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06 las vegas weekly 11.16.17
Reasons TO celebrate
the inter w h e r e
i d e a s
Social functions and recent victories heighten Trans Pride week By Leslie Ventura
W
hen Jamie Lee Sprague-Ballou began hosting a local Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2006, she didn’t know it would turn into a weeklong celebration now known as Las Vegas TransPride. She founded the event in Las Vegas as part of a larger national movement that remembers those killed in hate crimes. “That day itself just deals with death and it’s hard to host that day, so I needed more days that help get me beyond just the death,” Sprague-Ballou says. Events like the Trans Film Festival and the Visibility March were added later as a way for the transgender, non-binary and non-genderconforming community to meet new people, be visible and celebrate their pride. A new addition to this year’s Pride—which takes place November 16-20—is the trans youth night at Gameworks, where Sprague-Ballou says local youth can “meet peers and know that they’re not alone in their journey.” She adds that California and Nevada are two of the safer states for trans-identified people to live, but there’s still work to be done. “That’s where education and training has to come in.” Las Vegas’ trans community has another reason to celebrate during Pride. Five transgender Americans were elected to public office during the municipal elections on November 7, which Sprague-Ballou sees as a form of resistance. “People are really fed up with this administration, and they’re voting us in. We’re here, we’re not going to go away, and this is a good opportunity to show people who we really are,” she says. “We are compassionate people, we care politically about what’s happening. I hope this will be a stepping stone, where people can really see truly how trans people are.” For more info, visit lasvegastranspride.org.
Coming to a gas station near you: Sheriff the one-man band You haven’t seen anything like this since Deja Vu’s Strippermobile: music blasting, colored lights dancing and a fog machine pumping out a cloud of ambience ... from the back of a truck parked at a gas station. Meet Sheriff Drumman, an LA musician who moved to Las Vegas a year ago with nothing but two buckets and talent. He slowly built up his rig, sleeping in his
largest drum case until he had a Chevrolet Silverado with a 13-piece custom glass drum kit, which he parks and on which he performs at Flamingo Road and Arville Street (or on Fremont Street). “I want to make people happy on a large scale,” Drumman says. “If I can do it at a gas station, imagine what I could do at an event when I’m supposed to be there.” –C. Moon Reed
rsection A ND L IF E M E ET
07 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11.16.17
IN MEMORIAM Paying tribute to three notable Las Vegans who passed on last week
+
1 BIG PHOTO
There’s a new Sheriff in town. (Mikayla Whitmore/Staff)
DOWNTOWN’S EVOLVING BIKE SHARE SEEKS CITIZEN INPUT In the year since Las Vegas introduced Bike Share, riders have taken more than 18,000 trips around Downtown, traveled nearly 60,000 miles and reduced carbon monoxide exhaust by more than 56,000 pounds. That’s all from a mere 180 bicycles scattered across 21 stations around Downtown. Now, the RTC (Regional Transportation Commission) wants to make Bike Share better by moving some stations and possibly adding new ones. Should they add stations by the Stratosphere, the Regional Justice Center or in the new Medical District? You have until November 30 to share your thoughts via a quick two-question survey at rtcbikeshare.bcycle.com. –C. Moon Reed
Our city’s constant readers were dealt a blow on November 8 with the death, at age 77, of Amber Unicorn Books coproprietor Lou Donato. Amber Unicorn, which Lou ran with his wife Myrna, reflected his spirit—it’s a warm, friendly and engaging place, an ineffable asset to Vegas’ cultural character. In a November 11 Facebook post, Myrna celebrated Lou’s memory— “Undoubtedly he is already … making plans to build his perfect ‘bookstore in the sky’,” she wrote—while affirming that the bookstore will stay open: “It will be a struggle without Lou, but he was adamant [about] providing a bookstore for all.” –Geoff Carter Las Vegas music scene booster and local radio personality Joe Sacco died November 11 at age 33. Though he was most recently the digital content manager of Beasley Media Group, Sacco was likely best known for his seven-year stint at 107.9-FM, which included hosting duties on the weekend show Local 107.9. Promoter and Viva Ska Radio DJ Josh Coutts, who worked with Sacco at 107.9, remembers him as “hands down the nicest person ever. He would definitely give his shirt off his back for anybody. ... He was never biased toward any sort of band. He loved music, and he loved people.” Jenine Cali, of local acts The Day After and The Dirty Hooks, says, “He would do his best to give us and other bands opportunities. He was just good people.” –Leslie Ventura Fred Cole, leader of legendary Pacific Northwest garage-punk band Dead Moon, died November 9 at age 69. From 1987 to 2006, Cole’s crude guitar work and piercing wail in the Portland, Oregon power trio timelessly summoned the ghosts of rock ’n’ roll’s darker side. But the cult hero got his start while growing up in sunny 1960s Las Vegas. Cole’s early groups included the R&B-leaning The Lords, his Deep Soul Cole vocal act and garage band The Weeds, later renamed The Lollipop Shoppe. “Everybody liked him. He was very talented,” said former Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Miller, who from 1964 to 1969 co-owned The Teenbeat Club, where Cole was a regular performer. To avoid the draft, The Weeds headed for Canada in 1966, but ran out of gas in Portland, where Cole met and married his wife and Dead Moon bandmate Toody Cole. –Jack Evan Johnson
08
THE INTERSECTION
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11.16.17
Is the Palms destined to tower over its cool competition once again? (Photo Illustration)
WHAT’S COOLER THAN COOL? Don’t look now, but the Palms appears poised to recapture its early charm ow many casinos have actually been cool? Was the Flamingo cool when it opened in 1946, and did it cease to be cool or get more cool when Bugsy Siegel was gunned down the following year? The Sahara opened in 1952 and soon installed late-night jazz with Louis Prima and Sam Butera, which sounds pretty cool. Was the Sands cool, or did the Rat Pack make it that way, or was the Rat Pack less cool since it didn’t call itself the Rat Pack? Caesars Palace was cheesy until Evel Knievel, right? Wait, is Evel Knievel cheesy? I love Las Vegas THE and its casinos, but INCIDENTAL I’m not sure how cool TOURIST they are or ever have BY BROCK RADKE been. Since rock ’n’ roll happened, American coolness has generally been defined by youth culture, and Las Vegas casinos have only been interested in that demographic for maybe 25 years. It appears as though gambling isn’t cool until you reach a certain age that provides ample disposable income, but all the Rat Pack-ian things that go along with it—the drinking and carousing and whatnot—are super-cool. Presumably.
H
The Hard Rock Hotel opened in 1995, the same year the decidedly uncool Landmark was imploded. All music and irreverent style, the Hard Rock helped shift the Vegas narrative away from the Strip’s previous Disneyfication but didn’t exactly start a revolution. Theory: The only two Las Vegas casinos ever built with the objective of being cool are the Hard Rock and the Cosmopolitan (opened in 2010). Discuss among yourselves. The only thing harder than creating a cool casino is making one cool again, but that might be happening at the Palms, the off-Strip property that opened in 2001. Station Casinos parent company Red Rock Resorts acquired the Palms last year and began redevelopment while simultaneously revamping its original property, Palace Station, another destination with a location ideal for both Strip tourists and locals looking
for easy access. Station hired notorious cool guys Jon Gray (as vice president and general manager of the Palms) and Jesse and Cy Waits (as “chief experience officers” working on several properties), and then last week, dropped a forecast of excitement during its third-quarter earnings call. The Tao Group, operators of popular clubs and restaurants at Venetian and the Cosmopolitan, will create a nightclub and a very big dayclub at the Palms, and add its Vandal restaurant, too. Clique Hospitality, which has lounges and restaurants on the Strip and in the ’burbs at Station properties, will create a new rooftop club, presumably in the Ghostbar space. More new restaurants are coming from familiar celebrity chef Bobby Flay and Vegas newbies Michael Symon (doing barbecue) and Marc Vetri (doing Italian). Hotel rooms and suites, the
spa and the Pearl concert hall will all be refreshed, and the casino floor is mid-facelift. Some of these pieces will be very cool, while others, like the new buffet, should bring back more daytime traffic. That dichotomy anchored the Palms’ past triumphs—it attracted celebrities and young people at night then snuck in a rock-solid neighborhood casino when the sun came up. It was only ever half-trying to be cool, but it worked. And unlike the perpetually cool Cosmopolitan, the Palms was a financial success right out of the gate, though it didn’t have to contend with the recession in its early years the way Cosmo did. By this time next year, you’ll get to be the judge of whether or not the Palms’ coolness has returned. Theory: If we all go back to check it out, it doesn’t matter if we think it’s cool or not.
10
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11.16.17
as Vegan Jonas Woolverton began his career in a small Montreal circus before landing a gig in Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity in 2008. We talked to the New York native about learning to wrestle from an ex-WWE star and a recent injury, which was no match for Woolverton’s tenacious drive. Why did you want to become a circus performer? I saw one of the Cirque shows, Dralion, and the clowns just blew me away. So I got into the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco. I was fortunate enough to see Daniel Cyr, the founder of the Cyr wheel, perform, and I said, “That’s the apparatus I want to do.” I’ve been doing circus professionally for 15 years, and Cyr wheel professionally since 2003. What about the Cyr wheel fascinated you? I think it’s sort of a mystical apparatus. It’s not really obvious how it works. There’s something about whirling dervishes that is very entrancing. It’s something that’s very fundamental. When we’re kids we liked to spin around until we get dizzy. How did you develop your Zumanity character, Casanova? When I first got here I was doing an S&M-based act—I had two dominatrices whipping me and blindfolding me. Over the years it just evolved. I became the gigolo, and I renamed him Casanova and gave him my own spin. Casanova is a ladies’ man from Sicily, and he’s got ADD with women. In the act, he sees this shadow woman, [and] all of a sudden he’s entranced by this imaginary woman. The whole act for me is a metaphor
for being in love and falling out of love and that feeling of elation when you’re in love. I also invented this scrim projection on the Cyr wheel—that’s something I developed with another artist friend of mine, Joel Howard from [The Beatles] Love.
I had a crash course with Sinn Bodhi, who’s formerly of WWE and now has a company here in Vegas called Freakshow Wrestling. I had to learn how to wrestle in like five sessions, doing really advanced moves. It was a massive challenge, and it felt really rewarding.
You were recently out of commission for nine months due to a knee injury. Yeah. I consider myself kind of lucky. I’ve had a 15-year performing career in circus, and it was my first surgery. It was a freak thing, and it happens; it’s a hazard of the trade. But luckily I have amazing physios who take care of me. [With] Cirque, you’re treated like an elite athlete, because you are. So the recovery is really quick. I’ve been back in the show since August, and I’m doing my act again.
It sounds like you’re always working in some capacity. What do you do in your free time? I hang out with my son a lot. He goes to circus camp every Saturday and afterwards we spin on the wheel and jump on the trampoline. He really loves circus, and he’s going to be a way better performer and wheel artist than I could ever be. Or maybe he’ll be a lawyer. Who knows?
How did you stay busy during your recovery? I was reading plays with my actor friends in town, and I was directing some music videos. Cirque has the Choreographers’ Showcase, [for] which I choreographed a piece. I ran into Mix Master Mike from the Beastie Boys, and he is an incredible creative spirit. He and I hit it off right away and created an acrobatic breakdance piece—it had some capoeira in it; it had Cyr wheels in it. It turned out incredibly well. I think the audience was super-pleased with it. You have some experience with wrestling, too. Last fall, Cirque allowed me to be in a piece at the Cockroach Theatre called The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. It’s a Pulitzer-nominated play about professional wrestlers. They needed to cast somebody who was physical, who could do the wrestling.
