Rick Springfield defends his ’80s rock heartthrob title at Rivers Casino
At 75, Australian born rocker Rick Springfield is living proof that the ’80s are still alive and well in the music world. He’s most well-remembered for his 1981 No. 1 hit “Jessie’s Girl,” which has earned its place in the upper echelon of the decade’s pop music canon. But he had other hits, too — for example, “Don’t Talk To Strangers” reached No. 2 a year later, and was a crowd favorite at his Rivers Casino show on Saturday night. His music career in the United States and abroad has spanned five and a half decades and he’s churned out albums with fair consistency this whole time, including last year’s “Automatic.” And he can still rock the stage like someone half his age. And Springfield was an actor, as well — most notably on soap opera “General Hospital.” Between his screen roles and romantic tunes, he was the crush of ladies everywhere back in the day. It’s still easy to see why. He took the stage a few minutes after 7 p.m. Saturday, casually cool in jeans, a white T-shirt, a black jacket and glittery red Chuck Taylors. The first notes reverberated throughout the room as he and his band launched into “I’ll Make You Happy,” an upbeat starter with an infectious guitar line. Springfield strutted and strummed as the audience screamed their enthusiasm. “Affair of the Heart” really brought the ’80s out with some opening synths and booming drums. He followed it up with another of his top-10 hits, “I’ve Done Everything For You,” which was originally recorded by Sammy Hagar. Apologies to fans of Sammy — Springfield gave his cover a little more swagger. Removing his jacket, he stopped to talk to the crowd. “We haven’t done this song for a long time,” he said, introducing “Little Demon.” “Hardcores will know it. Those of you who just came for ‘Jessie’s Girl’ won’t know it.” One of the show’s highlights was the title track from his 2023 album “Automatic,” on which he also remarked. “This is a new song. This is not the time to go to the bathroom, we’ll be watching the exits. We’ll put the spotlight on you if you try to leave,” he joked. It would’ve been a shame to miss it — “Automatic” has a lot of digital touches but maintains a rock sensibility, with heart-pumping speed and lightning-fast lyrics. Tons of fun live and worth a listen. Keeping up conversation after the song’s close, he commented on being in Pittsburgh. “This is an awesome place. We went to the submarine down the street. … Being like that, under a few hundred feet of water? Those guys were a different breed.” “We got a song now that I need to address,” he continued. “It’s really hard for me to get depressed in front of you amazing people. The reason I still tour is that it lifts me up, it’s my Prozac. But I still do get down, I still do get depression. When I get down, I try to do something positive. I try to write something. I do this every night because it lifts me up and I hope it does you, too.” He played what he said was the first song he ever wrote about his depression, “World Start Turning.” It’s an anthemic song that the band performed vigorously, and Springfield jumped up and down, pumping his fist to the chorus that he sang with aching sincerity. “I feel better!” he crowed as the song ended. After the sultry “I Get Excited,” he turned back to the crowd. “Time for a singalong!” he said, and jokingly started playing “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” Instead, he wanted the audience to sing backup yeah-yeahs during the slinky “Venus in Overdrive,” and they did with excitement. Ballad “State of the Heart” had the phone flashlights (and occasional actual lighters) swaying, and modern-sounding new single “Lose Yourself” was a shot of positivity that proved he can still write a great song. “If that was the ’80s, that would be a big hit right now,” he said. “For those of you wondering, where are the songs we know, here they are. We put them in a medley,” he said. That medley included single verses of songs including “Don’t Walk Away” and “What Kind of Fool Am I.” In the middle, he started to sing Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny” before halting and saying, “Everyone thinks that’s my song. It’s not my song!” “Voodoo House” — a bluesy song that’s almost a little transgressive — had another singalong. Introducing it, Springfield said, “It lights up a part of your brain when you sing along with a big group of people like this.” He had some guitar fun after that, showing off his chops with a little rockabilly, a little Dick Dale-esque surf rock and a little electric noodling that sounded a lot like Marty McFly if he practiced for another 40 years. That messing around started to morph into a recognizable shape — the riff in the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” His cover of the classic was energetic and blazing with guitar, something of a hybrid of the original and the famous Van Halen cover. For “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” he pitted the under-55 fans and over-55 fans against each other in a head-to-head sing-off of the chorus. Us younger folks, well, didn’t fare so well. “Now’s the time to talk about a movie I did in the early ’80s. Sorry about that, I’m still trying to make up for it,” he said, before playing “Love Somebody,” a memorable tune from the film “Hard to Hold.” When it was over, he practically pinwheeled around the stage. “Alright, this was fun!” he said, clearly electrified by the crowd. The penultimate song was the charming “Human Touch,” and he sashayed across the stage and waded into the audience, performing the last verses amongst the crowd while rainbow spotlights danced overhead. And then it was time for “Jessie’s Girl.” It was clear
