Las Vegas Archives

Viva is done for another year and I have to say that of all my 4 years going this year was the best..ever. I don’t know why because the bands, the vibe and the weather were just as awesome but something just clicked and made this weekend truly a showstopper for me. Now I’m a bit sad it’s over but I have 2016 to look forward to as I have my room already booked. Woo hoo!

(Note: Check out my posts on Thursday & Friday & Saturday & Sunday)

And on that note, lets check out what I did on the Wednesday the day before the event officially started.

on the plane to VLV 18 — On the Plane! Sorry an Iphone photo pic.

I have found that coming into Vegas the day before Viva is the best way to go because it allows you to have at least one day to do some sightseeing, sleep, veg out by the pool etc. For us it allows us to go to Frankie’s Tiki Room and then do Kitschy but fun Fremont St. This has become a tradition that I absolutely love and this year was no exception.

Up first..room check in! I had a friend who is not really into the world of Rockabilly and Vintage attending with me this year and her comment as we walked into the lobby and she saw everyone hanging around there all dressed up was..”Wow this is overwhelming”. I turned to her and said “dear, you have seen nothing yet!”.

Viva las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18 New Orleans Hotel-Vintage Style / Rockabilly Style. — My Friend Liisa and I in the front lobby at Check in (My Vintage Dress is from Cabaret Vintage in Toronto)

Unpacked, vegged out and now it’s time to hit up Frankie’s Tiki Room. I had brought a Tiki Dress but I honestly was just not feeling it so I went with my vintage Mexican skirt (purchased from Cabaret Vintage) and white top from Collectif (purchased in Toronto at Loveless boutique).

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Collectif are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Frankie's Tiki Room Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18-Sign — The Big Question.

Just like last year a good group of friends made the trek by cab (the worst cab driver though lol) to Frankie’s. I was so excited because I could not wait for a yummy Tiki Drink or 2!

Frankie's Tiki Room Las Vegas VLV 18-Tiki Drinks and Tiki Style — The lovely Kassandra Love and I enjoying whatever we were drinking.

Frankie's Tiki Room Las Vegas VLV 18 -Tiki Drinks, Tiki Style and Rockabilly Style — Some of the VIVA Gang. I love my new camera and I love that I’m holding 2 drinks!

While I was at Frankie’s I was excited to have the fantastic “Miss Victory Violet” and her really nice husband Matt join us at our table. I have been following her blog for some time as she has the most amazing wardrobe and so it was wonderful to finally meet her in person. They are from New Zealand and are currently doing a whirlwind tour all over various countries.

Frankie's Tiki Room with Miss Victory Violet -Tiki Bar / Tiki Style / Pinup Style — The Vintage Inn meets Miss Victory Violet

One last Frankie Photo…

Frankie's Tiki Room VLV 18 2015-Tiki Style, Tiki Statue, Pinup Style. — Tiki gods are the best.

Then we jumped in a cab and ventured off to Fremont St. to see what adventures we could get into. Of course the first thing we had to do was get our picture taken at Binions with the Million Dollars (note Binions took a blurry shot of us, not my fault).

Binions las vegas million dollars picture. — So close but yet so far

Then we met some Canadian Viva attendees while wandering. My husband joined their Black Shirt Gang 🙂

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. group of attendees. — Canadian’s only wear black shirts. True Story.

Zoltar! My friend Liisa needed to get her fortune told by this ancient and supposedly wise man.

Zoltar Fremont St. Las Vegas — What is that you say Zoltar?

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Viva las Vegas rockabilly weekender — What does the ancient card say?

I think her fortune told her that she would find the strangest but yet pretty darn good chips seen below.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. — Herri’s brand can do no wrong.

Fremont is so bright and pretty and a bit gawdy but I like it that way.

Anyone for $0.99 Deep Fried Twinkie? Or Oreo?

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Glitter Gulch famous sign.

Let the Lightshow Begin! This is always cool and I never get bored of seeing it.