Is there any advice you’d give to someone interested in performing in the circus? You have to really love it, because it’s really hard. Just train every day. You take the hits and you take the injuries and you just push through them. It’s just the persistence of doing something you love over and over again until you become good at it, because there is a point where you do become good at it. When I started out I didn’t know how you get in to Cirque du Soleil. I thought you had to be somewhat born into a circus family. What’s the best part about working for Zumanity? It’s got its own vibe. We use a lot of audience members, and it’s real audience participation. The show kind of hinges on what they’re going to do and how they’re going to act—that’s where a lot of the humor comes from. That’s the beauty of the show. It’s so ephemeral, and it’s hilarious.
11
las vegas weekly 11.16.17
12
Creation
COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
evolution &
DID YOU KNOW? Bob Hope, Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra have all received honorary degrees from UNLV.
10
key developments from UNLV’s first 60 years
13 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
A SCHOOL OF OUR OWN
Today, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a research institution with nearly 30,000 students, a law school, a medical school, a top-ranked hospitality program and more than 15 varsity sports teams. Mirroring the explosive growth of Las Vegas, UNLV rose from the humble beginnings of a sparsely populated desert outpost. In 1951, fewer than 30 students gathered at Las Vegas High School to take extension classes from the University of Nevada, Reno. Three years later, the Nevada Board of Regents upgraded the program, naming it the Southern Regional Division of the University of Nevada. As the city grew, locals wanted a place for students to call their own, and they got it in 1957, when Nevada Southern hosted its first classes on its newly acquired campus: 80 acres next to a dirt road—aka Maryland Parkway. Then in 1969, Nevada Southern University officially became University of Nevada Las Vegas. Momentum continued to grow, both in the university and the city at large, and by the end of the 1970s UNLV had surpassed UNR in enrollment—for good. –C. Moon Reed
CENTER OF ATTENTION
It seems there’s an arena everywhere you look in Las Vegas these days, but not so long ago the Thomas & Mack Center stood alone. Opened in November 1983, UNLV’s 19,000-capacity indoor complement to the already erected Las Vegas Silver Bowl (now Sam Boyd Stadium) to the east has housed Runnin’ Rebels basketball games ever since, along with other sporting events (championship boxing bouts, the National Finals Rodeo, the 2007 NBA AllStar game), concerts (Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, David Bowie, Phish) and more. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar even broke the NBA’s all-time career scoring mark—a record that still stands—inside the T&M, during a Utah Jazz-Los Angeles Lakers game. T-Mobile might be the shiniest dome in our desert, but for many Las Vegans who came of age during the ’80s and ’90s, the words Thomas & Mack will always hold special meaning. –Spencer Patterson
DID YOU KNOW? UNLV made a cameo in Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 book Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, when the main characters drive down Maryland Parkway, checking out coeds.
(Sun File)
Hey Reb lives on despite his controversial origins. (Illustration by Ian Racoma)
14 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
DID YOU KNOW? UNLV had a satellite campus in Singapore from 2006 through 2015, offering bachelor’s degrees in hospitality management.
Barrick and the flashlight
As the rest of the university celebrates 60 years, UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art celebrates 50. What began as a place to display the Desert Research Institute’s collection has since grown into the premier art destination in Southern Nevada. As part of the College of Fine Arts, the museum offers enrichment, activities and research opportunities to students, professors and the public. Rotating free exhibitions and lectures feature cutting-edge artists. The museum’s permanent collection includes Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts and objects created by the Paiute tribe, along with contemporary art, much of which is associated with Nevada. The Barrick Museum also houses the Las Vegas Art Museum Collection and the Nevada portion of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel 50x50 Collection. On the other side of campus, the iconic 38-foot Flashlight sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen has been shining as a beacon to the arts since 1981. –CMR
A president and a vision
The university’s longest-serving (and only female) president, Dr. Carol C. Harter, helped usher UNLV into the future. Under her tenure, the university experienced massive growth in enrollment, fundraising and academic stature, including the addition of more than 100 new degree programs, such as the William S. Boyd School of Law and the School of Dental Medicine. After 11 years in the highest office, the English professor and voracious reader stepped down in 2006 to become the founding executive director of a new campus literary center connected to the creative writing program. “As a city ages and matures, it needs these touchstones for intellectual and creative life. I think that’s what we’re a part of,” Harter says about the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute in a UNLV promotional video. “I see us becoming a world center for literature, arts and humanistic inquiry.” –CMR (Disclosure: Reed worked at BMI from 2015-2016.)
15 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
UNLV 103, Duke 73 That score from April 2, 1990 will forever be etched in our memory. Larry Johnson dribbling behind his back and around two Duke defenders to start a fast break, Anderson Hunt’s barrage of 3-pointers and Moses Scurry embracing coach Jerry Tarkanian as the final seconds ticked off the clock in Denver. Our Rebels were the best basketball team in the land and delivered Las Vegas its finest sports moment. Many believe there should be another banner alongside it. The Rebels were even better the next year, going undefeated in the regular season before falling to Duke in the Final Four, 79-77. As Hunt’s 3-pointer bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer, it also signalled the beginning of the end for the UNLV dynasty. Amid allegations of NCAA misconduct, Tark would be forced out a season later—after 19 years, a 509-105 record and four Final Fours at UNLV’s helm. UNLV wouldn’t win another NCAA Tournament game until 2007 and has yet to return to the Final Four. –Ray Brewer IN THE PHOTO: UNLV players Moses Scurry, left, and Anderson Hunt hug coach Jerry Tarkanian after their victory over Duke in the 1990 NCAA Championship game in Denver. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan)
DID YOU KNOW? UNLV’s men’s golf program won the NCAA championship in 1998 and has produced PGA pros including Adam Scott, Charley Hoffman and Ryan Moore.
International renown
In his State of the State address, Governor Brian Sandoval put forth a vision of UNLV as “the global intellectual hub for gaming, hospitality, and entertainment.” The William F. Harrah College of Hospitality is racing toward that goal. Perennially ranked among the top such programs in the country, it makes the most of its intimate connection with Las Vegas’ hospitality offerings. Students receive mentorship from industry leaders and often graduate to become industry leaders themselves. This spring, UNLV’s new Hospitality Hall will open—a 93,500 square foot building that will include an ultramodern kitchen, a student-managed café, a PGA Golf Management learning center, an event space with Strip views and, of course, classrooms. Las Vegas’ major gaming companies are all founding donors for the new building, which means they have pledged at least $2.5 million apiece. “Having a world-class hospitality facility and program will allow for the further development of the future leaders in the hospitality and gaming industry worldwide,” Station Casinos CEO Frank J. Fertitta III said in a release. The college also contains the nonprofit International Gaming Institute, which offers training and research opportunities in cutting-edge topics like ESports, gaming regulations and even new games for gambling. –CMR
16 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
DID YOU KNOW? On October 19, 2016, UNLV hosted the final presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at the Thomas & Mack Center, viewed by more than 70 million on TV.
UNLV’s Student Union. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)
Jazz times
The conversation over the who has the best band in Las Vegas is frustratingly framed not by talent but by exposure and popularity. Which is why shoulders rise and eyebrows furrow when UNLV Jazz Ensemble 1 is mentioned. But it’s not important that you haven’t seen it perform yet, because in April, the judges of the prestigious Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival did—and bestowed it top honors in the fest’s big band division, sending the UNLV students to perform at the even-more-prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival in September. After a steady ascent filled with honors from other festivals and jazz magazines, the double triumph in Monterey might stand as the crowning achievement of the 46-year old Jazz Studies Program, led by director Dave Loeb. It also has two other big bands, contemporary and Latin ensembles and several combos, which frequently display their wizardry at UNLV’s various performance spaces and Clark County Library throughout the school year—and handily prove why UNLV Jazz has the best musicians in Las Vegas. –Mike Prevatt
What’s in a mascot?
UNLV’s first mascot—a Confederate wolf named Beauregard—still graces the floor of the old gym, now the Barrick Museum. It’s one of the few remainders of an ill-conceived association that started innocently— if not ignorantly—enough. “UNLV was rebelling against the status quo, and the two schools’ mascots seemed to mimic the Civil War,” former UNLV president Don Baepler told UNLVRebels.com. “Reno had a northern-looking wolf, so we wanted a Confederate wolf.” It took 20 years to begin modernizing the university’s iconography. In 1976, UNLV retired Beauregard after complaints by student athletes. The mascot was reborn in 1982 as a frontiersman named Hey Reb!. Over the past few years, the student body has bristled at being represented by a white mustachioed mascot, and last year, UNLV’s student newspaper changed its name from Confederate battle-cry The Rebel Yell to the Scarlet & Grey Free Press. This past summer, UNLV debuted a stylized silhouette of a mountain man for a new logo, which has received mixed reviews. –CMR
17 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 11.16.17
FAMOUS ALUMNI Gina Carano MMA fighter
Arianny Celeste UFC Octagon girl
Guy Fieri Celebrity chef
Jimmy Kimmel late-night talk show host
Ken Jordan
Member of electronic-music act The Crystal Method
Suge Knight Hip-hop impresario
Tomi Lahren
Conservative political commentator The medical school’s inaugural class. (Mikayla Whitmore/Staff)
George J. Maloof Jr. Casino creator
Kenny Mayne
GETTING MEDICAL
It’s a familiar joke: Where do Las Vegas locals go when they get sick? The airport! As a result of the Valley’s explosive population growth, the number of Las Vegas doctors has been largely unable to keep up with patient demand. But UNLV hopes its newly minted medical school will provide a community solution. From a pool of more than 900 applicants, 60 students were chosen based on both academic excellence and ties to Nevada. They started this past summer. In May 2021, UNLV’s inaugural class of doctors will graduate, and the hope is that they will continue their careers in Nevada. The university is building a permanent home for the School of Medicine, which will anchor the planned Las Vegas Medical District at Charleston Boulevard and I-15. Even though it’s brand new, the med school is already making its mark with its innovative use of robotic surgeries, by recruiting patients for medical studies and by participating in charity walks. –CMR
THE MOST DIVERSE SCHOOL IN THE NATION
Last year, UNLV debuted a new slogan: “Different. Daring. Diverse.” The young, Western university strives to represent America’s vibrant multicultural future. More than half of UNLV undergrads belong to a minority group, 29 percent of which are Hispanic. UNLV serves them with a new academic center called the Intersection. For the past seven years, UNLV has landed in the top 10 of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Ethnic Diversity category of its annual Best Colleges rankings. In September, the Las Vegas school moved to the top of the list, landing in a three-way tie for first with Rutgers and Michigan’s Andrews University. –CMR
ESPN commentator
Ronnie Vannucci Drummer for The Killers
Anthony Zuiker
Creator/executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Current and former Major League Baseball players, including Cecil Fielder, Ryan Ludwick and Matt Williams. Current and former National Basketball Association players, including Greg Anthony, Joel Anthony, Stacey Augmon, Armen Gilliam, Sidney Green, Larry Johnson, Shawn Marion, Isaiah Rider Jr. and Reggie Theus. Current and former National Football League players, including Randall Cunningham, Keenan McCardell and Ickey Woods.