See inside Caesars casino in New Orleans LA after renovation | Business News
A construction fence emblazoned with “Rome wasn’t built in a day” has been blocking the streets at the foot of Canal Street for almost four years. But on Tuesday, it will be cleared to reveal a $435 million transformation of the new Caesars Hotel and Casino, completed just months before thousands of big spenders are expected to flock to New Orleans for the 2025 Super Bowl. The ambitious undertaking to modernize the old Harrah’s, which first opened on the site almost a quarter century ago, has been like changing the proverbial tires on a moving bus, said Caesars general manager Samir Mowad. Costs jumped by more than $100 million due to post-pandemic inflation, and inevitably, there were delays. But the project has finally reached the finish line and joins a host of others nearby that are elevating a key part of the city’s hospitality district. A statue inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER “Just think about how this little corner of New Orleans has now been transformed over the last five, six years,” Mowad said. The Caesars renovation has included rolling upgrades to the 115,000-square-foot gaming area, including a World Series of Poker Room and a new Caesars Sportsbook area, which features a 147-foot wall of television screens that would test even the most limited of attention spans. A wall of TVs inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER The company also built a new 340-room hotel annex that rises 15 floors over Convention Center Boulevard and includes a “valet porte cochère,” or covered carport, at the entrance. Inside, the lower two floors have been fashioned into a “hotel within a hotel” and carry the exclusive Nobu brand, according to Kennedy Smith, vice president of marketing. The 54 rooms — which include 12 suites — reflect the concept of hierarchy that is integral to the casino business: the higher the roller, the more exclusive the accommodations. The pecking order is also reflected in the new restaurant lineup. Construction crews wrap up on some of the finishing touches inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER There is a Nobu restaurant on the casino level, which can be accessed from the hotel wing by crossing the new marble foyer past a 15-foot statue of Julius Caesar. There’s also an Emeril’s Brasserie at the Canal Street end of the casino and a new 12,000-square-foot food court that includes “fast casual” offerings from local chef Nina Compton, as well as celebrity chefs Bobby Flay and Buddy Valastro. The Nobu chain, which was founded in 1994 by chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, has grown to include 50 restaurants and 30 “hotel within a hotel” locations. New Orleans is the third Nobu hotel and restaurant deal with Caesars. The others are in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Gambling games inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER On the gaming floor, players seeking minimum bets that start at $100 can head into an exclusive High Limit area. Those with very large bankrolls can occupy the private Salon rooms, where they can choose the table game and expect to rub elbows with sports and entertainment celebrities. “At the point you’re in the Salon, everyone is a celebrity,” said Stacey Dorsey, director of security and facilities. “But for the folks who are trying to see the folks in the Salon rooms, that might be a little bit different.” In other words, no gawkers or autograph hunters allowed. Big investment When Mowad, 52, talks about the downtown transformation near the Mississippi River, he is referring to the billions of dollars that have been poured into a relatively small but key area of the New Orleans’ hospitality sector. Crews finish a hallway inside the hotel area inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER The projects include the $530 million Four Seasons Hotel and Condominiums, which was completed in 2021 after decades of wrangling, and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which has undergone a $570 million upgrade and broken ground on the $1 billion River District, a new neighborhood that is expected to include entertainment venues, nearly 1,000 new residential units, office towers and retail areas. “It’s really built up all around us and now, as we’ve repositioned as a luxury brand, we find ourselves bookended by the Windsor Court on one side and the Four Seasons on the other,” said Mowad. “It’s great to be right here.” A sculpture of a ginkgo tree inside the baccarat game room inside the renovated Caesar New Orleans Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER The hope for the casino, city and state is that the upgraded Caesars can finally live up to the potential envisioned in the 1990s when Gov. Edwin Edwards pushed through legislation to license Harrah’s as Louisiana’s only land-based casino, “a combustible mix” of politics and gambling that ultimately landed Edwards in federal prison. The first version of Harrah’s, a temporary casino at the Municipal Auditorium, went bust even before new digs at the Rivergate were ready. The casino then required a tax break from the state to stay afloat in 2001 and approval to build a subsidized hotel five years later. Under the recent ownership, Caesars reached a deal to extend its exclusive license for 30 years starting in 2024. The terms include paying the city and state an estimated $130 million over that period, as well as increasing direct jobs by 500 to at least 2,400.
