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06 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
21 SUNDAY, 10 A.M.
POWER TO THE POLLS AT SAM BOYD STADIUM The Women’s March organization might be based in Washington, D.C., but activists and organizers recognized Nevada as the perfect place to launch the followup phase to last year’s efforts. As a swing state that has recently dealt with the tragic effects of gun violence—not to mention devastating statistics for domestic violence against women—Las Vegas is more than familiar with the wide range of issues women face in today’s world. Marking the anniversary of last year’s Women’s March across the country, this Las Vegas gathering is the organization’s flagship event for 2018, commemorating the largest protest in U.S. history and bringing together activists, artists, musicians, elected officials and more. Officially titled Power to the Polls, the event isn’t really a march at all, but a communitywide gathering and rally to kick off a nationwide voting campaign focused on “targeting swing states to register new and disenfranchised voters” and “engage impacted communities.” Head to ReBar Friday night to make protest signs with other participants in the community, and don’t forget to register for the main event at powerto thepolls.com. Free. –Leslie Ventura
Trust Us E V E R Y T H I N G Y O U A B S O L U T E LY, P O S I T I V E LY MUST GET OUT AND DO THIS WEEK
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& JANUARY 19, 7 P.M.
ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON AT UNLV’S ARTEMUS W. HAM HALL Essentially Ellington, a high school jazz orchestra festival celebrating the music of legendary pianist Duke Ellington (and other noteworthy big-band composers and arrangers), is actually rooted in New York City—specifically, a creation of the Jazz at Lincoln Center educational arm. But it traditionally doesn’t see Las Vegas bands participate. JALC trumpeter Kenny Rampton, a Las Vegas native looking to inspire young jazz musicians back home, sought to change that and encouraged Valley bands to apply last year. Imagine his surprise when the JALC notified him that 18 schools had shown interest—a turnout high enough to warrant a regional Essentially Ellington event here in Las Vegas. That development spurred two significant developments: UNLV’s commitment to host the festival, which would be funded by Rampton’s new, locally based Jazz Outreach Initiative, established last year. ¶ To accommodate the large number of participants, the Las Vegas Essentially Ellington Festival will take place over two days, with Rampton serving as clinician over both. His fellow JALC band members Chris Crenshaw (trombone) and Julius Tolentino (saxophone) will guest on Thursday during a performance by UNLV Latin Jazz Ensemble. And Rampton himself will perform on Friday with UNLV Jazz Ensemble 1. $8-$10. –Mike Prevatt
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TUESDAY, 7:30 P.M.
PILOBOLUS MAXIMUS AT SMITH CENTER Originally launched in 1971, this modern American dance company has performed in more than 65 countries and been featured on the Academy Awards and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Witness the magic for yourself when the troupe brings its legendary choreography to Reynolds Hall. $24-$95. –Leslie Ventura
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SATURDAY, 8 P.M.
SPOON AT THE CHELSEA Even if you’re a superfan and caught the Austin indie vets all three times they played Vegas in 2014, this show promises to be different since a) Spoon has a fresh album from which to mine (2017’s Hot Thoughts), and b) the righteous glam/garage-rockers of White Reaper are onboard to open the show. $30-$38. –Spencer Patterson
20
SATURDAY, 8 P.M.
MY FAVORITE MURDER LIVE! AT RED ROCK RESORT If you like a little true crime with your comedy, you’re probably already a fan of the hit podcast My Favorite Murder. Hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark will emerge from the studio to delight fans IRL inside Red Rock’s Ballroom. $43-$53. –C. Moon Reed
07 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
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THRU JANUARY 21
OTAKON VEGAS AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD Like the American words “nerd” or “geek,” the Japanese word otaku has several definitions—some of them generous to the recipient, some less so. But for the sake of Otakon Vegas—a three-day celebration of Japanese popular culture, from its animation to its gaming to its comics and beyond—we’ll define it as a devoted, happy enthusiasm for all things anime and manga. The fifth year of Otakon Vegas brings special guests, among them Katsuhiro Takei, a producer of the critically-acclaimed anime Your Name; a masquerade contest, in which cosplayers are invited to create skits based on Hayao Miyazaki, Overwatch and the like; a cosplay lip-sync competition, which is pretty self-explanatory; and, naturally, a dealer’s room, where that elusive Cowboy Bebop, Durarara and Akira swag will likely be waiting for your impulse buy. $60-$65 weekend pass, $45 singleday (Friday and Saturday), $30 Sunday; otakonvegas.com. –Geoff Carter
(Courtesy/Photo Illustration)
08 las vegas weekly 01.18.18
the inter w h e r e
i d e a s
Striking oil A local hemp oil enterprise gets a physical store— with a consumption lounge By C. Moon Reed
I
n a bustling strip shopping center at Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, Joe Vargas is setting up shop. The luxe oversized couch and massage chairs have already arrived, though they’re yet to be put in place. Two workers are constructing a water feature as Vargas watches on, recording the moment for his social media feeds. On January 31, Vargas will open what he says will be the world’s first CBD hemp oil store and smoothie shop, Buy Legal Meds. This is not to be confused with the plethora of cannabis dispensaries that now dot the Valley. Unlike marijuana, hemp-based CBD oil doesn’t create a high due to its small amount of THC. Additionally, Vargas explains, it won’t impair driving or ding employees who undergo drug testing. For this reason, the store will have what dispensaries are legally prohibited from offering: an on-site consumption lounge. Formerly a nightlife industry blogger and entrepreneur, Vargas started selling CBD oil online through the website buylegalmeds.com in June 2015. He’s gone from working out of his dad’s kitchen to growing the operation into what he says is a multimillion dollar business with a 4,800-square-foot production facility. Thanks to the 2014 Farm Bill act, he ships around the world and everywhere in the U.S., though some states have more restrictive rules for purchasers. Like medicinal marijuana, CBD oil is used to help with various ailments. For example, Buy Legal Meds’ Axtiv8 CBD Freeze is a pain-relieving gel that alleviates sore muscles and arthritis. The proprietary Cloud N9ne Syrup combines CBD oil with melatonin and a mix of nine herbs to combat anxiety, insomnia and other maladies. Vargas says BLM’s retail store is the first of a planned chain around the Vegas Valley.
Make like a tree and slow down Who knew that trees have a calming impact on drivers? A 2010 study from the University of Washington indicated that planting trees near streets could actually reduce drivers’ stress. It’s one of the reasons some residents of Downtown’s Huntridge neighborhood have decided to line residential streets with trees, hoping to reduce the
amount of speeding cars—a frequent safety hazard—in the area. Others hope to curb excessive speeding by petitioning the City of Las Vegas for speed bumps. Las Vegas residents or neighborhood associations can request speed bumps by submitting a written petition, which require 10 signatures from homeowners on the same street. For more information, call the City’s Public Works Transportation Engineering Division at 702-229-6327. –Leslie Ventura
rsection A ND L IF E M E ET
09 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
TALKING POINTS Mayor Goodman’s State of the City speech hit more than it missed
+
(Illustration by T.G. Miller/Special to Weekly)
LIBRARY APPS TO EXPAND YOUR MIND—AND YOUR WALLET Our public libraries are awesome founts of free knowledge, but did you know you can access them without the whole “public” part? The phone apps Hoopla and Libby by OverDrive—the latter introduced only six months ago—offer instant access to your library’s digital content. Simply type in your library card number, and boom—you can stream movies and music to your TV; listen to audiobooks on the go; and swipe through comics or books on your phone or Kindle. Both are free to users (the library pays a small fee per download), and the books automatically return on their due date (unless you click to renew). Both Hoopla and Libby have super-accessible interfaces, making it easy to browse by type, genre, popularity and more. Libby has more functionality—you can put books on hold and input multiple library cards—but Hoopla has the better comic book reader. Why decide? I use both. –C. Moon Reed
BY GEOFF CARTER
In the bingo game that is Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s annual State of the City address, there are a few spots you can daub before play begins. She’s certain to talk longer than her appointed hour; to spend at least five to eight minutes insisting that she’s going to run long; and to invoke The Oscar. (As in, “My husband always says ‘This is the best job in the world,’” or something along those lines.) But Goodman’s 2018 address took some unexpected turns—a reflection of a city experiencing a period of explosive growth to rival the Downtown Project land rush of several years back. This time, however, it wasn’t talk of the Fremont East Entertainment District that dominated the evening. “We are alive in Symphony Park,” Goodman said, noting that a number of its land parcels that had been tied up in failed recession-era deals are now freed for development. Coming to the neighborhood are large mixed-use housing and retail projects; a new 1,000-space parking garage; a new resort from the D’s Derek Stevens, the only hotel-casino planned for Symphony Park; and expansions of current area tenants World Market Center, Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and Las Vegas Premium Outlets North. (The proposed Art Museum didn’t come up, but Goodman seemed to nod to it, calling Symphony Park “an artist’s palette.”) Goodman talked up the emerging Medical District—a new medical school campus for UNLV, a possible tower for UMC and a proposed parking garage to serve “the many new medical offices, support businesses and the beginning of apartments and residential growth.” She promised striking new way-finding signs for Downtown, including one that seemingly replaces the awful Pepto-Bismolcolored banner at Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. And she hinted that the Atomic Testing Museum, currently located near UNLV, might find its way to Downtown’s Cultural Corridor. It’s almost too much. Downtown is happening so quickly that it’s tempting to feel impatience for the things Goodman cannot promise, at least not yet: light rail, more/bigger city parks, and a comprehensive solution to help Downtown’s homeless population. But nevertheless, there’s a lot of good things happening at once. Free spaces or not, Goodman earned that bingo.
