Kenny Opened For Steve Martin

In May of 1978 we finally got to play the main room at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe. Bill Harrah, like Steve Wynn, ran a class act hotel. An ordinary room at Harrah's had two bathrooms in every room and a TV in every bathroom. Imagine what the suites were like, not to mention the view of the lake and the fresh air. They were all second to none. The first time we played the main room, Kenny (Rogers) was the opening act for Steve Martin, who was still doing stand-up in those days. As anyone who's ever seen Kenny's show knows, he gives out a handful of autographed tambourines during the first song of every show and asks the recipients of his gifts to play along. No one thought to explain this to Steve Martin. The people with the tambourines couldn't keep them quiet during his monologue, and this distracted him too much to continue. But he was able to come up with a solution. He jumped off the stage, ran through the audience, threw open the doors to the showroom, and ran through the casino screaming, "They're playing tambourines. They're playing tambourines, drain the lake!" -- Garth Shaw