SDE in the USA 2024: Day Four
Tears For Fears in Vegas!
SDE in the US to see Duran Duran and Tears For Fears (If you haven’t read Day Three, head here)
We were in Las Vegas to see Tears For Fears. This was the main point of the trip, since obviously I had been collaborating with band, management and label on the SDE exclusive on Songs For A Nervous Planet. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith’s celebratory ‘residency’ (three days) was too good to miss and after an okay sleep in the first of two nights in Nevada, today was the big day!
One thing I discovered is the big hotels in Vegas don’t tend to ‘do’ breakfast as part of the inclusive deal. It’s not even a bolt-on; there is no traditional hotel breakfast area with a massive buffet with cold cuts, fruit, cereals, sausage and bacon and a chef offering to make you omelettes or scrambled eggs. They just want you to use one of their resident restaurants or cafes or similar. Since they tend to be really expensive – and in the case of FontaineBleau not really appropriate, anyway – there was only one thing for it – go and find a Denny’s!
Diners are part of the mythology of America for me. I think they are brilliant: booths, free coffee top-ups, friendly staff saying things like “What can I get you, honey?”. That whole bar thing, where some people (normally on their own) sit choose to sit up at the ‘counter’ and eat and drink as busy chefs in the back kitchen cooking to order, with every walk of life coming in and out. They’ve be going since 1954 and are obviously a big chain. On a family holiday to Florida around a decade ago, we ended up in Denny’s virtually every morning with my two daughters loving the endless pancakes, bacon, etc. I know I’m probably romanticising it a little bit but there really is nothing like this in the UK.
I was pleased to discover that there was indeed a Denny’s not too far from the hotel. It was probably a 15 minute walk, but of course no one walks anywhere in a place like Vegas, so it wasn’t the best walk in the world. The car is king in America and if you choose to take the role of ‘pedestrian’ then good luck! The roads are massive and wide and it’s just an endless expansive or concrete, tarmac, traffic lights and infrastructure to allow cars to go from A to B. It can be confusing – especially that thing where the ‘walk’ sign is showing, meaning you can cross, yet cars are still allowed to turn into the road you are in the middle of, although they must give way to people crossing. That can be hairy, although thankfully there was no call for any bonnet-slapping and a Ratso Rizzo cry of “I’m walkin’ here!!”. Nevertheless, the traverse across many big roads meant that at times I rather felt like Steve Martin walking across that “fucking runway” in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but we got to Denny’s in the end and it didn’t disappoint.
We were welcomed in by the person who stands at the front and greets you and pleasingly shown to a booth (I didn’t come all the way to the States to sit at a normal table and chair in Denny’s!). As is fairly well known, you can get huge portions in the USA so you have to bear that in mind when you’re over from the UK. A ‘small’ coffee from a Starbucks or equivalent is quite often closer to ‘large’ over here, and the large ones are like buckets, so choose carefully. Denny’s had some massive looking breakfasts (or ‘slams’, as they like to call them) but a top tip is to seek out the ‘value’ menu which has some ‘no frills’ style breakfasts at great prices. In the end I had two bacon, two (small) sausages, some excellent hash browns, scrambled eggs and two pancakes for just $10, which seemed like a bargain. In America, baked beans as part of this kind of breakfast is not a ‘thing’. Anne suggested that she might share my pancakes, but I pointed out that a) I was hungry and b) you can add a two pancake “stack” to any breakfast for just $2. Denny’s also have proper containers of ketchup on the table, none of this ‘sachet’ nonsense. I’m here to enjoy a breakfast not to stress about two sachets of sauce not being enough for my bacon and eggs! It was great and really did set us up for the day. I’m so sad, I bought a Denny’s mug as a memento and we already knew that we’d be back the following day.
