Celebrate Mom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget

Sparks/Reno, Nev. – John Ascuaga’s Nugget is the place to bring the special women in your life to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 9. The Nugget’s award-winning chefs have created special menus to be served in the Rotisserie, the Rose Ballroom, Restaurante Orozko, The Steakhouse Grill, Trader Dick’s and Rosie’s Café.

A special Mother’s Day brunch will be served in the Rose Ballroom and in the Rotisserie. The appetizer station will include Peel and Eat Shrimp, Seafood Salad, Smoked Fish, Nugget Caesar Salad and Fresh Strawberries. Feast on Eggs Benedict, Biscuits and Country Gravy, Grilled Salmon and Nugget’s Fried Chicken. At the Carving Station, create your own omelet or waffle, or enjoy the Nugget’s famous Salt-Roasted Prime Rib, honey-baked ham or roast turkey. For dessert, choose from an assortment of fresh-made cakes, pies, pastries and mousses. The Rotisserie serves brunch from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Rose Ballroom serves brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Adults are $21.95 and children 5-11 are $11.95.

Restaurante Orozko will serve a champagne brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to appetizers, a Fresh Fruit and Pastry Station will offer Berries with Whipped Cream, Seasonal Fresh Fruit and Melons, Brioche, Coffee Cakes and an Imported and Domestic Cheese Board. The Entrée Station will include Grilled Lamb Chops, Chicken Scallopine with Lemon Caper Butter, Filet Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce, and Old Fashioned Blintzes, plus a carving station and waffle station. Desserts will feature Strawberry Shortcake, Cobbler, Strawberry Ice Wine Shots and Amoretti Kisses. Adults are $29.95 and children 5-11 are $16.95.

The Steakhouse Grill will serve a special menu from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The menu will include a choice of soup or salad and dessert, plus choice of Tender Provimi Veal Medallions with King Crab Legs, Wild Mushroom and Sauce Béarnaise, or Petite Filet Mignon and Butter Poached Lobster Medallions with Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms and Celeriac Potato, or Seafood Mix Grill featuring Filet of Halibut with Dungeness Crab Mousseline, Diver Scallop in a warm Lemon Cream and Coriander Seared Salmon Filet with Papaya Beurre Blanc. Adults are $49, with mothers only just $29.

Trader Dick’s Restaurant will serve a special menu from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The menu will include a choice of soup or salad and dessert, plus choice of either Charbroiled Filet Mignon Served with Marinated Prawns, Fried then Tossed in a Creamy Honey Dressing or the Polynesian Duet - Petite New York Steak, Topped with Mango Pineapple Salsa and Fresh Poached Halibut on a Bed of Pan Roasted Garlic, Fresh Ginger, Green Onions and Tonkatsu Sauce. Price is just $29.95.

In addition to the regular Sunday night King Crab and Prime Rib Buffet at the Rotisserie, special dinner items will be added in honor of Mother’s Day. Entrees will include Roast Turkey, Fresh Alaska Halibut Filets with Citrus Beurre Blanc, San Francisco Style Cioppino and King Crab Lasagna. Enjoy special desserts such as Bananas Foster. Dinner will be served from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Adults are $21.95 and children 5-11 are $10.95.

A special Mother’s Day menu will be offered at Rosie’s Café in addition to the regular menu from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The menu will include a choice of soup or salad and dessert, plus either Fresh Alaska Halibut stuffed with Crab Meat, topped with Chardonnay Basil Cream Sauce or Broiled Pork Chops with Apple Stuffing and Frangelico Cream Sauce. Adults are $12.95 and children 5-11 are $7.95.

John Ascuaga’s Nugget is a premier casino resort owned and operated by the Ascuaga family in Sparks, Nevada. For more information, call 800-648-1177 or visit janugget.com.

