InternationalIn a yearend concert in Las Vegas, Nune, Alla, and Andy enchant thousands of fans
The world is their stage
Published: Friday January 09, 2009
Alla Levonyan and Nune Yesayan, who were joined by Andy Madadian for a performance in Las Vegas on December 27, 2008.
Las Vegas was only too glad to oblige.
As it took in millions of weekend visitors, like the gaping mouth of a white shark loading up prey, it did its utmost to live up to its motto (the extended version): come hither, children, it whispered, and I shall give you the gift of oblivion; for as long as you are my guests, you shall have all the freedom you desire to act silly, restore your capacity for joy, albeit for a mere 72 hours, and even dare to ponder a clean slate. Good luck, and, assuming you leave here in one piece, with self-respect intact, make sure to come back soon.
On the last weekend of the year, the tidal waves of humanity descending on the Vegas strip seemed uniformly happy to kiss 2008 goodbye. You could also perceive an overarching sense of denial across the lit-up faces of the hordes. Yes, the country's economy was in a shambles, Bush and his now-ineffectual junta were still in office, and mass brutality of varying degrees was still insouciantly, normally, being committed in Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. But all that could wait. This was our down time.
On the weekend of December 26, Sin City also played host to a string of so-called international concerts, living up to its reputation for not only providing the total adult-playground experience, but giving it a tinge of the exotic to boot. Thus you could catch a rare performance by your favorite world-music star, enjoy top-notch cuisine, gamble a bit (or too much), wind down at a lounge or bar, and engage in any number of activities that couldn't be mentioned in a family newspaper. Never mind that in today's Disneyfied Vegas, which capitalizes on a smorgasbord of cultural references including the Italian, French, medieval-European, and even Egyptian varieties, you can't find a single Middle Eastern restaurant in any of its resorts. "Exotic" here is still very much a Eurocentric concept.
But concerts are a different matter. A single performance by, say, a Lebanese pop icon can fetch six figures and potentially plant the Vegas "bug" in many a first-time visitor. And while the city has yet to make a serious effort to cultivate the Middle Eastern demographic, at least one casino-resort, Paris Las Vegas, has seen enough of the light to add a "Middle Eastern/European Events" department to its entertainment operations.
If, on the night of December 27, it seemed that half of Tehran had converged on the floors of several casinos in town, the concentrated presence indicating a major Persian event, an overwhelming percentage of the crowd at Paris clearly hailed from the western shores of the Arax. Whether or not you were aware of the ads, you knew there was an extraordinary Armenian concert about to be unleashed on the site.
The faces, the confident inflection, the hip and sometimes loud clothes, the unique swagger of the men screamed Hayastan - but also, though to a lesser degree, Lebanon and Iran, by way of Los Angeles.
The scene also gave one a warm, secret, tingly feeling, because if it at all makes sense to speak of our own brand of multiculturalism, an internal phenomenon that would embrace Armenians of all stripes and time zones, then Nune, Alla, and Andy come pretty close to symbolizing it.
It's getting hot in here
As concerts go, the "Armenian Stars Night" at the Paris Ballroom was a hybrid affair - not that the 2,000-plus audience, sprawling around dinner tables, seemed to find it a bit strange.
In addition to the headliners, the night offered some spartan appetizers to keep one busy while the stage hands did their thing before the show started; several dance numbers; an opening singing act; spurts of comedy; and a sprinkling of self-congratulatory pronouncements about the greatness of Armenian culture (lest we forget, folks).
But in case anyone had begun planning a surreptitious exit to get a decent bite to eat somewhere in the casino outside, the idea must've fizzled in an eye bat when the first performers of the night, the Los Angeles-based Vartan and Siranush Gevorkian Dance Academy Ensemble, burst onto the stage.
With their artful athleticism, confident and deft steps, and an oozing sexiness that communicated nothing if not a voracious appetite for life, the young men and women of the group brought fresh evidence that duduk-driven music is hardly meant for plaintive moods alone.
The night's emcee, accomplished showman Grisha Aghakhanyan, kept things moving along smoothly as he introduced the acts and delivered excellent punch lines, his jokes often plied, naturally, at the expense of the poor Abarantsis.
The opening singing act was Anna, who delivered a set comprising renditions of English-language pop hits of yore. I'm not sure why the event's organizers thought the audience would particularly care for this, given that we weren't there to see a lounge act, and that Vegas, arguably the world capital of lounge acts, certainly offered better choices.
Still, a hiccup like that had the effect of making concertgoers count their blessings once Alla Levonyan came on stage, her sparkle eliciting a frenzy of adulation.