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From showgirl feathers to shimmering chandeliers, casino kitsch finds new life
LAS VEGAS — Crystal chandeliers that once glimmered above a swanky lounge, bright blue costume feathers that cloaked shimmying showgirls, and fake palm trees that evoked a desert oasis are just some the artifacts making their way from the latest latest casino graveyards of Las Vegas into Sin City history. The kitsch comes from the Tropicana, which was demolished in a spectacular implosion Oct. 9 to make room for a new baseball stadium; and from The Mirage, the Strip’s first megaresort, which dealt its last cards in July and is set to reopen as a new casino nearly 40 years after it originally debuted. As the neon lights dimmed and the final chips were cashed in, a different kind of spectacle unfolded behind the casino doors. Millions of items big and small were meticulously sorted and sold, donated and discarded. “You take this hotel-casino and you turn it upside down, shake everything out of it until it’s empty,” said Frank Long, whose family business, International Content Liquidations, led the effort to unload the Tropicana’s merchandise before its implosion. Long, 70, a third-generation auctioneer, likes to say he’s in the business of “going, going, gone.” He jokes that his Ohio home is “decorated in early hotel,” having helped clear out dozens of them as well as casinos across the country. In Las Vegas, that includes the Dunes, Aladdin and Landmark. “Vegas buyers are special,” Long said. “This is their community, and they want a piece of it.” On a hot day in June, two months after the Tropicana shut its doors, Long welcomed buyers onto the casino floor. The whirring slot machines were long gone, transferred to other casinos. In their place sat an odd collection of things: desks and chairs, rattan night stands, table lamps, pillows and sofas. Piled high in what was once the high-limit gambling room were mattresses and box springs. Small crystal chandeliers going for $1,000 hung suspended from old luggage carts. “Fill up your entire truck for 100 bucks,” Long told shoppers, grinning. Buyers of all ages filled wagons and luggage carts with arm chairs priced at $25, mirrors at $6, floor lamps at $28. Behind red velvet ropes where guests used to check in, customers waiting to pay stood in line with 43-inch flatscreen televisions. One man hugged a mattress and box spring, trying to keep them from toppling over. In the Tropicana’s vast conference hall, piles of large vintage spotlights labeled “FOLIES” sat in waist-high bins marked for donation. They were off-limits to buyers, destined for the Las Vegas Showgirl Museum. The Tropicana was home to the city’s longest-running show, “Folies Bergere,” a topless revue imported from Paris. Its nearly 50-year run helped make the feathered showgirl one of the most recognizable Las Vegas icons. One of Long’s favorite parts about the job is sifting through forgotten corners of casinos. Inside the Tropicana, his team rescued black-and-white photographs of stars who wined, dined and headlined there. His favorite was a candid photo of Elvis Presley found in an unused office. In its heyday, the casino played host to A-list stars including Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Long said his people have fun with the job, too. The tedium of collecting several thousand pillows from the Tropicana’s two hotel towers turned into “the world’s biggest pillow fight.” When Sarah Quigley learned the Tropicana was closing, she knew she needed to act fast if she wanted some of the casino’s historical records for the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Quigley, director of the special collections, wasn’t the first to call. But after a meeting with the Tropicana’s management team, UNLV’s special collections acquired five boxes of records from 1956 to 2024, including vintage 1970s ads for the Tropicana’s showroom, old restaurant menus, architectural blueprints and original film reels of the dancing “Folies” showgirls rehearsing in the mid-1970s. The Neon Museum, which rescues iconic Las Vegas signs, got the Tropicana’s red one and The Mirage’s original archway that welcomed guests for 35 years. In a herculean effort, the 30-foot sign was placed on a flatbed truck in August. A chunk of the Strip closed so the piece could be slowly driven to its new home at the museum. The Mirage opened with a Polynesian theme in 1989, spurring a building boom on the Strip that stretched through the 1990s. Its volcano fountain was one of the first sidewalk attractions, and tourists flocked to the casino to see Cirque du Soleil set to The Beatles or Siegfried and Roy taming white tigers. In just a few years, the Strip’s skyline will look different. The Mirage will become the Hard Rock Las Vegas in 2027, with a hotel tower shaped like a guitar. The following year, the new baseball stadium is expected to open on the former site of the Tropicana. While the last of the Tropicana’s buildings came tumbling down in 22 seconds, pieces of the Las Vegas landmark have found a new life in nearby museums, curated collections and homes. “There’s history here,” said Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon Museum. “You just have to look past the glitter to find it.” ___ Associated Press video journalist Ty O’Neil in Las Vegas contributed to this report. Source link
