When I arrived at the Showroom of The Suncoast Hotel Sunday night for the Gino Vannelli show I saw a lot of familiar faces. A lot of musician familiar faces.

I recognized Joey Melotti out front before the show. I had met him at The Stirling Club over a year ago. Joey is the keyboard player with the Barry Manilow Show at The Las Vegas Hilton. Joey introduced me to Celine Dion's keyboard player who also was waiting to see Gino Vannelli. Joey told me Gino and his brother, Ross came by to see them after their show Saturday and hung out with Barry and the guys in the greenroom backstage at The Hilton.

My friend Blaise Sisson, of the Family Stone Band met me for the show. As we walked in we saw more musician friends, drummer Gary Olds, keyboardist Billy Moran from The Stratosphere "Top of the World Lounge" and wife Sherry.

Singer/Keyboardist Nicholas Cole who appears at Caesars Palace and his wife Danielle were sitting at the front of the stage. This obviously was a crowd full of entertainers. Many took off from their gigs to see this legendary performer who has been seen way too little for way too long.

The crowd went wild as Gino entered as the band started playing. I couldn't believe my eyes. He looked like he had not aged since I saw him in Houston, Texas thirty years ago. The energy on stage and in the audience was exciting as Gino moved and danced as he sang his hits.

He sounded as good as he did thirty years ago.

He performed most of his big hits such as "I JUST WANNA STOP", "APPALOOSA" and "BROTHER TO BROTHER" as well as a hot new song "VENUS" which is in the vein of the 1970's hits.

He talked to the crowd between songs about things that inspired certain songs and what he had been doing over the past twenty eight years that he has been in and out of the public eye. He even mentioned a stint in a Monastery, a spiritual retreat?

The band was incredible and I learned that three of the four were from Portland, Oregon. Randy Porter on keyboards, Reinhardt Melz on drums and Sandin Wilson on bass. The guitarist looked familiar and when Gino introduced Allen Hinds, I recognized him from Los Angeles. I had met Allen at my favorite jazz club, La Ve Lee in Studio City. Allen was performing there with his Jazz Fusion band.

I did not want the one and a half hour show to end and neither did the rest of the audience. I think this crowd could have stayed all night. It was definitely a musician's dream concert in this small intimate five hundred seat theater with excellent acoustics.

Gino Vannelli's music still sounds great today and will still sound great in twenty years because his music was progressive and definitely ahead of it's time when most of it was recorded in the 1970's. That's why my headline reads "Flashback to the Future".

Gino along with his producer brother Joe were some of the first to use synthesizers in popular music layering the individual sounds to create an orchestral effect. Gino initially played drums when he was in his teens and this is why the drums are so prevalent and propelling in his music.

After the show I ran in to a long time musician friend I had not seen in years who always reminded me of Gino Vannelli because he was Italian born in Italy not Montreal as Gino but with that same european style and manner. That was Nino Angelastro who had a band appropriately named, Angel Star. When I used to come to Las Vegas in the middle 1980's while still living in Houston, Texas I would go to see Nino perform and he would ask me sit in on the drums while he moved up front on stage with his guitar to sing Gino Vannelli tunes as well as others. That's why after the show he told me that he probably had sung Gino Vannelli more times than Gino Vannelli. He is probably right since Gino took a 28 year hiatus. Nino's wife, Kathy Shriner, former lead dancer from the Jubilee Show at Bally's was with him at the concert. It was great to see them both.

After the show we spent some time with keyboardist, Randy Porter and bassist Sandin Wilson. The Gino Vannelli tour continued this week in Cape Town South Africa. I received an e-mail from Sandin, while in route, saying how much they enjoyed performing in Las Vegas and looked forward to coming back and checking out the local "Music Seen" and especially "Santa Fe and The Fat City Horns". He had already heard about them before Blaise and I asked him if they were going to still be in town on Monday night.

I asked Sandin to tell Gino to please not stay away so long this time or his fans will be going through some serious withdrawals if we don't get to experience that natural high and memories that his timeless music brings to his audiences.

"My music appeals to people who are progressive, who value the music, and who will put up with someone who's self centered", he told the Chicago Tribune in 1975.

"My audience comprises of people who like to be dared to dig it" .

Gino, we dig it !!!

P.S. Rumor has it that Gino Vannelli will be back this year in a larger venue for an extended engagement.