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Contents 6W as we see it A festival is coming to Emergency Arts, and the Arts Factory belongs to ... In line at the caucus, our great democracy is reduced to a cookie. Guess which megachef is headed to Cosmo?
10W Feature | Sevens on deck Breakneck speed and big hits—that’s rugby sevens, and the U.S. leg of its World Series is here.
from Santigold, Animal Collective and Wild Nothing.
26W the strip Britney sticks. 28W fine art Roscoe Wilson’s Front Yard Zoo: Controlling Nature.
30W food & drink Searching for nana’s red sauce, and finding the new trattoria by Chef Marc.
14W Feature | love story Technical upgrades, new numbers, more Beatles—Cirque’s fan-favorite is turning 10 with a bang.
19W A&E The art of Ellsworth Kelly inspires creation at Barrick.
ONLY online A PSA on not defacing natural wonders; EDC’s impacts on the local economy; a happy-hour bar crawl through Venetian and Palazzo and much more at lasvegasweekly.com.
20W POP CULTURE A little the beatles love by Matt Beard
haterade for Lady Gaga.
21W screen Triple 9 = gangs, bad cops and evil Kate Winslet. Eddie the Eagle is an ode to the underdog. Plus, Oscar picks!
24W noise A Paul Kantner remembrance. And new albums
Cover illustration by Philip Wrigglesworth
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AsWeSeeIt N e w s + C u lt u r e + S t y l e + M o r e
Myles away
New ownership at the Arts Factory calls to mind the good times and cantankerous bouts It seems like only yesterday Wes Myles was throwing halfeaten tomatoes at a food truck that parked too close to the Arts Factory, potentially stealing customers from his Bar+Bistro. Or that time (or several hundred of them) when he was screaming obscenities toward the city over permitting codes, or hosting bocce ball tournaments on the patio and dodgeball games in the street, or awarding gift certificates to dogs at his “I Shih Tzu Not” Sunday events (full disclosure: My dog placed second in the obstacle course). Imagining the Arts Factory without Myles is almost unimaginable. But having sold the retail building in December, he’s even moving out of his second-floor apartment this spring and into his new home at the Thunderbird, where he’s taken on a new project. His Studio West photography business will remain. When Myles first decided to sell what had long been the anchor of the Arts District, it seemed nobody would buy the jerryrigged building likely built in the ’40s, particularly given Myles’ famous battles with the city over codes and permits. But after all its stops and starts, the Arts Factory was finally and quietly sold to an LLC headed up by Jonathan and Eshagh Kermani, who have been collecting neighboring properties, including Art Square and the row of Main Street storefronts north of Charleston. “It was a nice run,” says Myles, who bought the building in the early ’90s long before there was an Arts District, and offered affordable rent to artists and galleries in the name of creative synergy. “But I’m out. The city wins. She got her way. I’m an artist. I will always be this person who creates events. I just keep looking to the future. I think I have to, otherwise I’d cry.” –Kristen Peterson
Small worlds Headed to Emergency Arts, Small Space Fest aims to be a total art immersion Elizabeth Nelson walks through Emergency Arts like an enchanted forest denizen, pointing out the quirky beauty of its architecture: a wall, a broom closet, a drawer, a stairwell or peculiar nook defining the former medical center, originally a J.C. Penney. It was a year ago that the “What could I find?” question batted at her, until she considered ballerinas pas de bourréeing down hallways, opera singers belting arias from a bathroom, an unexpected sculpture on the ceiling or an audio device placed in a drawer with a note that says, “read me.” After selling Emergency Arts operator Jennifer Cornthwaite on the idea of a building-wide arts immersion, Nelson brought in New York artists Adriana Chavez and Heidi Rider, who moved to Las Vegas to help establish the Small Space Fest of performing and visual arts. The group, Weft in the Weave
> look for nooks The new fest will turn even the smallest pieces of the building into part of an installation.
Collective, is seeking submissions from new, emerging and established artists locally and nationally for the June 20 event and month-long art installation—a dialogue-creating connection
6W LasVegasWeekly.com February 25-MARCH 2, 2016
between artists in Las Vegas and elsewhere. “This isn’t a mega-blowout art fest with gobs of money,” Nelson says. “It’s about the small interactions. What kind of art can fill these small spac-
es and transform them into worlds of experience?” We’ll learn soon enough. The application deadline is March 6, with details at weftintheweave.com. –Kristen Peterson
Arts factory photo ilustration by jon estrada; Emergency arts by STEVE MARCUS
TASTY BOMBSHELL Megachef David Chang brings his food to the Cosmopolitan
> FACTORY MAN Wes Myles was owner and figurehead of the Arts Factory, but after selling in December, he’s leaving the building.
Our favorite Vegas food rumor has been confirmed. Michelin-starred, James Beard Award-winning, overall game-changing chef David Chang is bringing Momofuku to the Cosmopolitan. The resort’s announcement on Tuesday didn’t include a timeline, but The New York Times reports the venues will open by the end of 2016. In recent years, any time Chang has been spotted in any Las Vegas casino, speculation has swirled about whether he was ready to join the long line of East Coast celebrity chefs migrating to the Strip. Chang founded his empire in 2004 with Momofuku Noodle Bar and has expanded to 13 Momofuku restaurants in New York City, Sydney, Toronto and Washington, D.C., plus a couple of bars and a bakery, Milk Bar, established by chef and owner Christina Tosi. The Cosmo projects, which will include Momofuku and Milk Bar, will be the first West Coast offerings from Chang and Tosi. The Cosmopolitan, which opened in 2010 with an impressive restaurant lineup including Estiatorio Milos, Scarpetta, STK and Jaleo, recently announced other additions to its dining landscape, the upcoming Beauty & Essex, Eggslut and Zuma. –Brock Radke
GUERRILLA LIBRARY Free books in your neighborhood mailbox If you’ve ever taken a stroll through Downtown’s Huntridge neighborhood, you might have noticed a mailbox-size library of children’s books. Author and Huntridge resident Kim Foster hopes you take one. Having heard about County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani’s involvement in the Little Free Library project (which boasts over 36,000 miniature book exchanges around the world), Foster reached out to Giunchigliani in the hope of getting a library box installed in her yard. “She basically came over the next day with a library,” Foster says. Foster curates and maintains the tiny library with specificity: a third picture books, a third easy-readers and a third young-adult books, so there’s always something for everyone. “This is actually really different from adult libraries, because usually there’s a ‘bring one, take one’ sort of feel to it, and the library manages itself. That doesn’t happen with this library. These kids take these books and don’t bring them back,” Foster says. “And we’re thrilled about that”—although
LIBRARY BY JON ESTRADA
> BOOKS FOR ALL Foster’s tiny library.
she’s always accepting donations. Having recently moved from New York City with her husband, Absinthe producer David Foster, she says the library has connected her family to the community. But more importantly, it’s helping locals. “There are families who don’t have a lot of extra money to have a bookshelf full of books who are really utilizing this. That’s why we don’t care if kids bring them back or not.” –Leslie Ventura
FOOD AND FUR BABIES What you might not know about those dog-friendly patios Good news for crazy dog people: Your best friends are now allowed on some Las Vegas Valley patios. But wait—weren’t they always? Paul Klouse, environmental health manager at the Southern Nevada Health District, helps to clear things up. “Dog-friendly patio waivers” were created last year when California chain Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar asked to allow pups on their patio, as they do in their Golden State locations. The health district hadn’t dealt with the request before, but accommodated it by calling on a 2010 food code that allows the district to write waivers rather than seek healthboard variances, which takes more time. Dog patios that operated before last summer were either in violation of health code or are located on public sidewalks, which have always been fair game for pets. “Instead of having an uncontrolled environment, it mitigates contamination risk,” Klouse says of the new waiver policy. So far they’ve been granted to five Egg Works, two Lazy Dogs (a Town Square location is on its way), one Born and Raised and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill Summerlin. The rules stipulate that restaurants must have external entrances to their patios, dogs must remain on the ground (not on furniture or held by owners), staff cannot touch the animals, and the restaurant must stock clean-up kits and a way to cordon off an area in case of an accident. While it’s certainly a win for dog lovers, there’s good news for the pet-ambivalent, too: Most restaurants that have obtained waivers provide animal-free patio areas as well. –Kristy Totten
FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 2, 2016 LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM
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AS WE SEE IT…
PYRAMID OF BISCUITS
SCOUTING MISSION The pursuit of democracy begins with a box of Thin Mints BY STACY J. WILLIS
ory!—and I heard myself yelling, “Samoas! Save the Samoas!” Scads of chattery blowhards corrected me—“We say Caramel deLites now”—while the most battle-worthy of us dove in. It was a pile-on. I saw a box of Thin Mints fly into the air and an old woman in a Go Solar T-shirt end-zone-leap over me to grab them. I saw a young man in a Hillary shirt crawl under the scrum. I saw a defensive dad protecting his tiny green-uniformed genius with elbows out. I saw cash raining down on her, and the bottom of the little red wagon becoming more visible as the boxes disappeared. “Give me the Tagalongs!” I yelled, now unclear on my original policy goals, but desperate to achieve something, anything. “They’re called Peanut Butter Patties now,” some jerk on the sidelines chided again. When I finally got up there, or down there, in the face of a little girl named Gabriella, I could see that there were at least four or five boxes left. I had the cash. I was in position. But then, suddenly, awfully, everything in my mind went silent, and people started moving in slow-motion, and I felt like I was in a bubble, and rather than secure the bounty, I was shell-shocked to hear myself ask the tiny girl this shameless question: “Are … you … a Democrat?” She looked up at her dad, who looked at me with the cold eyes of a papa bear about to devour human flesh, and I replied with
8W LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 2, 2016
my last, best weapon: a feeble smile. The smile of a civic-minded neighbor, here to participate in the best political system on Earth, a peaceful system. A smile that said: I’m part of a community of respectful citizens who come together to express our differences in a functioning conversation that allows everyone to have a voice, and does not require violence. “No,” he said. “I’m a Republican.” Fellow Americans, there is a moment in every patriot’s life where one needs to put aside partisan politics and look for the greater good. Even when there’s a crafty infiltrator capitalizing on your cumbersome caucus. There was one box of Caramel Samoa Mint Butter Patties left, and my mind was eerily flooded with the voice of Sarah Palin misquoting everyone about the virtues of free-market capitalism, which should be open to all, because that’s what we’re all about, opportunism. You betcha. “I’ll take it,” I said, and I pushed my five-dollar bill with the picture of Abe Lincoln, another wise Republican, at him. Gabriella’s dad knew he’d won. He didn’t just win my five bucks, he won the war, the hearts and stomachs of hostiles, the whole friggin’ day. He calmly took my money and they strolled away, American flag bouncing on the back of the wagon. And we were left to measure our loyalties, cookies in hand. With every bite, I received more enlightenment.
When Clinton and Sanders fans turn social media into a battlefield “This place is toxic … Let’s just leave all that sh*t outside, mmm-kay??” It was my news feed’s equivalent of Howard Beale yelling that he was mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. More than 24 hours after the Nevada Democratic caucus, my Facebook friend had seen enough mudslinging between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders—as had 87 other people who “liked” the comment. Sure, social media has further enabled the armchair political analysts of the world, and politicians are fair game for the usual criticisms, jokes and memes, but if my Facebook and Twitter feeds are any indication, the invective being thrown around has reached a fever pitch, even as the caucus smoke has cleared. Most of my network seem to rally for Sanders, so I see less insults directed at him (his unkempt hair notwithstanding). But one repeat attacker actually said “Americans are lazy and stupid” in regard to Sanders supporters’ dismissal of the usual reasons for championing Clinton. And if those same supporters are male, they’re automatically “Bernie Bros” (read: douchebags), according to numerous asides. The sexism seems more pointed on the anti-Hillary side. One Bern-feeling person posted a “Wicked Witch of the Left” meme, and another used metaphors from a Clinton speech to make a gross and unrelated parallel to the stained dress of Monica Lewinsky. Some attacks begat more attacks, but also some thoughtful counterarguments. When one Facebook friend got nasty toward the Sanders constituency for allegedly bashing Clinton, he got called out by another FB user for becoming “the very thing you so passionately loathe.” And then there was this gem: “Nobody is really talking issues ... ‘She’s a crook’ vs. ‘Shut up, it’s her turn’ is all I hear. Not ‘I prefer this position because …’” That last comment made me question my own thoughts about the race. It was exactly the sort of dialogue we should be having. –Mike Prevatt
CLINTON AND SANDERS PHOTO BY JIM COLE/AP
My interest in preserving the free world was waning after an hour of standing in line around a high school to caucus. I was sweaty. My stomach growled. My Democratic neighbors weren’t as politically enlightening as I’d hoped. The feeling was mutual. If we spoke about politics at all, we live-acted one another’s Facebook feeds, parroting memes, shaking our heads, “Trump?!”, squawk squawk squawk, pretending we don’t rely on click-bait media for our most important civic decisions, and that we didn’t bring this reality TV Armageddon on ourselves. Worse, this was taking for-ev-er. I longed for the decisive brevity of primary voting—a quick trip into a booth to push a button, and voilà—instant democracy. As a stalwart citizen, I was about to give up on what seemed like an unnecessary charade and go to Yard House when I saw the American flag. Old Glory stuck its head up where the line curled into a clog near the front door. The stars and stripes were shaking a bit. Some of the frustrated caucusers-to-be were piling up under it, pushing it, causing it to lean, and for a second—a flash of quadrennial participatory democracy fatigue? A keen propaganda reflex? I envisioned the iconic image of U.S. soldiers thrusting that flag skyward at Iwo Jima. I moved up to get a better view. Was it a veteran? A protestor? A fight? By God, it was a Girl Scout. With a wagon full of cookies. Sweet land of liberty, there was meaning to our struggle. I was suddenly, ferociously patriotic, super-proud to be participating in every step of this brilliant bureaucratic nightmare, and hell-bent on getting Girl Scout Cookies. I ducked and dashed and elbowed my way through the masses, leaving the frail and un-hungry/un-American in my wake. My right hand instinctively began digging into my pockets and my bag looking for cash without me ever asking it to—pure muscle mem-
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Lucky number sevens High-speed international rugby is heading to Las Vegas—and on to Rio By Sarah Feldberg
fans in 2016. Along with three days of match play, there are autograph signings, afterparties, a 250-team amateur tourney and an Olympics-style parade of nations set to walk the Fremont Street Experience on March 3. Team USA has also developed in recent years. Once perpetually struggling also-rans, the Men’s Eagles Sevens are now budding contenders who did the unthinkable last year and won the cup in London, the first time the U.S. had ever taken the top spot in a World Series tournament. This season, the Eagles will arrive in Vegas firmly in the middle of the pack in seventh place, behind Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand, first, second and third, respectively. “We’ve come a long way,” Coach Friday says. “This is probably the most successful USA Sevens squad the country’s ever had. They are feared and respected on the circuit, which is a huge compliment to us, but one we can’t take for granted. We have to go out there every time we play and earn that respect.” The Las Vegas leg of the tournament will give the team an opportunity to do just that. Friday says competing on home soil should give the guys an extra spark. “I think we haven’t played our best rugby yet,” he says. “I think they can become a far better squad than they are at the moment.” Here’s hoping the Eagles realize that potential soon. Rugby will return
to the Olympics this summer in Rio for the first time in 92 years, and it’s seven-a-side play that’s earned the international spotlight. The defending Olympic gold medalists? Team USA. Get details on the player to watch at USA Sevens, only at lasvegasweekly.com.