One of the things I really like about Fremont St. is how there are lots of cool vintage neon signs all over the strip. Here are some of them.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Vintage Signs. Giant Martini Glass

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. East District signs.

Can’t stand this beer, but I LOVE the sign (The Beer of Rockabilly weekenders everywhere).

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Pabst blue ribbon neon sign.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. giant palm tree with dice neon sign. — Kassandra and the Giant Palm Tree coming to a theatre near you

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. giant flamingo neon sign. — I Love Flamingos!

And then the night was done with one final picture.

VLV 18 2015 Fremont St. Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly weekender group of attendees.

Have you ever been to Vegas, Fremont St. or Frankie’s? Or maybe all of them. If so tell me your favorite parts!

Further Reading:

Liz 🙂

This is the final post on my recent trip to Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend #17. You can see Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday by clicking on the day.

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Sunday is normally the big “Pool Party” day but as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I was not going to be able to attend Sunday’s party due to wanting to support and dance to a favorite Toronto band “The Millwinders” who were playing at 1:00pm.

But before we could dance till we dropped we needed fuel and that meant Easter Brunch with my friends and my family. I made sure to wear something very Easter like for the day.

Viva Las Vegas 17 — Vintage 1940s dress purchased on Etsy. New Saddle Shoes from Etsy. Purse from Dungaree Dolly’s Bags and Purses

At Brunch my mom spoiled my friends and I with TONS of chocolate & candy to keep us fueled I think for the next year. Thanks MOM! Thank goodness I was going to be dancing later lol!

Easter Brunch at Viva Las Vegas 17 — mmmm Easter goodies

Now it’s Millwinders time!

The put on such a good show (as usual), and I was so impressed with the amazing turnout too! Sometimes this time slot can be tricky because so many people want to hit up the pool party but I really felt that people really came out and showed their support this time. Thanks!!

Once the performance was done, we tried to gather as many of the “Canadians” that were at the show for a group picture (Thanks Jerry for the photo).

I think we clean up nicely, if I do say so myself.

Millwinders done…now it’s shopping time! I tend to wait till Sunday to go shopping because I’m not a huge fan of fighting people for space to see items on racks so I wait. Hey if I did not see it, I cannot miss it is my personal theory when shopping at Viva. I have gotten lucky every year with finding something and this year was no different.

I purchased the following items (with images NOT taken at Viva):

This mint condition late 1940s dress. I was in love with the yellow accents.

late 1940s vintage dress — Photo Credit: Tai Heng

A Mode Merr skirt. The fabric is vintage, made into a new skirt and the back the button is a heart.

This is my third skirt from Mode Merr, and it will not be my last. I 100% recommend their clothes and the owner is just a doll as well.

Vintage Scarf for my hair. Sorry for the blurry iPhone pic but this is the only image I have of my vintage scarf in action. I love the checkered pattern…a lot.

Now that I spent all my money, we then chilled till it was time for the Jive Contest in the Main Ballroom. I love the Jive Contest because I love dancing and I love seeing all the fantastic skirts whirl around on the dance floor.

Everyone did an amazing job and I had a couple of favorites which I will keep to myself (because they did not get in to the finals) but overall I was uber impressed.

Once we finished it was time to change and get ready for the final evening at Viva..NOOO!!!! I was really excited for this evening though because I was going to get to see not 1 and not 2 but 4 Rockabilly Sun Records legends on the stage at one time. Sonny Burgess, Carl Mann, Hayden Thompson, Narvel Felts.

But before that big number I was treated to a band earlier in the evening that I had never heard of before but boy was I glad I did because they were fantastic!

Rumble King

After I calmed down from dancing to such a great band it was time to settle in for the big Sun Records show which ended up being the highlight of my whole weekend. Especially when all of them got up on stage to sing together, which I’m pretty sure I will never see again.

And that my friends is a wrap for Viva Las Vegas 17. I hope you enjoyed my posts on the weekend and hopefully I will see you at next years Viva 18.

Liz 🙂

Tag: Las Vegas

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