Rock music sets Hooters”Raack N Roll’ apart from other jiggle shows
After nearly six years and a bankruptcy, Hooters Hotel finally had the brilliant idea of living up to its name.
Creditors might have asked a lot sooner why the troubled boutique casino’s showroom hosted a Prince imitator, an active-senior Elvis, a juggling stoner-comic and even a male G-string revue before it got around to the iconic double-entendre of its namesake.
(And if you think nicknames for breasts are juvenile and politically incorrect, send the emails there, not here, and be grateful the place isn’t called Bazongas, Howitzers, Honkers or Funbags.)
But now we finally have a female topless revue called “Raack N Roll.” With a cast of five and budget as skimpy as its costumes, it’s not going to put “Peepshow” out of business. But it’s a solid fit for the barroom atmosphere of the Night Owl Showroom.
Producers Angela and Matt Stabile have become a go-to couple for slickly packaging this stuff, forging a signature style through their years of “X Burlesque” at the Flamingo Las Vegas. They don’t repeat any “X” content here, but you recognize the rapid-fire background video, athletic choreography (by Kimberly St. Clair) and the attempt to balance aggressive, modern music with the “cute” sex of classic burlesque.
That balance is tricky in this one. “Raack N Roll” sets itself apart from the topless competition by playing all rock start to finish, from the rifle-totin’ “Hell, yeah!” opening whammy of AC/DC to modern-era standards such as Metallica’s “Sad But True.”
It’s all pumped at ear-blistering volume and may be just what Dr. Love (or is it Dr. Feelgood? They’re combined for the sexy-nurse medley) ordered if you’ve seen the derby dance to “You Can Leave Your Hat On” enough to retch.
But this show also reminds us why it’s R&B that makes good bedroom music, and why there wouldn’t be strip joints without a slinky bass groove. You can’t imagine anyone — except perhaps Tool’s Maynard James Keenan — grasping the bizarre mismatch of Tool’s “The Pot” and the classic burlesque trick of three reclined women making leg patterns in the air.
Same goes for Korn’s “Hollow Life” as a mood-killer for Danielle Aveyard’s enticing solo with a sheet of fabric; the wall of sound cuts us off from her. Unless, of course, Korn is your ladies’ man chill-out after rockin’ the Cannibal Corpse.
But rock and leather-clad, whip-crackin’ bad girls do enjoy a long history. Most red-blooded males won’t argue with striking blond Andrea Caldwell-Hall — the most memorable part of the short-lived “Viper Vixens” — letting her hair down in “Hot for Teacher,” or hopping into the bathtub for “Too Late for Love.”
With only four women, everyone’s a star. Lisa Cannon is amazingly limber in the chair dance for Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed.” (Another dubious song choice. Domestic abuse in a jiggle show?) Tracy Vietmeier takes to a swing for the show’s big prop moment, set to the Muse version of “Feeling Good.”
The gals get to rest during two sets from comic-impressionist Robert Nash. He makes this generic form a little less predictable with some dancin’ feet, and by doing his whole first “Where ya from?” segment as Robert DeNiro. The impressions that come later aren’t so hot, but at least are inspired to pair Al Pacino’s “Scarface” with Kermit the Frog.
But every burlesque show needs a comic, and Nash doesn’t overstay his welcome. After all, the casino isn’t called Hackey Impressions, is it?
Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.