“CeeLo Green is Loberace” opened about a week ago at Planet Hollywood. For months it’s been surrounded by buzz as being this over-the-top spectacle. And that’s what you’d expect from the man who is known for dressing like a peacock in heat…but it ain’t what you get.

Great Expectations:

When I heard he would be doing a nod to old school Vegas reminiscent of the Liberace era, I thought, okay, I can dig it. I expected big gaudy rings, feathered hats, velvet capes, a gold piano with a sexy lady slithering across it while he crooned some of his hits…maybe even a slowed down saucy version of “F-you”.

The guy I saw on Saturday night stood almost entirely in the same spot. For more than one song his legs barely moved—I think he may have swayed, maybe. Is this a weight thing, or is he tired ‘cause its 1 am? Or maybe he thought all the sexy ladies around him could just do the heavy lifting and entertaining.

Even though I may not be old enough to have memories of old Vegas, I’m still a die hard fan of those vintage loungey demur acts. Hey, it’s one of the reasons I love living downtown. So even if he just walked back and forth snapping his fingers and winking that would’ve been okay by me.

C’mon, this is the same guy who sang with Muppet back-up singers and Gwyneth Paltrow at the 53^rd Grammys and played a piano tricked out with pyrotechnics on the Strip a few weeks ago! Where is that guy?

The only over the top moment I witnessed was a girl deep throating a rubber balloon—however, I think I would be pushing KCEP’s family values discussing much more of that.

I try not to read reviews before seeing a show, especially if I plan on writing one myself. However, with this being such a big show it was hard not hear all the chatter. I was warned there wasn’t a live band. That shocked me the most…how do you have a concert without one? I can’t tell if he’s being stingy or just thinks that singing along to a pre-recorded track is okay…ummm, it’s not.

The Midnight show was late starting and that seems to be a consensus from most reviews. Our show began at 12:32. It seems as though we were lucky, even though the night felt longer since daylight savings time jacked an hour from us. Some Yelp reviews noted waiting more than hour before the show began. Since the show shares the same theater as ‘Peepshow’ and immediately follows their last performance, it could be one of the reasons the show is regularly slow to open. That and CeeLo is notorious for working on CPT.

Boy George, an impersonator, I think, performed during one of his many breaks. CeeLo went on and on about how Boy George’s legacy influenced him all while pointing and praising the guy on stage. Looking at recent pictures of the 80’s pop star I would have to say he wasn’t the real deal. I also read an article about how the guy got the gig to perform in this headlining act. So that kind of pisses me off that they don’t call him an impersonator—the average Joe is going to think they saw the real thing.

Tickets start at $54.50 and there’s also VIP seating that surrounds the stage. According to the seating chart on PH’s website we were sitting in $118.50 seats. (We were directly behind the audio/sound booth thingy). Great seats plus we were almost close enough to touch the glitter clad performer at one point.

Fellow music lover Angela and I after the show.

Get to the Point:

Cee-Lo can mesmerize a crowd and is a talented pianist, but he doesn’t showcase any of that in Vegas.

The thing about it is I didn’t hate the show. I know it doesn’t sound like it but, the last 15-20 min were really good. Get out of your seat, dance and wave your middle finger in the air good. So the potential is there… I love that he isn’t in a box. He can stretch and mold his sound to whatever suits his mood. That’s obvious with his sharp genre turn from the Goodie Mob to Gnarls Barkley. ‘Crazy’, F-You’, ‘Storm Coming’ and his rendition of Blue Magic’s ‘Sideshow’ were all epic. He wears one piece super glittery jumpsuits and is barefoot for most of the show. That’s what’s cool about him.

This show was beneath him, both creatively and artistically. So for me the question is who’s holding whom back? If he can play a piano that spins around above the audience at a Billboard awards show then why not on the Las Vegas strip?

I will say this, he should revamp the show a bit and gives us what the Planet Hollywood website says we’re supposed to get:

“His truly unique new Las Vegas concert show designed exclusively for Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino will be an electrifying journey into the world of CeeLo’s brainchild, “LOBERACE,” playing off the Las Vegas entertainment icon Liberace.

CeeLo Green, the conductor/ringmaster of “LOBERACE,” will take fans on a ride through colorful decades of music, stopping at legendary moments in time from Prince and Blue Magic to The Rolling Stones, from new wave to disco and beyond.

Visually, the production will combine CeeLo Green’s flamboyant sense of style and over-the-top creativity, magnified and intensified, with his soulful voice covering some of his favorite music, as well as original songs, in a just for Las Vegas show.

Part Las Vegas concert, part dance party, part live intimate Planet Hollywood Las Vegas concert, this energetic, exotic show will be as inspired and visually alive as CeeLo Green. There will be mind-twisting magic, sexified showgirls and larger-than-life wardrobe and impressive stage design that will out-glam and out-clever anything you’ve seen to date from this Muppet-ized, sequin-styled international Lady Killer.”

Yeah, CeeLo we want that.

Apparently this show is best paired with ‘Ty Ku Sake’ (because CeeLo kept telling us that…probably because he owns the company) Nonetheless, I drank coffee–it was the middle of the freaking night.

 Cheers!

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Disclaimer: Show tickets were promotional comps, however, all thoughts and opinions are that of the Vegas Soulcialite…psshh, like you would think otherwise.