While sitting at breakfast I did a google map search for record shops in Vegas. To be honest, with no car on such a short stay, and with the roads feeling quite busy (preparations for the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the end of November were already underway), I wasn’t expecting to do any record shopping, but I got very lucky because around the corner from where we were sitting was Record City, in what, from the photos on google, looked like a very promising record shop! It was about a 10 minute walk and since it was still only 9.30am, I wasn’t expecting it to be open, but wanted to do a recce for later. It certainly didn’t look open but upon closer inspection the outer metal security gate on the front door was unlocked and ajar, suggesting that we might be able to go in. You couldn’t see inside because the premising have the look of some kind of military dorm from the outside, with few windows, painted in an austere grey, but it clearly was a record shop (“Buy / Sell / Trade – LPs. CDs. Movies. was painted in large letters on the side) and once we were inside, the place was warm and welcoming with the owner/manager and staff member very friendly indeed.
Of course the excitement of entering a secondhand record shop (Record City do new vinyl as well) you’ve never been in before is significant and I could immediately tell I was going to need a good hour or two in this place to even scratch the surface. Of particular interest to me was an enormous laserdisc section (I’m a bit of a collector) where most titles were $5 or $6, with some as low as $3. You just never see laserdiscs in shops in the UK. It’s eBay or nothing. By the time you’ve paid postage you rarely get much change from £10 for a single disc, so $3 felt like a giveaway price. I expressed an interest and the manager said he’d do me a good deal on top of the already cheap prices. Fantastic, but they had so many laserdiscs it was going to take ages to go through them. We had to head back to the hotel so I promised to return later that day on my own for a serious rummage, although I did pick up three CDs there and then to show willing! They were not open on Sundays and since we were leaving on Sunday evening it was today or never, for Record City!
Fast forward to later in the day and I came back and ended up buying about 15 laserdiscs including 90s classics like Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and The Player, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, Brian De Palma’s Blow Out and various others. They gave me a great deal on top of the already good prices and when I asked if they sold laserdiscs very often, the boss laughed and said “not really”. There were still literally thousands of discs in the shop which are going to be there for years unless they choose to dump them in landfill. It pained me that I couldn’t get more due largely to luggage restrictions.
We were of course looking forward to seeing Tears For Fears in the evening. The main event. The feature presentation. A text from the manager confirmed we could come and say hello to Roland and Curt at about 7.30pm, only half an hour before ‘showtime’. Fantastic!
We picked up our tickets from the box office complete with stickers providing us with access to the “family and friends” aftershow and headed down to the bowels of the theatre with a small group of other people and took a lift down to an area that was clearly underneath the main theatre. After much anticipation, Roland and Curt wandered casually out, all dressed and ready to go on stage. Roland’s ‘look’ in particular – his hair, scarf and white jacket – had the wow factor and of course it was lovely to get the opportunity to grab few words with both of the guys and a photo opportunity. I’d seen both of them less than two weeks earlier (for the interview in London) so there was a little bit of joshing along the lines of “what are you doing out here?!” but despite having met them on a number of occasions this felt really special. I congratulated them on Songs For A Nervous Planet entering the UK charts at No 6 (which had happened the day before) and with handshakes exchanged, I said “have a great show” and we were on our way back upstairs to take our seats for the evening’s performance. If it felt a touch Spinal Tap I did not observe any banging on doors and cries of “Rock n’ Roll!!”
The show itself was incredible. The main structure and setlist was, in essence, the same as on Tears For Fears Live: A Tipping Point Film but they had found space to incorporate all four new studio tracks that kick off the Songs For A Nervous Planet album (‘Say Goodbye to Mum and Dad’, ‘The Girl That I Call Home’, ‘Emily Said’ and ‘Astronaut’). Hearing them live and fused into the setlist alongside Tipping Point tracks and all those great hits from yesteryear somehow validated the tracks, even though I already really liked all of them. I wonder if they’ll ever play all four songs in a live set again? They dropped ‘Change’ and didn’t play ‘Secret World’ from Everybody Loves A Happy Ending, but most excitingly they did play the rocky ‘Quiet Ones’ from that 2004 album, the first live performance in 14 years. I’ve always loved that song, so it was fantastic to hear it live (the first time I’d heard it performed since I saw the band at Hammersmith in 2005).
