‘Rockstar, The Tribute’

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Martin Andrew is an impersonator by trade, but his new gig feels real.

Andrew’s Rod Stewart tribute is now part of "Rockstar, the Tribute."

"I’m onstage and I look behind me and there’s (drummer) Brent Fitz, and I know he’s been with Alice Cooper and Vince Neil. I’m impersonating Rod Stewart, which is all fine and dandy, but these are the real guys."

Ego may be the first casualty of a recession, but it can’t hurt to combine ideas either.

"Rockstar" is most easily described as a hard-rock version of "Legends in Concert." Perhaps it was inevitable, after country variations such as "Country Superstars Tribute" or "Honkytonk Angels."

But the new show also brings in a central concept of "Monster Circus," in which veteran ’80s rockers banded together last year to offer their combined hits.

Now the two ideas have merged into a revue that recently opened in the Riviera’s Mardi Gras Theatre, after cracking the market in two venues at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

"Rockstar" gives big-hair rock the "Legends" treatment, with costumed tributes to the likes of Steven Tyler, Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar and Jon Bon Jovi.

Like "Legends," the format is modular and rotates acts. This weekend you will see Carrie Stacy as Joan Jett. Next time it might be Mike Tirelli as David Coverdale.

Tribute bands have become so dependable that it’s no surprise Tirelli put points on the board in original bands such as Riot. And the "Rockstar" band includes Great White veteran Tony Montana — who also organized "Monster Circus" — and other players with real-deal credentials.

Jay Basinger created the show with Paul Christen under the banner of Crescendo Entertainment and plays Steven Tyler. He figures it’s a further blurring of the lines after groups such as Journey, Styx and Foreigner recruited sound-alike singers — some from tribute bands — to replace their original voices.

Andrew has done his Rod Stewart act in Las Vegas since 2004, and he’s teamed with musicians good, bad and indifferent on the corporate circuit.

Usually, "the focus is just purely on the impersonator, and the fact that there’s a band there is all well and good," he says.

"What is different about this show is we’re all hanging out backstage and telling road stories. So when you go out and do your performance, you really feel you’re performing as this character as part of a rock ‘n’ roll band. They’re getting off on playing all the old Rod stuff, and I bring it to life, I guess, as the Rod Stewart character."

Basinger has fronted Aerosmith tribute bands since 1995. He and Christen met when the latter booked entertainment at the bygone Aladdin. They hatched the idea in 2001, but had to wait "for Vegas to catch up with the demographic that grew up with Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, and warm up to a hard-rock version of ‘Legends.’ "

Baby boomers still pony up for Las Vegas’ highest-priced concert tickets when the real acts play. But Andrew says that if people go see the real Stewart at the MGM Grand Garden, "the show they’re going to see there is Rod today."

"What we’re trying to do is take it a little bit back in time, to the era when they were really at the top of their game. They were still hungry and not doing reality shows."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.