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about us
g r e e n s p u n m e d i a
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Publisher Mark De Pooter (mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com) Editor Brock Radke (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com) Staff Writer Leslie Ventura (leslie.ventura@gmgvegas.com) Creative Director Liz Brown (liz.brown@gmgvegas.com) Art Director Corlene Byrd (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com) Designer Ian Racoma Contributors Jim Begley, Sarah Feldberg, Jason Harris, Deanna Rilling 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 Editorial Page 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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PRESENT YOUR MILITARY, VETERANS, FIRST RESPONDER OR GOVERNMENT I.D. AND RECEIVE 50% OFF A REGULAR PRICE TICKET.
TRAVIS TRITT D E CEMB ER 8 & 9, 2 01 7
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The takeover is complete: The Chainsmokers just snagged the Best World Stage Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards’, toppling the Foo Fighters and Steve Aoki, among others.
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the chainsmokers by Wynn Nightlife/Courtesy; DJ Wellman/courtesy; migos by woody hugh/tony tran photography; DJ baby yu/courtesy; diplo by wynn nightlife/courtesy
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Start the weekend right at the perennial favorite open-format club with a Las Vegas native who’s been doing it for a decade.
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Culture II’s first single, “Motor Sport,” features Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, and you’ll see Migos perform it Saturday.
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“The Remix Kid” has been steady rocking Mandalay Bay’s Foundation Room since launching his residency there last year.
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The holiday season isn’t here until the annual Twerksgiving party gets us all in the right mood. Diplo does the pre-turkey day jam at Intrigue.
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mbassy Nightclub brought Bad Bunny to Las Vegas in May, just as the Puerto Rican rapper was about to break big. Since then, the artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has emerged as one of the leaders of the hot Latin trap movement, collaborating with established stars and fast-rising names like Prince Royce, Timbaland, J. Balvin, Wisin and Karol G. Now, thanks to the Embassy-Drai’s connection—the off-Strip club co-programs the Reggaeton Room at Drai’s After Hours—the Bunny returns for a Latin Grammys afterparty performance at Drai’s Nightclub on the Cromwell rooftop.
Bad Bunny was one of the first performers announced for this year’s Latin Grammy Awards, set for November 16 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, and he’s also nominated for Best Urban Fusion Performance for “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola,” a slinky reggaeton track with Balvin. His newest songs and guest appearances seem to hit even harder; but you can get a solid feel for Bad Bunny’s sound by listening to “Soy Peor,” on which he uses his striking baritone to come off like Bryson Tiller or Travis Scott en espanol. Earlier 2017 single “Diles” has already gone viral with more than 300 million YouTube views.
Intricately shaved hairstyles, a flamboyant fashion sense and natural charisma have helped Bad Bunny become a true breakout artist, but it all stems from the music. Bad Bunny at Drai’s at the Cromwell, November 16. –Brock Radke
T H U R S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 3 R D 5:30pm – 9:30pm T R E AT Y O U R S E L F T O A S P I N O N T R A D I T I O N A L T H A N K S G I V I N G D I S H E S E V E RYO N E W I L L LOV E
3 7 0 8 L A S V E G A S B LV D S O U T H | S T K H O U S E . C O M
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legend status
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he last time Axl Rose set foot in Las Vegas, his foot was broken. When the reunited Guns N’ Roses played two shows at thenbrand-new T-Mobile Arena last spring, the notorious frontman was confined to a fancy rock ’n’ roll throne on loan from the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl. But singing while seated proved to be a powerful method of delivery for Rose and the band, as the vocals took the worked-up crowd back to the days of Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion. GNR is back on the Strip Saturday night with the Not in This Lifetime tour. Just like last year, classic-lineup members Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan are together again, bolstered on this tour by longtime keyboard contributor Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keys player Melissa Reese. Pink and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top have popped up onstage during recent dates, both to guest on the 1988 ballad “Patience.” The tour, which kicked off in 2016 and has already moved through the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, is set to swing through Europe next summer. After so many years in rock limbo, it seems Axl, Slash and company are doing everything they can to put Guns N’ Roses where fans have always believed it belongs—on the short list of the greatest rock bands of all time. Guns N’ Roses at T-Mobile Arena, November 17.
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BACKSTREET BOYS LARGER THAN LIFE RESIDENCY
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEASON 14 TOUR
THE PEARL AT THE PALMS
NOVEMBER 17
NOW – FEBRUARY 2018
GUNS N ROSES NOT IN THIS LIFETIME TOUR
LIONEL RICHIE
ALL THE HITS RESIDENCY
NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 16 & MARCH 7 - 20
NOVEMBER 17
THE ORIGINAL MISFITS
MAROON 5 MANDALAY BAY EVENTS CENTER
MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA
DECEMBER 28
DECEMBER 30 & 31
BUY TICKETS AT LIVENATION.COM
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t feels like only yesterday we were awaiting the opening of celebrated chef Masaharu Morimoto’s eponymous Las Vegas restaurant. But time flies when you’re having fun, and Morimoto is all about creating a good time—memorable, special moments and flavors that can’t be replicated anywhere else. The Iron Chef touched down in Las Vegas to celebrate the restaurant’s one-year anniversary and to talk about the success of yet another critically acclaimed restaurant. “Everybody likes Las Vegas,” Morimoto told Industry Weekly. “This is my dream come true.” Since opening his spot at the MGM Grand in 2016, Morimoto says the key
question has always been, “How can I make my customer happy?” He doesn’t follow trends and describes himself as the conductor of an elaborate orchestra. At 62, his health is a priority. “I counted last year how many days I stayed at home and used my own pillow—68 days,” he says. “I respect who I hire. Maybe 150 people work here under the Morimoto name in Las Vegas, and [I have] more than 1,000 employees under the Morimoto name [worldwide]. A lot of people are on my shoulders. I have to be healthy.” The chef is so busy, he had to sit out the upcoming season of Iron Chef to prepare for two new restaurant openings. While he might not appear on your television
screen as soon, he still hopes to make an impact with his latest cookbook, Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking. “People think Japanese cuisine and sushi is mysterious, but Japanese cooking should not be mysterious,” he says. “It’s easy! Try it.” Don’t think you can master oyster foie gras or yellowtail pastrami at home? We won’t blame you for visiting Morimoto instead. –Leslie Ventura
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he Palms has been the source for plenty of nightlife speculation and anticipation since Red Rock Resorts, parent company of Station Casinos, acquired the off-Strip resort in 2016. Now Vegas visitors and locals have a clearer picture of what the new Palms is going to look like: Tao Group and Clique Hospitality will partner with the resort to create new clubs, restaurants and lounges, and chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and Marc Vetri are working on new dining spots, too. “The Tao Group is excited to be part of the greatest nightlife and daylife team ever assembled in Las Vegas as we partner with Red Rock Resorts on the Palms project,” Tao Group partner Noah
Tepperberg said in a press statement. “We are eager to share the fresh and innovative dayclub, nightclub and dining concepts being introduced at what will be the largest dance music venue in Las Vegas. With over 100,000 square feet, we are gearing up to once again raise the bar on the entire hospitality experience by providing something that is truly a one stop shop for a full weekend of varying food, beverage and live entertainment.” “Opening in the Palms, the epicenter of Las Vegas pop culture, marks a true milestone in our expansion into the world’s most exciting and vibrant destinations,” Clique founder Andy Masi said in a separate statement. “When you think about Las Vegas, few places are more iconic than the Palms. My
team and I are looking forward to add to the history and the lore while still offering guests incredible experiences and the opportunity to make some new memories.” “Vegas won’t know what hit it when the Palms debuts their new look,” added Symon, who will create his first-ever Vegas project. “I truly feel it will become the premier dining and nightlife spot in all of Vegas. The team at Red Rock Resorts is top notch, and we’re so psyched to be part of this project. Look out Vegas, here we come!” –Brock Radke
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ney F is embarking on his first North American tour, and it includes a gig for the local Cymatic Sessions’ three-year anniversary party. With over a decade’s experience behind the decks, he recently opened up for Richie Hawtin at a sold-out Halloween show in Aney F’s native Slovenia, and he’ll bringing those vibes to Vegas Friday night.
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What’s the electronic scene like in your home country? We’re a really small country. Only 2 million people live here, but we have a good, small scene, and you can listen to international DJs every week. Unfortunately, we don’t have big festivals, as there is simply not enough rave people here, so you really need to love what you are doing to survive in our scene. Since you’re new to Las Vegas, how would you describe your sound? It’s hard to describe music with words, but I could say my sounds are going from minimal to deep tech to techno, but from my point of view I still play good house music.
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You launched your Innocent Music label six years ago. I decided to open my own imprint to push my stuff out and also to give chances to other upcoming quality artists. Innocent Music is a platform for young and upcoming artists from all over the world. You’ve been releasing some music on vinyl. Why is that format important to you? I’ve released a lot of records in last couple of years. It’s not that it is important to me, but I’ve released music for other parts of the music world who play just vinyl—there are still a lot of people who are doing it. Cymatic Sessions with Aney F at Juicy Beets, 3900 Paradise Road, November 17. –Deanna Rilling
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ith so many talented dancers from so many artistic genres making Las Vegas their professional headquarters, it seems only natural for the 15-time Emmy Award-winning show So You Think You Can Dance to bring its live tour to town. The show’s top 10 finalists from its 14th season are in the middle of a 34-city run that takes the stage at the Pearl inside the Palms on November 17. The theme for this year’s tour is “All the Right Moves”—favorite routines
from the TV season return to mingle with original pieces created exclusively for the live show. Accompanying the 10 finalists— Robert Green, Logan Hernandez, Lex Ishimoto, Koine Iwasaki, Dassy Lee, Kaylee Millis, KiKi Nyemchek, Taylor Sieve, Sydney Tormey and Mark Villaver—are SYTYCD all-stars Jasmine Harper and Marko Germar. Harper has performed in Beyoncé’s Lemonade, at the 87th annual Academy Awards and alongside artists like Taylor Swift, Usher and Pitbull. Germar has gone on to perform in Grease Live, on Glee and with Jennifer Lopez.
It’s a safe bet that when this show moves from the small screen to the big stage in a city built on dance, it’ll be one of the weekend’s most memorable performances. So You Think You Can Dance at the Pearl at the Palms, November 17.
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BEST WEEKLY / NON-DAILY WEBSITE
That’s three consecutive years in a row – a testament of the Las Vegas Weekly’s talented and hard-working staff. Other winners include The Boston Globe, Bloomberg, CNN, The Associated Press just to name a few. Now in its 22nd year, this year’s EPPY Awards saw more than 300 entries competing in 30 diverse categories. A list of all the winners can be found here: www.editorandpublisher.com/eppy-winners-2017
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xpectations hit the ceiling when MGM Resorts and the Sydell Group planted award-winning chef Bryce Shuman on the Las Vegas Strip to launch Primrose, the next evolution of the casino three-meal restaurant at Monte Carlo (which will soon become Park MGM). We only knew that the food and drinks would be Frenchinspired and thoughtfully composed to match the country home and garden environment inside the new restaurant space.