10
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
A touring festival’s Valley debut packs Chinese whimsy and culture By Erin Ryan
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las vegas weekly 01.18.18
namic element in the amphitheater, from acrobats to a master of “kung fu tea.” (One lantern pays homage to the latter: A man with a sly smile and flushed cheeks strikes a pose with the pot’s long spout across his back, dark tea pouring into a beautifully patterned porcelain bowl.) Vendors will sell handicrafts, like tiny glass vessels painted from the inside with impossibly fine brushes. Food offerings will range from savory Chinese dumplings to Filipino buko salad, a sweet drink with fresh fruit, fragrant jelly, tapioca balls, coconut and condensed milk. And cooking demos will take place during Asian Culture Weekend (January 26-28), when the bold may enter an egg-roll eating contest. Event manager Huiyuan Liu, from the
large southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, vouched for her team’s efforts to source authentic flavors of the Pacific Rim. The festival at large aims to bring slices of real China—a cultural trade mission wrapped in pure spectacle. “We are the most diverse city in Nevada; so we get a chance to show off our diversity and then educate our residents about this wonderful civilization and its traditions,” North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee explains. Lee emphasizes the connection to the city’s Asian population, and “sister-city” dynamics with two Chinese locales through business ventures. He sees China Lights strengthening ties while raising North Las Vegas’ profile as a host for “super-mega events.”
Photograph by Wade Vandervort/Photo Illustration
A
gainst the heavy gray of the first rain in 116 days, the dragon’s scales were electric. And they weren’t even lit. In less than two weeks, the skyscraping lantern would be the centerpiece of an explosion of light at Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas—the local unveiling of global touring attraction China Lights. But on this day, unsuspecting dogwalkers gaped at the dozens of fantastical tableaus marked only with small paper signs: “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH. COMING SOON.” Starting January 19, the park will transform nightly into a glowing wonderland, building up to a Chinese New Year blowout on February 16. Live performers add a dy-
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LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
T
his could be without a doubt the largest event yet at Craig Ranch,” Lee says of the expected 150,000-200,000 attendees in the first year of a five-year contract. “The largest human migration in the world is for Chinese New Year. ... I believe in this Valley [China Lights] will be the attraction of thousands and thousands of people who can’t get back to China but want to be around the type of citizenry they grew up with and collaborate in the joy.” Liu thinks Craig Ranch’s meandering layout is ideal for expressing that joy. “When you walk in, you don’t get to see everything at once. But whichever way you turn you’ll find some surprise,” she says. Floating jellyfish frame the pond, ready to throw their reflections on its palatial mirror. A sea tunnel near the main entrance brings seahorses, sharks and a grinning whale, and fan-tailed bettas and angelfish pop into other scenes. A clownfish cozy in a rainbow of anemone is a callout to Pixar’s Nemo, and he’s not the only famous face. Warriors march below China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, representing the TerCHINA LIGHTS racotta Army discovered in his LAS VEGAS tomb’s sprawling underground January 19complex in 1974. Many of the February 25, displays have historical or culdaily 5:30tural significance, inspired by 10 p.m., Chinese heritage sites or folk$12-$50. Craig tales. Light boxes share these Ranch Regionbackstories, like the dragon’s al Park, 628 embodiment of power and luck Craig Road, in the Eastern world. chinalightslv. “It’s always the highlight,” com. Liu says, adding that the bearded serpent is the only lantern that appears in every production of China Lights. Under its steely gaze are chubby pandas tumbling through poppies and bamboo, their blue eyes strangely animated. Liu explains that details are painted on the silken surface of the lanterns by hand. “We only have one artist who does that. This person is the core of this whole thing. He designs each lantern and how they should be placed in different corners of the park, and he does all the final touches, like the eyes and scales,” Liu says of Li Fang, who conceptualized the exhibits with his twin Fang Li. And when the switch flips, some of the pandas will move on swings and a teeter-totter. The brothers and Liu are with Tianyu Arts & Culture Inc., an American subsidiary of the Chinese company that has produced the touring show for more than two decades, though this is only its second year in the U.S. The operation is based in China’s Sichuan
(Wade Vandervort/Staff)
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las vegas weekly 01.18.18
Design and manufacturing company Sichuan Tianyu creates lantern shows that have played to millions across the globe. Each project takes months to fabricate, starting in the studio in Zigong. Up to three artisans direct the creative. They design lanterns from the ground up, drawing schematics on computers and physical outlines on plywood sheets. With these templates, welders craft lantern forms with thin metal rods.
Lanterns of the Terracotta Army stand sentinel. (Wade Vandervort/Staff)
province, at the epicenter of Chineselantern making. “In the city of Zigong, this technique is preserved the best. They have more than 1,000 artisans who live there, and all their family have been there for generations, so most of their skills are passed down,” Liu says. “These people are the best who do this.” The artistry isn’t just in the painting. Through dyed polyester skin a zebra’s delicate skeleton shows in the daylight, metal wires creating hauntingly lifelike bone structure. Ears, markings and leg positions make each animal in the herd unique. You might miss these details when lanterns are blazing, but from welders to electricians, their creators honor the art form.
Previews in the form of kylin—think of a lion crossed with a deer and a fish— have been glowing at Boyd Gaming properties to promote the fest and celebrate the lead-up to Chinese New Year. Boyd signed on as the primary sponsor because of its longstanding relationship with the local Asian community (predominantly at the Gold Coast) and recent investment in North Las Vegas with the acquisition of Aliante and the Cannery. “It was a perfect fit,” David Strow, Boyd’s vice president of corporate communications, says. China Lights is a thank-you to the company’s friends and customers, Strow adds, and a way to amplify Las Vegas’ celebration of Chinese New Year.
“We see this as an opportunity to introduce such an important cultural event for a large segment of our community to the broader community, so that everyone can share in what it’s all about.” When the holiday hits in mid-February, fireworks will ignite over Craig Ranch. The first 10,000 festivalgoers that week (February 16-22) will receive a traditional red envelope with a gift in the spirit of “lucky money.” But door prizes are just frosting on the lanternscape, which takes the idea of a light show to another planet. Seeing just the entry arch lit, the candy-colored koi and lily pads with hot-magenta lotus blossoms, you kinda wish the tracers would hang in the air forever.
Electricians install internal LEDs (and external light tubes once the lanterns are nearly complete), closely following curves and choosing warmer or cooler light depending on the desired color qualities. Polyester dyed for specific characters is carefully glued onto the forms. Then they are shipped to show locations. When the components arrive, the chief artist manages the placement and assembly of the scenes around the site. Then he paints details onto each piece.
14 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 01.18.18
BY JOSH BELL hat do horror icon Michael Myers, Marvel superhero Blade, Batman ally Nightwing, post-apocalyptic antihero Snake Plissken and alien Ferengi Quark have in common? They’re all stars of local Las Vegas productions, part of the burgeoning subculture of fan films, amateur movies and web series featuring big-name pop-culture characters, produced without the permission (or, often, knowledge) of the corporate ownership. “If you want to make a movie, you’re going to make a movie of the stuff that you love,” says Jake Bass, filmmaker and star of Snake Plissken fan film Escape From Las Vegas. Fan films are an outgrowth of other creative aspects of fan culture, including fan fiction and fan art, which have flourished online and at pop-culture conventions. All of it exists at the indulgence of copyright holders, though: In 2015, Paramount and CBS sued the makers of the Star Trek fan film Axanar, who had raised more than $1 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and the out-of-court settlement led to a set of guidelines for how fan filmmakers could work with the Star Trek brand without risking litigation. According to Mary LaFrance, IGT Professor of Intellectual Property Law at UNLV, it’s critical to avoid competing with the big guns: “That’s really the key factor: Is this going to turn out to be competitive, or to dilute the demand for future films from the copyright owner’s franchise?” What that means, in practice, is that fan filmmakers generally can’t make money from their creations, and must immediately shut productions down if studios ask. “Even if you ultimately prevail on fair use,” LaFrance adds, “you may wind up bankrupt.” Despite the risks, though, fan filmmakers persevere out of sheer love for characters they grew up watching, and the desire to see the stories they envision come to life. “With the studios, they do pretty much what they want to do, and with fan films, I feel like the fan-film filmmakers listen to the fans,” says Markiss McFadden, filmmaker and co-star of Daywalker: Blade Origins. And besides, the filmmakers aren’t the only ones eager to see new adventures from old favorites. “Nobody’s looking for Planet of the Octopods,” Bass says, citing his original short films. “Nobody’s looking for Space Adventure Team. But people look for Batman.”
