sat next to a woman from Ontario who was a hoot.  We kept putting our heads together to try to think of songs to request.  Even if I had been the only solo in the room, it still would’ve been fun, because the crowd was totally into the experience and the pianists were really funny.

One thing I learned during this trip is that the dueling pianists roam around from show to show, so for instance, you might catch one of them playing at New York, New York one night and Harrahs the next night.  So if there’s a particular pianist you enjoy hearing, try to find out where she or he is playing.  If you have any opportunity during your Vegas stay to see Shaun DeGraff perform, you should do it. Check the weekly entertainment schedules in the Vegas papers.

In summary, The Bar at Times Square dueling piano show might be for you if:

• You love a rowdy evening out;
• You thrive on competition;
• You want a high-energy show featuring ridiculously talented pianists;
• You’re not easily offended;
• You want to laugh a lot;
• You don’t mind standing for the whole show or paying a $15 cover charge to sit at a table.

Next up:  The dueling piano show at Salute Lounge at the Palazzo.

(Photo of piano keys by Josh Semans can be found at Creative Commons.)