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It turns out Shuman is really good at frying things, the first of many discoveries made at Primrose. Lunch or dinner must start with the mozzarella croquette, a fancy name for what’s essentially the best version of the bar-food favorite you’ve ever encountered. The soft, salty cheese with the perfectly crispy crust rests on a bed of bright, fresh tomato sauce, topped with crispy basil. A similar approach results in the fried chicken Provençal, boneless tenders coated in a remarkably flavorful and light batter with herbs de Provence blended in, a
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fresh and savory take on the classic comfort dish. There’s tangy spring onion aioli for dipping, too. Shuman’s “garden fries” are another must-eat offering, an addictive array of pickled and tempura-fried dill beans and hot peppers with a light, mustardy sauce gribiche as accompaniment. Each bite is crunchy and stunningly non-greasy, a snack you simply cannot resist. These appetizers offer an ideal gateway into the Primrose menu, full of roasted and grilled specialties and delicate vegetable dishes. And they’re an early indication that we’re all going to be spending a lot of time exploring the cuisine at this refreshing new restaurant. Primrose at Monte Carlo, 702-730-6600; Sunday-Thursday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday & Saturday 7 a.m.-midnight. –Brock Radke
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legant, sexy and luxurious, the bar at Sage piques your curiosity and engages your senses with moody lighting, whimsical cocktails and Russian absinthe service. But forget about absinthe for the moment—it’s time to talk vodka. And not just any vodka. House of Carbonadi is a recent addition to MGM Resorts’ beverage program, a little-known secret waiting to be discovered and enjoyed by both vodka and cocktail connoisseurs. Sage is an excellent place to get a taste. Located in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, the family-owned Carbonadi distillery borders France and Switzerland, in an area known for its quality of wheat. Its premium spirit is made with water from the Italian Alps and filtered through a winemaking process called micro-oxygenation, which mimicks slow-barrel maturation. The vodka is then filtered through activated charcoal before entering its final phase using carbonados, or black diamonds, in California. The result: a clean, silky finish unlike
any vodka you’ve ever tasted. Embrace the change of season by steeping a cup of tea and mixing it with Carbonadi, clove, cinnamon, mint, orange and honey, or consider pairing it with maple syrup, lemon juice and aquafaba—chickpea juice used to substitute for raw egg whites in creative cocktails. Both of these were among the experimental creations served by MGM bartenders at a recent Carbonadi tasting event. CEO Richard Miller III says Carbonadi can also be enjoyed simply. Order it as a sipper on the rocks, or in a classic martini for a refined and elevated experience perfectly suited for the environment at Sage. –Leslie Ventura
Photograph by Christopher Devargas
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11/16 DJs Bayati & Casanova. 11/17 DJ P-Jay. 11/18 DJ ShadowRed. 11/24 DJ Raphiki. 11/25 DJ ShadowRed. 12/1 DJ J-Day. 12/2 DJ P-Jay. Paris, Wed-Sat, 702-776-7770. DRAI’ S 11/16 Bad Bunny. 11/17 TI. 11/18 Migos. 11/19 Fabolous. 11/24 DJ Franzen. 11/25 DJ Esco. 11/26 DJ Franzen. Cromwell, Tue, Thu-Sun, 702-777-3800.
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11/16 AJ Kallejero & DJ Vera. 11/17 Muzik Junkies. 11/18 Play-N-Skillz. 11/23 Jesse Saunders. 3355 Procyon St., Thu-Sat, 702609-6666. FOUN DAT ION
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11/17 DJ D-Miles. 11/18 DJ Babu Yu. 11/24 DJ Seany Mac. 11/25 Mark Mac. 12/1 Mark Mac. 12/2 DJ Sincere. Mandalay Bay, nightly, 702632-7631. .
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H Y D E 11/17 DJ Konflikt. 11/18 DJ Ikon. 11/21 DJ Five. 11/22 DJ D-Miles. 11/24 DJ D-Miles. 11/25 DJ C-L.A. 11/28 DJ Konflikt. 11/29 DJ D-Miles. Bellagio, nightly, 702-693-8700.
I N T R I GU E 11/16 Robin Schulz. 11/17 Slander. 11/22 Diplo. 11/24 David Clutch. 11/30 Lost Kings. 12/1 RL Grime. 12/2 Flosstradamus. 12/7 Duke Dumont. 12/8 Sultan & Shepard. 12/9 Lost Kings. Wynn, Thu-Sat, 702-770-7300. M AR QU EE 11/17 Ruckus. 11/18 Ghastly. 11/20 DJ Five. 11/24 Vice. 11/25 Ruckus. 11/27 Vice. 12/1 Vice. 12/2 Andrew Rayel. 12/4 Ruckus. Cosmopolitan, Mon, Fri-Sat, 702-333-9000.
TAO 11/16 DJ Five. 11/17 DJ Wellman. 11/18 Vice. 11/23 DJ Five. 11/24 Enferno. 11/25 Eric DLux. 11/30 DJ Five. 12/1 Devin Lucien. 12/2 DJ Politik. Venetian, Thu-Sat, 702-388-8588. XS 11/17 The Chainsmokers. 11/18 Marshmello. 11/25 The Chainsmokers. 12/1 DJ Snake. 12/2 The Chainsmokers. 12/8 RL Grime. 12/9 Nicky Romero. Encore, Fri-Mon, 702-770-0097.
Drai’s by Andrew Dang/Tony Tran Photography
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11/18 The Clairvoyants. 12/2 A Carpenters Christmas. 12/15-16 All-4-One. Aliante Casino, 702-692-7777.
AX IS 11/17-11/18 Backstreet Boys. 11/26 Miss Universe. 11/29-12/16 Lionel Richie. 12/19-12/31 Britney Spears. 1/17-1/27 Pitbull. 1/31-2/17 Backstreet Boys. 2/21-3/3 Jennifer Lopez. Planet Hollywood, 702-777-6737. B R O O K LY N
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11/17 Beach Slang. 11/18 Emerge Benefit Concert. 11/22 Periphery & Animals as Leaders. 11/27 Flobots. 11/30 Wax Tailor. 12/1 Jack & Jack. 12/3 Shaggy. 12/6 Anuhea. 12/7 Chris Robinson Brotherhood. 12/9 Corey Smith. 12/14 The Drums. 12/16 Descendents. 12/21 Lil Pump. 12/29 Dizzy Wright. 12/31 Ja Rule & Ashanti. 1/16 K. Flay. 1/17 G3. 2/1 Rebel Souljahz. 2/9 Stick Figure & Twiddle. 2/16 Tribal Seeds. 2/22 Dark Star Orchestra. 2/27 Celebrating David Bowie. Linq Promenade, 702-862-2695.
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11/17-11/25 Celine Dion. 11/29-12/10 Reba, Brooks & Dunn. 12/6 Jeff Dunham. 12/14-12/22 Mariah Carey. 12/15 Bill O’Reilly & Dennis Miller. 12/30-1/20 Celine Dion. 1/31-2/3 Van Morrison. 2/9-3/2 Elton John. Caesars Palace, 866-227-5938. DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS EVENTS CENTER 12/29-12/30 Boys Noize & Gorgon City. 200 S. Third St., 800-745-3000.
EN CORE
T HEAT ER
11/17-11/18 Harry Connick Jr. 12/1-12/2 Harry Connick Jr. 12/13-12/16 Alabama. 1/10-1/20 John Fogerty. 1/26-1/31 The Moody Blues. 2/28-3/10 Elvis Costello. Wynn, 702-7709966. T HE
FOUN DRY
11/18 Boney James. 12/15-12/16 Dave Koz. 12/10 Parmalee. 1/12 Dylan Scott. SLS, 702761-7617.
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H AR D
R OCK
L I VE
11/18 Smashing Alice. 12/1 Winter Bass. Hard Rock Cafe, 3771 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-7337625. H OU S E
OF
BLU E S
11/16 Joe Walsh. 11/17 Steel Panther. 11/18-11/19 Joe Walsh. 11/20 Belanova & Moenia. 11/22 Molotov. 11/24 The Used. 11/25 Steel Panther. 11/29 The Irreplaceables. 12/1 Steel Panther. 12/2 Nirvana Mania. 12/15 Steel Panther. 12/17 Rocky Horror Picture Show Live. 12/22 A Drag Queen Christmas. 12/31 Pennywise. 1/12-1/13 Marilyn Manson. 1/14 The Minimalists. 1/24-2/3 Santana. 2/10 Judah & The Lion. 2/17 Beth Hart. 2/23 Black Label Society. Mandalay Bay, 702-632-7600. T H E
J OI N T
11/26 Snails. 12/2 Patton Oswalt. 12/3 Kelly Clarkson. 12/6 Holiday Havoc with Rise Against, Portugal. The Man, Royal Bood & more. 12/8-12/9 Gary Allan. 12/18 Mondays Dark 4th Anniversary Show. 1/7 Markiplier. 1/20 The National. 2/23-3/3 Nickelback. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5000.
CH EL SEA
11/17 Adam Sandler. 11/18 Ishe Smith vs. Julian Williams. 11/25 Wakin Chau. 11/29 Lee Brice. 12/8-12/9 Cole Swindell. 12/10 Dustin Lynch. 12/13 Dwight Yoakam. 12/15-12/16 Dierks Bentley. 12/22 Lindsey Stirling. 12/24 Louis Yan. 12/29 Zac Brown Band. 12/30 Duran Duran. 12/31 Foo Fighters. 1/12-1/13 Willie Nelson & Family. 1/20 Spoon. 1/27 Adam Sandler. 2/16 Queens of the Stone Age. 2/17 Cake. Cosmopolitan, 702-698-6797.
CH R O M E
l
SH OWRO OM
1/20 John Waite. Santa Fe Station, 702-6584900.
GOLDEN N UGGET SHOW ROOM 11/17 Herman’s Hermits. 11/24 Eric Burdon & The Animals. 12/1 The Grass Roots. 12/7 John Michael Montgomery. 12/8 Brenda Lee. 12/9 Pam Tillis & Lorrie Morgan. 12/10 Charlie Daniels Band. 12/11 Ronnie Milsap. 12/12 Tanya Tucker. 12/13 Lonestar. 12/14 Clint Black. 12/15 Jamey Johnson. 12/29 Loverboy. Golden Nugget, 866-946-5336. GRAN D
EV EN TS
C EN T ER
11/17 Richard Cheese. 11/18 Imomsohard. Green Valley Ranch Resort, 702-617-7777.
M A N D A L AY B AY EVENTS CENTER
12/30-12/31 Maroon 5. 2/16 Lana Del Rey. 3/24 Kid Rock. Mandalay Bay, 702-632-7777. MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA 11/16 Latin Grammy Awards. 12/5 UNLV vs. Oral Roberts. 12/9 UNLV vs. Illinois. 12/28 The Original Misfits. 2/3 The Killers. 2/10 Shakira. MGM Grand, 702-521-3826.
N O V E M B E R
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I N D U S T R Y
W E E K L Y
the resource
O R L EANS
ARENA
11/23-11/24 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. 11/25 PJ Masks Live. 12/2 Las Vegas Soul Festival with Teddy Riley, Faith Evans, SWV and more. Orleans, 702-3657469. O R L E ANS
SH OWRO O M
11/24 Timothy B. Schmit. 12/22-12/23 Under the Streetlamp. Orleans, 702-365-7111.
PA RK
TH EATER
11/17-11/25 Cher. 12/30-12/31 Bruno Mars. 1/121/13 Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. 2/142/19 Bruno Mars. Monte Carlo, 844-600-7275.
TH E
P EARL
11/17 So You Think You Can Dance. 11/25 Ana Gabriel. 12/11 Holiday Havoc with The Killers & more. Palms, 702-944-3200.
