Fantastic!
Jay Quigley, Las Vegas Show Promoter...
" This band right here is fantastic. I’ve seen these guys a couple of times before and they’ve always managed to blow me away. Pure excitement! "
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Ben Ohmart, Muse's Muse.com
I haven't heard anything this distinctive since I first plugged in Bowie...
" I don't know if this is a typical sound for that part of the world, but in This part of the world, they will capture lots of fans with dance tunes like this. "
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Top Ten
Richard Hughes, Long Island Entertainment Paper...
" Let's start by saying clearly that this CD was arguably one of the Top Ten CD's of the year. This is quite an accomplishment for any band, much less a local band with no national distribution. "
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Well Worth the Money!
Pop! Entertainment Magazine...
" I would pay twice as much for it.....AND...stand in line for half an hour...Their melodies are catchy, too, which a lot of the stuff out there can't claim to be. I guarantee you'll find yourself singing their choruses in the shower. Snap Pop! " (Sterling, PA)
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Fun, Hypnotic, and Very Entertaining!
Geoff Wilbur, Renegade Newsletter...
" Neon Venus performs a fun, hypnotic, entertaining brand of danceable pop/rock on The Birth of Neon Venus. Neon Venus performs "happy sounding music" at the highest level with an identifiable sound that fits a timeless musical niche. " -Renegade Newsletter
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Open Vegas Website
Openvegas.com predicts big things for Neon Venus...
" The good music for the launch party was provided by Neon Venus, a rock/alternative/ dance/Latin ensemble made up of lead vocalist Lissette Napoleoni and Peter Valentino. Gene Balmain, host of Las Vegas Internet Television and OpenVegas.com co-founder, raves about this band and predicts big things for Neon Venus. Keep your eyes and ears open. You will be seeing and hearing a lot more about Neon Venus. " -Claire-Voyant (OpenVegas.com)
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Lisa Walz- booker - Gold Mine Tavern - Las Vegas
" The pleasure of having Neon Venus perform was all mine. The show was rocking. Thank you for the show. Once the outdoor stage is built for the Gold Mine, I would love to have you back for a show. I will keep you updated on that. If you have any shows coming up, please let me know so I am able to list them on Stardust Fallout. I would love to help spread the word about your incredible band. "
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Woww!!
Indie-Music.com
" Wow! Wow, is the first word one will say when listening to the recently released CD, The Birth of Neon Venus, by the band, Neon Venus. Neon Venus claims to be from another planet...and I believe them. Just listening to the opening song, Aliens,you're mesmerized by the glowing power of Neon Venus! Their snappy, caffeinated tunes from outer space will have you dancing from one planet to another and leaves you wanting more. But don’t worry, you won’t need a spaceship for this musical journey, for the music of Neon Venus will take you there. "
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AMAZON
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bargain of the Year for the Advertised Price!!, February 8, 2011
This review is from: Irresistible (Audio CD)
" This album is wall to wall enjoyment! Think Blondie meets The Cramps with some Latin seasoning added. This double compilation contains one irresistable song after another. Most very danceable, fronted by the sultry singing of Lissette Napoleoni. I managed to see their act (still going strong in 2011!) and it's an eye-popping, jaw-dropping show. "
NOW. Over 30 songs, listed under $2.00. New! It'll be the best bargain you ever got on Amazon.
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Thank you from the United States Armed Forces
USAF, United States Armed Forces Entertainment Office...
" On behalf of the Armed Forces Entertainment Office, I'd like to extend our sincere appreciation for the outstanding entertainment you provided for our troops during your mediterranean tour. The accolades recieved by the host installations in Turkey, Italyu, spain, Egypt and Sinai, cinfirms your commitment and dedication to ensuring the success of our mission "taking hundreds of troops over seas. Without doubt, the hundreds of troops and family members greatly enjoyed and appreciated the shows. We look forward to future opportunities for you to support our troops. Thanks again for a job well done! " -Janice G. Long Colonel
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Neon of a Different Kind
Las Vegas Weekly
Neon Venus Arts Theatre’s Valentino (left) and Napoleoni reflect on the state of Las Vegas’ arts scene.
