Air Guitar, A Home in the Neon - By Dave Hickey.

Home, the place in which one's domestic affections are centered, a generic noun that responds to one's circumstances in which to define. When envisaging ‘home’ the vast cowboy highways of Las Vegas would be the last place in which to associate our cosy abodes with. However, for Dave Hickey Las Vegas has become his retreat from the a-typical hierarchal system of North America that has provided him, like so many other musicians, magicians, hookers and lost souls, a place of being and solace. Hickey virtuously experiences Las Vegas differently to your average tourist seeking a momentary escape from reality. Providing an alternative perspective upon the true reality of Vegas the author interesting states that there is no social hierarchy that anyone is sanctioned to, money is simply just money and regardless of your name or status that exists beyond Vegas it becomes irrelevant within. You would certainly assume that the newly formed neo-liberal society, that seems to only exist through various social media outlets, would be drooling from their inner thighs over the prospect of living within a social system that plays ball upon a level playing field. Amusingly, Vegas is probably the type of place this boring and misguided bunch would publicly bash over a poorly written facebook status. The context of Hickeys upbringing within the musical world is of importance as this provides an understanding towards why the author was drawn to Las Vegas, however, being a professor at the city university makes you realise that he isn’t your average busker playing for dime on the sidewalks. When discussing the search for the secret Las Vegas and that there isn’t any secrets, I feel that Hickey is intelligently referring to the governance and social structure of North American. The stakes in Vegas are always gamble but they cheat you fairly suggesting that the social and economic system that exists beyond the boundaries of Vegas are quite the opposite.