Reno/Tahoe

With a big push from Northern California's Indian casinos, one of Reno's largest casinos has fallen into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Bill Cosby is stopping off in Reno for a show tonight at the Silver Legacy, en route to his Massachusetts home from being the commencement speaker at the University of San Francisco.

It is traditional to take Mom out for a Mother's Day dinner or brunch, and the casinos in both Northern Nevada and Northern California offer a virtual bounty of choices.

The Michael Jackson tribute at the Eldorado, "Man in the Mirror," is a grand celebration of his music. Nobody on stage actually impersonates Jackson, and there is no attempt to copy his choreography.

Lisa Lampanelli is going to Broadway with a one-woman show, "Bring Back the Fat Chick."

Guide to some of the show at Reno and Tahoe casinos.

Walter Williams Sr., one of the original O'Jays set to perform Saturday night at Cache Creek in Brooks, talks with Mel about the hard work that went into making the singers into dancers.

People still remember the TV show. In 1996, PBS produced a one-hour special on "Sagebrush Symphony," the Michael Martin Murphey album that brought Western music and orchestra together.

Investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board released recommendations Tuesday to make the Reno air races safer for pilots and fans in the wake of the plane crash last year that killed nearly a dozen people.

In 1965, a relatively unknown singing group with the name the Fifth Dimension, very much in sync with the times, recorded a song called "Up, Up and Away" with unlikely lyrics about flying in a "beautiful balloon."

When Tiny Tim sang his nasally, falsetto version of "Tip Toe Through the Tulips," he was also famously strumming a ukulele. No instrument could better fit his totally geeky presentation. Everybody laughed.

Perhaps no new television show this year has been greeted with the negativity of "Rob," CBS' midseason sitcom about a white landscaper marrying into a large Latino family.

The big snow came suddenly this year, and so did the deaths on the ski slopes.

How best to describe the music of Stout Rebellion? The band's leader, Bobby Waller, prefers to compare it with that of bands such as the Pogues or Flogging Molly, calling it "traditional Irish music with rock intensity."

Although the busiest season is still around the corner in Northern California and Nevada casinos, this week's entertainment offerings are abundant and diverse.

This winter may not have had an abundance of blizzards at Lake Tahoe until recently, but that has not deterred seasonal celebrations.

An Evening with Peter Frampton, March 16, Florence and the Machine, Blood Orange, April 17; The Shins, April 25; Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott with the Assad Brothers, April 26.

In an unprecedented booking, the Eldorado has centered a long-running show on a single artist.

Isaac Slade, the lead singer of the Fray, spent the band's first years consumed by the desire for recognition, worrying about whether the audience would applaud.

Few musicians have collaborated with as many other musicians as Willie K. has.

Grand Exposition Hall: LeAnn Rimes, Saturday; the Fray, Feb. 18; Larry the Cable Guy, Feb. 25.

Ironically and somewhat sadly, the Las Vegas Strip has little room these days for Mr. Las Vegas.

Chinese New Year is as big a holiday in the casino market as Christmas, sometimes bigger.

"Bugeyes" and "Paper Bag" are two of the segments listed for "ZooZoo," the first presentation of Reno's winter Artown Encore series.

When it comes to defining metal, musical experts rarely agree.

This week's entertainment events around the Reno/Tahoe area.

January very often brings a reckoning, usually in the form of bills to pay. Consequently, the midwinter months have become notorious in past years for offering very little major entertainment in casino showrooms.

A celebration next weekend of Elvis Presley's birthday allows a few lucky and select people to recall when the King performed in northern Nevada.

This week's entertainment events in the Reno-Tahoe area.

New Year's Eve in Northern Nevada casinos is usually a pretty good barometer of the state of the economy.

This coming holiday weekend, Reno-Tahoe offers plenty of parties with usually minimal admission prices.

Entertainment events in the Reno-Tahoe region.

This time of year, you'll hear many renditions of "Jingle Bells" and "Joy to the World" on stages, but Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" is a relative rarity.

For one week every December, Reno becomes a destination for lovers of chamber music when the Reno Chamber Orchestra plays host to the Nevada Chamber Music Festival.

This week's entertainment at Reno-Tahoe area casinos.

Entertainment events in the Reno-Tahoe region.

Brandi Carlile grew up in the small community of Ravensdale, Wash. It was hardly a hotbed of contemporary music, but it was not without its inspirations.

Singer Shawn Stockman acknowledges that Boyz II Men hasn't changed much over the past 20 years. Given their success, why should they?

"Mind of Mencia" ran on Comedy Central for three years. Its combination of stand-up and sketch comedy proved perfect for the time, and Carlos Mencia was establishing himself.

For the month of December, "Joy to the World" will be played thousands of times on the radio. For the other 11 months of the year, "Joy to the World" will be played thousands of times as well, but that's the Three Dog Night song, something to do with a bullfrog named Jeremiah.

Entertainment events in the Reno-Tahoe region.