LAS VEGAS – Why settle for a run-of-the-mill cocktail party when you can treat business clients and guests to something as memorable a full-scale rock concert?
That’s what Hendon Properties founder Charlie Hendon started doing in 1996. At that point, his company, a full-service development, brokerage and management organization specializing in shopping center real estate management, was a little more than a decade old, and Hendon was looking to make his mark during the annual convention staged in Las Vegas by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
The strategy worked. Since the company staged its first Hendon Rocks! Concert at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (now operating as The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas), both Hendon Properties and their annual concert have become more widely known among ICSC attendees.
Hendon, a music-lover, got the whole thing started by inviting some friends in an Atlanta-based cover band, Band X, to Las Vegas to perform at the first concert party in 1996, which was attended by about a hundred guests. Since then, Charlie brought Band X back each year, and then started having celebrity artists play at the concerts, including Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Paul Rodgers (Bad Company), Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and Don Felder (The Eagles), to name a few.
“Over the years, the party grew and grew, and was a big part of getting the company’s name out into the industry,” notes Charlie Hendon’s son, Tanner Hendon, who works as a development associate for Hendon Properties. “About a decade later, the party has become the hot ticket to get at ICSC, and it is the talk of the convention each year.” An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Tanner Hendon has performed extensively on both the live stage and in the recording studio with a variety of acts including Night Ranger, Like Machines and Paul Rodgers (Bad Company). He also plays a key role at Madison Records, the Hendons’ recording studio in Atlanta and, with Wyatt Oates, is the other half of producing duo MadRex Productions.
Typically, Band X, led by David Cole, serves as the “house” band, bringing the various guest artists to the stage. The musical guests at this year’s event included rocker Ted Nugent (guitar and vocals), drummer Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses), bassists Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and Carmine Rojas (who recorded and toured with David Bowie and others), guitarist Keri Kelli (Night Ranger, Alice Cooper, Slash). vocalist Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) and Bella Electric Strings.
These high-profile events have been hosted by the likes of Holly Madison, Carmen Electra, and Jenny McCarthy, were held at various casinos around Las Vegas including The Palms, Green Valley Ranch and The Cosmopolitan as well as Hard Rock, typically entertaining more than 2,500 guests. The biggest party, in 2010 at Green Valley Ranch, had about 6,500 guests and was featured on The History Channel’s show, American Casino.
This year’s concert, staged at The Chelsea, a 3,200-capacity showroom at The Cosmopolitan, was held on May 22. It was Hendon Properties’ 19th Hendon Rocks! event, and the first to be held since 2017 due to Covid and schedule changes in the ICSC convention. Both Hendon Properties and the guests were happy to see the concert return after a six-year hiatus, and the company is looking forward to many more rocking events to come.
Along with Band X, Las Vegas-based New World Audio has been supporting these corporate concert events with audio and backline gear for close to 20 years. Headed up by Sonny Maupin, who served as production manager and FOH engineer, the crew included monitor engineer Mark Swift and stage and backline techs Stevie McMahon, Craig Tanaka and Jim Moran with Band X’s own FOH engineer, David Hobbs, also on hand to support the show.
For 2023’s May 22 event, New World Audio provided gear to supplement The Chelsea’s d&b audiotechnik J-Series house audio system. The installed system includes (28) J-12, (16) J-SUB and (16) B2 SUB elements, complemented by (8) Q10 for front-fills, (6) Q1 balcony delays, (10) E6 under-balcony fills and (2) E12 upper box fills.
At FOH, New World Audio provided a Digidesign (Avid) Venue Profile mixrack system and Motion Labs power distro setup with another Venue Profile console at monitors. Also for monitors, New World Audio provided a monitor speaker setup that included (16) d&b M4s, (2) D12 6-mix amp racks, (2) Meyer Sound MSL-4 (sidefills) and (4) Meyer 700HP subs (2 for sidefills, 2 as drum subs.
Along with a Radial 3-way splitter system and JDI direct boxes, New World Audio also provided a Shure PSM1000 IEM system (for six users) paired with (6) Shure Axient SM58 handheld wireless mics. New World Audio also provided a full array of backline gear and an instrument mic package that included Shure, AKG, Audix and Sennheiser components including Shure Beta 91 (for drums), KSM137 and SM57 and Sennheiser e 904 drum mics and e 609 for guitars.
The performances were recorded with RML Labs’ S.A.W. digital recording setup. The Kings of Chaos set list included Rock In America, Don’t Tell Me You Love Me, Sister Christian, Highway To Hell, Hello – Surrender, I Want You To Want Me, Dream Police, California Man, Last Time And Street Fighting Man. Ted Nugent’s five-song set list, meanwhile, started off and finished with two classics: the U.S. National Anthem and Cat Scratch Fever.