RAILH EAD
katy perry by kevin mazur/getty
TH E
11/16 Roy Rogers. 11/18 The Edgar Winter Bad. 11/30 Nikki Hill. 12/2 Robert Cray Band. 12/7 Coco Montoya. 12/16 Keiko Matsui & Euge Groove. 12/22 Christmas with the Celts. Boulder Station, 702-432-7777. R O CKS
LO U NG E
11/19 Brunch to Broadway. Red Rock Resort, 702-797-7777. S O U TH
P O INT
SH OWRO O M
11/16 Frankie Moreno. 11/17-11/19 Donny Edwards. 11/24-11/26 Chubby Checker. 12/1-12/2 Rob Garrett. 12/12 Sierra Black. 12/13-12/16 Cody Johnson. 12/21-12/23 Tony Orlando. 12/28 Frankie Moreno. South Point, 702-796-7111. TE R RY
FATO R
TH EAT ER
11/17-11/18 Ray Romano & David Spade. 11/1711/25 Boyz II Men. 11/24-11/25 Howie Mandel & Puddles Pity Party. 12/1-12/2 Ray Romano & David Spade. 12/8-12/16 Ron White. 12/2212/24 Boyz II Men. 12/29 Joe Rogan. 12/30 Jay Leno. 1/19-1/21 John Mulaney. Mirage, 702-792-7777.
T-MOBILE
AREN A
11/17 Guns N’ Roses. 11/20-11/22 MGM Resorts Main Event Basketball Tournament. 12/8-12/9 George Strait. 12/16 Lady Gaga. 1/5-1/6 Ice Vegas Invitational. 1/20 Katy Perry. 3780 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-692-1600.
VEN E T I AN
T H E AT R E
1/24-1/25 Jeff Foxworthy. 1/26-2/3 Styx & Don Felder. 2/7-2/24 Chicago. Venetian, 702-4149000.
VI N Y L T ROPICAN A
T HEAT ER
11/18 Great White & Slaughter. Tropicana, 800-829-9034.
11/16 Propaghandi. 12/1 Syd. 12/5 Dance Gavin Dance. 12/7 Daryle Singletary. 12/8-12/9 Mark Wills. 12/10-12/11 David Ball. 12/12-12/13 Andy Griggs. 12/14 Daryle Singletary. 12/22 Sonny Digital. 2/3 Tonight Alive & Silverstein. 2/9 Lights. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5000.
THE FAB
A VERY BEATLES CHRISTMAS
COMPLIMENTARY AREA OF LASER
Saturday, December 2 • 8pm Tickets $1495 GA
Mention JINGLE $1,250 VALUE
*Cannot be combined with any other offer. Must be booked before 12/15/17.
New Year’s Eve
IN-A-FECT
Sun, Dec 31 • Doors open at 9pm with DJ DMC Tickets start at $50
New Year’s Eve
NEXT MOVEMENT
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Sun, Dec 31 • Doors open at 9pm with DJ DENIRO Tickets start at $60
ENTERTAINMENT Done Right Ticket prices do not include taxes and applicable fees. Management reserves all rights. ©2017 Boyd Gaming ® Corporation, LLC. All rights reserved.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11.16.17
In its 42nd year, the Indian National Finals Rodeo thrilled crowds at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center from November 7-11. The event is unique for the age spread of its contestants—children can compete alongside their grandparents. It’s an event steeped in history and proud tradition, embodied by these performers’ dance during INFR’s opening ceremonies. (Photograph by Christopher DeVargas/Staff)
VEGAS REALITY SHOWS YOU SHOULD WATCH 1. FLIP OR FLOP LAS VEGAS
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HGTV’s house-flipping show features Aubrey (a real estate agent) and Bristol (a contractor and MMA fighter) turning dusty tract homes into glam abodes.
2. OUTDOOR NEVADA Don’t care for staged fights and soap operalike plots? This original Vegas PBS show, hosted by John Burke, explores Nevada’s ghost towns, natural wonders and urban curiosities.
3. THE HOT WIVES OF LAS VEGAS
4. THE REAL WORLD: LAS VEGAS
The Real Housewives franchise never took off in Vegas, but we have something better: a scripted Hulu comedy that hilariously parodies reality programming.
Las Vegas hosted this iconic MTV reality show in 2002, 2011 and 2016. The first (and best) season helped to introduce Vegas to a younger demographic.
5. TANKED Since 2011, Acrylic Tank Manufacturing has been delighting Animal Planet viewers with its innovative aquariums. Like what you see? You can tour the Vegas facility. –C. Moon Reed
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Trust Us everything you absolutely, positively must get out and do this week
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& November 18
HARRY CONNICK JR. AT ENCORE THEATER Harry Connick Jr. is particularly excited to get onstage at Wynn this weekend. He’s been so focused on TV—presenting his year-old syndicated daytime talk show and reprising his role on Will & Grace for that series’ reboot—he hasn’t had much time for touring. “I didn’t have a lot of time to do much else, because we were figuring a lot of stuff out,” he says. “Now I have time to play, and I’m thrilled. I play with my band every day on the show, but there’s nothing like taking it on the road. I love Vegas and I love that room. I’ve always had a terrific time out there. What I love most is, you can do nothing or you can do tons of things. There are so many choices.” 8 p.m., $60-$300. –Brock Radke
thru november 26
The Bodyguard at Reynolds Hall Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Whitney Houston’s hit film by seeing the musical version at the Smith Center. Grammy-nominated R&B singer Deborah Cox will play the lead role and sing the songs (“Queen of the Night,” “I Will Always Love You,” “I Have Nothing”) that helped make The Bodyguard the best-selling soundtrack of all time. $49-$127, 702-7492000. –C. Moon Reed
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saturday, 1 p.m.
Tellabration storytelling at West Charleston Library The art of storytelling encompasses a wide range of styles, from traditional folktales to humorous personal anecdotes. Listen to some of Nevada’s best storytellers spin all types of yarns as part of this annual worldwide event organized by the National Storytelling Network. Free, 6301 W. Charleston Boulevard. –C. Moon Reed
saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Sin City Rollergirls: Princesses vs. Villains Exhibition Match Ariel and Maleficent—the former with her brand-new legs and the latter with her ability to transform into an angry pinwheel of sparks—would make excellent jammers. But they’d have to get around Moana and Mother Gothel, both natural-born pivots, and Rapunzel and Ursula, whose appendages make them formidable blockers. And we may well see these contests happen when the Sin City Rollergirls skate as your favorite Disney characters in an exhibition roller derby bout. Bring something to sit on, and bring the family, too—kids under 10 get in free. $10, 4405 E. Colton Ave., sincityrollergirls.com. –Geoff Carter
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Sunday, 5 p.m.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. LA KINGS AT T-MOBILE ARENA Now it’s getting real. The mettle of the Vegas Golden Knights—currently stunning the sports world with a 10-6-1 record in their first-ever 17 games—will be tested on Sunday when they take on for the first time in the regular season the team hovering just above them in the Western Conference Pacific Division standings: the Los Angeles Kings. The Golden Knights haven’t necessarily coasted since their debut—they’ve already seen three goalies land on the injured reserve list—though their schedule thus far has largely included lower-ranked teams. At 11-4-2, the Kings are no joke, with a strong defense in front of ace goalie Jonathan Quick. But the Knights have been scoring more—and allowing fewer—goals per game than the Kings, who will be playing in what’s shaping up to be one of the most unforgiving cities for visiting teams. Vegas Flu or not, maybe it’s the Kings who should worry. Sold out, $112+ at press time on Ticketmaster resale site. –Mike Prevatt (Photograph by L.E. Baskow/Staff)
3 CONCERTS TO CATCH THIS WEEK
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Propagandhi released its seventh full-length, Victory Lap, in September, but the Canadian punk activists have been using their platform to speak out against humanrights violations, sexism, racism, nationalism, capitalism, homophobia and the meat industry since the ’90s—see “Apparently I’m a P.C. Fascist (Because I Care About Both Human and Non-Human Animals)” from the 1996 LP Less Talk, More Rock. If you’ve been feeling the weight of the current administration, Propagandhi’s Thursday set at Vinyl is bound to provide some much-needed catharsis. November 16, 8 p.m., $21-$45. If there was ever a time to show Philadelphia punks Beach Slang some extra support, it’s now. The band recently lost all of its gear when its tour van was stolen, but the group is powering ahead. Originally slated to play the Emerge Impact + Music Conference (now rescheduled for April), the Pennsylvanians will instead perform Friday at Brooklyn Bowl. Fans of alt-punk pioneers The Replacements won’t want to miss charismatic frontman James Alex and his mates as they pluck songs ranging from this year’s Here, I Made This for You: Volume 2 EP all the way back to their emo-rattled early work (and maybe a Mats song or two). Show up early for Vegas’ own Mercy Music. November 17, 7 p.m., $10-$15. Still have energy? Nashville garage-rockers Diarrhea Planet round out the loud weekend with a Saturday show at Backstage Bar and Billiards, joined by with trippy California three-piece L.A. Witch and locals The Quitters and Wax Pig Melting. November 18, 8 p.m., $10-$12. –Leslie Ventura
11.16.17
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SEMI-HEROIC JUSTICE LEAGUE DELIVERS MINOR COMIC-BOOK COMPETENCE BY JOSH BELL uperhero movies are so common these days that it takes a lot more than just putting much-beloved comic book heroes on the big screen with a decent budget to generate real fan enthusiasm. It’s hard to imagine much more than mild approval from fans or general audiences for Justice League, a straightforward, unremarkable action movie starring DC Comics’ biggest superheroes—the kind of thing that would have been a genre milestone 20 years ago, but is now just another week at the movies. DC has had a rough time building a movie superhero universe to rival Marvel’s, and Justice League attempts to bring together both heroes who’ve starred in their own movies (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) and cinematic newcomers (Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg). It’s an awkward fit, requiring the movie to give thumbnail origin stories for the new characters while building on the plot threads already established in previous DC movies (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman). On top of that, director and co-writer Zack Snyder, a key architect of the DC films, dropped out before the movie was completed, leaving Joss Whedon (credited only as co-writer) to finish up. So there’s a bit of Snyder’s portentous, slow-motion-focused action, and a bit of Whedon’s quippy dialogue, but mostly there’s a simple, streamlined superhero story, with one hero (Ben Affleck’s Batman) gathering others so they can team up against a world-ending threat. The first half of the movie mostly involves Batman tracking down the other heroes in familiar fashion, while forgettable alien villain Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds voicing a hideous CGI creation) searches for three powerful doodads he needs to destroy Earth. The action is rote, the special effects are surprisingly poor (especially on Ray Fisher’s clumsylooking Cyborg) and the character interactions are only occasionally entertaining (Affleck and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman have appealing chemistry, and Ezra Miller provides decent comic relief as the inexperienced Flash). Justice League is more cohesive than BvS but not nearly as rousing as Wonder Woman. It never does more than fulfill its minimum obligations.
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AABCC JUSTICE LEAGUE Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller. Directed by Zack Snyder. Rated PG-13. Opens Friday citywide.
