Spectrum, a Motown tribute group, performed on the strip for nine out of the 13 years the group has been together. They’re just one of many Las Vegas acts that have been hit hard by a slow economy and major changes in the type of acts being booked.

 ”It appears that a lot of the lounges have closed, the lounges have been closing one by one and we’re in a period of ultra lounges and the hot clubs. The DJs are making a lot of money, and I think a lot of the entertainers are in trouble and are not working,” said Pierre Jovan, the group’s bass and baritone singer.

“We have found that a lot of our colleagues have been losing their contracts and jobs at some of the lounges. Fortunately, we are not a lounge act - we originated as a showroom act at legends in concert and American superstars and then graduated to performing a showroom act on our own in a tiny showroom at the Boardwalk,” explained Cushney ‘Cush’ Roberts, the group’s founder and a Henderson resident.

After the Boardwalk Casino was imploded to make way for City Center, Spectrum was at the height of their success. They had just been voted Las Vegas’ number one lounge act by the Review Journal for two years in a row, but they haven’t performed on the strip since then.

 ”If you want to call us a semi-showroom, semi-lounge act because we’ve had the versatility to do both in Las Vegas, then we have successfully been able to transition into competing on a national stage and that has enabled us to keep afloat in these hard times,” Roberts said. 

The group says that their heart has always been in Las Vegas, but they’ve had to turn to unconventional venues to keep the cash flow steady. They still get a big turnout for their symphony tours and have received some international success following their performances on cruise ships.

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