In November 2016, just before Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer was setting out on his annual solo Christmas Rocks! Tour, he dropped the news that he and fellow Stray Cats “Slim Jim” Phantom and Lee Rocker had been toying with the idea of a reunion.
It has been a decade since the influential rockabilly trio performed together, one of its final stops being a sold-out show at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on July 22, 2008. Now it looks like the Stray Cats will strut once again and will headline Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend on Saturday, April 21, at The Orleans Hotel (4500 W. Tropicana Ave.) in Las Vegas.
The show will take place Thursday, April 19-Sunday, April 22 and also feature sets by the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis, Duane Eddy, Carl Mann, The Eldorados and more. There will be eight different burlesque shows, a car show, vintage fashion show, pin-up contests, jiving lessons and classes, pool parties and more. Four day passes start at $150 at VivaLasVegas.net.
The Stray Cats, known for hits such as “Stray Cat Strut,” “(She’s) Sexy + 17” and “Rock This Town,” formed in New York in 1978. The group has had numerous periods of inactivity as each member has worked on solo projects. Now that a decade has passed since its last performance, Setzer, who jokingly said he’d want to get the group back together before he lost his pompadour, also said that he missed playing with the Stray Cats guys.
“I miss it,” he said during an interview in November 2016. “Especially now, I mean let’s face it, we’re not kids anymore. We’re getting older and when we talk about the stuff that we did and that feeling we had of taking over the world, as silly as that sounds now, it really takes us back and now I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, we’re still here!’ We’re still here and we can play our asses off, so, let’s play!”
Rocker, who is a longtime Laguna Beach resident and has enjoyed his own solo success, said via a press release put out on Tuesday, “Just a string bass, a guitar and a drum, Stray Cats are back to show ’em how it’s done. 39 Years after our first gigs, we’re back! Can’t wait to rock again with my brothers Brian and Slim.”
Obviously this reunion opens the door for more shows and possibly even a summer tour, though no further details have yet to be announced.