We had great seats about seven rows from the front and people were standing for most of the show and really enjoying the show. The Bleaulive theatre has a capacity of 3,800 so it’s like having Hammersmith Odeon hidden away in your hotel!
At the end of the show I headed to the merch stand because after regretting not picking up a Duran Duran T-shirt in New York, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. There was a decent range of gear and prices were okay. I’ve seen worse.
With our badges on, we headed for the ‘Family and Friends’ aftershow, which again, was somewhere in the depths of the facility. It really was a small room and I spotted various band members and Roland’s wife Emily. Didn’t see Curt but I turned around and there was Roland with a big smile asking what we thought of the show. We chatted for about 10 minutes which was a wonderful end to a wonderful day. All that was left to do was retreat back to the bar on the first floor of Fontainebleau and talk about the gig and the fun we were having on our trip to America which was about to come to an end. Stay tuned for the diary of the last day on SDE later this week.
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54 thoughts on “SDE in the USA 2024: Day Four”
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When are you going to post the diary of the last day in the US?
Tomorrow!
As an American, it’s hilarious reading you gush about Denny’s! Not exactly a first choice for breakfast for me (or anybody I know). A equivalent might be a Brit reading an American gush about shopping at Boots. The next time you’re here, you need to try some other places that have all the aesthetics you you like, but much better food. They do exist. Glad you had fun, though!
What’s wrong with Boots? ;
Not a thing! I see your wink, but I meant Boots is nothing special. From an American perspective, neither is Denny’s. All that really matters is that you were happy to be there. The next time you’re in the U.S., ask knowledgeable locals about a great breakfast spot. You won’t be sorry!
I am glad that you had a great time in the States, Paul. Had I known, that in addition to wanting to do some record shopping in ‘big box” retailers such as Target, that you wanted to find an “affordable” American breakfast in Vegas and finding it darn near impossible other than what can be had at the VERY mediocre Dennys, I would have suggested going to the Peppermill, a Vegas institution, and a place that never disappoints! C’est la vie…maybe on your next trip to the desert!
Hi.. waffle house diners have amazing food and..music!!! I own their cd but they have jukeboxes with fine tunes like, “there are raisins in my toast”, “844,,739 ways to eat a hamburger”…and more…cool, funny songs…perhaps they should really have a SDE box set and blu ray! You can listen to Waffle House music on Apple Music and Spotify too.
A very entertaining read and glad you enjoyed the show and could even meet TFF!
Are there any plans to release the Vegas show or the ‘Tipping Point Film’ on Blu-Ray at some point?
Ha, I never knew you had a penchant for ye ol’de laserdiscs Paul, I have a aPioneer CLD-D925 and a couple of hundred discs in my collection (mostly ntsc) and I am loathed to ever part with it despite the technological advances in audio/video playback in the proceeding years.
Laserdiscs always holds a special place in my heart because it was the first format that introduced the world to Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound.
They opened a Denny’s in Glasgow,just passed breahead,it lasted about six months! The media printed the Google reviews which where terrible and people stayed away, didn’t really get time to find it’s feet, someone somewhere will have the huge sign in their garage.
What a shame! A distant memory now, but had breakfast in a Denny’s on multiple days, as part of a Florida trip – fantastic and a similar experience to Paul’s earlier description!
What a joy to read these travel blogs. It’s great that some attention is paid to record stores. It makes me wanna go again. I go to the Princeton Record Exchange a few times a year. Brilliant shop. Reading about the Tears For Fears show fills me with joy. I really hope they make it over to NYC soon!
Very enjoyable read Paul. I remember trying Denny’s for the first time – in Austin, 2003 before a record dig. Great place, really sets you up for the day!