Social sampler Team USA Pep Rally March 2, 11 a.m.-noon, free. Monte Carlo BLVD Plaza between Double Barrel Roadhouse and Diablo’s Cantina.
Opening Ceremony & Parade of Nations March 3, 6:30-8 p.m., free. Fremont Street Experience, 702-678-5600.
After Sevens Parade of Champions Party March 6, 9 p.m., $25-$35. Chateau Nightclub & Gardens at Paris Las Vegas, 702-776-7770.
February 25-MARCH 2, 2016 LasVegasWeekly.com
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF usa SEVENS
Stadium, is the American leg of the You might not know it yet, HSBC Rugby Sevens World Series, an but rugby sevens is your new annual tournament that pits 16 nationfavorite sport. al teams against each other in 10 cities Played on the same size field as across the globe. Each stop awards its rugby union, sevens hits fast-forown cup, and points are assigned in ward on the conventional game with descending finishing order, with the seven players per side (instead of 15), eventual World Series victor deter14-minute matches (instead of 80) and mined by total points earned. easy-to-follow rules (instead of, well, But never mind all that. USA do you understand regular rugby?). Sevens isn’t just an international “It ticks all the boxes: It’s physical, rugby tournament; it’s an athletic there’s collisions, it’s at high speed, it’s carnival that goes way beyond the at high skill level with a fast-moving action on the pitch. A food festival ball,” says Mike Friday, head coach of at the stadium showcases the U.S. men’s team. dishes from the competWith games split into seving nations, and pockets en-minute halves, there sim- USA SEVENS of supporters dressed in ply isn’t time to take things RUGBY March slow. It’s full-tilt from the 4-6; Friday, 4-9:45 Fijian blue or Kenyan red and green transform Sam first whistle, brilliant sprints p.m.; Saturday, Boyd into a colorful mosaic. and brutal tackles making 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Other fans follow the rugby for numerous lead changes Sunday, 10:20 tradition of donning full and a game that’s deliciously a.m.-4:05 p.m.; costumes, Hello Kitty and unpredictable. Friday calls it $15-$215. Sam Jesus knocking back beers a “cocktail of excitement,” Boyd Stadium, while the boys go at it on one that’s only augmented 702-895-3761, the field. Two parts rivetby the beer flowing in the usasevens.com/ ing spectator sport, one part stands, the national chants las-vegas. global fiesta, the competirising from fans and the postion is worth checking out even if you sibility of catching perennial favorites have no idea what a scrum is. the New Zealand All Blacks performUSA Sevens first arrived in Las ing an indigenous haka war dance. Vegas in 2010, and over the past six Shirtless. In the rain. seasons both the tournament and the See what we mean about your new team have grown up. Attendance has favorite sport? more than doubled, turning the event Then you’ll be happy to know that into a week-long rugby rager that’s rugby sevens is Las Vegas-bound. expected to draw roughly 80,000 USA Sevens, March 4-6 at Sam Boyd
> “Strawberry Fields Forever”
Love re-do After a decade of anchoring Cirque’s Strip dominion, the show is cranking up The Beatles even more By John Katsilometes
14W LasVegasWeekly.com February 25-MARCH 2, 2016
It’s a day in the life for Giles Martin. A caretaker of The Beatles’ musical legacy is spending another afternoon inside Love Theatre at the Mirage. Martin talks of the enormous responsibility bestowed upon him to help remake a hit show featuring some of the greatest music ever recorded, as performed by the peerless artists of Cirque du Soleil. As Martin speaks, the haunting voice of John Lennon calls out through the sound system, his otherworldly “aaaaah-aaaaah-aaaah-aaah” from “A Day in the Life” acting as this conversation’s soundtrack. “We felt that if we were going to preserve the integrity of the show, we needed to do something new,” says Martin, whose father, the producer Sir George Martin, recorded all of The Beatles’ studio work from 1962 to 1970 and was instrumental in Love’s original soundscape. “We first did this show 10 years ago, and it was groundbreaking. It still is groundbreaking, but it was 10 years ago.” As the orchestra’s crescendo builds to the song’s legendary culmination, Martin finishes his thought. “We have been fighting for permission to do something with this show,” he says, the symphony’s strings rising to meet his words. “Our view was that
it looked old and sounded old and needed to be more vibrant. That was the word we used—vibrant.” As punctuation, the sonic vibrancy of four pianos crashing in unison fills the theater. CHA-CHUNG! You’ve got to love that Beatle timing. * * * * * Love has been dark for several weeks undergoing its first full-scale upgrade, returning to the stage on Thursday night in a “refreshing” period that should carry through July. Impressively, Love is 10 years old this summer, a remarkable achievement for myriad reasons, chief among them that the show has outlived the eight-year recording career of The Beatles themselves. It opened in June 2006, a highfalutin event attended by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, both Martins, Cirque founder Guy Laliberté and such rock royalty as Brian Wilson, Joe Walsh and Steve Van Zandt. At one point, McCartney shared a photo op with the theater’s original overlords, Siegfried & Roy, as The Doors’ Robby Krieger looked on. No doubt, Love was mind-blowing in its attention to detail, with all the hidden audio and visual gems from throughout The Beatles’ career—an photographs by Matt Beard/Cirque du Soleil
aerial, red-gowned Lucy in the Sky during that famous number; a pregnant Lady Madonna tap-dancing in the rain with her beau; a vintage VW Beetle breaking apart near the end of the performance. The sound system of more than 6,000 speakers built into the seats had never been attempted in Las Vegas before, and one of the show’s signature scenes was a white silk drape stretched across the lower half of the audience during the mashup of “Within You Without You” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” The show is an unqualified hit, one of the top sellers staged by any production company on the Strip, typically hitting between 75 and 90 percent capacity through a decade at the Mirage. Exit surveys put it at the top of Cirque shows in Las Vegas for its positive fan feedback, and the band’s performance on streaming platform Spotify (70 million streams in just three days in December) reminds us that The Beatles never go out of style. But as has been proven during the company’s 25-year run in Las Vegas, Cirque is forever chasing its own universally high standards. Look at the shows that have followed Love, particularly Michael Jackson One and its aggressive choreography, lavish costumes, blaring pyrotechnic scenes, spring-activated stage and hologram of Jackson. The artists from Love have looked at that show, and the rotating stage in the $165 million KÀ at MGM Grand, with a hint of envy. So the Love team convened last year, said, in effect, “You say you want a revolution?” and went to work. First, Martin and co-creator Dominic Champagne, the Cirque artistic director who helped envision the original show, returned to the theater with wide-open minds. Which is to say, they pretended to be totally unimpressed by what they were watching. “Dominic and I came to the show as if we were two guys who didn’t particularly like Cirque du Soleil or The Beatles,” Martin says, laughing at the night they were nearly tossed by an usher who didn’t know they were Love’s co-creators. “We watched the show and we tore it apart … we began to realize we needed to do something where we could completely refresh the show, but not lose the heart of it.” The first move was apparent as the men stared at the show’s floor in the middle of the 360-degree theater. The spotlights created an unintended glare, and that territory on the floor was ripe for a void in the show—projected images of The Beatles. “We sat there and watched the floor, looking at it, and the funny thing was that we started walking around the theater trying to figure out how many people would be able to see projections on the floor,” Martin says. “You might not think much of it, but that was a huge overhaul. Massive.” Not just massive in upgrading the
> “Twist and Shout”
> “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”
technology. The use of The Beatles’ faces in the show is a shift in philosophy from both the band members and Cirque officials. “We’re adding more Beatles,” Martin says. “In this backdrop of the show was a funny marriage, where there was no kissing (laughs). The Beatles and Cirque got together, but Cirque didn’t want much Beatles imagery, even just an album cover. No pictures of the boys, no seeing them at all until the ending segment,” he explains of the original approach. “We felt them in the show, certainly, musically, but one of the rules 10 years ago was not to use them as
much visually,” Champagne says. “We used shadows. We used voices. But now they are going to be more present in the show and bring in some visually immersive experiences and some spectacular shots.” As Martin says, the band is so iconic, and “so damn popular, still.” No doubt fans want to feel its presence more powerfully. * * * * * The most evident shift in the order of Love’s acts is at the top, where “Twist and Shout” replaces “I Am the Walrus.” This is an override of sorts, of an old
McCartney directive. “Paul wanted a strong John song at the top, so we went with a strong one, which was ‘Walrus,’” Champagne says. “But we were still in the early years, and that was quite a tough moment in the show to explain, with a weird setup while trying to explain the impact Elvis and rock ’n’ roll had on those guys.” As Martin explains, the first scene in the revamped show culminates with a bombed-out Britain in World War II, and arriving from the rubble is this rollicking sound. “You hear the voices, the ‘Aaah, aaah’ as the song starts, and we have the Cavern Club underneath, and rock ’n’ roll bursts
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> “Yesterday”
out onto the stage,” Martin says, his eyes widening. “That becomes ‘Twist and Shout,’ but there’s a very fast shift, going from 1940 to 1963, making that jump in about 20 seconds, so there’s the held note of ‘A Day in the Life’ piano and a lot of other stuff I’ve added, and then these voices emerge in a way that you can’t immediately tell that they are voices.” He pauses and says, “It’s a very weird process, isn’t it?” Unseen but also significant will be upgrades to the theater’s sound system. Martin says he “begged and bartered” for new speakers throughout the venue. “When they were originally done, it was innovative to have three speakers in a seat. But they were not great quality, and we now have units that are much better quality, new speakers all the way through the theater.” The master audio was also totally remixed, once more by Martin, who is as adept with digital sound as his father was with audiotape. “We went back and remixed all the No. 1s (for the album Beatles 1) last year, and they sound a lot better than they did even 13 years ago. We rebuilt the entire show from the better-sounding quality audio. All of the original music was redone, and we now have the very best possible sound in this theater.” They also have a built-in desk where Martin can toggle between original and upgraded tracks, allowing for the show to be remixed anytime. Songs that make it as far as mixing have gone through quite a process.
Once a number is selected, a place in the production is created—but that doesn’t always bring a song into the show. “Birthday,” the rowdy treatment from the White Album, was among those tried and tossed. Closest to reaching reality was “Let It Be,” near the end of the show in place of the unfailingly effective sing-along, “Hey Jude.” “We had to make this choice, and I nearly put ‘Let It Be’ in the show,” Martin says, “but the problem with ‘Let It Be’ is, it doesn’t crescendo, it doesn’t rise the same way ‘Hey Jude’ does, which allows you to move to another moment in the show.” Champagne also talks of a restructured “Yesterday” being prepped for the new version, saying, “I was never really happy at how we never really served what that masterpiece of a song deserved,” he says. “Now we are doing it in a very simple way, treating it with some improved acrobatics here and there, building on our strengths. You will see new advancements, without reinventing, with ‘Lady Madonna’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’” The show’s choreographers, Nappytabs founders Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo, actually led the development of an entire new number behind “Let It Be” before the project was shelved. “It was quite a beautiful number, and we were very excited about it, but we did go back to ‘Hey Jude’ because of its beautiful buildup to the finale,” Tabitha says. “It does not break down.” Napoleon adds, “Maybe someday
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team that has grown into what he calls we’ll put it on YouTube and say, ‘See “a real family.” “When you are working what we were going to do!’ … I am with great artists, and McCartney is a just kidding about that.” great artist, like Mozart, you feel good But seriously, the artists in Love about the creative process,” he says. “I need to be versatile enough to perform knock on wood, because I do not want in mediums totally different than those to feel too good before opening night, in which they were trained. That’s but it is working.” one of the Cirque hallmarks. An inline Champagne recalls a story skater from the “Help” segment could George Martin has told many times easily find his way into “Twist and through his history of chronicling Shout,” dancing, not skating. The Beatles’ legacy: He visited “That has actually happened, John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New where one of the inline skaters who York several years after the band’s is not a professional dancer at all is breakup, and Lennon said he wanted with professional dancers,” Napoleon to re-record everything the band says. “All of our dancers have acroever did. “Even ‘Strawberry batic movement.” Tabitha Fields.’ Especially cuts in with, “Cirque has ‘Strawberry Fields,’” such individuality in each act, THE BEATLES Champagne says, smiling. you have to be able to adjust LOVE “He was talking about how to everything—you have to Thursdayunsatisfied he was about translate to other acts, othMonday, 7 & The Beatles’ music. Can erwise you would need 400 9:30 p.m., $79you imagine? Now I don’t dancers in a show.” $192. Mirage, want to put myself as John Artistically, Cirque is as 702-792-7777. Lennon, but I kind of felt flexible as the band that that with Love.” inspired Love. That’s why this once And his co-conspirator shares in “no kissing” marriage has lasted. “I that spirit. “I wrote to my dad, who have felt this period as being between is 90 now, and I told him I am worktwo giants,” Champagne says. “The ing with artists who were born after Beatles and Cirque. I am almost the John Lennon died. Isn’t that amazimpostor, like maybe Steven Spielberg ing?” Martin says. “When we started should be the one doing this, where this, people really were saying, ‘What the artists are saying, ‘Who is this the hell are you doing? I mean, really, f*cking guy, coming in and saying he what the hell are you doing with this does not like this or that in a show Cirque show in Vegas?’ But there is so that is selling out every night?’ I am much heart and soul in this show. We coming in and shaking the tree of a want everybody to be in this room, show that is working.” and we want to make it even more But Champagne has the permisabout The Beatles.” sion of a Cirque-Beatles-MGM Resorts
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about us
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Associate Publisher Mark De Pooter (mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com) Industry Weekly Editor Brock Radke (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com) Industry Weekly Writer Leslie Ventura (leslie.ventura@gmgvegas.com) Contributors Mark Adams, Don Chareunsy, Sarah Feldberg, Erin Ryan, Kristy Totten Associate Creative Director Liz Brown (liz.brown@gmgvegas.com) Designers Corlene Byrd, Jon Estrada, Marvin Lucas Circulation Director Ron Gannon Art Director of Advertising and Marketing Services Sean Rademacher CEO, Publisher & Editor Brian Greenspun Chief Operating Officer Robert Cauthorn Group Publisher Gordon Prouty Managing Editor Ric Anderson Las Vegas Weekly Editor Spencer Patterson 2275 Corporate Circle, Suite 300 Henderson, NV 89074 lasvegasweekly.com/industry lasvegasweekly.com /lasvegasweekly /lasvegasweekly /lasvegasweekly
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Virgil Abloh DJs at Surrender and XS this week. Photo courtesy Wynn Las Vegas.