Batman and Wonder Woman prepare for battle. (Warner Bros./Courtesy)
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Fishburne, Cranston and Carell hit the road. (Lionsgate/Courtesy)
Kid gloves Wonder treats its sensitive subject a little too carefully
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The home front Military veterans reunite in Last Flag Flying
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Though the characters’ names have been asks Sal and Richard to come to the funeral. changed, and director Richard Linklater While Linklater’s decision to decouple Last Flag (Boyhood, the Before trilogy, etc.) would prefer Flying from its predecessor makes sense, given that that audiences ignore the connection, Last none of the original actors could realistiFlag Flying is essentially a sequel to 1973’s cally reprise their parts (Young died in aaacc The Last Detail, in which two Navy lifers 2001, and neither Nicholson nor Quaid LAST FLAG FLYING escort a fellow sailor to the prison where has appeared onscreen in at least seven Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, he’ll serve a draconian eight-year sentence years), doing so robs the story of much of Laurence Fishburne. its poignancy. An enormous amount of for stealing $40. Based on Darryl Ponicsan’s Directed by 2005 novel, which was expressly about the guilt comes between Doc and the others, Richard Linklater. Rated R. Opens same three men, Linklater’s film stars Bryan but its source remains mostly fuzzy unless Friday at Village Cranston as Sal Nealon, Laurence Fishburne one has seen The Last Detail and is aware of Square. as Richard Mueller and Steve Carell as Larry the journey they once shared, and its grim “Doc” Shepherd—new identities (they’re destination. Mostly, it’s depressive Carell now Vietnam vets) for the roles previously squaring off against cynical, foulmouthed played, respectively, by Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Cranston, with Fishburne caught in the middle. All Randy Quaid. Now decades older, they meet up again in three do solid work, but this film will be only a foot2003 when Doc, whose son has just been killed in Iraq, note in Linklater’s rich career. –Mike D’Angelo
There’s been a whole lot of wonder at the movies this year: Wonder Woman, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Wonderstruck, Woody Allen’s forthcoming Wonder Wheel. And now here comes just plain Wonder, adapted from R.J. Palacio’s 2012 children’s book about a 10-yearold boy born with mandibulofacial dysostosis, a genetic disorder that makes his face look like that of a severe burn victim who has undergone reconstructive surgery. Auggie, played in the movie by Room’s Jacob Tremblay, is a smart, sensitive kid whose loving parents (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson) have home-schooled him until now. But it’s time for him to join the wider world, even if that means dealing with childhood cruelty. Directed by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Wonder deftly avoids many of the mawkish pitfalls endemic to this sort of inspirational story. Characters are neither one-dimensionally virtuous nor villainous, and the film expands to consider, for example, the frustrations of Auggie’s older sister, Via (Izabela Vidovic), who understands why she’s not the center of attention in her family and feels guilty about resenting that anyway. But the movie also engineers an improbable feel-good ending for just about every character, and the narrative tidiness undermines the preceding complexity. Wonder falls somewhere in between a genuine drama and an earnest anti-bullying PSA. It’s just good enough to make you wish that it were a whole lot better. –Mike D’Angelo
aaacc WONDER Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson. Directed by Stephen Chbosky. Rated PG. Opens Friday citywide.
60 las vegas weekly 11.16.17
MARVEL MATCHUP
The teens of Runaways discover a horrifying secret. Below: The Punisher. (Hulu/Courtesy)
The Punisher and Runaways mark Marvel’s latest uneven TV efforts By Josh Bell lthough they theoretically all take place endless supply of heavy ordinance. within the same world, Marvel’s TV shows Rather than moving Frank forward from his have struggled to make the same impact Daredevil appearances, in which he tracked down as the company’s theatrical films. Two new and murdered the criminals responsible for killMarvel TV series debut this week, ing his family, The Punisher backtracks, with very different tones and premises, and aaccc adding a government conspiracy angle so far neither one captures the excitement and new shadowy figures to Frank’s origin. MARVEL’S and creativity of the best Marvel movies (or It’s a slow, monotonous story without a THE PUNISHER comic books). But while Runaways displays clear antagonist, and Frank is a grim, Season 1 available enough distinctiveness and charm to make one-note character who works better as November 17 it somewhat promising, The Punisher runs a supporting player than a lead. Amber on Netflix. out of steam after just a few episodes. Rose Revah brings some liveliness as a poThe Punisher is part of the interconaaacc tentially sympathetic Homeland Security nected corner of the Marvel Cinematic agent, but she barely interacts with Frank MARVEL’S Universe that includes fellow Netflix in the first six episodes. RUNAWAYS shows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Runaways, from Gossip Girl creators Tuesdays, Hulu. Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders, but it Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, has Premieres November 21. pretty much stands on its own. The title a much lighter tone, although it’s still character, military veteran Frank Castle pretty slow and heavy compared to the (Jon Bernthal, reprising his role from creators’ other work (and to the comic the second season of Daredevil), is a nonbook source material). Set among the superpowered vigilante in a world of superheroes, ultra-rich of LA, the sunny, stylish show serves who derives power from his single-minded deteras a contrast to other Marvel series, and its large mination to eradicate criminals—and a seemingly ensemble of teen and adult characters allows for a
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variety of subplots. The original comic books are about a group of teens taking down their parents after discovering that the adults are part of a secret evil organization, but Schwartz and Savage take a more measured approach, giving the adults more complex motivations. Sometimes the sheer number of characters gets a bit unwieldy, and the interpersonal drama is less thrilling than the prospect of colorful superhero action (which goes mostly unfulfilled in the first four episodes). But the teen characters are likable and grounded, and worth watching even when they aren’t tapping into their superpowers. The adults, too, are more nuanced than typical supervillains, although they may eventually have to be left behind. Just as The Punisher features a disappointing lack of punishment, no one actually runs away in the early episodes of Runaways, but at least the show seems like it’s going somewhere.
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Ronan (left) and Feldstein practice their teenage disaffection. (A24/Courtesy)
Teenage dream
Lady Bird tells a smart and funny coming-of-age story By Josh Bell reta Gerwig’s solo writing and directing she refers to as “the Midwest of California”) with debut follows many of the familiar beats equal contempt, but Gerwig and Ronan make sure of the teenage coming-of-age story, but that Lady Bird is never unlikable, just a bit naïve Gerwig gives it a personal specificity that and self-centered, like most teenagers. sets it apart from the many unremarkable indie The movie follows Lady Bird’s final year of teen dramedies released every year. Lady Bird’s high school, with typical teenage milestones: title character is the kind of role Gerwig She dates boys who are wrong for her; aaabc she fights with her mother (an excelherself might have played a decade ago LADY BIRD (and indeed the movie is at least parlent, understated Laurie Metcalf); she Saoirse Ronan, tially inspired by Gerwig’s own teenage bonds with and then ditches and then Laurie Metcalf, Beanie Feldstein. makes up with her best friend (Beanie years), but Saoirse Ronan capably fills Directed by Grein for the filmmaker while making the Feldstein); she applies to colleges that ta Gerwig. Rated performance entirely her own. are probably out of her reach. Gerwig R. Opens Friday at Downtown A high school senior in 2002 Sacrapresents it all with a low-key authenticSummerlin. mento, California, Christine “Lady Bird” ity and a sharp (but not unrealistic) wit. McPherson (she insists everyone, inLady Bird’s journey toward understandcluding her family members, call her by ing her own limitations and her true that self-applied nickname) is an underachiever potential isn’t overblown, with Gerwig finding who thinks of herself as a misunderstood genius, humor and drama in small everyday moments. even though there’s little to indicate she possesses Lady Bird is only beginning to mature by the untapped talents. She treats her family, her time the movie ends, but as a filmmaker, Gerwig Catholic high school and her hometown (which proves that she’s already there.
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NFR 2017
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Wever (left) and Dockery defend their home. (Netflix/Courtesy)
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WEEKLY | 11.16.17
How the West was dull Godless stretches its simple Western story until it breaks By Josh Bell t’s refreshing at first to experience the old-fashioned Western rhythms of Godless, a seven-episode Netflix limited series entirely written and directed by Scott Frank, but those rhythms get a little off as the series progresses. Like too many prestige TV series, Godless is basically a feature film dragged out over multiple episodes, and Frank fills it with extraneous subplots, superfluous flashbacks and useless supporting characters. A veteran Hollywood screenwriter, Frank has written and directed a couple of underrated small-scale thrillers (The Lookout, A Walk Among the Tombstones), and Godless has a great throwback Western movie buried somewhere under all the excess flab. At its core, Godless’ plot is pretty standard Western material: There’s a sadistic gunman leading a gang of outlaws, cutting a swath of terror across the frontier. An over-the-hill sheriff and a reformed outlaw are there to oppose the
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villain, along with some hardy pioneer women Western vistas, and the thrilling final battle is who prove tougher than they first appear. After masterfully staged. It takes far too long to get there, a lot of meandering, the characters converge on though, with entire episodes in the middle of the a dusty New Mexico town for a bloody climactic series that seemingly could have been removed enshootout, with a massive body count. tirely. Everything from the costumes to the characJeff Daniels is good as the menacing, unpreter types to the wonderfully vintage-sounding score dictable Frank Griffin, who spouts Bible by Carlos Rafael Rivera points to Frank’s verses as easily as he slaughters dozens obvious love for old-school Westerns, aabcc of people. But Jack O’Connell and Scoot but one of the best things about those GODLESS McNairy are a little bland as upstanding Westerns is how economical they were, Available gunslinger Roy Goode and determined often finishing up in around 75 minutes. November 22 on Netflix. lawman Bill McNue, respectively, and Godless has more than one episode that their character arcs are not interesting runs that same amount of time, slowing enough to justify all the time Frank the simple story down to a crawl. spends on them. Merritt Wever, as the You could skip straight from the first sheriff’s gun-toting, proto-feminist lesbian episode to the last and get most of what’s imporsister, is entertaining enough to make a case tant about the story and the character developthat she should have been the hero, and Michelle ment, along with plenty of flavorful dialogue Dockery has some moments of quiet intensity as and rustic visuals. It would take about two and a the hardened rancher who takes Roy in. half hours—just the right amount of time for a As a director, Frank has an eye for sweeping substantial, satisfying feature film.
