Mr. Jarr (aka Anthony Pettine) hasn’t been heard from since a 4 p.m. swan-song performance at Harrah’s last Aug. 27. His website is so out of date it still has him performing at long-defunct Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon.
So ended a 32-year run on the Strip by a performer who couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else: "Jarr never cared whether fans laughed at or with his impressive blue-eyed soul voice, delivered in spandex, pirate boots and a hairstyle echoing horror-movie hostess Elvira," wrote the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Mike Weatherford. His Vegas longevity saw him play Caesars Palace (where he made his debut aboard Cleopatra’s Barge), the Barbary Coast, MGM Grand, Casino Royale, Bally’s Las Vegas, Harrah's, the Sands, the Tropicana, the Dunes, the Silver Slipper, the Continental, the Castaways and the El Rancho, outlasting many of them. No venue was too grand or too humble for Jarr’s talents. (He dubbed the El Rancho the "El Roacho.")
The Las Vegas Sun’s John Katsilometes attended Jarr’s valedictory performance and found the entertainer playing out the string with gusto, whether serenading a wheelchair-bound woman with "God Bless the U.S.A." or hollering invective out The Piano Bar at Harrah's windows at Strip passersby. He confessed to having no immediate plans, saying no more than he was "listening to offers." And then, he closed out his set in classic cover-artist fashion with "Viva Las Vegas." Let’s hope that patrons left a little more coin than usual in the slot machine-shaped "Tip Jarr" that afternoon.
