Ronstadt Calls Moore A Patriot, Vegas Hotel Says "GET OUT!"

[demwing]

I know you've heard about this, but there seems tro have been some confusion about whether Ronstadt praised Moore by dedicating a song to him. This clears up quite a bit.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040719/ap_on_en_mu/people_ronstadt

Singer Linda Ronstadt not only got booed, she got the boot after lauding filmmaker Michael Moore and his new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" during a performance at the Aladdin hotel-casino.

Before singing "Desperado" for an encore Saturday night, the 58-year-old rocker called Moore a "great American patriot" and "someone who is spreading the truth." She also encouraged everybody to see the documentary about President Bush...Ronstadt's comments drew loud boos and some of the 4,500 people in attendance stormed out of the theater. People also tore down concert posters and tossed cocktails into the air.

"It was a very ugly scene," Aladdin President Bill Timmins told The Associated Press. "She praised him and all of a sudden all bedlam broke loose." Timmins, who is British and was watching the show, decided Ronstadt had to go — for good. Timmins said he didn't allow Ronstadt back in her luxury suite and she was escorted off the property..."As long as I'm here, she's not going to play," Timmins said.

Please contact the Aladdin Hotel/Casino and let them know how you feel. If Rostadt had praised the President, would they have kicked her out, even if 100 DUers had been there to get rowdy? We all know the answer to that...

Obvioulsy, it was the object of her political support that got her axed and treated like a criminal, and that's just shitty.

Aladdin Hotel
[phone]

Reservations
1-877-333-WISH
[e-mail]

Media Inquiries
[phone]

[Cha]

1. OMG! That must have been a greedy audience who

mainly keep their heads in the sand.

Poor Linda Ronstandt..how brave! I hope she comes back like the Dixie Chicks did!

[TowelBoy]

25. Er...

the Dixie Chicks haven't come back, buddy, sorry to tell you. I am a country music fan, and I have heard them sing once or twice over the last 5 months :( I'm making sure to buy any CD I can get of theirs for myself and other people, though! Maybe their record sales are still good, but on the radio... hell, they got a beating by the good'ol boys (ie right wing lunatics) who make up the vast majority of people who listen to country music.

[Cha]

27. clear channel banned the Dixie Chicks and

their concerts have soared! And their album sales have been on the top of the charts...they may have lost some bush lover fans but the fans who count have helped their albums stay on solid ground..And I couldn't be happier!

[demwing]

28. Well, one of them just had a baby, twins I think,

so I bet they haven't been touring much.

"The Dixie Momies" just doesn't have the same oomph, ya know?

[freetobegay]

2. do you have a link to the story?

[demwing]

4. Sorry!

Here's the link:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040719/ap_on_en_mu/people_ronstadt

[freetobegay]

6. Thanks!

Be rest assured, I will be calling the casino.

[Deja Q]

3. This only helps to prove what uncivil animal savages the booers are.

Figures.

[Spinzonner]

5. I love Ronstadt's singing and agree with her politically

but if she's going to do this sort of thing, the Aladdin deserved fair warning. They have a clientle to serve and an expectation of what they're getting when they book and act.

And they're paying her and I dont think political advocacy - especially of this kind - was part of the package and the act when they booked her.

Now Linda - Jerry Brown ? What were you thinking ?

[demwing]

10. But they treated her like a freaking criminal!

Maybe they don't want her opinions, but how many greaseballs playing Las Vegas get up there and praise Bush, do you think?

If they allow pro-Bush opinions (and I bet they do) they should allow balance as well.

Either way, she shouldn't have been treated like a thief. They wouldn't even let her back in her damn room! They just booted her ass right out the door.

Fascist rat bastards...

[demwing]

15. In regards to fair warning! Get This!

According to an artical in the Las Vegas Sun Online:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2004/jul/19/517195568.html

Ronstadt has been making the dedication at each of her engagements since she began a national tour earlier this summer, but it has never sparked such a reaction.

And apparently, Ronstadt sleptwalked her way through an uninspred performance, with the unrest caused by the remark being the most exciting bit of the evening.

I wonder if they were really mad at her, or just embarrassed by her performance?

BTW - The Aladdin is going bankrupt, according to the artical, and may be a little desparate for some free attention in the press. The whole thing stinks.