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kidd a Local favorite Indigo Kidd celebrateS its first full-length album By Leslie Ventura t’s hard to believe the indie pop-punks of Indigo Kidd have lived in Las Vegas for only a year and a half. Because ever since they moved here from Yakima, Washington, cousins Eli (guitar/vocals) and Garrett Curtsinger (drums) and Dalton Willett (bass)— have fit right in, as if they’ve been playing on the Downtown scene forever. Amazingly, Indigo Kidd amassed such strong local support without an LP or even a full EP to its name—only a two-song “mixtape” the group dropped as it arrived in town in June 2016. So when the guys announced that first album Sad Daze in Happy Valley would arrive on November 17, it signaled an exciting new chapter—taking Indigo Kidd in a more mature musical direction that brings emotional storytelling to the band’s irresistible, dance-in-your-seat pop songs. “We’ve all grown in every way since we’ve been
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here,” Willett says. “It’s humbled us, in a weird way.” other pissed-off teen.” Turns out, completing album No. 1 meant overcoming “We’re really critical of our own work and won’t unexpected obstacles. “It took a year to put together,” release half of the things we make,” Curtsinger says. Curtsinger says. “There was a time where we were all “We want every song on the album to be like, Oh my just really burned out on this album, and we didn’t God, I feel this.” know what to do. For a while we were like, ‘Do The Curtsingers, Willett and their fans we give up?’” Now we’re excited. We can’t wait will celebrate Sad Daze with a release show INDIGO KIDD for everyone to hear this.” at east-side bar Starboard Tack on Saturday, with Seacats, Mo Troper, The album’s title nods to an influential November 18. Also on the bill: Seattle’s Homebodys. record, 2012 EP End of Daze by LA’s Dum Seacats, Portland’s Mo Troper and local act November 18, Dum Girls, and the songs are littered with Homebodys. An 11-date West Coast tour will 9 p.m., free. Starboard Tack, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about heartbreak, follow for Indigo Kidd, beginning in LA and 702-684-5769. partying and other coming-of-age rites ending in Salt Lake City. Willett says the of passage. Take the anthemic “Nicotine guys are already writing songs for a second Queen,” for example, which features LP and planning a tour for early 2018. “I Curtsinger’s witty words arriving in his sing-shout don’t want to do anything else,” Curtsinger says. “I style. “I hate life/And I really want to die/Nobody want to get to the point where I can do this full-time.” has to know/… I know my life’s a mess/But I won’t Sad Daze in Happy Valley is available at indigokidd. say I’m depressed/’Cuz then I’ll sound like every bandcamp.com.
noise
65 las vegas weekly 11.16.17
Don’t fear the Reaper White Reaper’s Tony Esposito talks rowdy rock and the ‘most boring Vegas trip ever’
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Indigo Kidd, from left: Garrett Curtsinger, Eli Curtsinger and Dalton Willett. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
like Flood and Feedbacker. Distortion once again rules all, rumbling over compositions that range from grunge-rock (“Absolutego) to dream-pop (“Biotope”), culminating with the downright terrifying title track. It makes for terrific theater. The first time I caught Boris live, at a New York festival in The Japanese drone-metal trio just discov2009, the band’s setup included a massive gong … ered the way to Vegas. Last year’s Psycho Las which hung untouched behind the drum Vegas festival set marked the first and BORIS kit for most of the show. During the final only performance here by a band now in with Torche, number, the stage filled with heavy fog, the midst of its 25th-anniversary tour. Enchon. to the point where we could no longer see Relatively few locals were present for that November 16, 9 p.m., $20. the musicians. And then, as the final piece appearance, which saw bassist/vocalist Bunkhouse built toward its climax, Takeshi, guitarist/vocalist Wata and drumSaloon, a single hand raised mer/vocalist Atsuo re-create 2005 LP Pink 702-982-1764. above the cloud— in full inside the Joint. Atsuo’s, clutching Boris picked a good tour to bring a giant mallet, which he here. July album Dear—which the band then smashed against will likely be playing straight-through, if recent the gong at last. setlists hold up—marks a return to the doomy, –Spencer Patterson stretched-out style of beloved early-2000s records
Amplifier worship Three reasons to catch Boris at the Bunkhouse
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We spoke to the Louisville band’s frontman prior to its performance at Brooklyn Bowl, part of the Emerge Impact + Music Conference’s benefit for the Las Vegas Victims’ fund. As an album title, The World’s Best American Band makes a statement. Do you actually believe it’s true? Yeah … it’s kinda true. There are lots of bands— millions—who are out there playing shows, but there’s only one White Reaper. So in short, we, as a collective, believe this is true. You have a reputation as a party band, chugging beers with the crowd and holding up instruments like the rock gods of yesteryear. Where does that energy come from? It goes way back—we were raised going to these really rowdy shows in our hometown. We were constantly telling ourselves, “This is a show. This is how it’s supposed to be,” which manifested itself in our performances. Have you been to Vegas before? We actually had a three-hour layover there. It’s probably in the record books for the most boring Vegas trip ever. We took an Uber to the Strip … we had to lug all of our gear with us. The only casino we visited was the Luxor; we wanted to see the Criss Angel Mindfreak casino. We ended up eating lunch at a food court and heading back to catch our flight. –Ian Caramanzana For more of our interview with Esposito, visit lasvegasweekly.com.
White Reaper with Mondo Cozmo, Grandson, B. Rose, Mike Xavier and Sabriel. November 18, 7 p.m., $15. Brooklyn Bowl, 702-862-2695.
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(John Salangsang/AP)
noise
WEEKLY | 11.16.17
Bad reputation Taylor Swift’s latest album sounds dated and disposable By Annie Zaleski
fter Taylor Swift conquered the world with that’s completely out of place. 2014’s 1989, it wasn’t clear where she would go The generic music feels at odds with Reputation’s next on Reputation, her sixth studio album. push toward more sophisticated subject matter, Would she continue down a comfortable pop including reflections on mature relationships and path, or use her considerable musical leverage to defiant self-confidence. Swift’s lyrics often rely on venture even further afield? Although Swift initially tired tropes—comparing a love to a drug that gets hinted at the latter option with the Tim Burton-goesher high, talking about getting drunk, references electroclash “Look What You Made Me Do,” Reputato “crimson lips” and allusions to her Kanye West tion instead travels in well-worn creative directions. feud—or are cringeworthy (“I’m laughing with my That’s an unfortunate choice, largely lover/ ... Trust him like a brother). due to her choice of collaborators. With As per usual, Reputation contains the contributions from producer Jack Anoccasional great lyrical zinger (“I never tonoff on six songs and Swedish svengalis trust a narcissist, but they love me,” “And Max Martin and Shellback on the rest, I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I Reputation plays like a pastiche of contemput ’em”) and flashes of greatness. “Dancing aaccc With Our Hands Tied” is a sleek, gothic New porary pop, hip-hop and electronics—and Taylor it instantly sounds dated. (If anything, Wave homage about a relationship doomed Swift the album underscores that Martin and before it starts, while the cotton candyReputation Shellback’s once-bulletproof production delicate “Call It What You Want” and the approach now feels behind the times.) nuanced piano ballad “New Year’s Day” are Swift’s rampant vocal manipulaabout romantic happy endings. tion—including her frequent use of a vocoder—is It’s no coincidence that the latter songs are Repudistracting and distancing, while overuse of digital tation’s best moments. Although Swift often gets gloss robs other songs of personality. On “End criticized for her sincerity, her songwriting works Game,” a hip-hop-inspired collaboration with best when it’s unvarnished and genuine. 1989 Future and Ed Sheeran, her voice is indistinguishproved Swift could play the pop game on her own able from random session singers. Elsewhere, the forward-thinking, vulnerable terms and succeed. chorus of the EDM-zippered “I Did Something In contrast, Reputation largely plays it aloof and Bad” wields a trilling, reggae-redolent vocal effect safe, and ends up feeling completely disposable.
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67 FINE ART
WEEKLY | 11.16.17
Liquid asset
Nima Abkena’s 869 disorients the senses. (Mikayla Whitmore/Staff)
Nima Abkenar’s 869 pop-up installation channels water into art By Dawn-Michelle Baude ater is a notorious artistic medium: It leaks, jiggles, smells, turns colors and disappears. Artists avoid it, because engineering know-how only goes so far. Successful water artworks rely more on an intuitive understanding of water’s elusive properties than on rigorous concept. Enter Nima Abkenar. The Las Vegas artist’s site-specific 869, a pop-up installation at 1319 South Main Street, stars a placid 16-by-22foot pool at one end of the 1,600-square-foot exhibition space and two yellow neon lights at the other. In between are tagged walls, industrial flooring and a 20-by-11-foot plastic scrim. Painted plywood encloses one side, while an in situ concrete wall, scuffed and marred by the passage of time, runs down the other. Above the pool, two opulent green lights drench the space in a syrupy, chlorophyll glow. 869—named for the number of gallons required to fill the pool—doesn’t lend itself to a breezy
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look-see. For starters, 869 can only be viewed the front window, streams past in an impromptu at night from the rear of the building. Once you video of headlights and brake lights. The pool’s find your way through the parking lot around to reflecting surface mirrors layers of color and shape the back, you encounter a small, weirdly green as transparency and opacity vie for the senses. proscenium at poolside. Disorientation is part of Geometric forms throughout the space echo the the experience—you can’t step into the geometric forms painted on the bottom aaaac pool, you can’t go past the rope, you’re of the pool. And that odd green light 869 not quite sure what to think about reminds that water is part of the natural Through November 22, the darkened installation without a world without affirming it. by appointment. Reception docent by your side. The docent would The simplicity of 869 belies the probably mention California Light and November 17, 5-8 p.m., highly controlled series of formal free. 1319 S. Main St., Space Art and Minimal Art of the last decisions that went into its making. 702-960-3952. century before saying 896 is neither. By framing and reframing the viewer’s The longer you stand there, the more perception, Abkenar manages to reflect visual patterns and themes emerge. the entire installation in the pool, The pale-yellow wall, which doesn’t cast a shadow, including the viewer’s own image. In doing so, he is nonetheless the exact size and shape as a shadow revives interest in water as a focal material and cast upon the scrim. One neon light symmetrically raises questions that potentially belong as much slits the scrim’s center, while the second neon to physics as to art. But mostly, Abkenar creates calls from offstage, emitting an edgy glow. an exhibition that lingers in the mind during the Meanwhile the traffic on Main, visible through walk back down the alley and into the world.
68 las vegas weekly 11.16.17
food & Drink
Pastrami reigns supreme at Canter’s. (Mikayla Whitmore/Staff)
69 las vegas weekly 11.16.17
Welcome back, Canter The iconic delicatessen returns to Las Vegas at Tivoli Village by brock radke he first real restaurant review I ever qualifies as too good to be true, but there it is, wrote was published more than a dozen in the shiny new part of Tivoli Village near the years ago in an alt-weekly magazine that massive Restoration Hardware store. doesn’t exist anymore. The subject was My Canter’s has a full-service dining room Canter’s Deli, at that time a small sandwich spot and a takeout counter with its own seating, and near the sportsbook at Treasure Island. Like I’d recommend the latter. It’ll be that much so many Strip eateries, it was a scaled-down, quicker to get that tender, ultra-savory pastrami tourist-friendly version of a famous restaurant (or corned beef) on rye into your face. Get the from somewhere else. Canter’s is one of the great combo ($17) and stack plenty of both meats on names in American delis, opening first in New one sandwich, or mix it up with turkey or meltJersey in 1924 before moving to LA in 1931. in-your-mouth brisket. That review was meaningful to me beyond These sandwiches are better than the old TI the fact that it marked my official Canter’s stuff, because this kitchen food-writing debut. I’d eaten lunch is hand-slicing everything, resultCANTER’S DELI at the landmark Canter’s on North ing in thicker, more luxurious slabs Tivoli Village, Fairfax just once, as a teenager, acof meat. And it’s all about the meat; 330 S. Rampart companying my father on a one-day no crazy toppings here to get in Blvd. #160, Vegas-to-LA trip. It strengthened the way. The Rachel ($17-$18) adds 702-444-0407. Sunday-Thursday, my love for pastrami but also for Swiss and coleslaw, and Kevin’s 7 a.m.-9 p.m.; restaurants in general, something Choice ($17-$18) uses slaw and Friday & Saturday, Dad instilled in us even earlier Russian dressing. No matter what 7 a.m.-10 p.m. when we lived in Oregon and he sandwich you get, you’ll be lucky to operated his own sandwich shops finish half. and managed restaurants and Though I have a hard time produce-distribution companies. We remain a deviating from pastrami, Canter’s Deli has a food-obsessed family. full menu of soups and salads, bagel platters When the original Vegas location of Canter’s with good stuff like white fish salad or chopped arrived in 2003, I went frequently for the pastraliver ($13.50-$16), burgers and other entrées. mi. It probably wasn’t as good as that LA lunch, All the deli standards are here, from a New but the sentimental connections were overpowYork-style hot dog (listed under appetizers! For ering. Such is the kosher deli experience, right? $5) to knishes, latkes, matzo ball soup and a big Old-world food, vintage-diner atmosphere and plate of meatloaf with mashed potatoes, gravy the knowledge that it’s all slowly fading away and onion rings ($17). I’m super curious about forever ... that’s an equation for emotional eatCanter’s fish and chips ($17), since a great ing. When the TI closed its Canter’s in 2012, I version of that dish is almost as hard to find in missed it. Las Vegas as the other classic deli fare, but, you But Gary Canter, whose grandfather Ben know, pastrami. opened the original, wanted a new Vegas locaIt remains to be seen if the new version of tion, and he and his new partners found two. A this old restaurant can compete with longtime large, tourist-friendly Strip site opened at the local standard bearer Bagel Cafe, or if the Strip Linq Promenade some four weeks ago, but it was location can draw more hungry tourists than the preceded by suburban version a few weeks before Linq’s other SoCal legend, In-N-Out Burger. How that. Having a Canter’s in my own neighborhood many of us emotional eaters are there?
