Las Vegas 2012 - Yolo!

YOLO. You only live once right? So if you were offered a seat on the annual Grabaseat flight to Las Vegas one week out what would you do? After rescheduling some meetings, loading up the credit card and packing my pink tuxedo jacket I was on my way (first time in business class nonetheless) with 300 other kiwi's to the world's entertainment capital for some serious R&D.

I had been to Vegas before for 2 wild nights and felt I had only just scratched the surface, having not quite got my head around Sin City.

After spending another 4 nights there this week I can honestly say I am still scratching at the surface and still can't get my head around Sin City. I don't know if you can ever understand/comprehand the madness and energy of the place!

After a rowdy plane flight reminiscent of a 1st XV rugby trip complete with dress ups, karaoke singalongs and drinking games we arrived direct to a balmy 40 degree Sunday morning. It wasn't long until we had Bloody Mary's in hand at the Tropicana pool and began preparing our game plan for the week ahead. Next thing we were in a cab on the way to a sleazy Rat Pack cabaret show, before tapa's at the glamourous Cosmopolitan Hotel - one of the Strip's latest additions.

With jet lag keeping us up we found ourselves in a front row VIP booth at new Bellagio club the Bank - a Sunday night hotspot for the rowdy weekend crowd with Monday morning flights back to reality. A playlist of SHM, Calvin Harris, Avicii and Skrillex swept the club a sure sign EDM has over taken hip hop as popular club music of choice. NFL players grinded scantily dressed PYT's and ordered bottles of Dom Perigon as confetti and smoke blasted from the rafters. Welcome to Vegas - 2012 edition.

Las Vegas has a reputation for being cheesy and tacky, but it also is just as much classy and extravagant, being home to the world's best bars, shows and restaurants.  A friend also on the trip was doing food reviews so it was to the reknown bistro Sage at the impressive Aria complex for dinner. Greeted by the irrepressible 50 year old gay waiter Bond we were treated to sweet veal cheeks, double cut New York strip steak and chilli oysters, all splashed down with rose champagne and fresh mohitos. 

I was super excited to go to Circ De Soile's Beatles show Love at the Mirage. Given they are an all-time musical inspiration this had been on my bucket list for sometime and the Sir George Martin produced show did not disappoint. Although lacking in story line the theatrics made up for it, with bungy jumping midgets with Liverpudlian bowl-cuts, tumbling aerobatics peformers and a rollerblading Fab-Four cascading in unison over two half-pipes. Truly world class entertainment with no room for a single mistake.

The trip was not all fine dining, shows and nightclubs. A morning was spent at The Big Dig, recently voted #1 tourist attraction in town. Created by an expat kiwi this concept gives ordinary folk the chance to drive heavy machinery at an off-site location. I spent the morning driving a bulldozer perfecting my sculpting and excavating skills on the sunburnt Nevada dirt, on the look out for bones of gangstars from years gone by.

The Grabaseat pool party was classic kiwi knees up. 300 + pool + cocktails say no more.. The security guard with a sly smile thought it was a one of the best if not unruliest crowd the hotel had seen. A couple of kiwi Thunder Down Under stripper boys turned up to judged a bikini contest. Kiwi DJ's General Lee and Tim Phin played the latest mashups as people partied amongst the beach balls, cabana's and hot desert un sun.

The highlight of the trip turned out to be a dining experience at Joel Rubichon's restaurant a 3-Michelin Star'd restaurant at the MGM Grand. Considered America's (if not the worlds) best restaurant, we sat excitedly at Celine Dion's regular table alongside other considerably more well-heeled diners. The bread cart was enough to blow me away with to 20 specialty breads on offer, all served with freshly churned Parisian butter and spicy Alacante olive oil. A smorgasboard of tasting plates followed, from coconut-toasted quail egg with caviar, lightly roasted foie gras and lobster ravioli. Chocolate souffle served with vanilla bean sorbet for desert. The European-trained Sommelier explained every drop of our match made wine selection produced from the hills of Tuscany to the vines of Napa Valley. A once in a lifetime dining experience I will never forget.