[Radical Activist]

21. What a bunch of BS

Musicians talk about a lot of things when they perform. She has every right to make a few political comments, as many artists do very frequently. She was paid to sing songs and she did.

Is there anything else she should notify Aladdin in advance about? Maybe if she plans to talk about her family for a few seconds between songs? Should she tell them in advance that she plans to sing a song about breaking up with someone or her favorite recepies?
There's no excuse for having a doublt standard for a topic just because its controversial.

[Spinzonner]

22. I had no idea that

her family was a controversial topic that divides the nation and risks seriously offending some paying customers.

How ill-informed of me.

[Cornus]

7. Just called...

...the number you listed and got a recording that the number for the hotel is not in service.

They certainly need some feedback about this.

[Wickerman]

8. Anyone going to see Ronstadt and not aware of her politcal leanings

is a complete and total idiot. She dated Jerry Brown, fer chrissakes.

[gristy]

9. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=694886&mesg_id=694886

[demwing]

11. Not a dupe. Read that thread.

Its all about whether Ronstadt really praised Moore with a musical tribute.

This clears that up, and details the horrible treatment Ronstadt recieved at the hands of the Aladdin.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

12. I emailed them

lotta good it'll do, but I did it anyway. Ridiculous.

[blueknight]

13. they are probably....

owned by some shrub operatives

[demwing]

16. Apparently, the place went bankrupt and is being sold to...(wait for it)

Planet Hollywood



http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2004/jul/19/517195568.html

[DemBones DemBones]

14. Let them know you'll boycott the Aladdin when

you're in Vegas.

[shimmergal]

20. Yes! You can write to them (snail mail) at:

Aladdin Hotel & Casino
3667 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109

I don't know anything about this manager. Could be he--or the casino--are just running scared. The new Aladdin has been in shaky financial straits since day 1, and with the two announced mega-mergers they may be afraid they'll be pushed out of the market entirely.

Another casino that deserves boycotting is the Venetian. It's owned by a right-wing multi-millionaire name Sheldon Adelman, who's violently anti-union.

Anyhow, let them know there are plenty of other casinos and showrooms that'll get your business when you come to Vegas, and that there are plenty of others who think the same way.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

17. Review-Journal interview

Then there was her first visit, in the late 1970s. "It was owned by some mobster type, so they came in with guns under their jackets: `Woo, the little lady.' It was just so offensive. Each time, I couldn't wait to get out."

(James Tamer, the Aladdin entertainment director when the theater opened in 1976, was later added to the list of people excluded from casinos for alleged connections to the Detroit mob.)

<snip>

The singer's political profile -- including her late '70s relationship with former California governor Jerry Brown -- are a past edition that does linger. "I've been dedicating `Desperado' every night to Michael Moore, trying to get people to go see `Fahrenheit 9/11,' " she says.

"They say the country is evenly divided, and boy is that true. One half of the audience cheers and the other half boos."

"I don't understand this country sometimes and I really fear for it," she adds. "The government is making everybody in the world hate us, including the people that used to be our friends."

Anyone who disagrees with that is welcome to get in line, behind whoever she manages to rile at the Aladdin this time.

"I keep hoping that if I'm annoying enough to them, they won't hire me back," she says with a laugh.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Jul-16-Fri-2004/weekly/24299431.html

[LTR]

18. Is this the new Aladdin, or the old dump?

I thought I heard something about them tearing it down a few years back and building a new one.

The old one was a rundown shithole with red velvet walls, shabby appearance, nasty grimy carpet, and a horrible buffet. Looked sad after being in Caesar's and Mirage earlier.

I was last there back in '92, before the whole Vegas renewal project.

It sounds like she's been dedicating "Desperado" to MM in all of her recent shows, so the bookers should have known what they were in for. But she should also be in tune with her audience, and not try to blatantly piss them off. Nonetheless, the Aladdin did act pretty poorly in tossing her out on her ear without even letting her back to her room. That was uncalled for.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. We stayed in that crap-hole a couple years ago...

And I assume it was the "new" one. It was the Des Moines of Casinos.

(No offense to Des Moines)

[Nevernose]

24. It's the new one

I think it's pretty nice -- at lesat as far as casinos go, which aren't exactly known for taste and class.

[zydeco]

23. Must have been Bennett and some of his

religious gamblers attending the show between bets.

[nolabels]

26. Hit em the shorts, Call Mayors office, tell him your going other places

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