From showgirl feathers to shimmering chandeliers, casino kitsch finds new life
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Crystal chandeliers that once glimmered above a swanky lounge, bright blue costume feathers that cloaked shimmying showgirls, and fake palm trees that evoked a desert oasis are just some the artifacts making their way from the latest latest casino graveyards of Las Vegas into Sin City history. The kitsch comes from the Tropicana, which was demolished in a spectacular implosion Oct. 9 to make room for a new baseball stadium; and from The Mirage, the Strip’s first megaresort, which dealt its last cards in July and is set to reopen as a new casino nearly 40 years after it originally debuted. As the neon lights dimmed and the final chips were cashed in, a different kind of spectacle unfolded behind the casino doors. Millions of items big and small were meticulously sorted and sold, donated and discarded. “You take this hotel-casino and you turn it upside down, shake everything out of it until it’s empty,” said Frank Long, whose family business, International Content Liquidations, led the effort to unload the Tropicana’s merchandise before its implosion. Long, 70, a third-generation auctioneer, likes to say he’s in the business of “going, going, gone.” He jokes that his Ohio home is “decorated in early hotel,” having helped clear out dozens of them as well as casinos across the country. In Las Vegas, that includes the Dunes, Aladdin and Landmark. “Vegas buyers are special,” Long said. “This is their community, and they want a piece of it.” Trolling for a piece of history On a hot day in June, two months after the Tropicana shut its doors, Long welcomed buyers onto the casino floor. The whirring slot machines were long gone, transferred to other casinos. In their place sat an odd collection of things: desks and chairs, rattan night stands, table lamps, pillows and sofas. Piled high in what was once the high-limit gambling room were mattresses and box springs. Small crystal chandeliers going for $1,000 hung suspended from old luggage carts. “Fill up your entire truck for 100 bucks,” Long told shoppers, grinning. Buyers of all ages filled wagons and luggage carts with arm chairs priced at $25, mirrors at $6, floor lamps at $28. Behind red velvet ropes where guests used to check in, customers waiting to pay stood in line with 43-inch flatscreen televisions. One man hugged a mattress and box spring, trying to keep them from toppling over. In the Tropicana’s vast conference hall, piles of large vintage spotlights labeled “FOLIES” sat in waist-high bins marked for donation. They were off-limits to buyers, destined for the Las Vegas Showgirl Museum. The Tropicana was home to the city’s longest-running show, “Folies Bergere,” a topless revue imported from Paris. Its nearly 50-year run helped make the feathered showgirl one of the most recognizable Las Vegas icons. Elvis’ image among the forgotten treasures One of Long’s favorite parts about the job is sifting through forgotten corners of casinos. Inside the Tropicana, his team rescued black-and-white photographs of stars who wined, dined and headlined there. His favorite was a candid photo of Elvis Presley found in an unused office. In its heyday, the casino played host to A-list stars including Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Long said his people have fun with the job, too. The tedium of collecting several thousand pillows from the Tropicana’s two hotel towers turned into “the world’s biggest pillow fight.” When Sarah Quigley learned the Tropicana was closing, she knew she needed to act fast if she wanted some of the casino’s historical records for the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Quigley, director of the special collections, wasn’t the first to call. But after a meeting with the Tropicana’s management team, UNLV’s special collections acquired five boxes of records from 1956 to 2024, including vintage 1970s ads for the Tropicana’s showroom, old restaurant menus, architectural blueprints and original film reels of the dancing “Folies” showgirls rehearsing in the mid-1970s. Salvaging the neon Vegas is famed for The Neon Museum, which rescues iconic Las Vegas signs, got the Tropicana’s red one and The Mirage’s original archway that welcomed guests for 35 years. In a herculean effort, the 30-foot sign was placed on a flatbed truck