" It started as a band’s rehearsal space. Well, technically it started as a laundromat, but when Peter Valentino and Lissette Napoleoni, the duo behind the alternative Latin-rock band Neon Venus, signed a lease at 1404 S. Third St., at the south end of the arts district, the idea was to change the space into a venue for multiple artists to use and grow from. Drawing on Valentino’s work as a vocal coach and acting teacher, the two decided to combine the band space with a theater.
“Then we were like, ‘Oh, if we’re gonna combine it with theater, let’s open it up to other visual arts,’” says Napoleoni, who has worked as a photographer and documentary filmmaker. “‘So let’s do some photography, and we’re in the arts district, so let’s bring art to the walls.’ And we were looking for a name, [so] we figured we’ll put the name of our band and theater and art, because it’s a combination of different arts.”
They cleaned the space and built the stage, and the Neon Venus Art Theatre was born.
Valentino immediately began offering acting classes and reaching out to the local artistic community. But because both Valentino and Napoleoni share a very DIY, punk aesthetic, the emphasis has always been on actualizing your own art—going out and doing, not waiting to be discovered. The classes quickly turned into full-length productions for students to direct and act in. Neon Venus recently presented a production of Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, directed by Valentino and starring students from the classes. “We want to have our students do productions, and then also we’re pulling from the general public for certain auditions, too,” Valentino explains.
MoreFrom the Archives
At the Neon Venus, art is life and life is a party (4/10/09)
Beyond the Weekly
Neon Venus Art Theatre “Nothing compares to the realistic practice of actually doing something live,” Napoleoni adds. “Otherwise ... you’re studying, you’re studying, you’re studying, but you never get anywhere.”
Kids’ classes and productions were another natural outgrowth. Neon Venus Art Theatre started offering classes in several arts disciplines for kids—part of the nonprofit arm—and two teachers, Emily Donn and Dany Meyer, began heading up kids’ productions. The Theatre offers a full schedule of kids’ camps and classes throughout the summer. “We had 18 kids in our production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” says Valentino, a little proudly.
Valentino and Napoleoni are trying to leverage the synergy—they’d never use the word—among Downtown arts groups to create a scene that reaches across disciplines and empowers artists to get their work done by doing it themselves. Atlas Theatre’s Feed the Monkey, a performer-written show, takes place at Neon Venus the last Saturday of every month, and Valentino is exploring a possible partnership with Asylum Theatre to help that company relaunch as a haven for writers of new work.
“We’re engendering writers,” says Valentino, "but it’s more than that. Neon Venus pushes local artists to take the reins of their creativity and produce their work. Through their space, classes and partnerships with established artists, Valentino and Napoleoni are trying to create a fertile performance- and art-based scene.
“Our ultimate vision is to aggrandize the arts district and the arts so that it gets on the map,” Valentino says, leaning in to be heard over auditions that have just begun onstage, “So that all the tourists coming here will say, ‘Oh there’s also this arts thing happening here that Las Vegas is known for.’
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At the Neon Venus, Art Is Life and Life is A Party
Las Vegas Weekly
" On May Day as the sun starts to set, between 50 and 200 people painted in vibrant colors will freeze in expressive poses, creating a living sculpture garden alongside the Strip. "
“We’re trying to bring people together to make a splashy thing,” says Peter Valentino, who co-owns Neon Venus Theater with his wife, Lissette Napoleoni. Valentino and Napoleoni are organizing the human sculpture experiment, which will take place in the small park adjacent to the theatre where Las Vegas Boulevard and 4th Street intersect. “We’re working towards having tourists become more aware of the Arts District and First Friday. We want them to think of the Arts District as another Las Vegas attraction.”
Valentino sees the potential for Vegas to be more like Rome or Paris, where the main tourist destinations include art galleries and museums as well as dining and shopping. But in Las Vegas arts offerings have to compete with the siren calls of clanking slots, glittering neon, the drama of Rehab and Le Reve and T&A lining the Boulevard.
The multitalented couple is taking on the challenge. At every First Friday arts festival in 2009 they are staging elaborate, multifaceted live art installations that incorporate theater, fashion and music and invite everyone to join in the celebration of aesthetics and humanism.
This past First Friday on April 3rd, renowned costume designer Kit Rogers—known for artistic window displays of live mannequins—dressed models in innovative couture, styling their hair and makeup on stage, so they could strut down the runway to the beats of a live drum circle and a couple of guitarists. The fashion was followed by contortion acts and improv comedy.