Thanks for the posts. I enjoy reading about your travels. And those DD and TFF shows are definitely some I would have loved to have seen. I did get to see DD last year, at least.
I picked up the new TFF on vinyl and have been enjoying it. I didn’t immediately care for the 4 new tracks when I watched them on Youtube, but they are growing on me. Now I want to get that Target cd, too, so I can have the full tracklist and the bonus track.
Paul, thanks for your road diaries, which make for an enjoyable read. It’s always good to see how visitors to the States express themselves about different places.
At Denny’s, did you ever jump for a serving of America’s most hysterically named entree, ‘Moons Over My Hammy’? And, if Denny’s gives you a Love Jones (and you dig being called ‘honey’ that much), try a Waffle House.
Your post on Tears For Fears brings more lament that I chose the CD of Songs For A Nervous Planet over the Blu-Ray. The four new songs are very, very good, and those and the live remainder have become frequent listens since the release. But the CD’s sound doesn’t hold up to the joy of the music… Another good record smashed down to earth by Hammy-fisted compression, and left dull and lifeless, bleeding out on the ground. Here’s hoping the Blu-Ray mixes and masters don’t suffer this way, so chalk up another vote for a new pressing of the BD version if ever possible.
Thanks again. Next time, come to Detroit.
See, we have these things called Coney Dogs…
Yes, the Blu-Ray sounds much better than the CD. I don’t have a surround setup but listening to the 5.1 mix in stereo was a great audio experience.
Wouldn’t blu’s always sound better than CD though?
Not if they simply carry the same mastering. I doubt you’ll find much, if any, difference between the CD and the band’s stereo mix on the Blu-Ray, once you’ve matched the levels (it’s made quieter on the Blu-Ray so that your ears don’t get destroyed when you switch between the streams, but doesn’t have any less compression).
What a great travel blog, Paul! I saw TFF at Jones Beach (amazing coastal venue outside of NYC) in June of 2022 with Garbage opening and rate it as one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. We look forward to catching them in LV in early February 2025 at the Bleaulive theater and, like you, happen to be on the seventh row! I received the SFANP blu-ray SDE about a week ago and look forward to enjoying it this weekend. As a Memphian with grown children in Nashville, I’m fortunate to still have access to a fair amount of “physical media”, but I look to you for guidance (particularly on the surround formats). Lastly, you will want to return one day to the Sphere in Vegas where we have seen U2 and Dead & Co. in the last year… it’s truly remarkable!
Breakfast in America!
Breakfast in America is my favorite diner in Paris. (named after the album, I know).
Paris has my favourite version of Breakfast in America.
Blow Out and The Conversation were two excellent choices Paul!!! Glad you enjoyed yourself and I really appreciate your positive review of the USA as a whole. All my friends seem to do is complain about living here lol!
Also, Vegas has 2 ZIA Records locations. I used their Arizona shops for years.
As a Brit going to Denny’s is similar to when I went to a Little Chef while in the UK!
It’s definitely better than a Little Chef!! : )
A nice long read Paul, I so envy you doing this kind of road trip, record shops, diners, hotels, seeing bands, just about heaven to me. Always wanted to go to Nashville to do like wise and end up in a bar with live country music playing, maybe it’s not too late.
Don’t think my wife would like it though she always used to complain that she was forever waiting around whilst I was in a record store looking for hidden gems.
These days i’m afraid it’s all online, the thrill of finding a long lost masterpiece by a favourite band was real magic and those memories remain with you.
Hope you enjoyed your stay and it was a pleasure to read about your adventure.
Lol, you’ve got the same TFF hoodie as me.