Enjoy An Evening with Nanci Griffith at John Ascuaga’s Nugget

Sparks/Reno, Nev. – Straddling the line between folk and country music, Nanci Griffith has become as well-known for her brilliant confessional songwriting as her beautiful voice. Catch Griffith on Friday, April 30, in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
A self-styled "folkabilly" singer, Griffith got an early start on her path to performing and songwriting. At the age of 6 she began to write songs, thinking of it as “part of the process of learning how to play guitar.” While she doesn’t remember many of her earliest songs, she does recall that “the first original song my mother commented on … was a song about Timothy Leary.” Then at the age of 14, when a campfire turn at the Kerrville Folk Festival caught the ear of singer-songwriter Tom Russell, she was on her way. Having recorded 18 albums and performed concerts all over the world, it’s safe to say that she’s never looked back.
The Loving Kind, her latest release, finds Griffith at the top of her game as a songwriter, interpreter, and singer. Featuring nine songs written by Griffith and her collaborators, and four well-chosen covers, the album takes its place alongside the consistently acclaimed work of this Grammy Award-winning, genre-defying artist.
Nanci Griffith plays one night, Friday, April 30, at 8 p.m. in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Tickets are $30, and are available by calling (800) 648-1177 or 775) 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com. Dinner and room packages are available. “Do the Nugget Tonight!”

Echo and the Bunnymen Perform on One Special Sunday Night at John Ascuaga’s Nugget

Sparks/Reno, Nev. – The standard-bearers of Liverpool's neo-psychedelic movement, Echo and the Bunnymen's moody, atmospheric music combines punk's energy and edge with the Doors' poetic theatricality. In the midst of playing a major-venue tour, see EATB play one special night, Sunday, April 18, in the intimate 700-seat Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
With a plethora of commercial success, the Bunnymen grew out of a late-'70s trio featuring vocalist Ian McCulloch, Pete Wylie, and Julian Cope. Cope and Wylie left the group by the end of 1977, before McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in the summer of 1978. The pair began recording demos with a drum machine that the duo called "Echo." Adding bassist Les Pattinson, the band made its live debut at the Liverpool club Eric's at the end of 1978, calling itself Echo & the Bunnymen.
In March of 1979, the group released its first single, "Pictures on My Wall"/"Read It in Books.” The single and their popular live performances led to a contract with Korova. After signing the contract, the group discarded the drum machine, adding drummer Pete de Freitas. Released in the summer of 1980, their debut album, Crocodiles, reached number 17 on the U.K. charts. Shine So Hard, an EP released in the fall, became their first record to crack the U.K. Top 40. With the more ambitious and atmospheric Heaven Up Here (1981), the group began to gain momentum, thanks to positive reviews; it became their first U.K. Top Ten album. Two years later, Porcupine appeared, becoming the band's biggest hit (peaking at number two on the U.K. charts) and launching the Top Ten single "The Cutter."
"The Killing Moon" became the group's second Top Ten hit at the beginning of 1984, yet its follow-up, "Silver," didn't make it past number 30 when it was released in May. Ocean Rain was released that same month to great critical acclaim; peaking at number four in Britain, the record became the Bunnymen's first album to chart in the U.S. Top 100. The following year was a quiet one for the band as they released only one new song, "Bring on the Dancing Horses," which was included on the compilation Songs to Learn & Sing.
Echo & the Bunnymen returned with new material in the summer of 1987, releasing the single "The Game" and a self-titled album. Echo & the Bunnymen became their biggest American hit, peaking at number 51; it was a success in England as well, reaching number four. However, the album indicated that the group was in a musical holding pattern. At the end of 1988, McCulloch left the band to pursue a solo career; the rest of the band decided to continue without the singer. Tragedy hit the band in the summer of 1989 when de Freitas was killed in an auto accident. McCulloch released his first solo album, Candleland, in the fall of 1989; it peaked at number 18 in the U.K. and number 159 in the U.S. Echo & the Bunnymen released Reverberation, their first album recorded without McCulloch, in 1990; it failed to make the charts. McCulloch released his second solo album, Mysterio, in 1992. Two years later, McCulloch and Sergeant formed Electrafixion, releasing their first album in 1995. In 1997, the duo re-teamed with Pattinson to re-form Echo & the Bunnymen, issuing the LP Evergreen. Two years later, they returned with What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?
The new millennium brought Echo & the Bunnymen back to the basics. The British press touted the band's storybook flair found on 1983's Ocean Rain and figured such spark would be found on their ninth album, Flowers. Issued in spring 2001, it reflected McCulloch's dark breezy vocals and Sergeant's signature hooks. Live in Liverpool, a concert disc capturing the band's two gigs at Liverpool of Performing Arts while on tour in support of Flowers, followed a year later. For 2005's Siberia, McCulloch and Sergeant joined producer Hugh Jones for the band's most classic effort since their 1997 comeback. A second proper live album, 2006's Me, I'm All Smiles, captured the Bunnymen's gig at Shepherds Bush Empire while on tour in support of Siberia. In 2009, the band released their next album, The Fountain, as well as played a show at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
Prior to coming to the Nugget, the Bunnymen will be featured at the massive Coachella Festival. Much like when Morrissey played the Nugget a couple of years back, the chance to see EATB in a venue such as the Celebrity Showroom is certainly a must-attend for fans.
Echo and the Bunnymen play one night, Sunday, April 18, at 8 p.m. in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Tickets are $60, and are available by calling (800) 648-1177 or 775) 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com. Dinner and room packages are available. “Do the Nugget Tonight!”

