Watch David Perrico in a LIVE interview with Monica O. Jackson on Good Day Las Vegas during "Mondays With Monica" this morning,  Monday, August 30.

David Perrico has been a music fan since he was a kid. He’s also been a Cleveland Browns fan.

“If you’ve ever sat in the Dog Pound at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, before they tore it down, you know what I mean,” says Perrico, a native of Youngstown, Ohio. “The wind off the lake was coming in. It was 20 below zero with the wind-chill factor. It’s amazing.”

But serving as the bandleader for Las Vegas’ NFL team has shaken up that alliance. That wind off Lake Erie has been replaced by “Autumn Wind” at Allegiant Stadium.

“It’s our team, our game, when you are up there playing,” Perrico says. “Now I’m a Raiders fan, too.”

Perrico and his 18-piece Pop Strings ensemble have been drafted as the Raiders’ house band for the 2021 season. The team sets up under the Al Davis Memorial Torch for a 30-minute, pregame set peppered with AC/DC, Earth Wind & Fire, Pitbull, Bruno Mars and Tower of Power. The band also plays in spots throughout the game (including the theme, “Autumn Wind,” and the Star Wars’ “Imperial Death March” after Raider TDs).

Pop Strings headlined most recently for four years at Cleopatra’s Barge at Caesars Palace until Caesars Entertainment shut down the venue in May. Perrico’s band debuted at the Raiders’ preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 12.

The band is made up exclusively of veteran Las Vegas players, led by Perrico, who has performed in Las Vegas for the past 15 years. His popular vocalist wife, Lily Arce, is also featured on the Raiders’ stage.

Perrico recently talked of his time in Vegas, and the big break that led his group to play for 65,000 fans rather than 160 at the Barge:

Johnny Kats: What went through your head during your first performance at a Raiders game?

David Perrico: It was a feeling of, first, I was honored. I was very happy for the band, because we’ve been off for 17 months and we lost our Caesars Palace residency. The energy of the whole Raider Nation, the Raider fans, the noise and interaction of everyone crowded around the bandstand. All that partying and grooving. That was my takeaway.

And your family showed up, unexpectedly, at the game.

Yeah, I turned around and my brother (Brian) was there, and my sister-in-law (Kris), they live here. But my dad (Joe) flew in from Youngstown, and he still lives in Youngstown. My stepmother (Linda), half-sister (Amanda), half-brother (Matt) all showed up by surprise. I’ve been lucky in that sense. Wherever I played, wherever there was a concert, my family was always there.

Why did you decide to play the trumpet?

My dad’s a retired sax player, so I had a clarinet. I went to school in fourth grade with my own clarinet, and I was gonna be in a band. But the band director says, “Well, you know, we don’t have any trumpet players in the band. Why don’t you try it?” So I came home with a trumpet.

How did you get to Las Vegas?

I was offered a full scholarship in the UNLV jazz program, with (department head) Dave Loeb. I said, “OK, I’ll do my master’s degree,” and the plan was to stay here for two years and move to New York.

What happened to the plan?

​Things just started lining up. I started subbing for Donny & Marie, I did a year with Cirque, “Viva Elvis” at Aria, and went on to play with Lon Bronson’s band at Ovation at Green Valley Ranch and in “The Rat Pack Is Back.” … Then we opened with the big band, Pop Evolution, at South Point in 2012.

We’ve talked a lot through the shutdown, about how this has affected musicians in your company. You told me last year that 70 percent of your business was booking bands for corporate and private events. What was it like to lose the bulk of your business?

That was really the punch in the gut. You know, in my production company, I produce 11 bands. So you’re looking at about 60-70 musicians, independent contractors, who were out of work.

How did you help sustain those musicians?

What I tried to do with some of the (Paycheck Protection Program) money, and some grants that I received, was to keep everyone working by doing some recording, doing some original music, new photo shoots or new jingle writing. Whatever I could do to keep everyone kind of going. I pay musicians for their time.

You spent a lot of time as a performer and road manager for the Tommy Dorsey Band. What was that life like, compared with being settled in Las Vegas?

When you’re on the road with a band 46 weeks a year, you learn how to keep a band together, keep the band fun. Any touring musician will tell you the work is the 22 hours between gigs. The shows are the fun. This was in the mid- to late ’90s, no cellphones. You had a phone card to call home on Sundays. You went from Florida to Missouri, Missouri to Vermont. You’d be at the Lincoln Center in New York City, and then the next gig would be a tobacco farm in Paris, Tennessee, or at the Iowa State Fair. You saw it all.