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It’s Calvin Harris season in Las Vegas, as the world’s topearning DJ and record-breaking phenomenon producer has nine nights at Omnia planned through April. And unless you’re going to Coachella, this is the only place to catch him this spring.
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An EDM philosophical thought experiment: If Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello are each making music and each playing Vegas club residencies, did Swedish House Mafia ever really stop?
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Dallas rapper/singer Post Malone came out of nowhere last year with infectious ballad “White Iverson,” a track that has since gone platinum and led to team-ups with 50 Cent and Fetty Wap. His album is set to drop in March; catch him first at Light.
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R&B stud Trey Songz is a Drai’s Live regular, but this weekend will be different. He’ll perform months-old mixtape To Whom It May Concern in its entirety for the first time ever (with a full band) on the Drai’s stage.
calvin harris & Oliver heldens by aarOn garcia; axwell by al pOwers; flOsstradamus by karl larsOn
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He’s collaborated with Tiësto, created his own label and accelerated the development of the future house genre, and Oliver Heldens is just 21 years old. Now on the eve of his first North American tour, the young Dutchman drops into Omnia for a midweek party.
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f there’s one person who could be credited with molding Kanye West into the Yeezy we know today (besides West himself), it’s Virgil Abloh. If you haven’t heard of him, that’s because for more than a decade, Abloh’s gig has mainly been behind the scenes, guiding and assisting Ye on how to be a more perfect Ye. As Kanye’s creative director, Abloh has influence on everything the hip-hop
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mogul does, from the clothes he wears to his album covers. Since landing the job as Kanye’s right-hand man in the early aughts, Abloh’s role in inflating West to the star we know today has been paramount. In 2013, Abloh began branching out on his own, bringing his own designer street-wear line Off-White to runways everywhere—he just showed at New York Fashion Week—and to high-end stores like Barneys and online cultfave Matches Fashion. A jack-of-alltrades, Abloh also happens to be damn good at spinning wax—which is exactly why he’ll be behind the decks at two Encore clubs this week.
DJing under the name Flat White, Abloh continues to ignite dancefloors in London with his U.K. hip-hop and grime-centric sets. Google footage of his gigs at English party spots Boiler Room and XOYO (he debuted The Life of Pablo track “Fade” in November at the latter) for a taste of what you’ll hear during his Vegas set. Knowing Abloh, anything he touches—or spins—will be golden. Virgil Abloh at Surrender at Encore, February 26; at XS at Encore, February 29. –Leslie Ventura
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oward Weiss is back in Las Vegas. After six years playing a key role in the development of Atlantic City nightlife with Caesars Entertainment’s East Coast operations team, the native New Yorker and former director of Pure Management Group is excited to explore his new role as vice president of daylife and nightlife operations for Penn National Gaming. “Obviously a lot has changed since I was out here with Pure,” he says. “There’s a lot more competition, but there’s a piece of the market that’s a little untapped because everyone is going after the same thing.”
pHotograpH by antHony Mair
With the development of two dayclubs at Penn’s properties, the Tropicana and the M Resort, Weiss will be going after something other than the Vegas Strip megaclub business. Trop’s new Sky Beach Club, debuting April 8, will be all about a loose party atmosphere, Weiss says, an accessible experience brimming with fun, interactive games, celebrity appearances and affordable bottle service. “People are looking for a fun experience at the right price, and we’ll be a lot more nimble and flexible in providing that,” compared to past pool-club efforts Nikki Beach and Bagatelle at the iconic Trop, he says.
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Later this year, Tropicana will launch a new nightclub on property as well, and at the M Resort south of the Strip, Weiss is fine-tuning the Daydream dayclub experience, already popular with locals and industry workers looking to relax on days off. Both Sky and Daydream will incorporate gaming into the mix, too, like swim-up blackjack tables. “Having the chance to get involved in these venues is a big opportunity, and I think I can conquer it,” Weiss says. “Both can be very successful if done the right way.” –Brock Radke
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Above & Beyond is (from left) Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki.
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f you’ve heard Above & Beyond’s ethereal “We Are All We Need”—and especially if you’ve been there when the British electronic trio has blasted it across the dancefloor at Hakkasan or Omnia— you know why the track earned A&B its first-ever Grammy nomination this year. Hypnotic, pulsating, romantic ... you want it to go on forever. It didn’t take home the trophy, however, in the Best Dance Recording category. “You don’t really have a shot
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at winning with Justin Bieber in the category, but it’s nice to be nominated given the number of records that came out,” says Tony McGuinness, who forms Above & Beyond with Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamäki. The Grammy dance-music landscape is very similar to today’s Vegas club-scene sound; both are stacked with talent, some of which goes overlooked when it’s all lumped into the category of commercialized music. “I do think Vegas, because of its overall makeup, doesn’t get a fair rap,” says McGuinness, who’s been playing the Strip with his mates for almost seven years. “People from outside don’t think about Vegas as the place where the world’s best restaurants and chefs are located, or shows like Cirque du Soleil. There are incredibly
talented artists performing there.” Above & Beyond is about to embark on a sequel to its Acoustic tour, playing iconic venues like LA’s Hollywood Bowl and London’s Royal Albert Hall, accompanied by a 15-piece orchestral ensemble. “We’ve effectively thrown the dance out of dance music, and imagined our songs as something completely different,” McGuinness says. “We get to play these much more classical, traditional venues, places Above & Beyond probably shouldn’t be allowed through the doors.” Above & Beyond at Hakkasan at MGM Grand, February 26. –Brock Radke
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he Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay is off the beaten path, tucked away atop the resort’s gleaming gold tower with entry only through a private elevator. But it’s an experience worth the hunt. After your ride all the way up, doors open to a dark and sultry Eastern-influenced ultralounge, where a Buddha welcomes partiers and the swirling scent of Nag Champa incense fills the room. It’s the ideal place to throw a soiree when the world’s most fashion-forward are your guests.
photogRaphs by peteR amend
MAGIC Market Week has come and gone, and yes, getting a sneak peek of next season’s styles makes MMW a must-attend event, but one could argue the mega-convention’s accompanying nightlife is the true magic—and the PoolTradeShow afterparty is no exception. A breakaway event within MAGIC, PoolTradeShow is a showcase for boutique retailers and is known for hosting one of the convention’s most electric parties at the Foundation Room.
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What makes it truly memorable? Is it the stylish guests? The Belvedere-sponsored open bar? The open-air terrace with breathtaking views of the city? Or is it the DJ, spinning everything from ’90s R&B to Beyoncé’s “Formation” and Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen”? The PoolTradeShow party had it all. Lucky for us, MAGIC touches down in Vegas twice a year, which means the party will be back in no time. You might want to mark your calendar now. –Leslie Ventura
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hen Boyz II Men stole the show performing “Beauty School Dropout” on Fox’s Grease: Live broadcast on January 31, the rest of the world witnessed what Vegas audiences have been discovering (and rediscovering) for almost three years now—these guys can really bring it, and they haven’t missed a beat.
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“Las Vegas is one of those rare cities where you have a different audience every single night, and you have to find a way to focus not only on having a great show, but learning to respond to whatever that audience wants that night,” explains Nathan Morris, the founding member and baritone voice of the best-selling R&B group of all time. “We weren’t sure how we were going to take Las Vegas, but it is what you make it. It’s one of those places you turn into whatever you want it to be, and we enjoy being there.”
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But there’s one place Morris enjoys being even more— home. Playing 34 weekends a year at the Mirage in addition to touring and studio time brings Morris an even greater appreciation for his new house in Apollo Beach, Florida. “I’ve got these 20-foot ceilings with huge windows along the back of the house, and the ocean’s right there,” he says. “When you’re around this much, you don’t get a chance to think. Here, I’ve got the sunset every day. As I’m getting older I’ve learned how to slow down and relax, to be patient. Our society moves so fast now, we don’t take the time.” That kind of relaxation sounds like an obsession we should all develop. Boyz II Men at Mirage, February 26-28, April 1-3 & 15-17. –Brock Radke
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hen you think of dining at the Palms, images of perfectly charred beef at the eternally hip N9NE Steakhouse inevitably come to mind, or perhaps it’s the haute cuisine from top-of-the-tower twins Alizé and Nove Italiano. But don’t sleep on the exhilarating flavors at Lao Sze Chuan, one of the off-Strip resort’s newest and perhaps most overlooked restaurant options.
T a s T e Chinese experience. If the spicy turns you on, check out the dry chili chicken as well, adding a deep, smoky burn to the mix. Balance it with the crispy lemon shrimp, a truly addictive bite, and the simple but indulgent teasmoked duck. For a real family-style experience, share the hot pot, a spread as fun as it is delicious. But also be sure to order the lamb with cumin, another fiery plate with richness to spare. Lao Sze Chuan at the Palms, 702-990-8888. Daily, 5-10:30 p.m. –Brock Radke
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Chef Tony Hu’s signature three-chili chicken is the most buzzed-about dish on this menu, as sizzling as it is savory. But consider it merely the jumping-off point into a vast, dynamic, authentic
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arm to table? For this effervescent infusion cocktail, it’s fresh to taste. Chef Roy Ellamar’s new restaurant Harvest, like his previous venture Sensi in the same location at Bellagio, prides itself on the freshest of regionally sourced and sustainable ingredients, and the cranberry desert sage infusion is a perfect complement.
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A clear, round container that looks like the end of a magnifying glass—a porthole infusion jar, to be technical and impress friends—houses this modern-day nectar of the gods. The accompanying glassware, with white-etched design, is rightfully Bellagio-fancy. The cocktail itself is light and refreshing, a sort of alcoholic fruit salad concoction. The stars are Absolut Elyx vodka and Leopold Bros. maraschino liqueur, and the co-stars are the essence of cranberries, persimmon, kumquat, desert sage syrup and lemon and white cranberry juices.
The beautiful and pristine presentation—with persimmon and lemon slices and whole cranberries in the jar, plus sage as a garnish in the glass— serves about four glasses, perfect for sharing. Or not. Harvest, which opened in late December, is a wonderful bounty of the season’s best, and this infusion is a reason to be enthused. Harvest by Roy Ellamar at Bellagio, 702-693-8865. Daily, 5-10 p.m. –Don Chareunsy
POWER
MUSIC FESTIVAL MARCH 10TH - 13TH 2016 DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
TY SEGALL & THE MUGGERS + NEON INDIAN MELVINS + BEACH SLANG + SAGE FRANCIS
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER + BIG BUSINESS + CHUCK RAGAN
LA SERA + EL TEN ELEVEN + JAMES SUPERCAVE + TIJUANA PANTHERS COLLEEN GREEN + MOVING UNITS + OPEN MIKE EAGLE + MYNABIRDS LEOPOLD AND HIS FICTION + MELISSA BROOKS AND THE AQUADOLLS + BABES
WHEELCHAIR SPORTS CAMP + ASTRONAUTS, ETC. + GEMS + MY BODY SINGS ELECTRIC CHAOS CHAOS + SEGO + SADGIRL + FAILURE MACHINE + HAUNTED SUMMER + PARTYBABY
LOLIPOP RECORDS CARAVAN + ALL-NIGHT VISITORS + THE ALL-TOGETHERS + THE ASTAIRES + AVALON LANDING BIG FRIENDLY CORPORATION + BLACK CAMARO + CAMERON CALLOWAY + CHINA + CLOSE TO MODERN DARK BLACK + DIRTY HOOKS + DJ FISH + DUSTY SUNSHINE + FREDWARD + GLASS POOLS + GOD始S AMERICA GOOD GRIEF + HEADWINDS + HEKTOR RAWKERZ + HUNGRY CLOUD + ILLICITOR + JACKSON WILCOX JACOB SAVAGE + JESSE PINO + JEFF MIX & THE SONGHEARTS + KERFOOT & DAU + KITZE + THE CPUs LATE FOR DINNER + LEATHER LUNGS + THE LIQUE + THE MAPES + MERCY MUSIC + MOONBOOTS + NARROWED ON THE OTHER HAND + PAIGE OVERTON + PET TIGERS + PHIL A & HASSAN + THE PLURALSES + THE QUITTERS PROFESSOR REX DART + THE RABBIT HOLE + RICHARD GREWAR + RUSTY MAPLES + SAME SEX MARY SNAP MURPHY + SPECIAL K + TIN TOY CARS + TOTESCITY + ULYSSES DIAZ + WIZDUMB + MANY MORE!
FOR TICKETING & INFO VISIT: NEONREVERB.COM
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Keep your eyes on Jo (left) and Bree.
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That was 10 years ago. “Now we are family,” says DeLano, aka DJ 88, who has held residencies from Downtown to the Strip, curated countless musical events and soundtracked Fremont Street’s game-changing venue Insert Coin(s).
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f you know what’s going on in music and food in Las Vegas today, you already know Bree DeLano and Jolene Mannina. Maybe you just didn’t know they’re BFFs. Born in New Orleans, Mannina—creator of the Relish culinary events company, the Late Nite Chef Fight TV show and many, many delicious local experiences—first met DeLano while working at the Palms, when the LAborn DeLano was brand-new to Vegas.
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Mannina and DeLano are frequent collaborators, too, having found their styles to be similar. “We’re both capable of doing a lot of different things, and known for taking the extra steps that lead to results that are a bit more polished,” Mannina says. “I think people seek out the things we do because we’re both very adamant about doing things outside the box,” DeLano says. “Our common denominator is our personal and professional style. We’re definitely the get sh*t done girls.”
And they don’t let up. Mannina maintains her stranglehold on the city’s coolest food events, from the upcoming Great Vegas Festival of Beer to serving as director of F&B for the returning Further Future music festival. DeLano just delivered her second Pop-Up party at Ghostbar, a music-first series celebrating a galaxy of sonic genres, and continues her cultural curation through her 88 Ways podcast and appearances as Fox’s local music correspondent. These friends are two of the under-thesurface local industry titans who make our city’s special events special. And it’s hard not to keep an eye on them. –Brock Radke
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2/26 Sean Perry. 2/27 DJ Gusto. 3/2 Jason Derulo. 3/4 Scott Disick. 3/5 Cirque Le Soir. 3/11 Malika & Khadija Haqq. 3/12 DJ Gusto. 3/18 Scott Disick. 3/19 DJ Gusto. Mirage, 702-693-8300.
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2/25 Kid Conrad. 2/26 DJ Que. 2/27 R. City. 2/28 DJ Ikon. 3/3 Kid Conrad. 3/4 DJ Que. 3/5 DJ Turbulence. 3/6 DJs Shift & Que. 3/10 Kid Conrad. 3/11 DJ Que. 3/12 DJ Crooked. 3/13 DJ Karma. 3/17 Kid Conrad. 3/18 DJ Que. 3/19 DJ Turbulence. Bellagio, 702-693-8300.
C HAT E AU 2/26 DJ Darkerdaze. 3/4 Mike Carbonell. 3/5 DJ ShadowRed. Paris, 702-776-7770.
