Parting shot from Palms, re: Bodden

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 1st, 2006

Not much new in the Sept 1 article by John Katsilometes, writing for the Vegas Sun, in which he describes Alonzo Bodden’s recent travails at the Palms and excerpts Bodden’s MySpace posting.

Katsilometes ran it all by Palms spokesman Larry Fink…

…who said, “We received numerous complaints from Mr. Bodden’s fans, who were unimpressed by his performance.”

Classy, or what? Of all the players in this drama, you’d think that the Palms might be the ones that play it off as nothing huge. Bodden trashed the owner and the owner’s hobby, sure, but they’re a giant company– the destination of choice for the MTV generation has 455 rooms and 95,000 square feet of casino floorspace. Bodden has his reputation. Why would their “spokesman” choose to go this route? It demeans the Palms and it was calculated to hurt Bodden. It doesn’t make any sense.

What has happened to Las Vegas? Where is the old Vegas? Bodden may not be Buddy Hackett or Frank Sinatra, but he is Alonzo Bodden (Last Comic Standing? National Broadcasting Company? Primetime television?) and he was invited to perform at the Palms. Upon his arrival, he was treated like a day-tripper who had blown into town in a dusty ’78 pickup from San Berdoo.