The trip was rounded off with more pool and roulette time with interesting table talk lead to meeting an American film producer, who entertained a number of the kiwi crowd in his penthouse suite, sponsoring a drinks trolley on his room tab as we watched the sun rise over the strip. #onlyinVegas

As our Thursday night flight beckoned the Vegas shiny facade was starting to crack and it was well time to get out of dodge. Given we were there weeknights we didn't get to experience the summer weekend madness, along with attending top night clubs XS or Marquee. A chopper ride to the Grand Canyon also remains allusive but I am happy to save that for the stag do/honeymoon/wedding anniversary trip. 

As I took my final sip of my last pina colada the pool bar got busier with the next party crowd rolling, I started planning my return, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Hamish 

10 years of R&V - where has it all gone?

10 years of R&V - where has it all gone? Back in June 2003, 50c In da Club was number one hit, Reuben Thorn was the All Black capitan and the term 'Flight of the Concords' was a reference to the Air France Concord taking its last ever flight that month.

On a surprisingly mild Dunedin day after a legendary game of social footy (Mudshark's v Matadors) - Tom Gibson and I went down to our local Gardies for a beer and began brain storming about plans for a new years eve concert in Gisborne. A fortnight later we were on a plane to pitch our little idea to Dean Witters - the owner of Waiohika Estate. Who would have thought I would still be here today 10 years on?

We actually missed our flight to Gisborne that month. My band had been playing the night before at the Captain Cook Hotel, and Tom was suspiciously missing in action when we came to pick him up at 6am. Our driver (and future Marketing Manager) KB drove at a slow rate on the icy roads and we arrived considerably late for our red-eye to Wellington. Andrew generously rebooked our flight for later that morning and we made it to Gisborne (albeit slightly hungover) to present our vision to Dean Witters. He loved our idea, so a company was formed, bands were booked and festival was born.

That initial festival went down as a memorable occasion for those who attended. But if weather gods had their way we wouldn't have got off the ground at all. It bucketed down for days before and it was impossible to try and set up the venue. The day before new years eve I remember Gibbo stomping around in the mud and rain trying to move pellets of beer, getting absolutely drenched. The rain was coming down so hard that we had to hide under the stage to take cover.

We trudged wearily back to Waiohika and sat around Dean Witter's kitchen table. 'We can't hold an event in this weather, we are going to have to pull the pin' he said. Tom and I looked at each other in dismay. We had car loads of friends arrived from all around the country, bunkering down waiting for the rain to stop. Months of preparation and planning had gone into this one day. It would have been a financial disaster if we had cancelled, along with ultimate humiliation after selling our vision for months.

\After much discussion and fine-tuning checking the weather report, we held our ground and eventually Dean agreed to roll with the weather. We arose the next day to an absolute blue-bird screamer of a day. Action began immediately. The local Lion's club were in shoveling dry bark over steaming puddles. Mum was beginning to put flower ups around the venue to pretty it up. My sister cleaned the BBQ and waited for the artists to arrive. Beer fridges were plugged in, sound gear was being unloaded and checked - we were all systems go.

Around 1800 people arrived that afternoon and the small crowd partied in the hot blue bird sun. It was two degrees of separation as people caught up from around NZ. School mates, Uni mates, family, friends, locals - all enjoying a unique musical experience called Rhythm and Vines. We knew we were on to something special and we still do, a reason why a dedicated team of event professionals have poured their blood sweat and tears into our little party over the last 10 years to get it to where it is today.

Now with 30,000 people, 3 days, 85 acts, 8,000 on site campers, 10 full time staff and 2000 site workers - to think missed flights and bad weather could have put a stop to all of this happening at all! 

Thanks for continuing to support our little concert, looking forward to celebrating it's 10 year birthday with you all