DRA I ’S 2/25 E-Rock. 2/26 Ross One. 2/27 Trey Songz. 2/28 DJ Franzen. 3/3 Esco. 3/4 Nelly. 3/6 Torey Lanez. 3/10 Justin Credible. 3/11 50 Cent. 3/12 Chris Brown. 3/18 Big Sean. 3/19 50 Cent. Cromwell, 702-777-3800.
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Francis. 3/11 Yellow Claw. 3/12 Big Boi. 3/16 Marshmello. 3/18 Marshmello. Encore, 702-770-7300.
Opens spring 2016 at Aria. 2/25 DJ Seany Mac. 2/26 DJs Sam I Am & Mark Mac. 2/27 DJs Sam I Am & Greg Lopez. 2/29 DJ Sam I Am. 3/1 Kay the Riot. 3/2 DJ Sincere. 3/3 DJ Seany Mac. 3/4 DJs Sam I Am & Mark Mac. 3/5 DJs Sam I Am & Greg Lopez. 3/7 DJ Sam I Am. 3/8 Kay the Riot. 3/9 DJ Sincere. 3/10 DJ Seany Mac. Mandalay Bay, 702-632-7631.
G H OST B A R 2/25 Benny Black. 2/26-2/27 DJs Exodus & Mark Stylz. 2/28 DJ Shred. 2/29 DJ Seany Mac. Palms, 702-942-6832.
H A K KASA N 2/25 Dada Life. 2/26 Above & Beyond. 2/27 Axwell. 2/28 3LAU. 3/3 DVBBS. 3/4 Showtek. 3/5 Tiësto. 3/6 Mark Eteson. 3/10 The Chainsmokers. 3/11 Dada Life. 3/12 Ingrosso. 3/13 Steve Aoki. 3/17 Calvin Harris. 3/18 Lil Jon. 3/19 Tiësto. MGM Grand, 702-891-3838.
TAO L AX 3/10 Too Short. Luxor, 702-262-4529.
L I G H T 2/26 Eric DLux. 2/27 Post Malone. 3/2 Eric DLux. 3/4 Jayceeoh. 3/5 Morgan Page. 3/9 Baauer’s Studio B. 3/11 Party Favor. 3/12 Disclosure. 3/18 Stafford Brothers. 3/19 Baauer. Mandalay Bay, 702-632-4700.
M A R Q U EE 2/26 Vice. 2/27 Cedric Gervais. 2/29 Politik. 3/4 Benny Benassi. 3/5 Galantis. 3/7 Juicy J. 3/11 Dash Berlin. 3/12 Benny Benassi. 3/14 Cash Cash. 3/18 Dash Berlin. 3/19 Porter Robinson. Cosmopolitan, 702-333-9000.
O M N I A H Y D E 2/26 DJ Ikon. 2/27 DJ Skratchy. 3/6 XIV Sessions. 3/19 Joe Jonas. Bellagio, 702-693-8700.
F OX TA I L 2/26 DJ Hollywood. 2/27 Ja Rule. 3/5 Sean Paul. 3/11 DJ Hollywood. 3/12 Bow Wow. 3/18 Borgore. 3/19 ASAP Ferg. SLS, 702-761-7621.
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2/26 Calvin Harris. 2/27 Nicky Romero. 3/1 Oliver Heldens. 3/4 Calvin Harris. 3/5 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. 3/8 Calvin Harris. 3/11 Calvin Harris. 3/12 Chuckie. 3/15 Nervo. 3/18 Calvin Harris. Caesars Palace, 702-785-6200.
I N T R I G U E Opens April 28 at Wynn.
S U R R EN D ER 2/26 Virgil Abloh. 2/27 Flosstradamus. 3/2 RL Grime. 3/4 A-Trak. 3/5 DJ Snake. 3/9 Dillon
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2/25 DJ Five. 2/26 Enferno. 2/27 Politik. 3/3 DJ Five. 3/4 Politik. 3/5 Eric DLux. 3/10 DJ Five. 3/11 Justin Credible. 3/12 Eric DLux. 3/17 Jerzy. 3/18 DJ Wellman. 3/19 DJ Five. Venetian, 702-388-8588.
XS 2/26 Audien. 2/27 DJ Snake. 2/28 DJ Five. 2/29 Virgil Abloh. 3/4 Zedd. 3/5 David Guetta. 3/6 Jerzy. 3/7 Flosstradamus. 3/8 Major Lazer. 3/11 Alesso. 3/12 David Guetta. 3/13 Justin Credible. 3/14 Slander. 3/18 Martin Solveig. 3/19 Alesso. Encore, 702-770-0097.
DAYC L U B S BARE Opens for the season March 11. Mirage, 702-693-8300. DAYLIGHT Opens for the season March 12. Mandalay Bay, 702-6324700. ENCORE BEACH CLUB Opens for the season March 4. Encore, 702770-7300. LIQUID Opens for the season March 11. Aria, 702-693-8300. PALMS POOL & DAYCLUB Opens for the season March 11. Palms, 702-942-6832. REHAB Opens for the season March 11. Hard Rock Hotel, 702693-5505. WET REPUBLIC Opens for the season March 11. MGM Grand, 702-891-3563.
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#industry weekly
Just another night at 1 OAK with one of the greatest pop icons of all time. No big deal. Put your pictures here! Share your most Vegas moments. Bring us behind your scenes. Capture the night with #IndustryWeekly.
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Arts&Entertainment Movies + Music + Art + Food
Hands on Barrick Museum’s Visitor Made has guests responding to art in the moment
> Cloud City Pastel paint will fly with the Color Run in town on Saturday.
Trust Us
Stuff you’ll want to know about go the color run Be a human canvas during this
color run by AIDA AHMED; visitor made by mikayla withmore
5K, during which Downtown runners get regularly doused in powdered paint. It’s exercise, sure, but it’s also a selfie gold mine. February 27, 8 a.m., $15-$40. breaking bad Walter White’s favorite meth-cooking getup, plus two gas masks and a rubber apron also used in the revered TV show, are now on permanent display at the Mob Museum. Begins February 26. southwest tea fest Raise a glass, er, cup throughout the day at this inaugural bevvie fest, which features samples, blind tastings, an art walk, live music and presentations like “Matcha—Fact or Fiction.” February 27, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $20, Downtown 3rd Farmers Market.
Hear behind city lights Bust out your dancing shoes, as electro-soul artist/ DJ Georgia Anne Muldrow headlines this Downtown party, which also
features Vegas DJs and the Chicago footwork crew Teklife Terra Squad. February 26, 9 p.m., free, Velveteen Rabbit. phil lesh When Las Vegas last saw the Grateful Dead bassist, he was being beamed in from Chicago for a trio of era-capping concerts. This time, catch Lesh in the flesh, either with his musical Friends on Friday and Saturday night or with The Terrapin Family band on Sunday afternoon. February 26 & 27, 8 p.m., $65-$100; February 28, 1 p.m., $30-$35; Brooklyn Bowl. TSUNAMI BOMB “So long, been swell, see you in hell!” shouts Emily Whitehurst on the pop-punk act’s “Lemonade.” She’s still gone, but the band (and replacement vocalist Kate Jacobi) are back, touring behind the new rarities comp Trust No One. With The Quitters, Roxy Gunn Project, Rayner. February 27, 8 p.m., $10-$13, Beauty Bar.
see NEIL YOUNG & IMAGINE DRAGONS
The songwriting giant screens his music features Human Highway and Rust Never Sleeps at local cineplexes on February 29, and the Vegas-born band does the same with its Smoke + Mirrors concert film on March 2. times vary, $12.50-$22, visit fathomevents.com for locations.
The beauty of the Barrick Museum lies not only in its rotating contemporary art exhibits, but also in its educational, interactive art-making events: the ongoing Art Bar, available to anyone who stops in to make works from the ample pile of materials in the lobby, to visitor-made guides of the outside desert garden, to the annual Day of the Dead altar/time capsule, to Visitor Made, an ongoing Third Thursday public art-making experience based on works featured in the current exhibit. There’s been a Visitor Made blind contour drawing night based on artist Wendy Kveck’s work in the group show Break Ups and Tear Downs, collage-making Visitor inspired by JK Russ’ Made Third found-image landscapes Thursdays, in the same show 4-7 p.m., and, most recently, an free. UNLV’s Ellsworth Kelly night, Barrick in which the discussion Museum, centered on the difficulty 702-895-3381. of creating minimalist art. “Simplicity is harder to get,” Mark Garcia says, adding that Kelly’s angles are surprisingly impossible to measure up to. Established after the success of 2014’s visitor-made ex-votos for Private/Public: Images of Devotion From 19th and Early 20th Century Mexico, Visitor Made stems from program director Aurore Giguet’s interest in having a tactile experience to go with exhibits. Visitors toil away at a table in the lobby with construction paper, X-Acto knives and protractors, testing the “My kid could make that” claim heard at contemporary art museums. “It’s important that they are studies, that they can make four or five things and not this one, museum-ready product,” says staffer Alisha Kerlin, adding that Visitor Made teaches people who don’t normally make art to consider composition and choices artists make. Next month, it’s “Sticker Stories,” sticker and mylar works inspired by a piece by Eun Young Choi in the main gallery. –Kristen Peterson
February 25-MARCH 2, 2016 LasVegasWeekly.com
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A&E | pop culture C U LT U R A L AT TAC H M E N T
The fame monster
Coming to terms with a sudden case of Gaga hate By Smith Galtney
> hammy at the grammys Lady Gaga as Ziggy Stardust.
wasn’t just about costumes and quick changes and cool staging. Bowie actually rocked. Before you accuse me of being a grizzled, rockist old fart, know that I’ve never been a stickler for authenticity. I’ve always preferred the pop artifice of a synth-pop group like Pet Shop Boys to the socalled pure skills of an American Idol contestant. The most common rave I hear about Gaga—“she’s so talented!”—rings hollow to me. I mean, have you ever listened to, say, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and thought, “Gee, she’s really talented?” No, you’re all sweaty and catching your breath and loving life.
MANPOWER
IS HIRING Manpower
Too often, I hear or see Gaga and all I can muster is, “She really does have a very capable voice.” Obviously the woman can put it to good use. Her 2015 Oscar tribute to The Sound of Music was impressive. Her delivery of the National Anthem at Super Bowl 50 was pretty first-rate. But is it too much to ask that she stop acting like some pretentious opera diva and stay away from my beloved Bowie? Right now, Gaga feels like Barbra Streisand in the ’70s, desperate for relevancy, trying to be too many things at once, and unfit for delivering even a passable rendition of “Life on Mars?”
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When Lady Gaga won a Golden Globe last month for (deep breath) Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, the big “news” was how Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to mock her as she made her way to the stage. (Leo denied this, but he apologized anyway, because that’s what famous people do these days.) The real spectacle, however, was Gaga’s awkward, unintentionally hilarious acceptance speech. Eager to play the grand Hollywood dame, Gaga was breathless, stunned with gratitude as she thanked the cast and crew. “Because of you,” she said, fighting back well-timed tears, “I was able to shine … I guess.” Halle Berry’s Oscar meltdown felt calm by comparison. Except this was for, you know, a Golden Globe. For American Horror Story: Hotel, no less. WTF!? If it sounds like I’m being harsh, well, I’m feeling a lot of Gaga hate lately. I don’t know where it’s coming from. But it’s been sudden, and it’s disturbing. While I’ve never qualified as a Lady Gaga fan— “Poker Face” is the closest I’ve come to genuinely loving one of her songs—I’ve always appreciated her presence: the meat-dress parades, her love of the gays, her willingness to work with anyone from Clarence Clemons to Marina Abramovic. I also admired how she responded to her declining record sales by playing smaller venues, touring alongside Tony Bennett, singing showtunes at the Oscars. These aren’t the choices of some chart-obsessed megalomaniac, hell-bent on world dominion. They’re the moves of a career-focused artist who’s got the big picture in mind. I think that’s pretty classy. But after the Golden Globes came the Grammys, and with the Grammys came Gaga’s David Bowie tribute. Bowie had barely been dead a month, yet for some reason, she thought it appropriate to present the performance as an Intel ad. She crammed about 50 songs into a rushed medley that was all flash and just wrong. Surely many folks thought it was a perfect match—they both dig weird outfits!—but Bowie
A&E | screen AWA R D S
> police work Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck secure a crime scene.
Beyond Best Picture Five lower-profile Oscar nominees worth watching Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) British character actor Rylance is expected to lose to Sylvester Stallone (Creed), but his dignified performance as an accused Soviet spy is the kind the Academy should recognize more. Best Documentary: Cartel Land Although it follows the Academy-approved path of tackling a hotbutton social issue, Cartel Land isn’t a bludgeoning lecture. Its account of two vigilante ACADEMY groups on either side of the U.S.Mexico border makes the abstract AWARDS policy issue of drug smuggling February visceral and engrossing. 28, 5:30 p.m., ABC.
Best Foreign Language Film: Mustang The intense Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul is a runaway favorite to win this award, but this joyous, uplifting Turkish film is an equally wonderful achievement, a celebration of sisterly bonds in the face of the harsh realities of rigid patriarchy.
FILM
Cops and robbers
Triple 9 starts with a bang but struggles to follow up By Josh Bell setting up his straight-arrow partner (Casey Affleck) Thriller Triple 9 begins with an exciting, superbto get murdered by a disgruntled gang member, in ly crafted heist sequence that recalls Michael Mann’s order to serve as a distraction. crime epic Heat, setting up expectations that the There are a lot of shifting alliances and doublerest of the movie mostly fails to meet. A crew of crosses among the movie’s various cops and crimihighly trained robbers infiltrates a bank in downnals, but despite a stacked cast (also includtown Atlanta, honing in on the single valuing Woody Harrelson and Aaron Paul, plus able item they need to steal and successKate Winslet having a great time as an fully intimidating and coercing employees aaacc evil Russian mob boss), the characters are without having to kill anyone. Then their TRIPLE 9 getaway goes all wrong, leading to a tense Chiwetel Ejiofor, pretty thinly sketched, and Hillcoat and screenwriter Matt Cook misjudge which car chase and standoff with police, from Casey Affleck, Anthony ones are the most interesting (the movie which the team barely escapes. Director John Hillcoat (The Proposition, Mackie. Directed continues far too long after the best characThe Road) immediately grabs the audience’s by John Hillcoat. ters have been killed off ). There’s another heist toward the end that demonstrates attention with this sequence, and then has Rated R. Opens Hillcoat’s skills at orchestrating large-scale trouble holding it for most of the next 100 Friday citywide. action and cross-cutting to build maximum minutes. The members of the team, led by suspense, and there are enough turns in the plot to former military contractor Michael Atwood (Chiwetel sustain at least mild interest. Following the opening Ejiofor), get bogged down in a plot for an even more sequence, though, mild interest is the best the movie complicated job, one that involves crew member can manage. Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie), a corrupt cop,
Best Animated Short Film: World of Tomorrow Animator Don Hertzfeldt has been making simple, deceptively profound short films since ’95, and this sci-fi meditation on regret is funny, moving and weird. Unlike a lot of nominated shorts, this one is easily accessible: You can watch it now on Netflix. Best Adapted Screenplay: Carol Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy was a longtime friend of author Patricia Highsmith, and she spent nearly 20 years working to adapt Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt. While the nominated performances are excellent, it’s Nagy’s well-constructed screenplay that forms the movie’s backbone. –Josh Bell
FILM
Michael “Eddie” Edwards has lived a fascinating life, including an improbable appearance at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where he represented Great Britain in ski jumping despite having only taken up the sport two years earlier (he came in dead last). The quirky, bespectacled Edwards (nicknamed “The Eagle”) became a pop-culture sensation and is still a minor celebrity in his home country. ¶ You can learn all of that from Edwards’ Wikipedia page, and it would probably make for a great documentary. But the creators of heavily fictionalized biopic Eddie the Eagle (starring Taron Egerton as Edwards) must not have thought it was interesting enough, since they’ve molded Edwards’ underdog sports story into a sappy, contrived, selfconsciously wacky family comedy, complete with an entirely fictional American coach played by Hugh Jackman. The movie is phonier and more manipulative than the prefab backstory video packages that air during the actual Olympics, and it doesn’t even have the advantage of showcasing the real guy. –Josh Bell
The agony of defeat
aaccc EDDIE THE EAGLE Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley. Directed by Dexter Fletcher. Rated PG-13. Opens Friday citywide.