It’s like being on a team, right?

Yeah, it is like being on a baseball team or a football team. It’s very sports-oriented, in that good players want to play with other good players. The coaching is part of the environment. That’s fun, too.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.

​The Raiders’ gameday experience has historically combined the cacophony of action on the gridiron, the roar of the crowd and soul-stirring live band music.

Synchronized Raiderette routines have been paired with live band musical stylings dating back to the 1960s in the Bay Area, when Del Courtney and his band matched the intensity on the field with their orchestral performances. That tradition continued in Los Angeles when Horace Heidt Jr. led an equally symphonic group of some of the finest musicians in the world, who roused Coliseum crowds for over a decade.

Jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and soul – the sounds of Raider Nation.

Those live symphonic stylings are being renewed in Las Vegas as an 18-piece orchestra led by award-winning trumpeter, composer, and Phaeton artist David Perrico will entertain the Raider Nation. This large ensemble is a high-energy, diverse, unique, innovative and dynamic group featuring a six-piece acoustic string section, five-piece horn section, four singers and a rhythm section.

Over his career, Perrico, a resident of Las Vegas for more than 17 years, has performed with legends including Gladys Knight, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Frankie Valli, Michael Feinstein, Frankie Avalon and The Temptations. The house band is comprised of world-class Las Vegas musicians who have performed with the likes of Celine Dion, Santana, Beyoncé, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Shania Twain and Diana Ross.

“It is a great honor to be the conductor as the 18-piece band is absolutely fantastic, and it is a pleasure to entertain Raider Nation,” Perrico said.

Given the experience and versatility of the ensemble, they can perform an array of musical selections across a variety of musical genres, particularly arrangements influenced by the Raiders and Las Vegas, as well as the Silver & Black institution, The Autumn Wind.

The ensemble’s pit will span the length of the Coors Light Landing near the Al Davis Memorial Torch, with the world-famous Las Vegas Strip serving as a backdrop. “We have a lot of exciting new rocking-themed arrangements for the Silver and Black,” Perrico said. “We’re looking forward to an amazing Raiders season in the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World.”

Originally published by Aug 21, 2021 by Andy Gray in "The Vindicator"

​At age 9, David Perrico left his house with a clarinet, the same instrument his father played. He came home with a trumpet.

“Kirkmere Elementary didn’t have a trumpet players,” he said.

That horn became the Youngstown native’s ticket to touring internationally with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, to playing many of Las Vegas’ biggest casinos and working with such stars as Gladys Knight and Toni Braxton.
Now it’s taking him to the NFL.

The 1988 Chaney High School and 2002 Dana School of Music graduate is the leader and arranger for the house band at Allegiant Stadium, the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The ensemble, which will be known as David Perrico and the Raider Band or David Perrico and the Raider House Band (“We’re still working on the branding,” he said), made its debut last Saturday at the team’s first exhibition game.

The band will get a national audience for its regular season debut. The home opener on Sept. 13 against the Baltimore Ravens is the “Monday Night Football” game that week.

In a telephone interview from his home in Nevada, Perrico talked about the people who influenced his career path. That started with his music teachers in Youngstown schools — James Ramsey at Kirkmere, Bill Gonda at Volney Rogers and Joe Danko at Chaney High School.
It continued when he went to Dana School of Music, particularly Esotto Pellegrini (who Perrico started taking lessons with when he was 13 years old) and Tony Leonardi.

“For anyone getting into the music business, you have to be a jack of all trades,” Perrico said. “That’s the one thing Pellegrini always told me. He instilled that in me when I was 15, 16. Jazz, classical, Latin, all styles, play a little piano, arranging, business — I got all that from Pellegrini and Tony Leonardi. He taught real world experience.”

Perrico, 50, was a semester away from graduation when he decided to leave school to tour with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, a gig that started as a summer job in 1994 and lasted until 2001.

“With my education at YSU, I felt like I was really prepared with the Dorsey band,” he said.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks disrupted the touring industry, Perrico decided to go back to school and finish his bachelor’s degree at Dana. Then he was offered a chance to earn his master’s degree at University of Nevada Las Vegas and get paid to teach while doing it.

He also started performing on the Vegas strip, backing acts like Donny and Marie Osmond and Natalie Cole and playing in the band for such shows as Cirque du Soleil, “The Rat Pack Is Back” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

Perrico soon went from musician to band leader, creating Pop Strings Orchestra (a 14-piece band with a seven-piece, all female string section), Pop Evolution (a 19-piece ensemble) and other groups.