in August. A chunk of the Strip closed so the piece could be slowly driven to its new home at the museum. The Mirage opened with a Polynesian theme in 1989, spurring a building boom on the Strip that stretched through the 1990s. Its volcano fountain was one of the first sidewalk attractions, and tourists flocked to the casino to see Cirque du Soleil set to The Beatles or Siegfried and Roy taming white tigers. In just a few years, the Strip’s skyline will look different. The Mirage will become the Hard Rock Las Vegas in 2027, with a hotel tower shaped like a guitar. The following year, the new baseball stadium is expected to open on the former site of the Tropicana. While the last of the Tropicana’s buildings came tumbling down in 22 seconds, pieces of the Las Vegas landmark have found a new life in nearby museums, curated collections and homes. “There’s history here,” said Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon Museum. “You just have to look past the glitter to find it.” ___ Associated Press video journalist Ty O’Neil in Las Vegas contributed to this report. Copy article link Source link
Coweta economy poised for explosion with $100 million casino
COWETA — This Tulsa suburb, already one of the fastest-growing communities in the state, is poised for an economic explosion. The Muscogee Nation is building a $100 million casino on the north side of town, which will bring 250 jobs and result in the city’s largest private employer, slightly edging its current largest private employer — Walmart. “It’s going to be a game changer,” said Coweta City Manager Julie Casteen. The Muscogee Nation plans to build a $100 million casino and hotel in this field at the southeast corner of 131st Street and Oklahoma 51 in Coweta. Daniel Shular, Tulsa World Archive A groundbreaking for the casino, on the southeast corner of 131st Street and Oklahoma 51, is tentatively expected for the first week in November, with plans for it to open in spring of 2026. The 104,000-square-foot development in the Wagoner County city will be about 25 miles southeast of downtown Tulsa and about 10 miles from central Broken Arrow. People are also reading… In Oklahoma, municipalities must rely on sales taxes — and cannot use property taxes — to hire and pay police officers and firefighters and to maintain city streets and bridges. “For us, the casino itself won’t really provide that much revenue directly, … but we expect that other growth is going to happen around it,” Casteen said. “It will bring some of that retail and dining, that kind of thing. So we will see a boost in our sales tax at some point, but not right off the bat.” In addition to the 35,000-square-foot casino with 750 state-of-the-art gaming machines, the development will have a 46-room hotel with a pool, fitness center, concierge services, and a meeting and event space to accommodate as many as 150 guests, officials said. This rendering shows the planned Coweta Casino Hotel, a 104,000-square-foot development with a 35,000-square-foot casino and luxury hotel. Courtesy, JCJ Architecture “It’s going to drive a lot of things. I’m sure we’ll get another hotel down the road, … but the tribe is also open to partnering with us for different needs that we have not related to the casino at all,” Casteen said. “It’s going to be a big benefit, either way. And then just the jobs, too, for people that are looking for something right here, where they live,” she said. Motorists on Oklahoma 51, the state highway stretching about 10 miles between Coweta and the Broken Arrow Expressway/Muskogee Turnpike, already see pockets of development with convenience stores and small shopping centers. And dozens — if not hundreds — of homes are also being built. With about 340 employees, Coweta Public Schools is the city’s largest employer. School enrollment, currently about 3,512, has grown by more than 17% since 2005. Voters last year by a nearly 85% margin passed a record $50.2 million bond issue for improvements to Coweta schools, including additions and storm shelters. Coweta’s population has nearly doubled in the past 20 years. Last week crews are pictured delivering materials for new home construction in the city’s Woods neighborhood. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World The city’s population was nearly 11,000 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, an increase of 3.2% from 2022, making it the second-fastest-growing city in the Tulsa metropolitan area after Owasso, which had growth of 4.6% during the same time period. Bixby had a growth rate of 3% from 2022 to 2023, according to the Census Bureau, while the city of Tulsa had growth of 0.04%. Coweta’s population has nearly doubled in the past 20 years. The population growth through 2023, according to the Census Bureau: 2020: 9,713 — 1,125 increase (+11%)2010: 9,338 — 1,448 increase (+15.5%)2000: 7,580 — 3,206 increase (+42.3%) Amphitheater expected to bring eventgoers through town Coweta’s roughly 11 square-mile city limits stretch in an “L” shape nearly 8 miles from its north side near the Muskogee Turnpike south to past its downtown, and about 5 miles east toward Wagoner. Currently, about 90% of the city’s sales tax revenue comes from the Walmart Supercenter on the north side of town, Casteen said. Christy Wheeland worked for the Coweta American and Wagoner County American-Tribune newspapers for more than 30 years. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame this year and has been executive director of the Coweta Chamber of Commerce about four years. Wheeland and Casteen imagine that with the casino development, the area on the north side of Coweta eventually could resemble the north side of Bixby at 101st Street and Memorial Drive — or Catoosa, where the area adjacent to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa now has a plethora of shops and restaurants. “It’s not going to be on that (Catoosa) scale,” Casteen said. “We don’t have the property available for a lot of those things, but it’s going to drive a lot of other things.” “You’re going to have people that are going be new to town and once they see something, they are going to want to come back,” Wheeland said. Wheeland said the new $93 million 12,500-seat Sunset Amphitheater, being built nearby in Broken Arrow, also will draw many eventgoers through Coweta. The amphitheater — being constructed on property north of New Orleans (101st) Street adjacent to the Creek Turnpike and near Broken Arrow’s Rosewood Elementary School and Events Park — is expected to open for the 2025 touring season. “When that amphitheater — about 10 minutes up the road — comes in, … people are going to be coming through our community to go to those concerts at that venue,” Wheeland said. “They’re going to stop at the convenience store. They may run into Walmart on the way home. But they are going to be coming through our community to get there.” ‘Something to help our community in the long run’ Since 2019, the Muscogee Nation has invested more than $11.1 million in infrastructure and pubic safety in Coweta and nearby parts of Wagoner County, including road maintenance, fire department assistance, and water treatment and
Meet the Seminoles, owners of Hard Rock Café and its cornucopia of casino and hotel properties | Economy and Business
Big brands know that having a story to tell is sometimes just as important as what one sells. Hard Rock, a corporation that according to Forbes racks up $5.9 billion a year and employs 40,000 people, was founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, two shaggy haired U.S. citizens who were looking for a good hamburger on a stay in London. They opened up an American-style establishment in an abandoned Rolls-Royce dealer that soon became popular among the British public — two years after its opening, Paul McCartney would play there, just after The Beatles broke up. The duo opened a second Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto, and from there, made the leap to the United States, where in the 1980s their eateries established themselves as music memorabilia meccas. A guitar donated by Erica Clapton was the first treasure in an 86,000-piece collection the corporation now exhibits throughout its restaurants, casinos and hotels, a trove that it expands each year with new pieces of celebrity detritus. But today’s Hard Rock is barely recognizable compared to that first locale that served hamburgers to the beat of AC/DC’s Shot in the Dark. After its founders’ exit and various turns in its corporate road, the company was acquired by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in 2007 to the tune of $965 million in exchange for the iconic brand’s 124 cafés (really, they’re restaurants), six hotels and two casinos. The tribe set in motion an international expansion process that has brought that total up to 309 locations in 70 countries, including nearly 50 hotels and casinos. With seven casinos in Florida alone, the Seminoles own one of the biggest gaming companies in the United States. Their success is in part thanks to Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International and chief executive of Seminole Gaming since 2001. “It was my idea. I went to the tribe and said, ‘I think we can buy Hard Rock.’ For the tribe to be the owner of Hard Rock on a global level is quite surprising, it’s been a tremendous journey,” said Allen six months ago in an interview with a gaming publication. To understand what lies behind the Hard Rock brand today, one look at the history of tribes in the United States and their long tradition in the country’s gaming industry. Initially, their offerings were limited to dice, shell and archery games, then expanded into bingo, slot machines and casinos. The Seminoles opened the first high-stakes bingo hall in 1979 and their seemingly limitless growth was consecrated with a 1988 law enacted by Ronald Reagan’s presidential administration that established corresponding legal framework and promoted gaming as a way for tribes to bolster their economic autonomy. Taking maximum advantage of that law, in 2021 Hard Rock signed a contract with Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that granted it exclusive rights to administer online sports betting in the third most populous U.S. state in exchange for a revenue-based payment that has already netted the Florida government over $700 million, according to a recent statement by Allen himself. Competitors challenged the deal on the grounds that existing regulation required such gambling to be conducted on tribal lands, in light of the fact that only Hard Rock’s computer servers are in Seminole territory. But this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the tribe’s favor, and it was able to resume operations that had been halted by an injunction while courts were considering the lawsuits. During the 17 years that it has spent in the hands of the Seminoles, the Hard Rock corporation has seemed less interested in opening restaurants as growing through new casinos and tourist complexes throughout the world. It has hotel franchises in Ibiza, Tenerife and Marbella and an establishment in Madrid, whose 161 rooms and souvenir shop were inaugurated in 2021. Jan Vanhaelewyn, who was recently named general manager at Hard Rock’s Madrid location, says that the brand sees a lot of potential in Spain. “Madrid is a growing market, a destination that is still being discovered in Europe,” he says on a video call. With 100 employees, an occupancy rate over 75% and an average price of $218 per night, he rejects the idea that the brand only appeals to a certain age group of fans of a particular kind of music. “We always look to provide an attractive offer. For brands like these, the big task is creativity, because people expect innovation, to find new things to discover. We have a clear connection to rock, but we support all styles of music, including emerging artists.” The company just launched a new line of hotels and has plans to open in Tokyo, New York and Athens. Its loyalty program offers customer discounts and promotions, and it’s sought to update its image via advertising campaigns featuring such well-known faces as soccer player Lionel Messi, singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, artist and producer John Legend and singer Shakira. Lack of transparency But the corporation declines to supply details when it comes to its finances or to comment on the construction of the sprawling lodging and gaming complex it plans to build in the Spanish towns of Vila-seca and Salou, featuring a 246-foot-tall hotel, 100 betting tables and 1,200 slot machines. The plan has been at the center of a political debate regarding the regional budget of Catalonia that has raged throughout the last two years. The complex’s success or failure relies in good part on whether the 10% local gambling tax will be enacted. Political parties in Catalonia have struck a deal to raise the tax to 55%. If this agreement goes ahead, it could put the viability of the project in danger. The tax hike is opposed by the Aturem Hard Rock platform, but backed by more than 50 organizations including Greenpeace, the National Youth Council of Catalonia and various associations against gambling addictions. These political travails aside, the corporation’s CEO sees the future is as bright as the neon lights that decorate Hard Rock’s
Pittsburgh Casino Visitor Allegedly Got Covered With Feces
Posted on: October 19, 2024, 07:06h. Last updated on: October 19, 2024, 07:06h. A Pennsylvania woman has filed a negligence lawsuit against Live! Casino Pittsburgh after she claims a pipe burst and sewage fell over her body while in the gaming property. Live! Casino Pittsburgh, pictured above. A casino visitor has filed a lawsuit after a pipe burst and sewage allegedly fell on her. (Image: Live! Casino) The victim, Rita Romagnoli of Greensburg, Pa., was at the casino with her husband, Robert, on July 28, according to Pennsylvania TV station KDKA. Without warning, the pipe burst while she was gambling. While seated at a slot machine, Rita was … drenched with human fecal matter due to an overhead pipe which burst,” according to the recently-filed legal action. Suffered Bacterial Pneumonia The incident led to her getting hospitalized for two weeks, she revealed. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the defendants, plaintiff contracted bacterial pneumonia which resulted in a 15-day inpatient stay at Westmoreland Hospital,” the lawsuit stated, according to KDKA. Based on online sources, bacterial pneumonia is a lung infection. Bacteria impacts air sacs and tissue in the lungs. Rita Romagnoli and her family experienced pain, suffering, inconvenience, embarrassment, mental anguish, as well as emotional and psychological trauma due to the situation, KDKA reported. Among the parties identified in the lawsuit was Stadium Casino, a Pennsylvania limited liability corporation that operates Live! Casino Pittsburgh. Stadium Casino allegedly “failed to maintain and/or repair the premises to ensure guests were safe, failed to inspect and/or repair known or unknown defects in the premises and failed to prevent and/or remove a dangerous condition of the premises,” KDKA reported. The lawsuit was filed in a Pennsylvania court. The plaintiff’s attorneys are requesting $30K in damages. The Romagnolis are represented by Summers, McDonnell, Hudock, Guthrie & Raunch, a Pittsburgh-based law firm. Among its specialties are personal injury cases. Second Victim In recent days, an unnamed woman was interviewed by KDKA who had a similar experience. “I was sitting at a slot machine, and all of a sudden water came pouring down on me and another gentleman that I did not know, that was sitting at the slot machine next to me,” she said. It was in my hair. It hit my face. And it was all over my clothes. I mean, I was like, literally, soaking wet.” Casino employees informed her the substance that landed on her was “water,” she recalled. But she is not so sure. “I was a little more concerned because I didn’t know what the water was. They assured me that they thought it was just regular water and everything,” she said. It’s a little suspect that the same thing happened to this lady,” the second woman added. “It’s very, very scary and very concerning.” Casino.org reached out to Live! Casino Pittsburgh for comment. No immediate statement was available. Source link
Police fatally shoot man at Hollywood Casino & Hotel in Lawrenceburg
An armed man who was fatally shot by officers at the Hollywood Casino & Hotel on Saturday had injured another man with a knife earlier that night, according to the Indiana State Police. Shortly before 1 a.m., three Lawrenceburg police officers responded to the hotel on Hollywood Boulevard with reports of a man threatening and pursuing another person with a knife on the fourth floor. The officers were told at the scene the man had begun firing a gun. Officers exited the hotel elevator on the fourth floor and encountered the armed man in the hallway. An officer commanded the man to drop the handgun he was holding. The man began shooting, and the officers returned fire, the release said. The man was struck at least once by the officers. He was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of his injuries. None of the officers were injured. One victim sustained minor injuries after the suspect “confronted him with a knife” before police arrived, the release said. Police believe the victim did not know the suspect. No other injuries were reported. An earlier statement by the Lawrenceburg Police Department said police were dispatched to the hotel due to reports of a man “chasing a woman and making threats.” The Indiana State Police told The Enquirer Saturday afternoon that, at this time, they know of no woman involved in the incident. The Indiana State Police is conducting an investigation. Police said the coroner is working to identify the man who died and notify his next of kin of his death. The identity of the involved officers will not be disclosed at this time, the release said. They are being placed on administrative leave as part of normal Lawrenceburg Police Department protocols. Source link
Police shoot, kill armed suspect who was ‘making threats’ in Hollywood Casino Hotel
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. (WKRC) – Officers said they exchanged fire with an armed suspect after he was “pursuing another person” in the casino’s hotel and “making threats.” Officers with the Lawrenceburg Police Department responded to a call of an aggressive man who was chasing a woman at the Hollywood Casino Hotel while threatening her at around 1:00 a.m. on Saturday. Officers said they were initially informed the suspect had a knife. By the time police arrived to the scene on Saturday morning, they were informed that multiple shots had been fired on the fourth floor of the hotel. The officers said they took the elevator to reach the suspect. When it opened, “they encountered an armed adult male,” according to a press release. Authorities said an officer gave an order for the suspect to drop the handgun he was holding, but the suspect began to fire. Police said at least once officer hit the suspect, and no officers were injured. The suspect was declared dead at the scene due to his injuries. The suspect allegedly confronted another man in the hotel with the knife before the police arrived , leaving the victim with minor injuries, according to police. No more information has been released at this time. This investigation is still ongoing. Source link