anny Shepherd and Jeremy Le of local production company Ismahawk are sort of the elder statesmen of Vegas fan films, thanks to the success of their 2014 five-episode web series Nightwing: The Series, starring Shepherd as DC Comics superhero Nightwing (aka Dick Grayson, a grown-up former Robin). The most popular episode of that series got more than 6 million views on YouTube, and Shepherd and Le have continued making fan films since then, with more than 500,000 subscribers to the Ismahawk YouTube channel. Over the past few years, they’ve focused on shorter videos pitting popular superheroes and villains against each other, which
they dub Minute Match-Ups. The most popular of those, a fight between Marvel’s Quicksilver and DC’s Flash, has amassed more than 15 million YouTube views, and the six videos in the series also feature appearances from Thor, Wonder Woman, Voltron, the Power Rangers, Green Arrow, Hawkeye and two versions each of Deadpool and the Joker. “They’re fun, and they give us the ability to practice new techniques and learn different ways of shooting action and stuff,” Shepherd says. “And they get crazy amounts of views.” Shepherd and Le handle most of the production duties (including writing, direction, cinematography and special effects), but they work with collaborators
15 COVER STORY WEEKLY | 01.18.18
Michael Myers • Mark Justice Nightwing • Danny Shepherd Commander Sela • Gail Brandys Captain Dumond • Debbie Dumond Snake Plissken • Jake Bass Blade • Byron Smith (Photographs by Wade Vandervort/Staff)
Danny Shepherd (left) and Noel Schefflin in Nightwing: The Series. (Courtesy)
locally and around the world, including a composer in Slovakia. They’re building Ismahawk not as a single fan film or series but as a brand, and when they go to comicbook conventions, they find they now have fans of their own. “It’s still crazy to refer to them as fans,” Shepherd marvels. With the Match-Up series wrapped up, the Ismahawk creators are looking to get back to more narrative-oriented videos, including new fan films (with characters yet to be announced, because “we try to give [the audience] something that they didn’t know they wanted”) and eventually original projects. “That’s been the No. 1 thing we’ve been striving for,” Shepherd says. The hope is that “we can build an audience, and then that audience would support our own unique creative vision, as well as the fanmade stuff.” They’ve certainly got that first part down. facebook.com/Ismahawk
hen Bob Brandys retired to Las Vegas from Illinois 12 years ago, he expected to devote a lot of time to his love of Star Trek. He and his wife Gail were excited to spend time at Star Trek: The Experience, the sprawling Trek attraction at what was then the Las Vegas Hilton. But when the Hilton shut down the Experience, Brandys and other local Trek fans lost their hangout spot. With his background in educational and industrial films, Brandys found himself in charge of a new project initially started by local Trek fan club USS Las Vegas. “This is something I always wanted to do as part of my life,” he says. “So I’m taking my retirement money and spending it on this.” In the past four years, Brandys and his crew of Trek enthusiasts have produced four episodes of Quark’s Space Station, a fan series featuring characters mainly from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, including the title character, an alien Ferengi who was also the namesake of Quark’s Bar at the Star Trek Experience. The first episode of Quark’s runs just 18 minutes, while the most recent clocks in at nearly an hour.
It’s a communal effort, with Brandys producing, providing financing and a filming location (the garage of his Spring Valley home has been transformed into a movie set), longtime family friend Radek Skalski handling most of the technical aspects, and multiple members of the local fan community contributing to the writing and playing various parts, both large and small, onscreen. Brandys is also an amateur DeLorean collector, and he and Skalski made a few short Back to the Future fan films a few years ago. But Quark’s is their labor of love, a project that grows in ambition and production value with each episode, even if online views are still modest. The real satisfaction comes at the annual premiere parties at McMullan’s Irish Pub, where everyone who worked hard on the show can see their efforts onscreen. “We don’t have a big audience, and we don’t try to get a big audience,” Brandys says. “But the people in the room look at [it like], ‘We did this!’ Where can you get that experience? Nowhere.” facebook.com/quarksspacestation
Behind the scenes of Quark’s Space Station; producer Bob Brandys (inset). (Courtesy)
16 cover STORY WEEKLY | 01.18.18
Bloodsucking action in Daywalker: Blade Origins; director Markiss McFadden (inset). (Courtesy)
o be honest with you, I wasn’t at all interested in doing fan films in the very beginning,” says actor and filmmaker Markiss McFadden. After moving to LA from Las Vegas to pursue his showbiz career, landing a role in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and starting his own production company, McFadden was skeptical when his old Vegas friend and fellow actor Byron Smith suggested that the two should team up for a movie featuring one of their favorite characters, Marvel Comics’ vampire-hunting superhero Blade. But Smith made a case for McFadden broadening his filmmaking horizons, telling him, “We can cover another fan base. You’ve got people who like your work, but this is a whole other genre, a whole other platform that has fans.” McFadden was already a longtime Blade fan, and had been thinking of ideas since first seeing the 1998 Wesley Snipes movie. “I wanted to do a spin-off story called The Son of Blade,” he remembers. “That was actually the first thing I ever attempted to write.” Instead of the son of Blade, McFadden’s Daywalker: Blade Origins chronicles the character’s earliest days, with Smith
as Blade and McFadden as villain Cyrus Cutter. “What I really wanted to touch on was the heart of Blade, the story behind it,” McFadden says of the 33-minute film. “The action is just a bonus.” Daywalker is just the beginning for McFadden and his collaborators. It features a cameo from local actor James Lee Hawkins as Wolverine, and McFadden and Smith have launched an Indiegogo campaign for a Wolverine-focused film to star Hawkins, whom they recruited at the gym. “We saw him a few times, like, damn, that dude looks just like Wolverine,” McFadden says. “Not Hugh Jackman, but the dude looks like Wolverine straight out of the comic books.” Luckily, Hawkins had just been waiting for his big Wolverine break, which the filmmakers were more than happy to provide. They’ve also got a perfect star for their planned Catwoman fan film, which will feature legendary actress Lee Meriwether, who played Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie, in a supporting role. And of course, there’s a Blade sequel in the works. For someone who once had his doubts about fan films, McFadden is now all in. facebook.com/DaywalkerFanFilm
Jake Bass and Isabelle Maily, during some Escape From Las Vegas set downtime; (right) the movie’s colorful post-apocalypse. (Thanos Panagiotaros Photography/Courtesy)
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ome characters and worlds are the subjects of dozens of fan films, but when Jake Bass decided to make a movie about Snake Plissken, the post-apocalyptic badass played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York and Escape From LA, he knew he wouldn’t have much competition. “I know there’s a subculture out there of people that love Snake Plissken, but are kind of torn because Escape From LA was so bad,” he explains. “That’s not to say that I think that my movie has righted that wrong. But I just felt like that was a good example of a wasted opportunity from a filmmaker.” So Bass, who has spent his career working in TV sound and editing and had previously made a few original short films, decided to take on his most ambitious project yet, the 18-minute Escape From Las Vegas, stepping into Russell’s shoes as Snake Plissken himself. Shooting in alleys and warehouses to get the post-apocalyptic feel, Bass often worked without permits or permission, but in a way he felt like Snake Plissken was watching over him. “There’s an underground sort of devotion to that character,” he says. Even when cops or security guards stopped him and could have shut the production down, one name was all it took to keep things going. “I had like a golden pass every time I told them we were making a Snake Plissken movie.” After a premiere at Eclipse Theaters, Bass is in the process of submitting Escape to film festivals, although he’s keeping his expectations modest. There’s a free showing on January 29 at 8 p.m. at the Millennium Fandom Bar Downtown, and then the movie will be available online. For Bass, who’s been working behind the scenes on other projects for years, Escape was all about making his filmmaking dreams come true, on his own terms. “If you sit around waiting for someone to hire you, then you’re going to be waiting your whole life,” he says. “You have to go out there and create your own path.” facebook.com/Escape-from-Las-Vegas-1729992767012455
Michael Myers stalks his prey in the teaser for M2. (Courtesy)
s a working actor and model, Mark Justice is used to being in front of the camera, but for his upcoming Halloween fan film M2, he won’t even be showing his face. Justice will take on the role of iconic horror villain Michael Myers in the planned feature, which he’s also writing and directing. He’s hoping for synergy with the latest official reboot of the Halloween series, directed by David Gordon Green and featuring the return of original star Jamie Lee Curtis, which is set for release this October. A recently shot teaser will serve to launch a crowdfunding campaign for the movie, although Justice already has investors interested in the project. “I’ve kind of pulled pieces from every Halloween movie that has been put out, and kind of mixed them all in a bowl and put a storyline together,” Justice says about the setup for M2, which will feature the grown-up sons of both Michael Myers and his adversary, Dr. Loomis (originally played by Donald Pleasence), unwittingly meeting in the series’ hometown of Haddonfield. “There are little things here that I’m going to incorporate to make him a little different than what you’ve seen in the other Halloween films,” Justice says of his approach to playing Michael Myers. “I want to make him a little more badass, but not a completely different character.” The Vegas-based Justice travels around the country to work as an actor in indie films (with co-stars including Tara Reid and Lorenzo Lamas), and even went to India last year for a part in the Bollywood film Simran. He has appeared in numerous local film productions; those who finds him vaguely recognizable have probably seen his face on giant Slotzilla ads. He’s still fully devoted to his acting career, even as he preps for directing M2. “My focus is in front of the camera,” he says. “This is just my little side project. This is more for me to get the chance to play Michael Myers.” And even if no one recognizes him under that iconic mask, it’ll be worth it. facebook.com/TheMarkJustice
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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 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
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This trio is now officially known as the DJ group that focuses on songwriting, and its latest effort is “Feels Great” with Fetty Wap and CVBZ.