When Paul Shaffer, best known as band leader on “Late Show with David Letterman,” was putting together his own Las Vegas show, he hired Perrico as his band leader, which is a ringing endorsement of his abilities.

All of those experiences prepared Perrico when the Raiders’ organization began its search for a house band.

“Owner Mark Davis, it was really his decision having live music at the game,” Perrico said. “When he was growing up, the (Oakland) Raiders had a band in the ’60s conducted by Del Courtney. It really came from Mark Davis, from the top.”

The team gave Perrico a list of songs — “Autumn Wind,” the team’s official song; the “Imperial Death March” from “Star Wars”; hits by Bruno Mars, Tower of Power, Chicago, Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind & Fire” — and he created arrangements of varying lengths, from 1-minute cuts that could be played during time outs to longer renditions.

Perrico and his band was offered the job Aug. 6, about a week before that first exhibition game.

The band will do a 45-minute pregame show before each home game and also will be heard throughout the game during commercial breaks and timeouts. There’s a core set up-tempo, rousing numbers that will be part of the regular repertoire, and Perrico said he expects to create new arrangements for the 19-piece band throughout the season. He’s already working on a version of the “Monday Night Football” theme for the home opener.

Perrico and the band will play for 65,000 fans at each home game, and viewers watching on television are sure to hear snippets of the band. He’s not sure what impact that will have on his other gigs.

“I have no expectations other than to deliver each game and do a great job for the Raider nation and Mark Davis and all of the Raiders’ fans. If something else comes out of it, that’s fantastic.”

Las Vegas still hasn’t fully recovered from the shutdowns cause by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Perrico said he hopes the media attention the band is getting in Las Vegas will translate into more musicians being called back to work in that city.

“I hope they see the value of live band, live entertainment. This is 100-percent live — no tapes, no click tracks. I hope it sparks some excitement for all those hard-working musicians grinding in the lounges and reminds everyone of the validity and value of live music.”

Most Southern Nevadans easily recognize the name David Perrico, a beloved Las Vegas band leader, musician, arranger and producer.

In fact, Perrico has packed every major performance venue in Las Vegas with the 10 bands he produces. Audiences flock to Perrico’s Smith Center shows with his Pop Strings Orchestra, a group of elite Vegas musicians performing swinging renditions of pop hits.

But now, music fans — and football fans — nationwide will know Perrico’s name.

In early August, one of Perrico’s bands earned the designation of Raiders House Band for the Las Vegas Raiders football team.

This means Perrico and his 19-piece orchestra (a combination of his Pop Strings and Pop Evolution groups) will perform pre-game concerts, plus short spots throughout each game with a closing theme.

“It’s an honor to be considered and to be chosen to represent the Raider nation,” Perrico says. “Raiders owner Mark Davis, it was his vision to have Vegas performers. They could get anybody, and they picked us.”

Southern Nevadans don’t need football tickets to catch Perrico’s Pop Strings Orchestra, however.

The group returns to The Smith Center’s intimate venue Myron’s on September 29 with a dazzling “Jazz & Strings” concert, featuring his orchestra with vocalists and acclaimed soloists on cello and bass.

“There will be something for everybody,” Perrico says. “It feels fantastic to get back on the stage and perform and connect with our fans.”

OPPORTUNITIES IN A CHALLENGING TIME

With his many skills, Perrico had no trouble staying occupied during the lockdown.

He dived into producing, writing and arranging music for his own groups and a variety of other artists. He also wrote jingles, including one for a coronavirus public service announcement.

While this kept him busy, “it obviously can’t replace the performance aspect,” he says.

Transitioning back to performing throughout Las Vegas has proved slow, Perrico notes, as the Strip lounges where his groups predominantly played remain closed “indefinitely.”

Perrico hopes performing with the Raiders House Band will help Las Vegas’ entertainment scene rebound from the pandemic.

“Being in the public, national eye, maybe that will spotlight all of the talented musicians in this town who haven’t worked,” he says. “Maybe that will spark an impetus to get back to live bands and live music.”

RETURNING TO THE SMITH CENTER

Perrico’s Pop Strings Orchestra will return to The Smith Center with a showstopping concert.

The September 29 concert will feature an expanded orchestra with a 16-piece string section and five vocalists, performing a wide range of jazz repertoire, including standards and straight-ahead jazz.