I’m glad they’re doing so well right now. Wish they weren’t so dismissive of the idea of playing continental Europe again – I’m still kicking myself for missing that one un-publicized 2022 gig…
Sounds like you had a wonderful time on Saturday, Paul. Can’t wait for Sunday’s report! I spotted you twice at Fontainebleau – once with the missus and once without. Both times you were near the second-floor food court, heading toward the theatre at full steam so I didn’t want to impose. But I greatly regret not saying at least a quick “hi” now that I’m home. Was great to see you all the same. Looked for you inside the venue and near the bar etc. but we didn’t cross paths again.
Happy to hear that you made it over to Record City for a look-see. Second-hand shops are one of the few places I can think of to look for laserdiscs (that, or certain hi-fi shops). In a world where it’s increasingly hard to find DVDs or even CDs in the shops, at least here in North America, it’s not surprising that laserdiscs are nearly invisible. Around here, laserdiscs have been consigned to the same mysterious place that MiniDiscs and DAT tapes and fax machines and Zunes went. I suppose that blu-ray did them in, and next it will be 4k and 8k video streaming services. It’s cool that you’re a collector; hope you have a robust laserdisc player!
I made it down to Zia Records (via Lyft) and bought five LPs that are maddeningly hard to find in Canada. Stuff like the new Dawes and Guster and Soccer Mommy albums, and a reissue of the Mountain Goats “All Hail West Texas”. That should keep me going for awhile.
I made it to both the Friday and Saturday TFF shows – 200 level seating both times. Excellent sound in the venue, nice sightlines, active audiences, comfy seats (apart from the bits where we stood up, mainly the encore). Slightly different energy both nights. Friday was a little more raucous, Saturday a little smoother. Roland’s falsetto was a little off on Friday, but the songs overall had a little more ‘bite’ to my ears. Saturday was very enjoyable, too, with nary an odd note. I grabbed a few quick videos which stand up reasonably well to playback. Their lighting designer did an excellent job of creating a sense of spectacle without being over-the-top obnoxious.
As others have rightly mentioned, seek out a Waffle House next time you’re in the Southeast and hankering for breakfast. You won’t be disappointed. I made my pilgrimage to In-N-Out burger on this trip for many of the same reasons :)
Oh, and the U2 “immersive experience” at the Sphere on Sunday was magical. It’s the future of concerts (at least for the big acts).
Thanks once again for building this website and this community, and for all you do to keep us collectors of physical music media going!
Thanks! Sorry not to have crossed paths. We wanted to go to U2 on the Sunday but frustratingly didn’t quite have enough time! Our flight was slightly too early.
“the excitement of entering a secondhand record shop you’ve never been in before is significant”
Oh, it’s nice seeing that written down. A feeling I enjoy so immensely.
I appreciate the stuff you wrote about Denny’s. It’s fascinating that something so commonplace here can be so special to someone from out of the country. But it works both ways, I guess. I love that I can get a cider at any pub in London. (Among many other things I love about UK/Europe.)
And I hope you were able to get the Target version of the TFF CD! “Landlocked” is my favorite of the new tracks. If you need me to send you one, let me know. :)
Glad you enjoyed your American adventure. If you ever visit the Upper Midwest of the USA (especially Minnesota and neighboring states), try Perkins instead of Denny’s. Same concept for an American diner chain, but IMO Perkins is better. Also, Minneapolis has at least one great record store still in business (The Electric Fetus).
Great diary Paul. I’m a Londoner who has been in the US for 40+ years now. Your impression of Denny’s was great, my exact same feelings upon arriving over here way back when. The “have a nice day sir” was such a contrast to London back in the 70s and it grabbed me immediately. BTW, thanks so much for your continued support of surround sound physical media – you have become my main source for discs now and I gobble up most of the SDE releases. I’m a huge multi-channel fan; not into vinyl at all. Keep up the good work!
” Sachet Nonsense ” is a good band name
They really spared no expense on the “Arrow” sign for the Friends & Family get together, did they?
Love reading about your wonderful trip and especially love that you’re familiar enough with the band to joke with each other. It always is a great day when you discover a brilliant used record store, isn’t it? Hopefully you can convince them to let you purchase & then mail you some more laserdiscs if you aren’t able to make a trip out again in the near future with an empty suitcase.