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Cheat Codes by Jared Thomas/Courtesy; The Chainsmokers Courtesy Wynn Nightlife; Lil Duval by Evan Agostini/Ap; Nelly by Tony Tran PhotographY/Courtesy
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The Chainsmokers move into year two of their Wynn Nightlife residency with some mysterious social posts teasing new music—or something else.
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The veteran stand-up comedian seemingly on every MTV show takes the stage at the Orleans Showroom Saturday night.
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Nelly resumes his Drai’s gigs this weekend as fans wonder if he’ll follow through on the promise of a country crossover EP in 2018.
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ig Boi’s Daddy Fat Saxx tour will bring the Atlanta-bred MC back to the Las Vegas Strip, where he’ll perform at hip-hop headquarters Drai’s on January 19. We spoke to the rapper, who also just scored a Grammy nomination.
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You’ve played various Vegas venues, but what do you love about Drai’s? I always have a good time out there. Las Vegas is always evolving, and the crowd is always people from all over. At Drai’s I like the visuals and all the extra stuff onstage that brings the real dopeness and makes it a full experience. Congrats on the Grammy nom for “Chase Me,” a team-up track from
Baby Driver. It was great to team with Run the Jewels and Danger Mouse and get connected and just have everybody spitting over a beat that’s just superhard. You’re touring behind Boomiverse, your first solo album in about five years. How do you feel about the record now that it has had some time to live and breathe? I love it. It’s my favorite. You’ve got to get better and better every time. You always want to evolve, and Boomiverse is the evolution of Big Boi. The people love it, and we’ve got one of the hottest Apple commercials you’ve ever seen [featuring the song “All Night”].
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How does it feel to be an icon of the Atlanta sound and perhaps an elder statesman of hip-hop? Me and my [OutKast] partner started when we were 17 years old and made Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, a classic, at 18. We were like kids going to Harvard out of ninth grade, kind of advanced. But you just keep on working. I’m a Jedi master, but I’m also a student. We had a jump on them, but we’re still making music people love, and the South is thriving. It’s just great to be out here jamming with everybody. Big Boi at Drai’s at the Cromwell, January 19. –Brock Radke
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aty Perry might have taken an activist-inspired, “purposeful pop” approach in creating fifth studio album Witness, released last summer. But the Witness world tour hasn’t let up on the signature spectacle Perry has always incorporated into her big live show. The political messages displayed when she performed the album’s first single, “Chained to the Rhythm,” at the Grammys last February have been replaced by the colorfully exuberant set pieces you’d expect at a Katy Perry concert—dancing flamingoes, a giant set of lips and, yes, a guest appearance from Left Shark.
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Giving fans what they want has always been a priority for Perry, who began her career as a teen singing gospel music before swinging into pop stardom in 2008 behind memorable single “I Kissed a Girl.” Her third LP, 2010’s Teenage Dream, made her the first female artist to score five No. 1 hits in the U.S. from a single album, a feat previously accomplished only by Michael Jackson. The accompanying tour grossed $59 million. Whether Perry’s recent work marks a stylistic or philosophical change is a question that will be left for another time, not Saturday night on the Strip, where she’ll reel off her hits and provide a production to rival the glitziest of Vegas shows. Katy Perry at T-Mobile Arena, January 20. RONY ALWIN/COURTESY
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jan 13 Photographs by Tony Tran Photography
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V E G A S ’ R oy Choi seems to have a different approach when it comes to opening a restaurant in Las Vegas.
“I can’t just come in with my LA food to Vegas and think you’re all going to love it,” he says. “You have a culture, and it’s different between locals and visitors. It’s something of a party environment, but you’re also searching for good food as well. I need to mix all of that in.” Choi, plenty of his fellow Southern Californians and lots of Las Vegans are surely excited after last week’s announcement that the chef behind LA’s Kogi BBQ food trucks and hip res-
taurants like Chego, A-Frame, Pot and Locol will open an eatery at Park MGM, his first outside California. And his yetto-be-named Vegas restaurant will bring an interesting element of cool to a resort that, so far, has only announced fancy food options. “My mood board is ‘Los Vegas,’” Choi says. “It’s LA and it’s Vegas, but together it’s this new thing, which is like the type of food I cook. Tacos and Korean barbecue is definitely this and that, but when you eat it, it becomes its own thing.” Choi operates several restaurants in a collaboration with the Sydell Group (the same company partnering with
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MGM Resorts to create Park MGM). In the coming months, he’ll spend a lot of time in Las Vegas absorbing the culinary culture on and off the Strip. “When we signed the deal I spent a lot of time studying the Strip and the flow, seeing who’s eating and what they’re eating, and now I’ll be going to Spring Mountain Road and North Las Vegas and all the neighborhoods,” he says. “It’s what I do, just part of my DNA.” –Brock Radke
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lique Hospitality has announced two new nightlife venues in development with partners Jason “JRoc” Craig and Ryan Labbe at the Palms, where excitement continues to build as Station Casinos rolls out plans for a total renovation. “The Palms was my first hotel experience in Las Vegas prior to moving here, and the level of hospitality and the experience I had made it my second home,” Labbe says. “To be part of this team now is really exciting.” Their first task: transforming the legendary Ghostbar space into Apex Social Club. “Those are huge shoes to fill, but we are excited to be creating a new
legacy,” Labbe says. He describes Apex as a similar experience to Clique’s Oxford Social Club in San Diego—an alternative to a big Vegas nightclub but not necessarily a lounge. Meanwhile, on the new Palms casino floor, Camden Cocktail Lounge will take over the former lounge space just off the main entrance. Both Apex and Camden are expected to be completed in the spring. Camden will be connected with a new high-limit gaming salon and share similarities to the Clique Lounge at the Cosmopolitan. “But it will be a unique experience all its own,” Labbe says. “We don’t have 3,000 rooms above us [at the Palms], so we’ll be
more cautious with how we program the space and cater it to the Palms clientele.” The new nightlife offerings are expected to aim for a stronger local following than Strip venues, too, especially considering the Palms’ location and demographic history. “If locals aren’t talking about it, why would somebody coming in from out of town want to experience it?” Labbe asks. “Locals always have been and always will be a vital part of our business at every venue.” –Brock Radke
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t could be a major spark for a new firestorm of entertainment in Las Vegas: The first dedicated esports arena on the Strip—Esports Arena Las Vegas—is set to open March 22 at Luxor. Allied Esports made the announcement last week during a CES media event and party in collaboration with MGM Resorts International inside an under-construction space that formerly housed LAX Nightclub. The flagship location of Allied’s growing global network of esports properties was announced last year, followed by the December news that chef José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup has joined the project to develop the first esportsinspired food and beverage program.
The multi-level arena will feature a competition stage, an LED video wall, telescopic seating, daily gaming stations, state-of-the-art streaming and television-quality production studios, all coming together to create the definitive championship destination for the fast-growing industry. “We recognized a while ago how esports has been growing and its great trajectory throughout the world,” said Steve Zanella, president of core properties in Las Vegas for MGM Resorts. “It’s great to see the acceptance and recognition it’s getting, and MGM Resorts is dedicated to taking esports throughout our entire organization, not only here in Las Vegas with Allied Esports but throughout the U.S. and
the world.” Allied also unveiled its second mobile esports venue, Esports Arena Drive, an 80-foot, 18-wheel, 35-ton semi-trailer that—not unlike a vehicle you’d find in a video game—unfolds with the push of a button to reveal a competition stage with full production facilities and VIP rooftop lounge. Drive will visit the Daytona 500 in February for a massive tournament and fan experience at one of the largest spectator events in the country. Don’t be surprised to see it return to Las Vegas in the spring for the big grand opening. –Brock Radke
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itbull’s resident show at the Axis is back this month, and while you already know you’ll have the time of your life at Mr. 305’s vibrant musical production, you might not know why Las Vegas owns such a special place in his heart. Pitbull told Industry Weekly last summer that he connects the original action on the Las Vegas Strip—when Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel ran the show at the Flamingo—to the gangsters, gamblers and showgirls
that spiced up Havana in the 1950s. Born in Miami to Cuban expats, Pitbull (real name: Armando Christian Pérez) is said to have first embarked on a career in entertainment when, as a young child, he would recite the works of Havana-born poet and literary hero José Martí. Today, with Latin music stronger than ever in Las Vegas and major markets around the world, Pitbull believes his own entertainment roots are linked to the Vegas stage. “You have no clue
what it means for me to be on that stage and share those moments on the Strip, in this iconic city,” he said. Pitbull: Time of Our Lives at the Axis at Planet Hollywood, January 19, 20, 24 & 27. –Brock Radke
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hef Paul Liebrandt captivates wherever he goes. Maybe it’s because of the two Michelin stars he earned at New York City’s Corton. Maybe it’s because he’s often recognized from the 2011 documentary A Matter of Taste. Or maybe the fine dining world is just waiting for Liebrandt’s next restaurant project, since he’s been working as a consultant. He recently turned up at Bellagio to participate in chef Roy Ellamar’s Snackwagon Takeover minipopups at Harvest. He’s back this week, cooking a one-night-only, $275 prix fixe dinner at Le Cirque. The menu will
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feature foie gras rouge, sunchoke ravioli with aged gouda and black truffle gelée and Soufflé Louis XIII. (There will be two seatings for the dinner—5:30 and 9 p.m., for which reservations can be made by calling 866-906-7171.) Maybe it’s just another amazing, only-in-Las-Vegas culinary experience. Or maybe a chef who snagged a three-star review from The New York Times at age 24 doubling down at Bellagio could mean something more? Paul Liebrandt Guest Chef Dinner at Le Cirque at Bellagio, January 20.
