Sean DeFrank
Associate Editor
Contact: 868-4553 • Email
A Southern Nevada resident since 1974, DeFrank worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal for more than 13 years, primarily as a sports copy editor but also covering the city of Henderson in the late ‘90s, before coming to Vegas Seven just in time for its launch. The UNLV graduate is also a U.S. Army infantry veteran, and was recalled to active duty in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Storm. He lives in Henderson with his wife, enjoys traveling and going to concerts, and loves his UNLV Rebels.
Recent Articles
Concert Review: Os Mutantes
Hard Rock Live, May 11
May 15th, 2013
It was a small but curious crowd that turned out to see the Brazilian psych-rock pioneers, who re-formed in 2006 following a hiatus of more than 30 years. With such a long stretch of inactivity, there was no sense of nostalgia as most fans were seeing Os Mutantes live for the first time, and some were probably only familiar with the band’s noted influence on artists such as Kurt Cobain, Beck and David Byrne.
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Nevada Has Plastic Priorities
May 15th, 2013
Las Vegas is often chided for its inauthenticity, so is it any surprise that our state’s highest paid public employee is a plastic surgeon?
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A Brighter Sunset
May 1st, 2013
There is no trace of the pool that used to be on Sunset Park’s west side. Built in 1972, it had fallen into disrepair and became too expensive to maintain, sitting empty and unused since 2009. In its place, though, are a new shaded picnic area, a refurbished playground and fresh landscaping, part of $11.7 million in renovations throughout the 325-acre regional park that have taken nearly two years to complete and are ready for their official unveiling May 4.
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Left in Scoring Position
Failure to secure bring Spring Training to Henderson still haunts Don Logan
April 30th, 2013
As Don Logan drives south into Henderson, the longtime Las Vegas 51s executive can’t help but look at the plot of undeveloped desert near Galleria Drive east of U.S. 95 and envision what might have been. On two separate occasions—the first starting in 1994, the second in 1999—Logan tried to bring Major League Baseball teams here for spring training, and the failure to make it happen still bothers him.
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Concert Review: Joe Bonamassa
The Pearl at the Palms, April 20
April 22nd, 2013
Just before the show, an excited fan asked the porter in the men’s restroom if he was familiar with Bonamassa’s guitar prowess, exclaiming, “He’s like a combination of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Stevie Ray Vaughan!” After the fan walked out, another guy who overheard the exchange, said, “I don’t know where he gets the Jimmy Page part.”
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Concert Review: Tegan and Sara
Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, April 10
April 15th, 2013
Hitting Las Vegas just two nights before a high-profile gig at Coachella, twin-sister act Tegan and Sara could have treated this show as a glorified tune-up. But they are far too sincere for that. Instead, they bared their hearts for 90 minutes to a crowd that absorbed every musically induced emotion and reciprocated in kind.
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Concert Review: Heart
Grand Events Center at Green Valley Ranch, April 5
April 8th, 2013
With Heart being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this month, perhaps I expected too much from this show.
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Colleagues Laud Tarkanian's Selection for Hall of Fame
April 5th, 2013
UNLV booster calls the former basketball coach's recognition "long overdue."
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An Oral History of Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV
April 3rd, 2013
Forty years ago, Jerry Tarkanian arrived in Las Vegas to become UNLV’s fifth head basketball coach. Over the next 19 years, he and his new city shared many characteristics: often misunderstood, regularly chastised, always willfully against-the-grain. Las Vegas loved the man known as “Tark the Shark,” and he loved it right back, bringing civic pride to a town primarily made up of transplants, delivering a winner to a city built on losers.
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Concert Review: Chick Corea & Bela Fleck
Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, March 29
April 1st, 2013
Seeing either one of these musical geniuses in such an intimate setting would have been mind-blowing enough, but this was like watching two wizards casting their most powerful spells for public consumption. Sitting facing off, Corea behind his grand piano, Fleck with his banjo propped on one knee, the duo revisited most of their 2007 Grammy-winning collaboration The Enchantment.
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