February 25-MARCH 2, 2016 LasVegasWeekly.com
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A&E | SCREEN TV
Burn this house down
Netflix panders to nostalgia with the awful Fuller House By Josh Bell
Let’s get one thing straight: Full House was terrible. The long-running sitcom, which helped launch ABC’s family-friendly TGIF comedy lineup, was a morass of bad jokes, hammy acting, overused catch phrases, disingenuous moral lessons and excessive group hugs. When it finally ended in 1995 after eight shamefully popular seasons, TV was better off. But the rampant, toxic nostalgia of the generation that grew up watching shows like Full House, fueled by lazy memes and pandering, content-free clickbait, has kept the show’s memory alive. Now Netflix, driven by algorithms that dictate what viewers want put in front of them with the least amount of effort, has added Full House to its long list of TV and movie revivals. In one sense, the team behind Fuller House, which is led by original Full House creator and executive producer Jeff Franklin, has done a fantastic job: They’ve successfully recaptured all of the terribleness of Full House, while updating it with new terribleness acccc marketed at a self-aware, pseudoFULLER ironic audience of millennials. The HOUSE first episode reunites nearly every Season 1 major actor from the original Full available House run, with the exception of February 26 twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, on Netflix. who have moved on from acting to oversee a billion-dollar fashion empire. As such, the extra-long pilot is like a liveaction BuzzFeed listicle, cramming in every catch phrase, nostalgic callback and self-referential wink (the mention of the Olsens’ character Michelle is accompanied by all the actors literally looking right at the audience) it possibly can. From there, the show settles into its basic premise, as the now grown-up sisters D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure) and Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) move into their former family home in San Francisco to raise D.J.’s three sons, with the help of childhood friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber) and her daughter. It’s an inversion of the original concept, which found D.J. and Stephanie’s dad raising his three
> more cheese, please The cast of Fuller House.
daughters with the help of his brother-in-law and best friend. While Bure, Sweetin and Barber form the core of the cast, fellow original stars Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier and Lori Loughlin basically disappear after the pilot, making only sporadic appearances in later episodes. Those later episodes are on the level of a lesser Disney Channel or Nickelodeon sitcom, with the annoying kids taking up far too much of the spotlight (D.J.’s son Max even has his own inane catch phrase: “Holy chalupas!”). There are belabored jokes (including some clumsily risqué humor),
overwrought messages and lots of disconcertingly uproarious laughs from the (certainly enhanced) studio audience. Bure, Sweetin and Barber, close friends since their tenure on the original show, seem to be having a lot of fun spending time together, and those fans who simply want to see old friends back in a familiar place will probably have fun, too. But Fuller House is like the childhood friend who never grew up, who still lives at home, still hangs out at places frequented by teenagers, still makes the same dated pop-culture references. Visiting that person usually isn’t fun; it’s just sad.
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Experience Capture 2
A&E | screen | short takes Special screenings Best Picture Showcase 2/27, marathon of Oscar Best Picture nominees, 10 am, $25. Theaters: TS An Evening With Neil Young 2/29, Neil Young films Human Highway, Rust Never Sleeps, broadcast of Neil Young Q&A, 7:30 pm, $13-$15. Theaters: ORL, SF, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com. Imagine Dragons: Smoke & Mirrors 3/2, concert documentary, 7:30 pm, $13-$15. Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, ST, VS. Info: fathomevents.com. Male Baggage 2/27, documentary screening, presentation by filmmaker/ author Quinton Morgan, 6 pm, $20, includes autographed book. Big Springs Theater at Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Info: quintonmorgan.com. Oscar Nominated Short Films 2/26-2/28, animated and liveaction programs, times vary, $10. Theaters: SC, SP Sci Fi Center Mon, Cinemondays, 8 pm, free. 2/27, Glen or Glenda, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live shadow cast, 8 pm, $10. 5077 Arville St., 855-5014335, thescificenter.com. Tuesday Afternoon at the Bijou Tue, 1 pm, free. 3/1, Jezebel. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
New this week Eddie the Eagle aaccc Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, Jo Hartley. Directed by Dexter Fletcher. 105 minutes. Rated PG-13. See review Page 21. Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, GVL, ORL, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX Gods of Egypt (Not reviewed) Gerard Butler, Nikolaj CosterWaldau, Brenton Thwaites. Directed by Alex Proyas. 127 minutes. Rated PG-13. A young man enlists the help of powerful beings to save his true love. Theaters: AL, CH, DI, FH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS The Mermaid (Not reviewed) Deng Chao, Show Luo, Lin Yun. Directed by Stephen Chow. 94 minutes. Rated R. In Mandarin with English subtitles. A businessman
angers powerful mermaids when he disrupts their habitat. Theaters: TS Triple 9 aaacc Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie. Directed by John Hillcoat. 115 minutes. Rated R. See review Page 21. Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, DI, FH, GVL, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS
N ow p l ay i n g 45 Years aaabc Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, Geraldine James. Directed by Andrew Haigh. 95 minutes. Rated R. Rampling’s Oscar-nominated performance anchors a movie that is sometimes too understated for its own good. She plays one half of a married couple whose relationship is rocked by unexpected news on the eve of their 45th anniversary. Rampling’s reactions tell the story beautifully even when the filmmaking is a bit opaque. –JB Theaters: SC Busco Novio Para Mi Mujer (Not reviewed) Sandra Echeverría, Arath de la Torre, Jesús Ochoa. Directed by Enrique Begne. 92 minutes. Rated PG-13. In Spanish with English subtitles. A man hires a professional gigolo to seduce his wife and help end his marriage. Theaters: BS, ORL, PAL, SC, TS, TX Deadpool aaacc Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein. Directed by Tim Miller. 108 minutes. Rated R. The long-inthe-works movie starring sarcastic, ultraviolent Marvel Comics antihero Deadpool (Reynolds) is vulgar, gory and self-aware. In between his dirty jokes and self-referential insults, Deadpool participates in a fairly familiar superhero origin story. Only about half the jokes land, but the enthusiasm of the production makes up for the rest. –JB Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, DI, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS Hail, Caesar! aabcc Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. This shaggy-dog mystery set in 1950s Hollywood does a great job at crafting vintage movie pastiches, but stumbles when it comes to comedy and building a cohesive narrative. Brolin plays a studio “fixer” who spends his day solving various problems in a string of amusing but jumbled set pieces.
–JB Theaters: BS, GVR, SC How to Be Single aaccc Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann, Alison Brie. Directed by Christian Ditter. 110 minutes. Rated R. How to Be Single mashes several mediocre romantic comedies into one movie as it chronicles the dating lives of various single New Yorkers. The cast (especially Wilson) is up for anything, but the story arcs are formulaic, and the dialogue is full of clichés, with only occasional funny lines. –JB Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS Kung Fu Panda 3 aaacc Voices of Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, J.K. Simmons. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni. 95 minutes. Rated PG. This time around, kung fu panda Po (Black) must master the traditional Chinese concept of ch’i in order to take down a mystically powered bad guy. At this point, there’s really nothing new to discover in a KFP movie, but it’s still nice to see old friends every so often. –JB Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DI, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SP, SS, TS, TX The Lady in the Van aabcc Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Roger Allam. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13. Smith plays an irascible but lovable homeless woman in this genial, banal adaptation of Alan Bennett’s autobiographical stage play. Smith’s eccentric, van-dwelling Mary and Jennings’ fussy Alan form an unlikely friendship, learn important life lessons and have a few predictably wacky misunderstandings along the way. –JB Theaters: COL, ORL, SF, SP, VS Race aabcc Stephan James, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons. Directed by Stephen Hopkins. 134 minutes. Rated PG-13. Biopics don’t come much more conventional than this rote, formulaic account of the early life and career of Olympic track and field star Jesse Owens (James), most famous for winning four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Director Hopkins renders it all in broad strokes, with a bland, TV-movie flatness. –JB Theaters: AL, BS, CAN, CH, COL, DTS, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, SF, SC, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX Risen abccc Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth. Directed by Kevin Reynolds.
107 minutes. Rated PG-13. This ridiculous religious drama makes Jesus’ resurrection into a plodding procedural, led by Fiennes as a Roman tribune looking for the supposed messiah’s dead body. The movie is dull and drab and fails at both historical dramatization and religious inspiration. –JB Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, COL, GVL, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS Son of Saul aaabc Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnár, Urs Rechn. Directed by László Nemes. 107 minutes. Rated R. In Hungarian, Yiddish and German with English subtitles. Hungarian filmmaker Nemes manages to make the horrors of the Holocaust immediate and visceral again with this haunting Oscar-nominated drama about a Jew forced to aid the Nazis at Auschwitz. Nemes uses a narrow visual focus to place the audience alongside his main character, experiencing the same disorientation and panic. –JB Theaters: GVR, SC The Witch aaaac Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie. Directed by Robert Eggers. 90 minutes. Rated R. Set in 1630, Eggers’ Sundance sensation turns the 17th century itself into a place of horror, using archaic dialogue lifted verbatim from historical documents. The film terrifies not with hackneyed jump scares, but with a dark vision of a world so divorced from our own that it might as well be another planet. –MD Theaters: AL, CAN, CH, DI, GVR, ORL, PAL, RP, RR, SF, SHO, SP, SS, ST, TS, TX, VS Zoolander 2 aaccc Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz. Directed by Ben Stiller. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13. Stiller and Wilson return as moronic supermodel Derek Zoolander and his rival/best friend Hansel, but this sequel to the 2001 comedy is disappointingly slapdash, with a plot even more nonsensical than the original, performances that fail to capture what made the characters entertaining, and a cavalcade of celebrity cameos in place of jokes. –JB Theaters: AL, BS, CH, COL, DI, PAL, RP, RR, SC, SF, SHO, SP, SS, TS, TX
T h e at e r s (AL) Regal Aliante 7300 Aliante Parkway, 844-462-7342 ext. 4011 (BS) Regal Boulder Station 4111 Boulder Highway, 844-462-7342 ext. 269 (PAL) Brenden Theatres Palms, 702-507-4849 (CAN) Galaxy Cannery 2121 E. Craig Road, 702-639-9779 (CH) Cinedome Henderson 851 S. Boulder Highway, 702-566-1570 (COL) Regal Colonnade 8880 S. Eastern Ave., 844-462-7342 ext. 270 (DI) Las Vegas Drive-In 4150 W. Carey Ave., 702-646-3565 (DTS) Regal Downtown Summerlin 2070 Park Center Drive, 844-462-7342 ext. 4063 (FH) Regal Fiesta Henderson 777 W. Lake Mead Pkwy., 844-462-7342 ext. 1772 (GVR) Regal Green Valley Ranch 2300 Paseo Verde Pkwy., 844-462-7342 ext. 267 (GVL) Galaxy Green Valley Luxury+ 4500 E. Sunset Road, 702-442-0244 (ORL) Century Orleans 4500 W. Tropicana Ave., 702-889-1220 (RP) AMC Rainbow Promenade 2321 N. Rainbow Blvd., 888-262-4386 (RR) Regal Red Rock 11011 W. Charleston Blvd., 844-462-7342 ext. 1756 (ST) Century Sam’s Town 5111 Boulder Highway, 702-547-1732 (SF) Century Santa Fe Station 4949 N. Rancho Drive, 702-655-8178 (SHO) United Artists Showcase 3769 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 844-462-7342 ext. 522 (SP) Century South Point 9777 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-260-4061 (SC) Century Suncoast 9090 Alta Drive, 702-869-1880 (SS) Regal Sunset Station 1301-A W. Sunset Road, 844-462-7342 ext. 268 (TX) Regal Texas Station 2101 Texas Star Lane, 844-462-7342 ext. 271
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A&E | NOISE C O N C E RT
> When the Earth Moves Jefferson Airplane/Starship founding member Paul Kantner died last month at age 74.