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lassy, edgy and fun, Hexx Kitchen & Bar does it all, from brunch and dinner to dessert and drinks. So it’s no surprise that the restaurant’s latest concept, Alexxa’s Bar, will only add to the allure of such an already cool and unique space.
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Described as Hexx’s adjoining “muse,” Alexxa’s brings a bright, millennialized vibe to the Paris, featuring live music throughout the week, a patio with beautiful views of the Bellagio fountains, cocktails, light bites and an outof-this-world selection of nine house-made sangrias. Specialty drinks include the Dark and Stormy Monday—a bold and sweet take on the classic, featuring Cruzan aged rum, ginger beer, crème de banane, Patron XO Café liqueur and coffee beans. For a juicier punch, the Strawberry Fields is made to taste just like a fresh strawberry, and combines Hornitos Blanco, Aperol, balsamic vinegar, egg white and cracked pepper for a sweet and creamy flavor.
Sangria options include the Pinky Swear with Grenache, Asian pear and hibiscus; the Chill is in the Air with Chardonnay, blood orange and seasonal citrus; and the Winter Spiced, a comforting blend of Pinot Noir, stone fruit and spices. Got a group? Share a punch bowl cocktail or pull up a seat on the patio for prime people-watching, or order a round of flights for the table. However you decide to imbibe at Alexxa’s, you’ll be doing it in style. Alexxa’s Bar at Hexx at Paris Las Vegas, 702-331-5100; daily 5 p.m.-5 a.m. –Leslie Ventura
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he’s shared the stage with some of the biggest names in music like Rod Stewart and Ricky Martin and performed in casinos and lounges all around the Vegas Valley during the past six years. Now, Lydia Ansel might have found the perfect gig at the Hard Rock Hotel, where she combines her skills as a classically trained violin player and a thoughtful DJ while performing at the Center Bar Wednesdays through Saturdays. “I’ve been at the Hard Rock for about a year and a half, and we’ve turned it into a regular residency that just kind of feels like home,” she says. “I especially love it during the weekends, when there are aerialists [performing] in those hoops over the [casino game] dealers. I’m being entertained while I’m performing, and the girls are just awesome. It adds to that feeling of camaraderie and family here.” A lifelong musician who has worked across the country in symphonies, small ensembles, big band orchestras and tribute bands and with every type of music imaginable, Ansel configured her DJ/violin act after landing in Las Vegas. “Improvisation is a specialty of mine, and I was getting paired with DJs here, so it
just happened naturally,” she says. “I have effects pedals and just started jamming, and being wireless I can walk around and interact with the audience easily.” The flexibility of her unique act has resulted in lots of corporate gigs in Vegas and beyond, and she also regularly performs at Coyote Ugly at New York-New York. The coming year is shaping up to be a big one for Ansel, who could be traveling to Asia and Europe for performances and is developing new collaborative projects here in Las Vegas. “I’ve had different incorporations of what I do, sometimes with go-go dancers or featured singers. One project I’m working on is a duo, with a singer/songwriter/instrumentalist,” she says. “I just love to find new ways to entertain the audience. Anything to dazzle and awe and sparkle.” –Brock Radke WADE VANDERVORT/STAFF
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CH ATEAU 1/18 DJs Bayati & Casanova. 1/19 DJ Knock. 1/20 DJ Ice Break. 1/24 DJ J-Nice. 1/25 DJs Bayati & Casanova. 1/26 DJ ShadowRed. 1/27 DJ Bayati. 1/31 DJ DMC. 2/1 DJs Bayati & Casanova. 2/2 DJ ShadowRed. 2/3 DJ Dre Dae. Paris, Wed-Sat, 702-776-7770.
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T A O B Y T o n y T r a n P h oto g r ap h y
1/18 DJ D-Nice. 1/19 Big Boi. 1/20 Nelly. 1/21 DJ Direct. 1/25 DJ Ross One. 1/26 DJ Esco. 1/27 Trey Songz. 1/28 DJ Franzen. 2/2 Ty Dolla $ign. 2/3 Big Sean. 2/4 Migos. Cromwell, Tue, Thu-Sun, 702-777-3800.
EM BASSY 1/18 DJ Nelson. 1/19 DJ Animation. 1/20 DJ Walt. 3355 Procyon St., Thu-Sat, 702-6096666.
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1/19 DJ Baby Yu. 1/20 DJ Konflikt. 1/26 DJ Mark Mac. 1/27 DJ Sam I Am. 2/2 DJ Crooked. 2/3 DJ Konflikt. Mandalay Bay, nightly, 702632-7631.
H Y DE 1/19 DJ Greg Lopez. 1/20 DJ Gordo. 1/26 DJ Ikon. 1/27 DJ Konflikt. Bellagio, nightly, 702693-8700.
INTRIG U E 1/19 Cheat Codes. 1/20 Duke Dumont. 1/24 Afrojack. 1/26 Slander. 1/27 Flosstradamus. 1/31 RL Grime. 2/2 Afrojack. 2/3 RL Grime. Wynn, Thu-Sat, 702-770-7300.
LIGHT 1/19 DJ Sincere. 1/20 Stevie J. 1/31 DJ Neva. 2/2 Metro Boomin. 2/3 Rick Ross. Mandalay Bay, Wed, Fri-Sat, 702-632-4700.
MARQUEE 1/19 Chuckie. 1/20 Benny Benassi. 1/22 Tritonal. 1/26 Tritonal. 1/27 W&W. 1/29 DJ Mustard. 2/2 Ruckus. 2/3 Travis Scott. Cosmopolitan, Mon, Fri-Sat, 702-333-9000.
TAO 1/18 Craig David. 1/19 DJ Scene. 1/20 Eric DLux. 1/25 DJ Five. 1/26 Chase B. 1/27 Eric DLux. 2/1 DJ Five. 2/2 Justin Credible. 2/3 Eric DLux. Venetian, Thu-Sat, 702-388-8588.
XS 1/19 The Chainsmokers. 1/20 Diplo. 1/26 Afrojack. 1/27 DJ Snake. 2/2 The Chainsmokers. 2/3 Alesso. 2/9 RL Grime. 2/10 DJ Snake. Encore, Fri-Mon, 702-770-0097.
TOMMY DAVIDSON
Sat, January 27 · 9:00pm Tickets start at $3295
FEATURING
THREE LOCK BOX TRIBUTE TO SAMMY HAGAR Sat, February 10 · 8:00pm General Admission $15
NEXT MOVEMENT A SPECIAL VALENTINE Wed, February 14 · 7:30pm Tickets start at $20
WANTED TRIBUTE TO BON JOVI Sat, February 17 · 8:00pm General Admission $15
COMING SOON PETTY & THE HEARTSHAKERS, Tribute to Tom Petty February 24 MASTERS OF PUPPETS, Tribute to Metallica March 3 DSB, Tribute to Journey March 10 L.A.vation, Tribute to U2 March 17
ENTERTAINMENT Done Right Ticket prices do not include taxes and applicable fees. Management reserves all rights. ©2018 Boyd Gaming ® Corporation, LLC. All rights reserved.
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1/20 Najee. 2/17 The Special EFX All Stars. 2/24 Average White Band. 3/10 Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons. 3/24 Blue Öyster Cult. Aliante Casino, 702-692-7777.
TH E
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1/19-1/27 Pitbull. 1/31-2/17 Backstreet Boys. 2/21-3/3 Jennifer Lopez. 3/9-3/17 Lionel Richie. 3/24-4/21 Jennifer Lopez. 4/27-4/28 Pitbull. 5/2-5/12 Pitbull. Planet Hollywood, 702-777-6737. B R O O K LY N
BOWL
2/1 Rebel Souljahz. 2/7 Fetty Wap. 2/9 Stick Figure & Twiddle. 2/13 Lettuce. 2/15 Erykah Badu. 2/16 Tribal Seeds. 2/22 Dark Star Orchestra. 2/27 Celebrating David Bowie. 3/14 Donavon Frankenreiter. 3/15 Hippie Sabotage. 3/24 Ministry. 3/27 Galactic. 3/30 The Darkness. 3/31 Senses Fail. 4/7 3LAU. 4/10 Nightwish. 5/8 As the Crow Flies. 5/14 Peter Hook & the Light. Linq Promenade, 702862-2695.
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1/19-1/20 Celine Dion. 1/31-2/3 Van Morrison. 2/9-3/2 Elton John. 3/9-3/10 Jerry Seinfeld. 3/14-3/24 Reba, Brooks & Dunn. 3/27-4/18 Celine Dion. 4/15 Sebastian Maniscalco. 4/204/21 Jerry Seinfeld. 5/22-6/9 Celine Dion. 5/27 Jim Gaffigan. Caesars Palace, 866-2275938. DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS EVENTS CENTER 4/20-4/21 Las Rageous. 200 S. Third St., 800745-3000.