“You’ll hear a Sinatra standard and a Gershwin standard or Cole Porter standard, and then something by Miles Davis or Chick Corea or Louis Armstrong,” Perrico says.

The concert will also include special performances by Japanese virtuoso cellist Mariko, who has performed with Madonna and Cirque du Soleil, as well as acclaimed bassist Sherry Luchette.

Hailing his group as an “all-star baseball team” of the city’s top musicians, Perrico believes their shows draw audiences by merging the musicians’ talent with his affinity for big-band showmanship.  

“It’s my version of a modern-day big band,” Perrico says. “Being in Vegas, because of the ephemeral nature of the town and always stiving for something new, it kind of forced me to come up with something new and original, and exciting and dynamic.”

SEE THE SHOW
​
David Perrico’s Pop Strings Orchestra plays at 7 p.m. on September 29

ORIGINAL ARTICLE at raiders.com/news/the-sounds-of-raider-nation-return-to-the-gameday-experience

HENDERSON, Nev. – The Raiders' gameday experience has historically combined the cacophony of action on the gridiron, the roar of the crowd and soul-stirring live band music.

Synchronized Raiderette routines have been paired with live band musical stylings dating back to the 1960s in the Bay Area, when Del Courtney and his band matched the intensity on the field with their orchestral performances. That tradition continued in Los Angeles when Horace Heidt Jr. led an equally symphonic group of some of the finest musicians in the world, who roused Coliseum crowds for over a decade.

Jazz, funk, hip-hop, rock and soul – the sounds of Raider Nation.

Those live symphonic stylings are being renewed in Las Vegas as an 18-piece orchestra led by award-winning trumpeter and composer David Perrico will entertain the Raider Nation. This large ensemble is a high-energy, diverse, unique, innovative and dynamic group featuring a six-piece acoustic string section, five-piece horn section, four singers and a rhythm section.

Over his career, Perrico, a resident of Las Vegas for more than 17 years, has performed with legends including Gladys Knight, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Frankie Valli, Michael Feinstein, Frankie Avalon and The Temptations. The house band is comprised of world-class Las Vegas musicians who have performed with the likes of Celine Dion, Santana, Beyoncé, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Shania Twain and Diana Ross.

"It is a great honor to be the conductor as the 18-piece band is absolutely fantastic, and it is a pleasure to entertain Raider Nation," Perrico said.

​Given the experience and versatility of the ensemble, they can perform an array of musical selections across a variety of musical genres, particularly arrangements influenced by the Raiders and Las Vegas, as well as the Silver & Black institution, The Autumn Wind.

The ensemble's pit will span the length of the Coors Light Landing near the Al Davis Memorial Torch, with the world-famous Las Vegas Strip serving as a backdrop. "We have a lot of exciting new rocking-themed arrangements for the Silver and Black," Perrico said. "We're looking forward to an amazing Raiders season in the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World."

Well, David Perrico’s band has finally found a new venue.

Big time.

The veteran musician and bandleader is front man for the Raiders House Band led by David Perrico. This is in fact the Raiders’ house band for the 2021 season. The lineup debuts Saturday during the Raiders’ preseason home opener against the Seattle Seahawks at Allegiant Stadium.

“This is an incredible opportunity, and a great honor, to fulfill Mark Davis’ vision for a band to perform at Raiders games,” Perrico said Wednesday morning. “I am excited. The band is excited. The interaction with the Raider Nation staff has been fantastic, all the way through.”

Davis has sought a contemporary version of Del Courtney’s band from the Raiders’ infancy. The Courtney crew first played Raiders games at Frank Youell Field in 1963, later moving with the team to the Oakland Colosseum.

“We are looking at options for something like that — a house band to play before and after the game and during commercial breaks,” Davis said in February as the team’s search for musicians intensified. “Something like what Paul Shaffer’s band was with David Letterman.”
The legendary Vegas band Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns, was actually the first act ever to play Allegiant Stadium, beating everyone to the stage on Feb. 28.

Perrico’s bolstered, 19-piece band can actually be called an orchestra, combining Perrico’s Pop Strings and Pop Evolution projects. Pop Strings was among the acts whose shows closed when Caesars Entertainment shut down several of its smaller venues in May. Cleopatra’s Barge, where Perrico had headlined late Friday and Saturday nights, was among those small-capacity rooms.

But Perrico and Pop Strings were invited to test out Allegiant Stadium in June, and returned last weekend to evolve its performance. The band built its horn section to a total of four (Davis is very fond of horns, and a Tower of Power vibe), and ran through a set list peppered by Metallica, Bruno Mars, AC/DC, Earth Wind & Fire, James Brown and The Who.