Winter slaughter At the Gates heads up a solid if undersuppported metal bill
ARCHIVES
Sonic flashback
Jefferson Starship // June 5, 1993 // Junefest By Dennis Mitchell
24W LasVegasWeekly.com February 25-MARCH 2, 2016
group and how it evolved into the lineup that would appear that day. Casady was even more so, discussing the band’s determination to remain relevant and true to its original message. Kantner wanted no part of the conversation until I asked Casady about Gould’s role and how she’d been chosen as the modern-day female vocalist. He then chimed in briefly with compliments about her talent and an assurance that she was exactly the right person for that job. On a cold, nasty day in Las Vegas (it still stands as the coldest June 5 here ever), we knew the jig was up with regard to any of the “hit” Starship material as soon as the group opened with “She Has Funny Cars” from 1967’s Surrealistic Pillow. That kicked off a hot set of vintage Airplane tunes including “Crown of Creation” and “3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds,” and the pre-Thomas Starship standout “Ride the Tiger.” And what better closing number than “Volunteers,” especially when the audience was enduring Woodstock-like storm conditions? The Starship lifted off from Vegas a couple hours after hitting its last notes at Junefest, to played another outdoor concert that night in LA, as part of the Troubadours of Folk tour. I’ll always cherish the wonderful, wind-blown 40 minutes we got before they left, as the Vegas crowd basked in some Haight-Ashbury heritage at its best.
at the gates by spencer burton
Anytime we lose someone who entertained us and impacted our lives, we naturally think back to things that stood out about them. When I heard that Paul Kantner died January 28, I immediately thought of the first Junefest concert presented by KKLZ radio in 1993. The headliners that day were The Allman Brothers Band, with support from Stephen Stills, Eddie Money and Jefferson Starship. In selecting Starship from a list of available acts, station executives were assured the band would perform a set of its 1980s hits, with a lineup that included Mickey Thomas as lead singer. This meant blockbuster radio songs like “Jane” and “We Built This City.” Apparently, no one pointed out that Thomas wasn’t actually in the band at the time, and that the group instead featured psychedelic-era members Kantner, Marty Balin, Jack Casady and Papa John Creach, with the outstanding Darby Gould filling Grace Slick’s vocal role. Those of us on the KKLZ staff quickly surmised that if the group actually did play any of its MTV stuff, it would sound a bit strange without a powerhouse male lead singer or Craig Chaquico, whose guitar riffs had been memorized by so many radio listeners. Before Starship took the stage I was hustled into a backstage trailer for on-air interviews. Balin was cordial enough in explaining a bit of the history of the
At the Gates might be one of the most influential metal bands of the past 20 years, but they’re certainly not one of the biggest. That was made evident last Thursday at the Swedes’ first-ever Las Vegas show. With the House of Blues’ bottom level half-empty, the reunited melodic deathmetal outfit drew a fraction of the fans some of the modern bands they’ve directly and indirectly inspired typically muster. At the Gates didn’t let the room’s sparseness affect a 75-minute performance featuring a near-even split of material from 2014’s At War With Reality and 1995’s landmark Slaughter of the Soul. Vocalist Tomas Lindberg proved a masterful showman, racing across the stage while providing cymbal fills and galvanizing circle pits between snarling his uncommonly intelligible lyrics. aaacc If headbanging were AT THE an Olympic sport, supGATES port act Decapitated February 18, would make its native House Poland a favorite to win of Blues. the gold medal. A hurricane of hair added to the visual appeal of the band’s fast-paced death metal, which sounded like evil incarnate behind the dizzying guitar solos of “Voog” Kieltyka and the menacing growl of “Rasta” Piotrowski. Sweden’s The Haunted, which shares two members of At the Gates pulling nightly double-duty on this tour, was similarly entertaining. Their trash-metal greeted the majority of arriving fans, most of whom rushed straight toward the barricade. And bruising Chicago hardcore act Harm’s Way took the brunt of the small turnout as it wrapped up its set three minutes before the 6:30 p.m. start time printed on tickets. Their perpetual breakdowns failed to register with an audience of mostly security guards and bartenders. At the Gates manufactured a few special moments during which the entire room seemed to connect on a transcendent level, namely during Slaughter cuts “Suicide Nation” and “Under a Serpent Sun.” But there weren’t enough of those experiences to really mourn the lack of a larger crowd. –Case Keefer
A&E | noise E X P E R I M E N TA L P O P
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Painting With aaacc
The blissful euphoria of Animal Collective’s 10th studio album lasts almost two minutes, 30 seconds, right until opening track “FloriDada” pauses to sample The Surfaris’ 1963 hit “Wipe Out.” From there, listeners are left to riddle out the strange and sometimes fruitless choices made by experimentalpopsters Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist this time out. For every interesting turn—employing viola master John Cale to bring the drone to “Hocus Pocus,” for example—the group lights off at least one dud (see: the bit of Bea Arthur Golden Girls dialogue to kick off “Golden Gal”). The most significant sonic twist: keeping eight of Painting With’s dozen songs under four minutes (and all 12 under five), without cutting back on the sonic pyrotechnics-per-track. It somehow works on the pulsating “Natural Selection” and “Summing the Wretch,” but “The Burglars” and “Spilling Guts” cry out for more connective tissue, leaving us dizzied more than hypnotized. –Spencer Patterson
ELECTRO-POP
Santigold 99¢ aaabc Santi White began her career singing in the synth-punk band Stiffed, which perhaps explains why her mainstream pop career has always flouted boundaries. 99¢, her first studio album since 2012, is no different. Sonically, the record flows seamlessly between breezy reggae (“All I Got”), minimalist dancehall (the piano-augmented “Chasing Shadows”), skittering hip-hop (the ominous “Walking in a Circle”) torchy synth-rock (standout “Banshee”) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs-caliber indieelectro (“Outside the War”). Despite the disparate styles, the record hangs together on the strength of Santigold’s voice, a malleable, expressive instrument capable of low rock growls, Siouxsie-style gothic intrigue, dramatic pop-star pirouetting and laissez-faire rapping. The only true misstep is the irritating single “Who Be Lovin Me,” which features painfully off-key, virtually unlistenable vocal contributions from rapper iLoveMakonnen. Otherwise, 99¢ is a well-crafted breath of fresh air, on which Santigold and her creative vision sound invigorated. –Annie Zaleski
INDIE ROCK
Wild Nothing Life of Pause aabcc An album should boast many things, but cohesion isn’t necessarily one of them—as long as its songs hit their target and/or properly transport their listener. Wild Nothing’s dreamy 2010 debut, Gemini, strongly exhibited all three attributes, and 2012’s Nocturne came close. Now, Life of Pause finds Jake Tatum branching further out by basically finding inspiration in all the 1980s and early-’90s U.K. indie acts that didn’t influence the first two LPs, along with the occasional nod to Anglo soul. The resulting aesthetic hopscotch—examples: “Whenever I,” which somehow bridges The Boo Radleys with Lisa Stansfield, and “Lady Blue,” a near-mashup of Belle and Sebastian and ABC—would be less peculiar if the melodies and narratives rose above pleasant-enough status. Tatum does manage both tuneful and evocative victories on Krautrockian/New Wave-ish single “To Know You,” the Talking Heads-lite “Reichpop” and the sunny, Cocteau Twins-meet-Foxygen title track, but they’re great songs on an album otherwise straining to be more than its parts. –Mike Prevatt
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and purpose in this show. Everyone is physically fit in this production, especially the star, who scrambles up a spiral staircase for the title track and stomps through “Work Bitch” throwing a top hat into the crowd as a moment of apparent defiance. It is in these moments that you realize the vocal balances are unwavering, and why it has long been apparent Seats are optional for Britney that Spears’ vocals are at least partially tracked. But in this Spears’ upgraded Planet Hollywood presentation of advanced choreography and theatric innoshow By John Katsilometes vation, uniformly live vocals aren’t necessary. Rather, Spears’ is a technologically and physically driven performance for everyone, as her dancers carry her Are you up? That’s how the new Britney Spears across the stage, pyramid style, in “Break the Ice” and tie show is to be measured. Standing? If you are it’s a good her up with a strand of red material for “Oops!” In what night. Everything about the new Piece of Me production has become something of a signature stage effect—the at Planet Hollywood is geared toward goading audience oversized gown—Spears hangs from high above the stage members to stand and groove. in an angel outfit for “Everytime.” Fake snow salts the The strategy works. Spears is great fun to watch, stage in this scene, which brings to mind the long gown dressed in shimmering costumes and illuminated by worn by a similarly suspended J.Lo in her All I Have proflashing lights angling in from all around the theater. She’s duction, a costume that doubles as a video screen. backed by a thundering band and a robust, 14-member In yet another richly appointed production in Axis, dance team. Throughout we stand, as Spears leads the lasers pierce the venue, glitter cascades from the ceiling effort to turn Axis into a 4,600-capacity nightclub. and video panels show Spears throughout her already Most theaters are not furnished with a vape station lengthy career, surpassing 20 years since she was inside the venue. Axis has that. It also offers bottle a member of The All New Mickey Mouse Club TV service at the VIP tables at the very front of the series cast with Justin Timberlake and Christina seated section—“seated” being a suggestion. BRITNEY Aguilera. We never do see Spears’ face up close, By luring Spears into a long-term residency at SPEARS: live, during performance, to see her smile and Axis, Caesars Entertainment has drawn a distinc- Piece of Me sweat through the show. Too bad, as one of the tion between that venue and the company’s other Wednesday, early voids in Spears’ run at Axis was that she 4,000-seat theater, the Colosseum at Caesars Friday & didn’t appear to be “present” in the room, not Palace. If the Colosseum is the more regal estab- Saturday, 9 lishment, presided over primarily by Celine Dion, p.m., $59-$500. feeling the audience’s response. She now chats up the crowd throughout, much to its delight, dropAxis is the party pit. It has two, in fact, a pair of Axis at Planet ping the occasional F-bomb as evidence of her open areas at the lip of the stage where fans have Hollywood, comfort in a nightclub-fashioned show. no choice but to stand and dance. Spears’ walk- 702-777-2782. Such verbal interaction is welcome. Spears, way from the stage circles that segment of the after all, is an artist who has come of age in full audience; when you’re standing there the energy view of the public, and not so long ago she was seen as of the production is inescapable. a somewhat tragic figure not particularly energized by Piece of Me has just been given a tune-up and is about her own stage show. Her rejuvenation coincides with the 40 percent upgraded. Holdover hits like “Womanizer,” return of Larry Rudolph as her manager, who has steadied “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and “Oops! … I Did It her career for more than two decades. Again” now share a show with “I Love Rock ’n Roll,” vibeIt was Rudolph who first recognized that Las Vegas was ing off the Joan Jett rocker from 1982, “‘If You Seek Amy,” ripe for a party experience like the one Spears delivers. It “Breathe on Me” and “Touch of My Hand.” was merely a matter of the right deal and the right venue. “I Love Rock ’n Roll” presents the most lavish of the The Axis has been given a shot of energy, in the form of a new numbers added to the show, an actual revival of a dance show starring Britney Spears, still young enough to giant guitar Spears used years ago on her Femme Fatale have fun and wise enough to show how it’s done. Tour. She hops on the oversized six-string, given new life
Rise and shine
photograph by denise truscello
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A&E | FINE ART
> STARING ZOO It’s contemporary America’s relationship with nature presented at its most extreme and bizarre.
DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS
Roscoe Wilson examines the ways we confine and manufacture nature BY KRISTEN PETERSON
Yard Zoo is only a micro-sliver of the market for fake nature. And constructing “ideal” environments is the thrust of Wilson’s work: “In reality we change the land that surrounds us to suit our human needs and desires,” he says in his artist statement. “Construction begins with deconstruction. We plant, prune, trim, dig, fill, clear and build our environments. We want nothing out of our control in our immediate vicinity, yet it is comforting to imagine something wild in the
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distance; something virgin, sublime and untouched by man.” But the concept is only part of it. Wilson’s execution is to be applauded. The art professor at Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio, who grew up in the rural Midwest, received his M.A. in painting and printmaking from Purdue University, and his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Each discipline is represented in Front Yard Zoo. Colorfully rich paintings matched with home siding illus-
trate his point and converse with the sculptures, as do his prints and drawings, at first seeming to celebrate, then almost lament manufactured kitsch presented as reality. It’s aesthetically pleasing and sobering.
FRONT YARD ZOO: CONTROLLING NATURE Through March 19; MondayFriday, 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. College of Southern Nevada’s Artspace Gallery, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 702-651-4146.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIKAYLA WHITMORE
On the second level of College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne Campus is a tidy arrangement of lawn ornaments, most of them locked into place by fitted pens (like lumber body casts) or captive in cement. They sit on individual blocks of AstroTurf, a strange mirroring of yards across America. In one glance, Roscoe Wilson’s Front Yard Zoo: Controlling Nature is sad and funny and real and fake, impeccably controlled and almost sadistic. Admiring the witty sculptural compositions placed on the grey carpet of the corridor is unavoidable. They bring life to the drab—romanticize (like Disney) a nature carefully packaged in plastic colorful cartoony representations. But their structures insist that no rabbit turns its head, no bear moves an inch and no fawn lying with adorable folded legs gets a chance to stretch out. It’s contemporary America’s relationship with nature presented at its most extreme and bizarre, fitting enough to serve as reminder that this is how we package the environment, emphasizing our disconnect with the world around us to the extent that we’ve fabricated our own ideas. The sheer amount (dozens and dozens of fake animals) in Front
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FOOD & Drink > Marc your Calendar Chef Marc Sgrizzi’s latest menu musts include fegatini di pollo and (below) burrata salad.
Hitting the Marc
A new Italian restaurant from a longtime local chef eclipses expectations By Brock Radke Marc’s World Cuisine. Mezzo. Parma. Novecento. Chef and restaurateur Marc Sgrizzi has moved all over the western half of the Las Vegas Valley in the 15-plus years he’s been cooking food and doing business here. His local body of work has been marked with ambition, whether he’s mixing global influences into his steady Italian cuisine or serving stylish specialties in a neighborhood that clearly prefers by-the-numbers franchise dining. His new restaurant is simply called Marc’s Trattoria. If you’ve followed his previous endeavors, it’ll only take one meal here for you to realize this is a chef honing in on what he does well. That’s not to say there’s an absence of that ambition, but clearly Sgrizzi has come MARC’S to understand his strengths, along TRATTORIA with what regular, returning din8615 W. ers expect from Chef Marc. And he Sahara Ave., delivers, again, as usual. 702-233-6272. Marc’s Trattoria is a warmer, Wednesdaymore welcoming version of the preSunday, 4:30vious restaurant, Parma. The decor 10 p.m. and ambiance are suitable for a special-occasion dinner but just as comfortable for a casual meal. There’s no lunch or deli takeout counter or retail, or really anything at all taking away from the potential of the greatest neighborhood Italian restaurant meal of your
30W LasVegasWeekly.com February 25-MARCH 2, 2016
life. The menu is substantial, full of favorites and confidence; I love the section titled “Classics the neighborhood cannot do without.” There you’ll find Sgrizzi’s amazing, no-breadcrumbs eggplant parmesan ($16), Tuscan-style gnocchi Bolognese ($18) and the lovably spicy chicken riggies ($18) with pancetta, melted mozzarella and cherry peppers. The icons of Italian-American restaurants are wellrepresented with chicken scarpariello, pasta alfredo, veal marsala, spaghetti and meatballs and many more. Sgrizzi’s greatest hits are here, too, like his filet el chico ($28), linguine clams ($19) and the appetizer of portabella and spinach baked in cream and cheese ($12). Then, mingling among the favorites, excitement: pork belly and bone marrow with creamy polenta and pickled fennel ($14); black linguine with calamari, hot peppers and artichoke aioli ($20); spaghetti tossed
with mushrooms, crisp green beans, savory speck and chicken livers ($17). I dined at Marc’s the night before Valentine’s Day and lost my mind over a special the chef was planning to run the next night: squid ink papardelle with huge chunks of crab meat in a silky mushroom sauce. It was a dream of a dish. Giada. Lago. Carbone. We’ve seen some pretty great (and glitzy) Italian restaurants open on the Strip recently. When people ask me which one is my favorite, or which one they need to try, it’s hard to answer because everyone has a very specific (and often personal) idea of what Italian food should be, and it often seems much closer to something found at a humble neighborhood restaurant than a big, flashy dining room in a casino. I say try them all. But go back, again, to the one that’s most special, most personal. You know what it is.