“We consider fashion to be a part of the arts, because we’re more holistic,” says Valentino. “What is art? It is creative and it is artistic.”
Neon Venus Theater will soon offer fashion photography classes for children and adults, teaching hair and makeup styling and costume design, and the theater already offers acting, singing, voice classes and painting classes, taught by Valentino and others. It’s also home to a children’s theater program, which recently debuted The Chronicles of Narnia and will soon feature a cast of 22 in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
“We’re constantly trying to do things that bring more attention to the arts and to get the kids to be part of it,” says Valentino.
June’s First Friday will revolve around dance, but next month’s, which falls on May 1, will be Valentino’s largest yet. A culmination of weeks of preparation involving around 200 people, he promises it will be “very springy, very extravagant.”
MoreNeon Venus
Free Hugs Campaign
If you would like to be a model, stylist, percussionist or participant in the live sculpture garden, contact Peter Valentino at 702-787-2481A recruiter for the arts, Valentino wants you. He is spending the next few weeks “getting in league with as many people as possible,” and loves fresh faces who are interested in being models, percussionists or who just want to get dressed up and get out on the street to be a part of the live sculpture garden.
Friday afternoon will be spent getting into costume, then everyone will move to the outdoor park where at promptly 7 p.m. they will freeze in position as photographers, videographers and painters capture the moment in all its audacious splendor. A drum circle will lend rhythm to the display, which will all be over by 7:30 p.m., coinciding with sunset.
“We’re trying to make a lively thing for people on the Strip,” Valentino explains, “To get as many people out there as we can in a short period of time to create a traffic-stopping, attention-getting thing.”
The living sculpture garden is also a tribute to Mayor Oscar Goodman to thank him for his support of the arts. Valentino and Napoleani proposed a permanent sculpture garden to Goodman and he put them in touch with people who could make it happen. Says Valentino, “It’s a demonstration of love more than anything of an anti-thing.”
"Desert Rose" by Breanna Curry, on display at the Neon Venus Art Gallery.
Napoleani is also directing and filming a documentary with the working title Making Art in Sin City, which will be filmed over the course of the year and will capture all 12 First Friday live art installations. If they receive the required funding, Napoleani hopes to make it into a feature film.
“The main thing is to follow people and how they develop and how they evolve due to the influence of the [Neon Venus] Theatre, which is also a gallery,” Valentino explains. “We’ll be following people for a year and following their progress and how they’re making an impact. We will show the changes that take place in the Arts District, the changes people have gone through and what we’re trying to create.”
Despite the fact that similar ventures have died young, Valentino and Napeoleoni entertain grand visions. They are currently working on obtaining a 5013c permit, which would grant the operation non-profit status. With financial assistance from grants, they would like to renovate the theater for increased capacity and institute art exhibits and film festivals.
Valentino would also like to turn a couple spaces around town into all-ages entertainment venues. “All-ages venues get shot down really fast because of drugs,” says Valentino. “We’re looking for something that’s more clean and educational.”
"Lasso of Truth" by Breanna Curry, on display at the Neon Venus Art Gallery.
After the live sculpture garden and drum circle at 8:30 p.m. on May 1, the theater will perform a teaser scene of its first adult production, The Shape of Things, directed by Valentino, originally a Broadway play that was made into a movie. Tickets are free, but $1 donation is requested. Later, live bands will come on, including Rubicks Hotel and Neon Venus. Valentino plays guitar in the latter and his wife is the singer; the band has produced three CDs and has appeared on MTV.
Late-night comedy extravaganza Feed the Monkey, now a resident at the Neon Venus, will participate in the installation, the Neon Venus sketch group the Sketchofrenics will perform and Free Hugs Campaigners will be there giving out free hugs.
During the evening’s events the Neon Venus gallery will also be open, showcasing paintings by local artists as well as photographs of the fashion shows and live art from past First Fridays.
“It’s like being in a cave filled with cave paintings or a church, with art all around you,” explains Valentino. “You have all this beauty around you and it takes you into a different way of looking at things.
“When you come in here you know you are in some place different. We view art in the way of Joseph Campbell: We want to have a mythological space. When you come in here it connects you to the arts and the unconscious.”
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