Big Head Todd and the Monsters Rock the Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget

Sparks/Reno, Nev. – Known for their unique sound and awesome live performances, Indie rockers Big Head Todd and the Monsters play two nights, April 9-10, in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
Formed in the late 1980s, Big Head Todd consists of lead guitarist, Todd Park Mohr, drummer Brian Nevin and bassist Rob Squires. The trio started playing together while attending high school in Colorado. The group officially formed at the University of Colorado. The band launched its own independent label, Big Records, and released their first two albums, Another Mayberry (1989) and Midnight Radio (1990) to exploding local, regional and national acclaim, selling a then-unheard of 58,000 copies on their own. When Giant Records founder Irving Azoff saw them at an Aspen performance he signed them on the spot. The first Giant album Sister Sweetly (1993) was a platinum-selling smash featuring rousing rock radio hits such as "Broken Hearted Savior" and "Circle," the fan favorite "Bittersweet" and R&B-flavored "It's Alright."
The next two albums Stratagem (1994) and Beautiful World (1997) solidified the group’s ability to balance guitar rock and his penchant for soul and R&B soul. In 1998, the band released Live Monsters, which has become a fan favorite and consistent seller. In 2002 they recorded and released Riviera, their first album of original music in four years, on their own Big Records label, placing three singles in the Top 20 at AAA radio.
Next released was Crimes of Passion, considered by critics and the band as their most compelling and passionate music to date. Released in February 2004, the album featured hard guitar riffs on "Dirty Juice," gently-paced "Angela" about lovelorn heartbreak, while "Come On" pays tribute to bluesy hard rock makes it a must have for all music lovers. That was followed by Live at the Fillmore in the same year and 2007’s best-of titled From The Archives Volume 1. Then came 2008’s All The Love You Need and a 2009 live album Red Rocks.
In 2005, the group joined the throng of Internet-based music sales by releasing the single "Blue Sky" exclusively on iTunes. This single was written at the request of crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Discovery for their STS-114 Return to Flight mission in 2005, the first mission after the Columbia disaster. "Blue Sky" was written and performed as a tribute to the men and women of the American space program, from the people keeping the space shuttle flying to the astronauts doing the flying. Hillary Clinton used the same song in conjunction with her 2008 presidential campaign activities.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters play two nights, April 9-10, at 8 p.m. in the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Tickets are $40, and are available by calling (800) 648-1177 or 775) 356-3300 or by visiting janugget.com. Dinner and room packages are available. “Do the Nugget Tonight!”