photographs by christopher devargas
ON THE HUNT
SEARCHING FOR SUNDAY SAUCE Is it possible to find Italian food favorites as good as nana’s? BY MARK ADAMS The Sundays of my childhood always started with the sound of a slow simmer emanating from the kitchen, followed by the fragrance of garlic and onion sweating in my mother’s giant frying pan. Soon, savory smells of basil and oregano were added to the mix, permeating the air with deliciousness no one could deny. The sabbath was for sauce, an Italian-American tradition—don’t be fooled by my surname; my mother was a Scaletta. Family recipes are handed down through generations, and my nana’s recipe lands somewhere on the spectrum between Bolognese and marinara, with homemade meatballs and links of sausage added to the tomato and herb blend for a robust, complex flavor. While I’ve learned how to prepare my family’s sauce—some call it “gravy,” but we don’t—sometimes the two-hour prep process and the six hours of simmering is just too long to wait for a heaping plate of penne. So my sister and I hit the road, sampling sauce at Italian restaurants across the Valley. First up was Ferraro’s (4480 Paradise Road, 702-364-5300), where not only is the sauce made fresh, but the pasta, too. My mom joined us to sample as much as we could from the happy-hour menu. The gnocchi tasted just like my Great Aunt Mae’s, perfectly dense dumplings with the right amount of chew. The pomodoro sauce was delicious, but my family is much more heavy-handed with “the greens”—basically, I wanted more basil. Ferraro’s bucatini Bolognese and spaghetti are also quite tasty, but it was the meatball appetizer that tickled my taste buds the most, spheres of beef, veal and pork with bold and flavorful sauce. This tasted like Sunday. My sister suggested we dine next at Casa di Amore (2850 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-433-4967), a classic joint known as much for its food as its oldschool ambiance. I went rogue and ordered lasagna, a fantastic decision because Casa’s tasted exactly like Mom’s—the perfect ratio of ricotta to ground meat and flat noodles, all swimming in a meat sauce so delicious I almost asked for more. This didn’t
> IN THE RED Get sauced up at Casa di Amore and (below) Ferraro’s.
taste like Sunday—this tasted like Christmas. One local favorite I couldn’t pass up is the Bootlegger (7700 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-7364939). Its owner, former Lt. Gov. Lorraine HuntBono, is actually a distant relative through marriage. Would her family’s recipe taste like mine? I had to find out. I again decided on lasagna and my sister went for spaghetti and meatballs, all delicious, but what spoke to me was the tomato-basil dip, a perfect marriage of tangy tomatoes and a generous sprinkling of my favorite fresh herb. Add a few cuts of meat to the mix and this is my family’s dish. While none of these extraordinary eateries did my family’s sauce spot-on, I’m grateful I discovered dishes that remind me of my relatives and their transcendent cuisine. The hunt is long from over— I hear Rao’s Sunday gravy might be exactly what
I’m looking for—but for now I’ll spend a few more Sundays at work in my kitchen. It’s hardly anything to complain about. Who’s coming for leftovers?
BRING US THE BEARDS How cranky should we be about this year’s James Beard Awards? Maybe not as much as usual. Maybe more. The annual recognition of the country’s top culinary talent typically snubs Las Vegas chefs and restaurants, and this year’s list of semifinalist nominations, announced last week, includes three for our city: Bardot Brasserie is up for Best New Restaurant; Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla are up as Outstanding Restaurateurs; and longtime Las Vegas chef (and Las Vegas Weekly columnist) Rick Moonen has been nominated for Best Chef: West. Chefs with restaurants in Las Vegas like Michael Mina and José Andrés received noms but not specifically for their Vegas enterprises, so that’s it. No bakers or pastry chefs. No
Outstanding Bar Program or Wine Program nominations. Moonen has been nominated as a chef before and won a Beard award in 2010 for his work on the PBS show Chefs A’Field. “It truly is an honor, and what’s really cool is Matthew Accarrino at SPQR [in San Francisco] is a semifinalist, too, and I trained him,” he says. He’s happy to be recognized with a nomination but agrees that Las Vegas deserves more credit. “I believe Las Vegas can compete against any city in the world. Our top 10 against your top 10? Bring it on!” Moonen says. “Hopefully we’ll get the recognition we deserve going forward.” Finalists will be announced March 15, with the awards gala set for May 2. –Brock Radke
CASA DI AMORE AND RICK MOONEN BY JON ESTRADA, FERRARO’S BY CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS
FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 2, 2016 LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM
31W
Calendar LISTINGS YOU CAN PLAN YOUR LIFE BY!
> READ UP East Coast quartet American Authors plays the Chelsea on March 4.
LIVE MUSIC THE STRIP & NEARBY Brooklyn Bowl Phil Lesh & Friends 2/26-2/27, 8 pm, $65-$70. The Infamous Stringdusters 2/27, 11:30 pm, $15. Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band 2/28, 1 pm, $30-$35. Metric, Joywave 2/29, 8 pm, $26-$46. Galactic, The Record Company 3/1, 9 pm, $22-$25. Matisyahu 3/3, 8:30 pm, $30-$60. Bingo Players, Henry Fong 3/4, 9 pm, $40-$45. Vance Joy, Elle King, Jamie Lawson 3/5, 8:30 pm, $40-$75. Ace Frehley, Lita Ford 3/6, 8 pm, $35-$60. Linq, 702-862-2695. The Colosseum Celine Dion 2/26-2/27, 3/1-3/2, 3/4-3/5, 3/8-3/9, 3/11-3/12, 7:30 pm, $55-$500. Steve Martin, Martin Short 3/6, 6:30 pm, $50-$180. Caesars Palace, 702-731-7333. The Cosmopolitan (Chelsea) American Authors, Charlie Puth, Zella Day 3/4, 7 pm, $20-$60. (Clique) Brittney Hauser 2/25. Clique shows 9 pm, free unless noted. 702-6987000. Double Barrel Roadhouse (DB Live!) Nicole Kerns 2/26. Crossroad South 2/27. All shows at 11 pm, free unless noted. Monte Carlo, 702-222-7735. Double Down Acid Teeth 2/25. Spotted Dick & The Wylde Knights 2/26. Glass Houses, The Dirty Panties, The Negative Nancys, Latter Day Skanks, Broken Bodies 2/27. Uberschall 2/28, midnight. Franks & Deans’ Weenie Roast 3/2. Agent 86, Midnight Track 3/5. Shows at 10 pm and free, unless noted. 640 Paradise Road, 702-791-5775. The Foundry Siaosi, Jordan T, Hirie, Mahi, DJ Valet 3/4, 9 pm, $25-$30.
Tarrus Riley, Dean Fraser & The Black Soil Band, Latasha Lee & The Black Ties, Kiwini, DJ Valet 3/5, 9 pm, $25-$30. Sammy J, Tenelle, Barry Black, DJ Valet 3/6, 9 pm, $25-$30. SLS, foundrylv.com. Gilley’s Easy 8’s Band 2/25, 9 pm, free. Kaleb King 2/26-2/27, 10 pm. Brian Lynn Jones Band 3/3, 9 pm; 3/4-3/5, 10 pm. Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band 3/10, 9 pm; 3/11-3/12, 10 pm. Country Nation 3/17, 9 pm; 3/18-3/19, 10 pm. Shows $10-$20 after 10 pm unless noted. Treasure Island, 702-894-7722. Hard Rock Live Bass Freqs 2/26, 8 pm, $17-$27. Hard Rock Cafe (Strip), 702733-7625. House of Blues Fan Halen, Pick Your Poison 2/26, 7 pm, $10. Schism, diM 2/27, 6:30 pm, $10. Biz Markie, ’80s Station, Empire Records 3/11, 8 pm, $15-$20. Mandalay Bay, 702-6327600. The Joint Rascal Flatts 2/26-2/27, 3/2, 3/4-3/5, 8 pm, $40-$250. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5222. Mandalay Bay (Events Center) Iron Maiden, The Raven Age 2/28, $62$103. 702-632-7777. Orleans (Arena) (Showroom) Marshall Tucker Band 3/4-3/5, 8 pm, $33-$55. (Bourbon Street Cabaret Lounge) NiteKings 3/2, 4 pm. Nitro 3/3-3/5, 9 pm. All Bourbon Street shows free unless noted. (Brendan’s Irish Pub) Killian’s Angels 3/4-3/5, 9 pm, free. 702-284-7777. Palms (Lounge) Sin City Sinners 2/25, 10 pm. Cyanide 2/26, 10 pm. David Perrico & Pop Strings Orchestra 2/27, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/23, 11 pm. Jeremy James 3/3, 7-10 pm. Paper Tigers 3/3, 10 pm. Stoney Curtis Band 3/4, 10 pm. Brent Muscat & Friends 3/5, 10
pm. Shows free unless noted. 4321 Flamingo Rd., 702-942-7777. The Pearl Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, Children of Bodom, Havok 2/26, 7 pm, $50-$86. Joe Satriani 3/4, 8 pm, $40-$95. Palms, 702-942-7777. Planet Hollywood (The Axis) Britney Spears 2/26-2/27, 9 pm, $57-$180. 702-777-2782. The Sand Dollar Lounge Part Time Criminals 3/4. Shows at 10 pm, free unless noted. 3355 Spring Mountain Road, 702-485-5401. The Sayers Club The Lique 2/27. Elvis Monroe 3/5. All shows 10 pm, free. SLS, 702-761-7618. Stoney’s Rockin’ Country The Cains 2/26. Chase Bryant 2/27. Shows 10 pm, free unless noted. 6611 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-435-2855. Vinyl Anti-Flag, Leftover Crack, War on Women, Homeless Gospel Choir, Blackbird Raum 2/28, 7 pm, $18. Anuhea, Through The Roots 3/2, 8 pm, $18-$45. The English Beat 3/11, 9 pm, $24-$49. Silverstein, Being As An Ocean, Emarosa, Coldrain, Rarity 3/13, 6:30 pm, $17-$35. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5000. Westgate (Westgate Cabaret) Cameo 3/2-12/31, Wed-Sun, 7 pm, $69-$110. 3000 Paradise Road, 702-732-5111.
DOWNTOWN Backstage Bar & Billiards Dance Yourself Clean 2/26, 8 pm, $11. 601 E. Fremont St., 702-382-2227. Beauty Bar Uncommon Nasa, Gajah, DJ Dela O 2/25, 9 pm, free. The Lucky Cheats 2/26, 8 pm, free. Tsunami Bomb, The Quitters, Roxy Gunn Project, Rayner 2/27, 8 pm, $10-$13. Dead Moon’s Fred and Toody 2/29,
2 pm, free. Hunter Valentine, Crash Kit 3/3, 9 pm, $8-$10. Under the Moon 3/4, 9 pm, free. Dirty Dishes, Interstate Park 3/5, 8 pm, free. Jackson Taylor, The Ryolite Sounds 3/7, 8 pm, free. Hospitality, SPY, Fred V & Grafix, Etherwood, MC Dino, Blacklab 3/8, 9 pm, $10. 517 Fremont St., 702-598-3757. Bunkhouse Saloon Rusty Maples, Dark Black, Same Sex Mary, Hidden Levels 2/25, 8 pm, $5. Naked Elephant, Jessica Manalo, The Union Drifters 2/26, 9 pm, free. Shanda and The Howlers 2/27, 8 pm, $5. Soul Time: Las Vegas Allnighter 2/27, 11:30 pm, $9. Moonboots, The Astaires, O Wildly, The American Weather 3/5, 8 pm, $5. The Chamanas, Without Wolves 3/6, 8 pm, $5. 124 S. 11th St., 702-854-1414. Fremont Street Experience Live music nightly. Shows free unless noted. Downtown Las Vegas, vegasexperience.com. Golden Nugget (Gordie Brown Showroom) Johnny Rivers 2/26, $32-$162. Gin Blossoms 3/4, $32-$141. America 3/11, $32-$217. Eddie Money 3/18, $32-$108. All shows 8 pm. 129 E. Fremont St., 866-946-5336. Griffin The Blind Pets, No Tides 3/30, 10 pm, free. Live music Wed, 10 pm, free. 511 Fremont St., 702-382-0577. Hard Hat Lounge Bounty Hunter Brothers Ice Cream Social 2/26, 9 pm, $5. Super Zeros, Kreepmyme 2/27, 9 pm. No Red Alice, Lukasaarus Rex, Joey Hines 2/28, 8 pm. Kinderwhore, DJ Morpheus Blak 3/4, 10 pm. Shows free unless noted. 1675 Industrial Road, 702-384-8987. LVCS Blaze, Lex Hex Master, Trilogy, Donnie Menace, Ne Last Words, Sicc 2/27, 8 pm, $14-$17. Passafire, Europa, The Retrolites, Indica Roots 3/4, 8 pm, $12-$15. 4 Angels Tribute Concert ft. Fiji, Drew Deezy, Finn, Samu, Maeli, Ya Boy Mo, Sione Toki, David Rhythm, Valufa, Eddy Dyno, A-Dough, Cutthroat Mode, Fina Love 3/5, 7 pm, $35-$45. Devil You Know, EMDF, My Own Nation, diM, Autumn in Stitches 3/6, 8 pm, $8-$10. Uli Jon Roth 3/9, 8 pm, $17-$20. 425 Fremont St., 702-382-3531. The Smith Center (Cabaret Jazz) Lucy Woodward 2/26-2/27, 7 pm, $39-$49. Unforgettable Nat King Cole: The Stage Biography 2/28, 2 pm, $25. Frankie Moreno 3/1, 3/8, 8 pm, $25$35. The Composer’s Showcase of Las Vegas 3/2, 10:30 pm, $20-$25. David Perrico & The Pop Strings Orchestra, Laura Shaffer 3/4, 8 pm, $15-$30. The Ronnie Foster Organ Trio 3/6, 2 pm, $19-$35. (Reynolds Hall) Cabrera Conducts Mozart 3/5, 7:30 pm, $26-$96. 361 Symphony Park Ave., 702-749-2000.