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BLU E S
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1/19-1/20 John Fogerty. 1/26-1/31 The Moody Blues. 2/7-2/24 Diana Ross. 2/28-3/10 Elvis Costello. 4/27-4/28 Mel Brooks. Wynn, 702770-9966. T HE
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1/24-2/3 Santana. 1/25 Gilberto Santa Rosa. 2/8 Jeezy. 2/10 Judah & The Lion. 2/17 Beth Hart. 2/18 Theory of a Deadman. 2/23 Black Label Society. 2/25 Josh Turner. 2/26 PnB Rock. 3/1 Machine Head. 3/2 Black Veil Brides & Asking Alexandria. 3/3 Walk Off the Earth. 3/6 K. Michelle. 3/9 Stone Temple Pilots. 3/10 PVRS. 3/17 Psychedelic Furs. 3/24 J Boog. 3/27 Michael Schenker Fest. 3/31 George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic. 5/2 Enrique Bunbury. 5/5 Tech N9ne. 5/11 The Human League. 5/15 Todrick Hall. 5/16-5/27 Santana. Mandalay Bay, 702-632-7600. T H E
EN CORE
1/20 The National. 1/27 AVN Awards Show. 2/2-2/3 Incubus. 2/23-3/3 Nickelback. 2/28 A Day to Remember. 3/7 Roger Daltrey. 3/8 Datsik. 3/10 Roger Daltrey. 3/16-3/17 Kenny Chesney. 3/30-3/31 Incubus. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5000.
FOUN DRY
2/17 Jazz Funk Soul. 3/30 William Michael Morgan. 4/13 Devin Dawson. SLS, 702-7617617.
CH EL SEA
1/20 Spoon. 1/27 Adam Sandler. 2/16 Queens of the Stone Age. 2/17 Cake. 3/9 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. 3/10 Bad Bunny. 4/13 Portugal. The Man. Cosmopolitan, 702-698-6797. CH R O M E
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GOLDEN N UGGET SHOW ROOM 1/19 The Association. 1/26 Ambrosia. 2/2 Eddie Money. 2/9 America. 2/16 Orleans. 2/23 Tonic. 3/9 Grand Funk Railroad. 3/16 Tommy James & The Shondells. 3/23 Jeffrey Osborne. Golden Nugget, 866-946-5336.
M A N D A L AY B AY EVENTS CENTER
1/27 Bell Biv DeVoe. 2/16 Lana Del Rey. 3/24 Kid Rock. 5/5 Maluma. Mandalay Bay, 702632-7777. MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA 2/3 The Killers. 3/3 Demi Lovato. MGM Grand, 702-521-3826.
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1/20 John Waite. 1/27 Dennis Wise. 3/24 Phil Vassar. Santa Fe Station, 702-658-4900. 1/18 Holes & Hearts. 1/19 Smashing Alice. 1/25 Kendra Daniels Band. 3/1 The Brevet. Hard Rock Cafe, 3771 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-7337625.
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1/26 Gran Concierto Baile. 1/27 Latin Hip-Hop Comedy Jam. 2/10 Love Affair Concert with GQ, Zapp, Atlantic Starr & more. 3/7-3/10 WAC Tournament. 3/22-3/24 Stellar Gospel Music Awards. Orleans, 702-365-7469.
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1/20 Lil Duval. 2/3 Arsenio Hall. 2/10-2/11 Engelbert Humperdinck. 2/24 Rob Schneider & Chris Kattan. 3/30 Loverboy. 3/31-4/6 Burton Cummings. 4/7 April Wine. 4/14-4/15 Aaron Lewis. Orleans, 702-365-7111.
PA RK
TH EATER
2/14-2/19 Bruno Mars. 2/25 G-Eazy. 3/10-3/11 311. 3/15-3/25 Ricky Martin. 4/7 Gloria Trevi & Alejandra Guzman. 5/23-6/3 Ricky Martin. Monte Carlo, 844-600-7275.
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1/20 My Favorite Murder. 1/26 Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine. 2/10 Voiceplay. Red Rock Resort, 702-797-7777. SOUT H
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1/20 Katy Perry. 1/27 Calibash with Jennifer Lopez, Luis Fonsi, Maluma & more. 2/2-2/3 George Strait. 2/25 WWE Elimination Chamber. 3/3 UFC 222. 3/7-3/10 Pac-12 Tournament. 3/17 T-Mobile Arena. 4/14 Justin Timberlake. 5/11-5/12 U2. 5/26 Pink. 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. 5/2-5/12 Earth, Wind & Fire. Venetian, 702-414-9000.
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3/31 Jay Cutler Desert Classic. 5/19 Juanes. Palms, 702-944-3200.
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1/19-1/20 Norm Macdonald. 1/26-1/28 Capitol Steps. 2/2-2/3 Artie Lange. 2/9-2/11 Atlantic City Boys. 2/16-2/18 Herman’s Hermits. 2/232/24 Dennis DeYoung. 3/2-3/4 Rick Thomas. 3/9-3/11 Tower of Power. 3/16-3/18 The Lettermen. 3/30-4/1 Donny Edwards. South Point, 702-796-7111. T ERRY
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1/18 Tommy Castro. 2/1 Nick Schnebelen. 2/15 Tinsley Ellis. 3/3 Neal McCoy. Boulder Station, 702-432-7777.
1/19-1/21 John Mulaney. 1/19-1/21 Boyz II Men. 1/26 Jay Leno. 1/27 Tim Allen. 2/2-2/3 Daniel Tosh. 2/9-2/10 Ron White. 2/16-2/17 Jim Jeffries. 2/18 Tiffany Haddish. 2/23-2/24 David Spade & Ray Romano. 2/23-2/25 Boyz II Men. 3/2-3/3 Tim Allen. 3/9-3/10 Bill Maher. 3/163/17 Daniel Tosh. 3/23-3/24 George Lopez. 3/29-3/31 Gabriel Iglesias. 4/6-4/7 David Spade & Ray Romano. 4/6-4/8 Boyz II Men. 4/13-4/14 Daniel Tosh. 4/13-4/15 Boyz II Men. 4/20-4/21 Ron White. 4/20-4/22 Boyz II Men. 4/27-4/29 Boyz II Men. 4/27 Tiffany Haddish. 5/4 Jay Leno. 5/5 Tim Allen. 5/11-5/12 Daniel Tosh. 5/255/27 Gabriel Iglesias. Mirage, 702-792-7777.
VI N Y L 2/3 Tonight Alive & Silverstein. 2/9 Lights. 2/15 Poppy Computer Tour. 3/4 Of Mice & Men. 3/16 Fortunate Youth. 4/2 Knuckle Punk. Hard Rock Hotel, 702-693-5000.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT COOL POP-UP VINTAGE CLOTHING SHOPS
55 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
1. 3 AM TOAST Pink Calvin Kleins, summery boho dresses, MTV graphic tees and more—this well-stocked Etsy shop is what vintage Vegas dreams are made of. Etsy.com/shop/threeamtoast
2. MS. LONELY HEART VINTAGE Find ’70s boho dresses, beaded clutches and more, online and at pop-ups like Ferguson’s Market in the Alley. Mslonelyheartvintage.etsy.com
3. NEON CACTUS VINTAGE Neon windbreakers and ’90s bomber jackets abound at Neon Cactus’ online Depop shop and at the monthly Happy Earth Market. Depop.com/neoncactusvintage
4. WHITE ROOM VINTAGE Pore over denim dresses, vintage tees and other items from decades past, with a focus on fashions from the ’60s through the ’90s. Etsy.com/shop/thewhiteroomvintage
5. CRYKIT’S PLAYHOUSE
THE WEEKLY 5
DJ Crykit of Crykit’s Playhouse. (Jon Estrada/Special to Weekly)
Browse curated threads on Instagram or in person when Downtown denizen DJ Crykit sets up shop. Instagram.com/ crykitsplayhouse –Leslie Ventura
56 las vegas weekly 01.18.18
NOISE
BEAST MODE Talking with The National’s Matt Berninger before the band’s first Vegas show By Annie Zaleski he National’s latest album, September’s Sleep Well Beast, adds bright accents to the band’s velvet-draped indie rock, like New Wave-leaning synthesizers and obsidian piano. Frontman Matt Berninger checked in from his home in Venice, California, to chat about the record, staying independent and why he associates Las Vegas with a painful childhood memory.
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Making Sleep Well Beast, what did you learn about yourself as a songwriter or as a human being? My wife and I wrote a lot of the lyrics together. A lot of it is about a marriage, about a relationship, how things evolve and change and how you have to redefine yourself. I learned a lot about myself as a dad and as a braced all of our own guilty pleasures, includhusband by digging and peeling into it and ing things that we’d never done, like guitar writing these songs with my wife. A lot of it’s solos. This record has very little insecurity, for really personal; it’s not all autobiographibetter or for worse. It was a blast to make, and cal, but it’s all emotionally personal. I don’t it’s really fun to play live. work on something unless it’s somehow THE medicinal or therapeutic to me. A lot of your peers have released NATIONAL records on major labels. Have you January 20, Was there anything the band didn’t been approached to ink a bigger deal? 8 p.m., $51. want to do this time around? Our whole We reached out to a few places early The Joint, 702-693career has been a series of dodging [in our career], and we were turned 5222. definitions, because either we were emdown by everybody, including Matador barrassed by them or we just don’t want Records. Now we’re sort of part of their to be painted into a corner. Sleep Well whole thing—Matador and 4AD and Beast feels like the first one where we really everybody under the Beggars [Banquet] umdidn’t give a f*ck about what anybody called brella. And we’ve had no need to shop around. us, whatever genre or labels. We kind of emBeggars’ ethos has always been in line with
ours. So we’ve never even taken meetings with anybody else. I mean, of course, the next time we’re negotiating with Beggars and 4AD, we’ll pretend like we’re taking meetings (laughs). Do you have any memorable Vegas memories? I traveled across the country with my mom and dad and my older sister when I was 7 or 8, and we went through Las Vegas. My parents went to gamble and my sister and I went to some day care center, and somehow I lost my blankie. Every time I’ve been in Vegas since then, I jokingly go to all the lost and founds around to look for my old blankie. Visit lasvegasweekly.com for more of our interview with Berninger.