My favorite part was reading your memories and feeling towards Denny’s. It has always just been such a part of my life that it makes me oddly happy hearing from someone when it is a rare and special treat. Many happy memories of days (and especially nights) gone by spent in their booths. And their hashbrowns are shockingly good, no idea why.
Glad you had a great time but I hope you didn’t tell anyone in NY that you love Denny’s! LOL for NYers a Greek-owned diner is where it’s at. Especially in the boroughs or Long Island. In fact, I never ate in a Denny’s until I was in grad school in Indiana. Culture shock!
The Duran Duran show was great but unfortunately I got sick during the show and had to miss some of it. I’m thinking they will make that show into a DVD release hopefully. . .
Sirius XM did a broadcast of the Duran Duran MSG show the other day on the First Wave channel and may re-broadcast it.
I’m glad you had fun in Vegas, Paul. I’ve been there numerous times, maybe too many times. Yes, a Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast is satisfying, but since you have a certain fascination for diners, you might want to try eating at a “Waffle House” during your next visit to virtually anywhere in the Southern U.S., and treat yourself to a noisy, tacky, claustrophobic, and tumultuous Americana breakfast dining experience that’s also a glutton’s delight as each customer is served two to three platefuls of breakfast food at a super affordable price, for example: a giant pecan waffle in one plate, a T-bone steak or ham steak, eggs and hashbrowns in a second plate, grilled bicuits or toast in a third plate, and a bowl of cheesy grits on the side, plus unlimited cups of coffee. Even for two customers dining together, the table top in your booth will be so overcrowded with plates, coffee cups, bottles of maple syrup, ketchup, Tabasco sause, etc., there’ll be absolutely no room to rest your elbows or your cell phone. Also, there are two Record City store locations in Las Vegas — great stores with lots of inventory, but from the outside they look like gun shops where you can buy a rifle and a couple of rounds of amunition. Talk about ‘hunting around’ for records :-)
IHOP or bust for breakfast
Sadly, after 35 years in business (making it Las Vegas’ oldest wrecka stow at the time), Record City’s store on East Charleston closed nearly two years ago, leaving just the East Sahara location. :^(
Sounds like you a a fantastic time…one for the memory banks. Hope Ann enjoyed herself too!
By “laserdiscs” do you mean dvds? Yes I’m aware there was a format in the 80s called laserdiscs but have not seen them in shops in the US since then really.
By “laserdiscs” I mean “laserdiscs”…
Record City is a great shop. Often visit there on Vegas trips. I too have 100’s of old laserdiscs and love finding these in places like this. A good tip for the future for anyone fancying a visit here – it’s only a short walk from the monorail station out the back of the Sahara.
I only ever owned a single laserdisc – David Sylvian’s Steel Cathedrals. Held onto it for 15 years without every getting a player (or another disc) before finally having to let it go when relocating internationally about a decade ago. I never did get to know how it sounded/looked (probably better than the VHS of same, I suspect).
LOL!! : )
My local shop (West Michigan) has a small section of laserdiscs. Very small. Actually, I haven’t seen it since they relocated a couple years ago. Hmmmmm.
some half-price books locations carry laserdiscs though usually not a large selection. that’s about the only non-online place that I have seen them this century.
Vortex Music and Movies in Kirkland, WA near Seattle has a large selection of used laserdiscs.
I’m glad you have a great time ! I’ve been listening to TFF non stop for a few days and I really love the live album. My copy has Landlocked, which is a kind of rarity. Right now, I’m discovering Elemental.
Landlocked is really good, I think…
Always head to Record City when I am in Vegas – it’s packed with really great stuff, and I always end up coming away with stacks of stuff to bring back to the UK
I was going to bin my jeans from 2003 and miraculously Roland has just made them fashionable again