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Great performances fill Samala Showroom

By Richard Gomez/Commentary

Whenever I visit various locations around the region, I am always approached by people who are amazed at the quality of performers who play in our Samala Showroom at the Chumash Casino Resort.

Many people still remember the days when we brought performers to our makeshift theater in the bingo pavilion back in the day. Things haven’t been the same since we finished our casino consolidation construction project in 2004 with the completion of our hotel and brought in Fleetwood Mac for the grand opening.

From that moment on, the legendary rockers put us on the entertainment map. Today avid concert-goers as well as top entertainers consider the Chumash Casino Resort the top entertainment venue in the region. In our showroom we have featured celebrated singers like Tony Bennett, Tom Jones and Carole King and top-notch comedians such as George Lopez, Larry the Cable Guy and Chris Rock, who test-drove his HBO special on our audience, much to our (and our audience’s) delight.

Our continual line-up of key country western artists — LeAnn Rimes, Brooks & Dunn, Toby Keith, to name a few — earned us a 2009 nomination for “Casino of the Year” by the Academy of Country Music. We were only one of five casinos in the nation to receive the prestigious nomination.

We also play to the Hispanic portion of our guests by bringing in such Hispanic artists as Pepe Aguilar, Poncho Sanchez and Carlos Mencia. I’ll never forget the frenzy of women — young and old — who rushed the stage and screamed throughout the entire performance of Hispanic heartthrob Juanes. I can still hear the ringing in my ears. It was a great performance and we brought joy that night to a packed showroom.

Our state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, coupled with the intimate setting of our showroom, make our Samala Showroom a favorite entertainment venue among even the most discerning concert aficionados. There’s not a bad seat in the house. I often give away my front row seats and opt for the bleacher seats where I can get a bird’s eye perspective on the whole showroom and watch close ups of the performers on the giant screens at the front of the house.

Concert nights at the Chumash Casino Resort are a great time to catch up with old friends and make new ones. My wife and I often grab appetizers up at The Willows before the concert and go back up after the concert for a late dinner. On concert nights The Willows is always packed with guests still beaming with excitement over the performance they just experienced.

The list of performers coming up in the next few months reads like a Who’s Who of Legends. This month we have Johnny Mathis, Ron White and the B-52s. Next month there’s Boyz II Men, Mariachi Vargas, the O’Jays and Earth Wind and Fire.

If you haven’t visited the Samala Showroom recently, make sure you stop by in the next few months to catch a great performance. I know you won’t be disappointed.

Richard Gomez is vice chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.