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See her maybe Carly Rae Jepsen talks katy Perry, straddling the indie/pop line and more
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You know her as the girl behind “Call Me Maybe,” but that’s definitely not the only reason Carly Rae Jepsen should be on your radar. In 2015, the pop singer released Emotion, an album lauded by both indie-music hubs like Pitchfork and teeny-boppers. Now, Jepsen returns to the pop spotlight, opening for Katy Perry on her Witness tour. We spoke to the Canadian star about sharing a bill with one of the industry’s top stars, performing in Vegas and her crossover musical style.
CARLY RAE JEPSEN opening for Katy Perry. January 20, 7:30 p.m., $51-$201. T-Mobile Arena, 702692-1600.
Berninger, second from right, and his National bandmates. (Graham MacIndoe/Courtesy)
On opening for Katy Perry: I had no idea I’d get to do this, but I’m more than thrilled. I’ve known Katy throughout the years just casually here and there ,and she’s always been really warm and someone who as a performer is just a powerhouse and someone I look up to in a lot of ways. Her show is fantastic; it’s very Cirque du Soleil, and I find myself going out there every night to watch it even though I’ve seen it a couple times. It’s such eye candy.
On playing Las Vegas: This is a place for escape and celebration and party, and that energy is felt in the audience, too. When I’ve played there before, it feels like people show up ready to dance with you, and that’s the best feeling. On indie music versus pop: I have no idea how we’ve been lucky to have a footing in both genres. I think pop itself has changed a lot, and there’s a lot less boundaries as to what it specifically has to be. I’m attracted to more indie-style production, but I really still love a great, strong pop top line. That was always a challenge for me, to find my flavor of pop that felt really authentic. On her goals for 2018: I want to release an album that I’m proud of, and feel like it’s a good representation of the sweat and tears from the last couple years. I want to be better involved in the creative. I have a great team around me, and it feels like we have a very similar vision, which is very exciting, so I want to run with that and get as creative as possible. –Leslie Ventura
Carly Rae Jepsen (Andy Kropa/AP)
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Sound Judgment Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
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It feels wrong somehow to call the latest Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album “new music,” considering the San Francisco band hasn’t modified its sound in any significant way since its 2001 debut. But that’s not a complaint or a dismissal. Bands like BRMC are in short supply these days—earnest barroom rockers whose guitars sound like they’re plugged into a Harley-Davidson—and if Wrong Creatures plays like a continuation of a set rather than a fresh start, what’s wrong with that? It’s not like Ed Sheeran is gonna take us where BRMC can. Wrong Creatures shuffles back and forth between gritted-teeth rockers like “Spook” (whose bridge lyric, “It’s just another song/And then it’s gone,” seems an invitation from the band not to take this stuff too seriously), and spacey shoegaze numbers like the beguiling “Echo,” which finds the band straying into Mazzy Star territory— brush drums, lots of cool blue reverb and a lullaby refrain of “Be still my love/I don’t wanna tear you down.” Album closer “All Rise” bridges the gap between the two with a rising wall of sound and a promise to “[scream] until there’s nothing left.” For real rockers like BRMC, there’s no better mission statement. –Geoff Carter
Veteran metal band Corrosion of Conformity has gone through multiple lineups over the course of 30-plus years, but the most successful, both commercially and artistically, was the version led by singer-guitarist Pepper Keenan, who recorded four albums as the band’s frontman during the ’90s and ’00s. No Cross No Crown marks Keenan’s return to the band for his first album since 2005’s In the Arms of God, and he rejoins core trio Woody Weatherman (guitar), Mike Dean (bass) and Reed Mullin (drums) as if no time had passed at all. Songs like “Wolf Named Crow,” “Forgive Me,” “E.L.M.” and lead single “Cast the First Stone” have the same catchy riffs, driving rhythms and swampy tones that made the band’s Keenan-led albums perfect combinations of thrash metal and Southern swagger, topped by Keenan’s drawling, snarling vocals. The production and arrangements are a little less polished than on the band’s ’90s albums, and there are a few slow, sludgy dirges that go nowhere. But anyone who discovered COC at the band’s popular height should be satisfied with this effective return to the familiar. –Josh Bell
At this point in Fall Out Boy’s career, the only constant from album to album is the band’s dedication to ambition. Mania is no different: The quartet sounds settled into a modern, electronic-glossed pop groove with no shortage of sonic adventure. The restless highlight “The Last of the Real Ones” alternates urgent piano with whirling chorus explosions, while the soapy torch song “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)” boasts the indelible line, “I’ll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.” But Mania’s best songs let vocalist Patrick Stump take center stage and let loose. He transforms into a spirited gospel singer on “Church,” which boasts thundering church choirs and jagged guitars, and channels a tender ’60s soul crooner on the smoldering throwback ballad “Heaven’s Gate.” These highlights make up for Mania’s less-successful moments—the reggae-driven “Sunshine Riptide” and the hiphop/Latin-tinged “Hold Me Tight or Don’t”—which rely too much on repetitive tropes. Overall, however, Mania succeeds because it’s chock full of Fall Out Boy’s typically irresistible earworms. –Annie Zaleski
From lo-fi world-folk singer to idiosyncratic art-rocker, Merrill Garbus has steadily evolved over the past decade, melding her penchant for glitchy beats and African rhythms with her powerful vocals and lurid melodies. Tune-Yards’ first release as a duo, I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life, brings bassist Nate Brenner to the forefront for an approachable and dancey follow-up to 2014’s Nikki Nack. Following Garbus’ recent DJ foray, Tune-Yards still borrows from its worldly influences but adds dance elements like house- and club jazz-inspired rhythms. Album opener “Heart Attack” begins with an isolated piano riff, which is joined by Garbus’ signature syncopated delivery—“It’s giving me a heart attack-ack-ack”—ahead of an icy-smooth beat. A deliciously fun pace is then set for an album that dabbles in personal and political themes. “I use my white woman’s voice to tell stories of travels with African men” Garbus repeats on “Colonizer,” an awkward and (hopefully) self-aware statement on white feminism and appropriation from someone who has repeatedly drawn from African and black cultures. Tune-Yards has never sounded more relevant—or more accessible. –Leslie Ventura
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Black Mirror might make you question reality. (Jonathan Prime/Courtesy Netflix)
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DARK MATTER
In Black Mirror , the future looks terrifying, nauseating and brilliant kicked off 2018 by doing two things: I went on FaceAs dystopian as the show might be, creators Charlie Brooker book hiatus. (Haven’t posted in a whole week, ma!), and Annabel Jones are actually comedians, albeit the kind who and I decided to catch up with the rest of the world prefer their satire pitch-black. Third-season opener Nosedive, and watch Black Mirror. Rarely have two random their definitive piss-take on social-media, depicts an alternate acts felt so cosmically, poetically linked. reality where a five-star rating system determines one’s socioAn anthology series about technology and its myriad economic status. (Accidently spill coffee on a stranger? Might effects on human life, Black Mirror debuted on British not get a seat on the plane.) In first-season finale “The Entire television in 2011, before Netflix brought it overseas History of You,” brain chips and eye implants allow in 2016. Since then, absolutely no one has damned us to obsess over all the minute details of our lives. it with faint praise. In a time when the majority of (You can even show them on TV at dinner parties!) streamable content takes too damn long to kick in Sometimes Brooker and Jones lose their balance—the (“It gets better after the first few episodes, promepisodes about online trolling and a criminal-justice ise”), Black Mirror is a shot in the arm, triggering theme park are basically torture porn—but a series an immediate rush that’s thrilling, terrifying and that ends a Christmas special with a man living a nauseating. It’s either the most important thing thousand years a minute in his own mind has every on TV, or it hits so close to home, it’s “the f*cking right to go overboard. Cultural worst,” to quote more than one friend. If anyone I expected to be all caught up before writing attachment this column, but since the series is far from an tells you it’s boring, I strongly suggest avoiding that by smith suspect individual at all cost. easy binge, I’m admittedly only halfway through galtney Black Mirror often gets compared to The Twilight the third season. It’s actually nice not devouring Zone, because each episode is a stand-alone narraa whole series in one or two sittings. I have plenty tive that’s tends to be really weird. But c’mon, The of time to recognize all the Black Mirror-esque Twilight Zone is Faerie Tale Theatre compared to Black Mirinteractions that make up my day. For instance, earlier this ror’s utterly plausible premises. Can you imagine a terrorist week, I met someone for the first time. We’d never laid eyes forcing a government official to perform an unspeakable act on each other, but thanks to Instagram, we knew everything on live TV? What about a society in which American Idol is about each other—what we did for a living, our respective used to distract the human race from the planet’s energy neighborhoods, the names of our dogs and our partners. It crisis? Or a grieving app that, through repurposed online was one of those, “Well, here we are in the future” moments profiles and social-media activity, allows us to talk to dethat would’ve been unsettling. But I figure, as long as I stay ceased loved ones? Of course you can. All that stuff is pretty off Facebook and never get eye or brain implants, maybe I’ll much already happening, right? be okay.
