Mark Davis’ mother, Carol, leads Las Vegas Raiders VIP party

Mark Davis celebrated his father’s dream with the woman he refers to as The First Lady of Raider Nation.

Davis brought his mother, Carol, to the his VIP watch party Monday night at the team’s headquarters in Henderson. Davis said he had not missed a home game since 1963 or ‘64, but is not planning to attend any games at Allegiant Stadium until the venue can be full of Raider Nation fanatics.

Instead, Davis invited a select group of dignitaries and supporters to watch the Raiders’ 34-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The socially distant invitees watched from the team’s main meeting room.

“Our guests are people we wanted to thank for making our move to Las Vegas possible,” Davis said in a text hours before the team debuted on “Monday Night Football.”

The powerhouse attendees in the house included former Nevada Gov. and incoming UNR President Brian Sandoval; MGM Resorts International CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle; Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill; Barbara Flores, wife of Raiders legend Tom Flores; Las Vegas Sands Senior Vice President of Government Relations Andy Abboud; Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo; Major League Baseball great and Davis family friend Reggie Jackson; ex-Raider QB great Jim Plunkett; ex-Raider running back great Marcus Allen; Westgate Las Vegas President and General Manager Cami Christensen; ex-Raiders fullback and new executive adviser to the owner and president Marcel Reece; and Laborers Local 872 Treasurer Tommy White, whose members built Allegiant Stadium and who is a good friend of Davis.

Representing the city’s official tourism marketing organization, Hill said, “While we all would have preferred to celebrate inside the stadium with 65,000 fans, it was a great night for Vegas and for the Las Vegas Raiders.”

The attendees were all given Raiders swag bags, which included a commemorative jersey, football, pin, program and plaque. The victory, too, was courtesy of the team.

For a night, Silver Pipes

We didn’t see it on the ESPN telecast, but Vegas Golden Knights’ busiest national anthem singer, Carnell “Golden Pipes” Johnson, sang the anthem to christen the Raiders’ opener. Actually, he sang it Saturday, with the recorded version played on the stadium’s LED screens.

Davis, a Golden Knights season ticket holder, gave Johnson the nickname “Silver Pipes” before the game. Johnson says he is keeping the moniker whenever he is in the “Death Star.” Otherwise, he’s Golden Pipes.

Johnson left some clues on Twitter about his latest singing gig. He posted a white panel, a black panel, a silver panel, a Raiders crest and finally the American flag. A Venetian gondolier and usher at the Smith Center, Johnson closed the series with, “Thank you all for playing my fun little game today!!!” He’s a hit.

Do you remember?

Sept. 21 has another connection to Vegas history, and we concede it is somewhat loose. BUT! When Donny Osmond started his championship run on “Dancing With The Stars,” he and pro dancer Kym Johnson performed to Earth Wind & Fire’s “September.” The song famously starts, “Do you remember, the 21st night of September?”

Osmond and Johnson danced the number on Sept. 21, 2009. For the next decade, Osmond continually referred to that moment in Donny & Marie’s stage show at Flamingo.

‘The Healing’ update

Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns is moving to a twice-a-month pay-per-view, concert series to be streamed live from the Copa Room at Bootlegger Bistro beginning Monday night. Details are being nailed down. But this week, none other than guitar legend, ZZ Top co-founder and column fave Billy F. Gibbons sat in with the band during rehearsal. Expect him in some sort of guest-artist role.

Hey, hey, Pauly

What do Sand Dollar Lounge, Eldorado Cantina and Esther’s Kitchen all have in common? Pauly Shore has been sighted at all of them in the past week or so. He’s been with Chris Kattan, Magic Murray Sawchuck and Dani Elizabeth, and members of the “Crazy Girls” cast. He just moved to Vegas in August and hey, he gets it.

Ambient Cool Hang Alert

Enjoy dinner and, what’s that? Music? Coming from the corner? Yes, all this, and more, at Prosecco Fresh Italian Kitchen at 8878 Eastern Ave. I’m told it’s super-cozy. Nieve Malandra and DJ Liz Clark are among those in rotation. Call the place for reservations, and remember: Support ambience.

This is true

Westgate is reminding folks of how long to wash their hands by reminding them of a Barry Manilow classic. “Plese wash your hands for 20 seconds, or one chorus of ‘Copacabana.’” I pick the one where Rico went a bit too far, and Tony sailed across the bar.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.