EVERYWHERE ELSE Aliante Casino + Hotel + Spa (All-Star Friday Nights) Tre’sure 3/4. StarOne All-Stars 3/11. All-Star Friday Nights shows start at 9 pm, $10. 7300 N. Aliante Parkway, North Las Vegas, 702-692-7777. Boulder Dam Brewing Whiskey Kiss 2/26. Sunset Ridge 2/27. All shows 8 pm, free unless noted. 453 Nevada Way, Boulder City, 702-243-2739. Boulder Station (The Railhead) Southern Stue 2/27, 10 pm. Walter Trout 3/10, 7 pm, $5. All shows free unless noted. 702-432-7777. CasaBlanca Resort & Casino Tony
CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE CALENDAR LISTINGS AT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM/EVENTS 32W LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 2, 2016
Sacca 2/27, 7:30 pm, $15-$30. 897 W. Mesquite Blvd, Mesquite, mesquitegaming.com. Count’s Vamp’d Glenn Hughes, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Jared James Nichols 3/5, 7:30 pm, $20-$25. 6750 W. Sahara, 702-220-8849. Dive Bar Calabrese 2/26, 9 pm, $8-$10. Future Leaders of the World, Newsense, Sweetest Morphine, Justin Carder 2/27, 8 pm, $8-$10. 4110 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-586-3483. The Golden Tiki Tiki Bandits 3/4, 9 pm, free. 3939 Spring Mountain Road, 702-222-3196. Hilton Lake Las Vegas (Firenze Lounge) Reuel 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 6-9 pm, free. Ryan Bueter and The Killer Dueling Pianos 3/18, 6:45 pm, free. 1610 Lake Las Vegas Parkway, lakelasvegas.hilton.com. M Resort (M Pavillion) Hotel California 3/12, 7 pm, $26-$36. 12300 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 800-745-3000. Pioneer Saloon Seth Turner 2/27, 11 am. All Togethers 2/27, 5 pm. Bill Tracy 2/28, noon. Bud Mickle 2/28, 5 pm. Chris Heers 3/6, 11 am. Bill May 3/6, 5 pm. Shows free unless noted. 310 W. Spring St., Goodsprings, NV, 702-874-9362. Red Rock (Rocks Lounge) Grey Street 2/26, 7 pm. The New Retros 2/262/27, 11 pm. Shows free unless noted. 11011 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-7977777. Santa Fe Station (Chrome Showroom) La Mar Le Warren Experience 2/26, 9 pm. The Fab 2/27, 9 pm. All shows free unless noted. 4949 N Rancho Drive, 702-658-4900. South Point Earl Turner and Friends 2/26-2/28, 7:30 pm, $18-$28. Atlantic City Boys 3/4-3/6, 7:30 pm, $28-$37. 702-797-8005. Suncoast (Showroom) Sheena Easton 3/5-3/6, 7:30 pm, $27-$49. 9090 Alta Drive, 702-636-7075. Sunset Station (Club Madrid) Empire Records 2/27, 11 pm, $10. 1301 W. Sunset Road, 702-547-7777. Thomas & Mack Center Toby Mac, Britt Nicole, Building 429, Colton Dixon, Capital Kings, Finding Favour, Hollyn 3/3, 7 pm, $15-$70. 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, unlvtickets.com.
COMEDY Downtown Vegas Improv Festival 3/11-3/12, 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm, $10-$30. Inspire Theatre, 107 S. Las Vegas Blvd., downtownvegasimprovfest. com. Harrah’s (The Improv) Shayla Rivera, Ahmed Bharoocha 2/25-2/28. TueSun, 8:30 pm; Fri & Sat, 10 pm; $30$45. 702-369-5000. Jokesters Comedy Club Derek Richards, Ryan Cole 2/25-2/28. Don Barnhart, Alex Powers 2/29-3/6. Don Barnhart: Laughter for the Troops 3/1, free. Rob Sherwood, Tyler Linkin 3/7-3/13. All shows 9:30 pm, $38-$53 unless noted. Bally’s, 3645 S. Las Vegas Blvd., jokesterscomedy.com. MGM Grand (Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club) Scott Henry, Frances Dilorinzo, Drew Thomas 2/25-2/28. Brad Garrett, Michael Sommerville, Landry 2/29-3/5, 3/7. Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth 3/3-6/26, ThursSun, 10 pm, $55-$260. Nightly, 8 pm, $43-$87. 702-891-7777. Mirage Jay Leno 2/26, 10 pm, $66-$87. Ron White 3/4-3/5, 10 pm, $66. 702792-7777.
Calendar Tropicana (The Laugh Factory) Bob Zany 2/25-2/28. Jim Tavare, Cash Levy 2/29-3/6. All shows at 8:30 pm & 10:30 pm unless listed, $35-$55. 702-739-2222. Treasure Island Bill Engvall 3/4, 9 pm, $52$82. Jo Koy 3/18, 9 pm, $44-$76. 702-8947111. Vinyl Colin Kane 3/5, 10 pm, $15-$25. 4455 Paradise Road, 702-693-5000.
Performing Arts Broadway Bound She Loves Me 2/25-2/27, 7 pm; 2/27-2/28, 1 pm, $15. 1181 S. Buffalo Drive, 702-838-5131. Cockroach Theatre The Nether 2/25-2/27, 3/3-3/5, 3/10-3/12, 8 pm; 2/28, 3/6, 3/13, 2 pm, $16-$20. Art Square Theater, 1025 S. 1st St., Ste. 110, 702-818-3422. CSN Performing Arts Center (Department of Fine Arts Recital Hall) Jazz Solo Nights 3/43/5, 7:30 pm, $5-$8. (Nicholas J. Horn Theatre) 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 702-651-5483. Las Vegas Little Theatre (Mainstage) In the Next Room/The Vibrator Play 3/4-3/5, 3/103/12, 3/17-3/19, 8 pm; 3/6, 3/12-3/13, 3/20, 2 pm, $20-$25. 3920 Schiff Drive, LVLT.org. Onyx Theatre Geek! 2/25-2/27, 8 pm, $15-$20. Murder by Association 3/4-3/5, 8 pm, $25. 953 E. Sahara Ave., 702-732-7225. Sirocco Flutes of Las Vegas 3/6, 3 pm, free. Desert Spring United Methodist Church, 120 Pavilion Center Drive, 702-233-3029. Smith Center (Reynolds Hall) The Bridges of Madison County 2/25-2/28, $29-$129. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder 3/8-3/13, $29-$139. (Troesh Studio Theater) Bad Jews 3/3-3/5, 8 pm; 3/6, 2 pm, $35-$45. 702-749-2000. UNLV (Rando-Grillot Recital Hall) Chelsea Chen 2/26, 7:30 pm, free. (Judy Bayley Theatre) Nevada Conservatory Theatre: To Kill a Mockingbird 2/25-2/27, 8 pm; 2/28, 2 pm, $10-$33. (Philip J. Cohen Theater) The Vagina Monologues 2/27, 4 pm; 7 pm, $10. 702-895-3332. Winchester Cultural Center Naomi Emmerson plays Edith Piaf 3/4, 7 pm; 3/5, 1:30 pm, $25-$30. 3130 S. McLeod Drive, 702-455-7340.
Special Events Bark in the Park 3/5, 10 am-2 pm, free. Cornerstone Park, 1600 Wigwam Parkway, 702-267-5720. Brave the Shave for Kids with Cancer 3/5: McMullan’s Irish Pub, 702-247-7000, stbaldricks.org. The Color Run: Tropicolor 2/27, 8 am, $0-$60. Downtown Las Vegas, thecolorrun.com. Diva’s Day Out 2/27, 10 am-4 pm, free. South Point, 9777 S. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-796-7111. Evening of Hope 3/4, 6:30 pm, $75-$150. World Market Center, 475 S. Grand Central Parkway, 702-737-1919. Fishing Derby 3/5, 8 am-noon, free. Lorenzi Park, 3343 W. Washington Ave., 702-2295443. John Katsilometes’ 50th Birthday Bash 2/28, 9 pm, free. Please donate to Elann Saula’s St. Baldrick’s Day donation page. Tuscany Suites & Casino, The Copa Room, 255 E. Flamingo Road, http://on.fb. me/1PGjMYL. Las Vegas Polar Plunge 3/5, 9 am, $125$2,000. Sunset Station Hotel and Casino, 1301 W. Sunset Road, ipolarplunge.com. Local Brews Local Grooves 3/5, 7 pm, $40. House of Blues Las Vegas, 702-632-7600. Mrs. Nevada-America Pageant 2/28, 6 pm, $50-$75. Suncoast Showroom, 702-284-7777. Neon Lit 2/26, 7 pm, free. The Writer’s Block, 1020 Fremont St., thewritersblock.org. Nevada Reading Week 2/29-3/4, times vary, free. Various locations, nevadareadingweek. com. Special reading at The Animal Foundation 3/1, 11 am-1 pm, free. 655 N. Mojave Road, animalfoundation.com. Oscar Nominee Showcases 2/27, 10 am, $25. AMC Town Square, amctheatres.com. Oscar Viewing Party 2/28, 4 pm, $25$250. Brendan Theaters & IMAX at Palms, VarietySN.org. Pahrump Hot Air Balloon Festival 2/26-2/28, 6:30 am, $0-$25. Petrack Park, Pahrump, 775-727-5800.
Short Stack Challenge Thru 2/28, times vary, $8-$11. Hash House A Go Go Go locations, twitter.com/HashHouseAGoGo. Southwest Tea Festival 2/27, 10 am-5 pm, $20. Downtown 3rd Farmers Market, 300 N. Casino Center Blvd., swteafest.com. Summer Camp Expo 3/5, 11 am-3 pm, free. Meadows School, 8601 Scholar Lane, themeadowsschool.org. Whiskey Revival 3/5, 7-10 pm, $45-$49. Golden Nugget, 129 E. Fremont St., 866946-5336. World Wildlife Day Film Fest 3/3, 7-9 pm, free. Innevation Center, 6795 S. Edmond St., RSVP with stacy@dazzleafrica.org.
Sports All-Star Dodgeball Tournament 3/5, 10 am-3 pm, $0-$40. UNLV Mendenhall Center, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, asaslv.org. JAMZ All Star Cheer and Dance National Championship 2/26-2/29, $17-$32. Orleans Arena, orleansarena.com. Madden Community Championship 3/4, 8 pm, $50. Downtown Grand, gamersaloon. com/mcc16/. Mountain West Championships 3/7, 2 pm; 3/8, noon; 3/9, 11 am; 3/10, noon; 3/11, noon; 3/12, 3 pm, $180-$220. Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com. Tuff Hedeman Vegas Shootout Championship Bull Riding 3/5, 8 pm, $18$41. South Point, 702-796-7111. UFC 197 Dos Anjos vs. McGregor 3/5, 3:30 pm, $501-$11688. MGM Grand, 702-891-1111. UNLV Men’s Basketball Wyoming 2/27, 5 pm, $15-$130. Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com. UNLV Women’s Basketball San Diego St. 3/4, 5 pm, $4-$5. Cox Pavilion, unlvtickets.com. USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament 3/4, 4 pm; 3/5, 11 am; 3/6, 10 am, $16-$446. Sam Boyd Stadium, 7000 E. Russell Road, unlvtickets.com. Wargaming League North America Finals 2/27, 1 pm, free. Downtown Grand, battleviewer.com. West Coast Conference Basketball Championships 3/3-3/4, 3/7, noon; 3/5, 3/8, 1 pm, $143-$648. Orleans Arena, orleansarena. com WORCS Racing and MotoCon Expo 2/26, noon; 2/27, 8 am; 2/28, 7:30 am, $15-$25. South Point, 702-796-7111.
Galleries Alexander Library Gallery of Clean Energy Inventions Thru 6/23. Wed-Thu, 10:30 am-8 pm; Fri-Sat, 9 am-6 pm. 1755 W. Alexander Road, padrak.com/vesperman. Arts Factory 107 E. Charleston Blvd, 702-3833133. Galleries include: Wonderland Gallery Mandy Joy: “Love in Wonderland” Thru 2/26. Steve Anthony: “Split: An Exploration of Duality” 3/3-3/25. Mannie Rubio 3/31-4/29. Tue-Sun, noon-4 pm. Suite 110, 702-686-4010. CSN Artspace Gallery Roscoe Wilson “Front Yard Zoo: Controlling Nature” Thru 3/19, Mon-Fri, 8 am-10:30 pm; Sat, 8 am-5 pm, free. 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 702-651-4146. CSN Fine Arts Gallery Jill Parisi “Wallflowers” Thru 3/19, Mon-Fri, 9 am-4 pm; Sat, 10 am-2 pm, free. 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 702-651-4146. Downtown Spaces 1800 S. Industrial Road, dtspaces.com. Galleries include: Skin City Body Painting A.K.A. Ass Kicking Art Exhibit 3/4, 6-9 pm. 702-431-7546. Galleria de Chavez Latin American Artists Showcase Starts 2/25, Mon-Sat, 10 am-6 pm. 7885 W. Sahara Ave., Ste. 107, 702-3950598. Left of Center Seeking Justice Through Art Thru 4/9. Tue-Fri, noon-5 pm; Sat, 10 am-3 pm. 2207 W. Gowan Road, 702-647-7378. The Mob Museum Breaking Bad: Opening Reception 2/26, 6-9 pm, $0-$24. 300 Stewart Ave., themobmuseum.org. UV Gallery Official Launch Party 2/25, 6-9 pm, free. 1007 S. Main St., 702-843-3061. Winchester Cultural Center Art Gallery Brent Holmes: “Ignominious Refuse” Thru 3/11, Tue-Fri, 10 am-8 pm; Sat, 9 am-6 pm. 3130 S. McLeod Drive, 702-455-7340.
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CONTOUR® HAS 3X THE DVR STORAGE AS CENTURYLINK PRISM. 855-208-0603 | COX.COM/BUNDLE | COX SOLUTIONS STORE® *Offer ends 02/29/16. Available to new residential customers in Cox service areas. $99.99/month includes new subscription to the Cox Bronze Bundle (Cox Advanced TV plus HBO, Internet Preferred, and Phone Essential service) for 12 months. Rate increases by $30/month for months 13-24. 2-year agreement required. Early termination fees may apply. After promotional period, regular rates apply. See www.cox.com. Free install limited to standard pro install on up to 3 prewired outlets; includes free in-home WiFi install of up to 4 devices if WiFi modem is purchased or rented from Cox (device exclusions apply). Optional Contour Record 2 or Record 6 DVR service may be added for $11.99/mo. or $19.99/mo., respectively. Prices exclude additional installation/activation fees, equipment charges, inside wiring fees, additional outlets, taxes, surcharges (including $3.00/mo. video Broadcast Surcharge), and other fees. Not all services and features available everywhere. A credit check and/or deposit may be required. Offer may not be combined with other offers. Storage comparison claim based on Cox Record 6 DVR vs.Centurylink Prism 1232 DVR. A Cox digital receiver or Cox-provided CableCARD together with a certified compatible CableCARD retail device required for Advanced TV. See CableCARD FAQs on cox.com for details. A DOCSIS 3 modem is required to consistently receive optimal speeds for Internet Preferred and higher tiers, and is strongly recommended for all other tiers. Uninterrupted or error-free Internet service, or the speed of your service, is not guaranteed. Actual speeds vary. See www.cox.com/internetdisclosures for complete Cox Internet Disclosures. See cox.com/hotspots for available WiFi network coverage areas and hotspots. Access to fastest in-home WiFi based on Cox-recommended 802.11ac equipment, available for purchase at Cox Solutions Stores. Telephone modem provided; remains Cox property. Backup battery (not included) required for service, including access to e911 service, during power outage. You must monitor and replace the battery as needed (see www.cox.com/battery). HBO GO® is only accessible in the US and certain US territories where a high speed broadband connection is available. Minimum connection of 3 Mbps required for HD viewing on laptop. Select titles not available in HD. Minimum 3G connection is required for viewing on mobile devices. For specific technical requirements for devices, go to hbogo.com/#devices. Some restrictions may apply. ©2015 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. Some restrictions may apply. ©2015 Cox Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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PET SOUNDS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS AL JARDINE & BLONDIE CHAPLIN
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