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Nug up at stoner sandwich heaven Cheba Hut
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There’s a lot to like at the new Las Vegas location of weed-themed sub shop chain Cheba Hut. These guys make their own ranch dressing. There’s Kool-Aid on tap, and a great little beer list. It’s a very chill spot to cure a case of the munchies and not just because the Source dispensary is next door; there’s a patio with a bar counter, where it just feels like college again. The best part might be the sandwich sizes. A foot-long is called a blunt; an eight-inch is a pinner. But the way to go is the four-inch nug, because you can get any of Cheba’s 26-plus sandwich options (there’s a secret stash menu, too) in this toasty, cute, little version. So you can easily take down the Thai Stick ($5)—teriyaki chicken, pineapple and pepperjack—and the Dank ($5)—salami, pepperoni and provolone smothered in house-made marinara—in one sitting; two fantastic flavors for about 11 bucks. (Not counting the Doritos Not’chos you have to order, too; they’re $4.) If you’re coming from next door, there’s a good chance you could handle four different nug-wiches, in which case you should also check out the ranch-smothered White Widow or the veggie masterpiece Power Plant, which combines guac and hummus. Dude. –Brock Radke
CHEBA HUT 2550 S. Rainbow Blvd. #13, 702-685-0692. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m.-midnight.
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CALENDAR
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 11.16.17
MUSIC
The shock-rockers of Gwar march on Fremont Country Club on November 18. (Ronan Murphy/Courtesy)
ADRENALINE SPORTS BAR & GRILL KTE, Lightcode T, ZelMADE 11/22, 9:30 pm, $5. 3103 N. Rancho Drive, 702-645-4139. BACKSTAGE BAR & BILLIARDS Diarrhea Planet, L.A. Witch, Wax Pig Melting, The Quitters 11/18, 9 pm, $10-$12. 601 E. Fremont St., 702-382-2227. BEAUTY BAR Exhumed, Arkaik, Casket Raider 11/18, 8 pm, $12. Guttermouth, Koffin Kats, Atom Age, Gallows Bound 11/19, 8 pm, $18. Cattle Decapitation, Revocation, Full of Hell, Artificial Brain 11/20, 6 pm, $20. 517 Fremont St., 702-598-3757. BUNKHOUSE SALOON Boris, Torche, Endon 11/16, 9 pm, $20. Calabrese 11/17, 9 pm, $11-$13. Dieselboy, Blacklab 11/22, 9 pm, $12. 124 S. 11th St., 702-854-1414. THE CHXRCH Almost Awake, Pyrite Sidewalk, Twin Cities, Odd Solutions, A Burden on Society, Our Finest Hour 11/20, 5:30 pm, $10$12. 5818 Spring Mountain Road #217. COUNT’S VAMP’D Paradise Kitty (Guns N’ Roses tribute) 11/16, 9:30 pm, free. Outta the Black, Brazen 11/17, 9:30 pm, free. The Moby Dicks (Zeppelin tribute), Bakers Dozen 11/18, 10 pm, free. 750 W. Sahara Ave., 702-220-8849. THE DILLINGER The Elephant Ballet 11/17, 8:30 pm. Marty Feick 11/18, 8:30 pm. Shawn Williams 11/22, 8:30 pm. All shows free. 1224 Arizona St., Boulder City, 702-293-4001. THE DISPENSARY LOUNGE Windy ft. Brandon Fields, Uli Geissendoerfer Trio 11/17, 10 pm. Ryan Baker 11/18, 10 pm. Shows free unless noted. 2451 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-458-6343. DIVE BAR Stellar Corpses, Argyle Goolsby 11/17, 8 pm, $10-$12. Gonads, Corrupted Youth 11/18, 9 pm, $10-$12. Barra Brava, Curasbun, Vomito Podrido, H.M.D. 11/19, 9 pm, $10. Belphegor, Cryptopsy, Panzerfaust, Empyrean Throne 11/21, 8 pm, $18$22. 4110 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-586-3483.
THE GRIFFIN The Sloths, The Quacks 11/17, 10 pm, free. 511 Fremont St., 702-382-0577. SAND DOLLAR LOUNGE Cash O’Reilly 11/16. The Moanin’ Blacksnakes 11/17. Pure Joy People 11/18. Dan Fester 11/19. Billy Ray Charles 11/22, 9 pm. Shows 10 pm, free unless noted. 3355 Spring Mountain Road, 702-485-5401. STARBOARD TACK Seacats, Mo Troper, Indigo Kidd, Homebodys 11/18, 9 pm, free, 2601 Atlantic St., 702-684-5769.
DOUBLE DOWN SALOON Three Rounds, The STONEY’S ROCKIN’ COUNTRY Scott Stevens Fat Ducks of F*ck, Tiktaalik 11/17. Geezus Cryst 11/17, 9 pm, $5-$20. Town Square, 702-435-2855. & Free Beer, No Formula, The Joy Pops, Delphic Sibyl 11/18. Prof. Rex Dart & The Bargain DJ Collective 11/20. Unique Massive 11/21, midnight. Thee Swank Bastards 11/22. THE Shows 10 pm, free unless RESOURCE noted. 640 Paradise Road, For comprehensive 702-791-5775.
casino venue listings, look inside Industry Weekly.
EAGLE AERIE HALL Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, Steady Hands, Chase Huglin, Allison Weiss, Tonight We Fight 11/21, 5:30 pm, $15. Spite, Bodysnatcher, Distinguisher, Extortionist, Mothersound, Beaten Path 11/22, 5 pm, $15. 310 W. Pacific Ave., 702-568-8927
PERFORMING ARTS & CULTURE
CLARK COUNTY LIBRARY One Step Away 11/18-11/19, 3 pm, $20-$30. 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400.
CLARK COUNTY WETLANDS PARK Lecture: City Stargazing 11/16, 6 pm, free. Auditorium, 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, 702-455-7522.
THE SMITH CENTER (Reynolds Hall) Paul Anka 11/17, 7:30 pm, $29-$149. The Bodyguard 11/21-11/26, $49-$127. (Cabaret Jazz) Giada Valenti: From Venice With Love 11/16, 8 pm, $35-$55. Marcia Ball 11/17-11/18, 7 pm, $39-$59. 702-749-2000. THE SPACE Hot Club of Las Vegas 11/16, 9:30 pm, $10. Golden Girls Live 11/17-11/18, 10 pm, $40. Peter Mac: Judy Garland Live 11/19, 6 pm, $25. Mondays Dark 11/20, 9 pm, $20-$50. Naomi Mauro 11/21, 9 pm, $10. 460 Cavaretta Court, 702-903-1070. UNLV (Artemus W. Ham Hall) UNLV Wind Orchestra: The President’s Concert 11/16, 7:30 pm, $8-$10. CCSD: Honor Orchestra Concert 11/18, 2 pm, free. UNLV Symphony Orchestra: East Meets West 11/21, 7:30 pm, $8-$10. (Alta Ham Fine Arts) UNLV Dance: In Between 11/16-11/18, 7:30 pm; 11/1711/19, 2:30 pm; $10-$18. 702-895-2787. WEST CHARLESTON LIBRARY Nevada Storytelling Guild: Tellabration 11/18, 1 pm, free. Lecture: Mystical Arts of Tibet 11/18, 4 pm, free. 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-507-3940. WHITNEY LIBRARY Marina V 11/19, 3 pm, free. 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-507-4010. WINCHESTER CULTURAL CENTER Ronnie Foster 11/18, 2 pm, $11-$13. 3130 S. McLeod Drive, 702-455-7340.
FREMONT COUNTRY CLUB Gwar, Ghoul, He Is Legend, U.S. Bastards 11/18, 6:30 pm, $20-$25. 601 E. Fremont St., 702-382-6601.
HISTORIC FIFTH STREET SCHOOL Las Cafeteras 11/18, 7:30 pm, $8-$16. 401 S 4th St., 702-229-2787.
WINDMILL LIBRARY S-Town podcast producer Brian Reed 11/18, 2 pm, free. 7060 W. Windmill Lane, 702-507-6019.
GILLEY’S SALOON Smith 11/16, 9 pm; 11/17-11/18, 10 pm. Morgan Leigh 11/22, 9 pm. Shows $10$20. Treasure Island, 702-894-7722.
LLOYD D. GEORGE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE Michael Lucarelli 11/17, noon, free. 333 Las Vegas Blvd., S., 702-229-2787.
LOCAL THEATER
THE GOLDEN TIKI Otto Von Stroheim, Prof. Rex Dart 11/18, 9 pm, free. 3939 Spring Mountain Road, 702-222-3196.
THE MOB MUSEUM Frank Cullotta book signing 11/18, 1-4 pm, free. 300 Stewart Ave., themobmuseum.org.
COCKROACH THEATRE Love, Love, Love Thru 11/19, days & times vary, $15-$25. Art Square Theatre, 1025 S. 1st St., #110, 725-222-9661.
LAS VEGAS LITTLE THEATRE (Black Box) The Motherf*cker With the Hat Thru 11/19, days & times vary, $10-$15. 3920 Schiff Drive, 702-362-7996. MAJESTIC REPERTORY THEATRE An Octoroon Thru 11/19, days & times vary, $25. Alios 1217 S. Main St., 702-478-9636. A PUBLIC FIT W;t Thru 11/19, days & times vary, $25-$30. 100 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-735-2114. SIGNATURE PRODUCTIONS Oliver! Thru 11/18, days & times vary, $20-$30. Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive, 702-507-3860. SUPER SUMMER THEATRE The Fantasticks Thru 11/19, days & times vary, $25. 4340 S. Valley View #210, 702-579-7529.
GALLERIES & MUSEUMS CLARK COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER ROTUNDA GALLERY Holly Rae Vaughn: Collide 11/20-1/19. Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm. 500 Grand Central Parkway, 702-455-7030. METROPLEX ARTS GALLERY Nima Abkenar Thru 11/22, by appointment. Reception 11/17, 5-8 pm, free. 1319 S. Main St., 702-960-3952. NEVADA STATE COLLEGE Basin and Range Thru 11/21. Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Rogers Student Center, third floor, 1300 Nevada State Drive, 702-992-2000. RISE Matthew Couper: From Dust to Water Thru 11/30. By appointment Thu-Sat, 1-4:30 pm. Holsum Lofts, 241 W. Charleston Blvd. #130, 510-936-4052.
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