David Perrico and Raiders House Band Featured in Las Vegas Review-Journal

By John Katsilometes

Original Article appeared in the Neon, Las Vegas Review Journal, Sept18, 2026 

Be it Ozzie Newsome or Ozzy Osbourne, David Perrico has this NFL-live music relationship covered.

The Youngstown, Ohio, native grew up a fan of the Cleveland Browns, with Newsome, the great tight end, among the team’s stars. On Sunday, Perrico and the Raiders House Band played a reimagined cover of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” at Allegiant Stadium.

He has ditched the brown and orange of his hometown team in favor of Silver and Black. He even donned bedazzled, checkered pants for the Raiders’ home opener.

Perrico’s 15-piece outfit is back for its sixth season as owner Mark Davis’ handpicked house band. Perrico is bandleader, arranger and trumpet master. His wife, Lily Arce, and Fletch Walcott (who sings some spot-on Cab Calloway) supply vocals.

The Vegas musicians are familiar to anyone who has followed the city’s music scene over the past decade: Andrew Friedlander on sax, Steven Lee on guitar, Fernando Tort on bass, George Bryant on drums and Otto Ehling (an incidental nod to late Raiders great Jim Otto) on keys, plus the all-female string section of Adrianna Shaw, Chandra Meibalane and Sarah Chaffee.

Those players have backed such superstar headliners as Rod Stewart, Shania Twain, Aerosmith, Donny and Marie Osmond and Sheena Easton on and off the Strip. Several have performed in Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas.

(A favorite story: I first saw Perrico perform as part of the “Viva Elvis” cast at Aria; his costume and makeup in that show made his glitter pants look positively pedestrian.)

New to the Raiders House Band roster this season is guitar virtuoso Lee Moretti, a multi-instrumentalist formerly with rock band Third Eye Blind who has a master’s degree from Berklee College of Music.

It’s a lot of music acumen for an NFL franchise, and a rarity for the league. No other team has enlisted its own house band. Davis sought to revive the classic Del Courtney Band from the team’s early days in Oakland, California. Al Davis hired that band in 1963, and it served as the team’s house band for 15 years.

When the team moved to L.A., Davis brought in famed bandleader Horace Heidt to lead the team’s 45-piece band at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 1982 to ’95. Mark Davis shelved the idea when the team moved back to Oakland, but he was inspired when he arrived in Vegas and saw so many accomplished musicians.

“After we came here, we knew we wanted a fantastic band, something that is part of the Raiders’ atmosphere,” Davis says. “I love the look of the band, the musicianship. They can play anything. Everyone thinks of the Raiders as rock ’n’ roll, but we have something for everybody.”

Perrico has piloted and organized every variety of band from trios to 70-piece orchestras. He is thrilled at the ongoing partnership and proud to carry on the Courtney tradition.

“This is the highest honor of my career,” says Perrico, a professional musician for 35 years. “The demands are intense, from a composition standpoint and working in a live TV scenario.”

The band needs to play cut-down segments of songs for TV timeouts or breaks in the action. They’ve also played alongside Sammy Hagar, Kool & The Gang (who inspired the design of Perrico’s season-opening trousers), Earth, Wind & Fire and George Thorogood.

Matching the vibe

As the band’s newest member, Moretti linked with Perrico remotely to contribute to some of his original music.

“I live in New York, I do a lot of Broadway work and other kinds of stuff, so I was recording for him,” Moretti said during halftime of Sunday’s game. “And then he made a suggestion like, ‘Hey, you know, we have featured soloists sometimes. Would you want to come out and do that with the Raiders?’ I was like, ‘Of course!’ And the rest is history.”

Perrico’s Raiders-related appearances have included shows at Myron’s at The Smith Center, which are dependably sold out. Last Friday, the band filled Amp’d at the M Resort, the Raiders’ official headquarters hotel. The Raiderettes have joined those shows.

Perrico has also issued his second orchestral album, “Pop Symphonic Volume 2: Universal,” released in July with a 76-piece orchestra. Featuring seven original Perrico compositions, the album is available on all major streaming platforms.

The project is inspirational. But it’s not for an NFL game. Perrico knows how to match the vibe and, in his checked pants, shares, “We love the opportunity to ultimately support the team, and provide fans with a great in-game experience unique to Las Vegas and the Raiders.”

Link to original article: https://neon.reviewjournal.com/kats/betting-on-the-house-raiders-band-is-a-winning-hand-at-allegiant-stadium-3342555/