Of course, the Raiders theme, “Autumn Wind,” is a must, and is to be uncorked in the pregame set and also after the home team scores a touchdown.

Joining Perrico is his wife, vocalist Lily Arce. The band also features singers Noybel Gorgoy, Serena Henry and Fletch Wolcott; Charles McNeal on alto sax; Rocco Barbato on tenor sax; Steve Meyer on trombone; Mat Schumer on baritone sax; Otto Ehling on keyboard (and keytar); Keith Nelson on bass; Steven Lee on guitar; Miguel Jimenez (subbing for his father, Pepe Jimenez, temporarily out for non-COVID health reasons) on drums; and a string section of Crystal Yuan, Adrianna Thurber, Monique Olivas, Chandra Meilbalane, Zuzana Engererova and Sarah Chaffee.

Perrico has lived and performed in Las Vegas for 17 years. He has headlined at myriad venues, on and off the Strip, including Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort, the since-closed Lounge at the Palms, South Point Showroom, The Strat (then Stratosphere) Showroom, Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at the Smith Center, Caesars Palace and Westgate Las Vegas.

When Paul Shaffer was seeking a bandleader for his Shaf-Shifters show at Cleopatra’s Barge, he sought Perrico, who has also a jazz music professor at UNLV for six years ending in 2011.

Suffice to say Perrico certainly understands the historic relevance of his Raiders gig. Over the decades, Las Vegas has been home to several iconic, trumpet-playing band leaders. Louis Prima, Doc Severinsen, Harry James and Bill Chase held the role in earlier eras.

The tradition more recently has been advanced by Lon Bronson, dating to the days of Le Bistro Lounge at the Riviera through to the Smith Center; and Lady Gaga’s band leader Brian Newman, moving back into NoMad Library at Park MGM this week.

Perrico remembers his first gig in Vegas, performing with Bronson’s band at Naughty Ladies Saloon at Arizona Charlie’s Decatur in 2004.
​
Bronson told Perrico, who originally is from Youngstown, Ohio, and grew up a Cleveland Browns fan,”Welcome to the dark side.” He had no idea.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section.
His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts.
Contact him at [email protected]. 
Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Raiders are teaming up with award-winning trumpet player and composer David Perrico to continue a live-music tradition that goes back to the 1960s.

Perrico will lead an 18-piece orchestra in a pit near the Al Davis Memorial Torch at Allegiant Stadium, adding to the gameday experience when the Raiders play at home.

“It is a great honor to be the conductor as the 18-piece band is absolutely fantastic, and it is a pleasure to entertain Raider Nation,” Perrico said.
​
Perrico, a Las Vegas resident for more than 17 years, has performed with legends including Gladys Knight, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Frankie Valli, Michael Feinstein, Frankie Avalon and The Temptations, according to a Thursday news release from the Raiders. The house band includes world-class Las Vegas musicians who have performed with some of the music industry’s biggest stars.

“Synchronized Raiderette routines have been paired with live band musical stylings dating back to the 1960s in the Bay Area, when Del Courtney and his band matched the intensity on the field with their orchestral performances,” according to the announcement. “That tradition continued in Los Angeles when Horace Heidt Jr. led an equally symphonic group of some of the finest musicians in the world, who roused Coliseum crowds for over a decade.”

And now, tradition meets Vegas.

​The band:

• David Perrico – TRUMPET, COMPOSER, ARRANGER, PRODUCER, CONDUCTOR
• Amarilys “Lily” Arce – LEAD VOCALIST
• Serena Henry – VOCALIST
• Noybel Gorgoy – VOCALIST
• Ken “Fletch” Walcott – VOCALIST
• Jose “Pepe” Jimenez – DRUMS
• Keith Nelson – BASS
• Steven Lee – GUITAR
• Otto Ehling – PIANO/KEYBOARDS
• Rocco Barbato – SAXOPHONE
• Adrianna Thurber – VIOLIN
• Chandra Meibalane – VIOLIN
• Christina Rose – VIOLIN
• Crystal Yuan – VIOLA
• Monique Olivas – VIOLIN
• Sarah Chaffee – CELLO
• Zuzana Engererova – CELLO
• Andrew Friedlander – Tenor Sax
• Mathew Schumer – Baritone Sax
• Steve Meyer – Trombone
• Charles McNeal Alto – Tenor, Soprano Saxophones, EWI