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Design for living Phantom Thread delivers a bracing, unconventional romance By Mike D’Angelo ou know you’re in the hands of a great filmmaker when sparks fly off the screen as a waitress takes someone’s elaborate breakfast order. The scene in question occurs early in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, which is set in London during the late 1950s and quickly establishes its male lead, fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis), as a control freak and serial womanizer, prone to casually discard paramours the moment they cease to excite him. Actually, Reynolds leaves the dirty work to his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville), who serves as a combination assistant/enabler, as well as his only apparent friend. One day, newly unattached, Reynolds drives out to the country, where he maintains a house, and dines at a restaurant, where a waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps) catches his eye … and he, hers. Their initial flirtation consists almost entirely of Reynolds ordering, with intimidating specificity, what seems like half of the breakfast menu, as Alma, only slightly flustered, meets his gaze and matches his wit.
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This unconventional meet-cute kicks off one of Anderson previously directed Day-Lewis to his the most perverse romances in recent memory. In second Oscar (of three) in There Will Be Blood, and fact, it’s so offbeat that its shape remains (pleasantly) the actor has announced that this will be his final amorphous for quite some time. Anderson loves performance. That’s a great loss to cinema, but it’s doing research for his period pieces, and he delves entirely apt that he bows out opposite a relative into many details of British fashion during that newcomer who’s afforded a star-making turn here. era (though he was initially inspired by The superficial gulf in power between aaaac Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga), Alma and Reynolds deliberately PHANTOM THREAD making the film seem vaguely like a biopic. echoes that between Krieps (who hails Daniel Day-Lewis, Cyril’s unmistakable physical resemblance from Luxembourg and has previously Vicky Krieps, to Rebecca’s Mrs. Danvers, coupled with played only small roles in EnglishLesley Manville. Directed by both characters occupying roughly the language films) and Day-Lewis; both Paul Thomas Anderson. same disdainfully watchful spot in their Alma and Krieps have to hold their Rated R. Opens Friday respective narratives, suggests that the own in daunting circumstances, and in select theaters. film might evolve into a thriller. Only both succeed magnificently. toward the end does Anderson’s long Anderson, for his part, works in a game finally become apparent. To reveal much more statelier (but no less visually ravishing) mode than would be criminal—suffice it to say that Phantom usual, shooting on 35mm film and replicating the Thread depicts a singular battle of wills between two slightly soft look of vintage Merchant Ivory costume evenly matched and equally ruthless combatants, and dramas. If this does turn out to be Day-Lewis’ swan resolves in a truly unexpected way. song, at least he goes out on a high note.
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LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
OLD-TIMEY CRIME
THE ALIENIST MAKES MURDER HISTORY
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Day-Lewis’ Reynolds Woodcock prepares his latest creation. (Focus Features/Courtesy)
disingenuous (given that American military forces are still in Afghanistan more than 16 years later). Still, the team’s accomplishments in the moment were apparently remarkable, although screenwriters Peter Craig and Ted Tally (working from Doug Stanton’s nonfiction book) and director Nicolai Fuglsig struggle to convey how and why that was, with chaotic, cluttered action sequences and There’s so much patriotic American heroism in jumbled exposition that often makes the team’s 12 Strong that it’s a surprise the movie doesn’t star specific goals unclear. The characters Mark Wahlberg. Instead we get Australian AACCC and dialogue are all completely generic, Chris Hemsworth (with a variable Ameri12 STRONG with only Nelson, his veteran second-incan accent) as Mitch Nelson, an Army Chris Hemsworth, Special Forces captain who led a Michael Shannon, command (Michael Shannon) and one other soldier (Michael Peña) getting even Michael Peña. classified mission into AfghaniDirected by a single dimension of personality. The stan in the weeks following the Nicolai Fuglsig. rest of the squad members are entirely 9/11 terrorist attacks. Nelson Rated R. Opens interchangeable, their opponents are faceFriday citywide. and his 12-man team were less cannon fodder, and the home front is tasked with taking a Taliban represented only by a few clichéd scenes stronghold that the Army of worried wives. The bravery of the real soldiers is believed would secure a quick and buried under a mountain of hokey sentiment and decisive victory, which makes the rah-rah bluster. –Josh Bell unambiguous triumphalism a little
WAR IS HECK
12 STRONG PUTS A ONE-DIMENSIONAL SPIN ON TRUE-LIFE HEROISM
Caleb Carr’s bestselling 1994 novel The Alienist has been bouncing around various movie and TV producers since its initial publication, and its final arrival onscreen as a TNT drama series is a bit anticlimactic. The novel is the first of three Carr wrote about Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a practicing psychiatrist before psychiatry was actually invented, when doctors who investigated mental ailments were known as “alienists.” Set in 1896 New York City, the show focuses on Kreizler’s efforts to use his pioneering (but largely dismissed) insights to help solve disturbing crimes. Like medical drama The Knick, set in the same location and time period, The Alienist examines the way scientific developments were drastically changing a major field; in addition to psychiatry, Kreizler (Daniel Brühl) relies on new techniques like fingerprinting, thanks to the team of associates he builds to help him with his cases. That team (which includes Luke Evans as an illustrator and Dakota Fanning as a proto-feminist police secretary) positions the show as the 19thcentury equivalent of a modern procedural about an eccentric expert who consults with the police, and a lot of the narrative beats are familiar, even with their period trappings. Both the tone and the visual style are dark and murky, and while some of the historical details are fascinating, the crime drama around them is tedious and tiresome in any era. –Josh Bell
AABCC THE ALIENIST Mondays, 9 p.m., TNT. Premieres January 22.
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Hammer (left) and Chalamet take a ride in Call Me by Your Name. (Sony Pictures Classics/Courtesy)
Screen
WEEKLY | 01.18.18
SUMMER OF LOVE Call Me by Your Name exudes a sensual romantic vibe By Josh Bell irector Luca Guadagnino (A Bigger Splash, I Am Love) is often better at conveying feeling and atmosphere than at constructing a narrative, so it’s a good thing his adaptation of André Aciman’s novel Call Me by Your Name is focused primarily on its languid vibe rather than on telling a detailed story. That works well for a movie told from the nostalgic perspective of a teenager discovering his sexuality and experiencing his first love, against the backdrop of one of those enchanted movie summers spent in an idyllic, isolated paradise. The teenager here is Elio (Timothée Chalamet), son of an American university professor (Michael Stuhlbarg) and an Italian translator (Amira Casar), and the setting is the summer of 1983 in a quaint northern Italian town, where Elio’s father is spending the season working on research. Elio himself has essentially no responsibilities, lounging by the pool, chasing local girls, playing music and generally indulging his every whim. His one irritation is hav-
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ing to give up his bedroom to visiting grad student through exploring his identity, and Name is more Oliver (Armie Hammer), who’s spending part of the of a coming-of-age story than a properly balanced summer assisting Elio’s father with his work. romance. Hammer’s performance is strong as well, The cautious Elio and the more assertive Oliver conveying Oliver’s boldness and charisma, but begin a slow flirtation, neither one seemthe character remains at an emotional aaabc ingly sure whether the other returns his distance, both from Elio and from the CALL ME interest. They both show confidence with audience. The movie’s emotional climax BY YOUR NAME women, and eventually they break through comes not between Elio and Oliver, but Timothée Chalamet, each other’s boundaries and begin a halting between Elio and his father, in a heartfelt Armie Hammer, affair, both worried about being discovered moment of connection as they share roMichael Stuhlbarg. Directed by by Elio’s family. Despite those worries, mantic regrets. That scene brings into foLuca Guadagnino. Name isn’t a movie about the persecution cus what can sometimes be a meandering Rated R. Opens of gay people or the tortures of remaining story, with too many drawn-out moments Friday in select theaters. in the closet; it’s a sensual celebration of of mundane conversation. Even so, those young love and lust, with Guadagnino and moments have a cumulative effect on the cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom characters, and the movie’s final shot is a shooting the attractive stars with the same loving, devastating long take focused on Elio’s face, as all the appreciative eye that they train on the equally goremotions and experiences he’s had over that summer geous Italian countryside. take their toll, marking him in a way that will stay Chalamet is fantastic as the young man fumbling with him for the rest of his life.
FLAMEOUT BY CHUCK TWARDY i there! Greetings from last week. We’re in the middle of the “sh*thole” news cycle—remember that one? How are you guys, already deep in next week’s outrages? Can’t wait. So, “sh*thole” and whatever came after it—hey, no spoilers!—kind of displaced the rather prolonged Fire and Fury cycle, which had lasted more than a week. That’s odd, in that the book itself covers a period that seems primeval, the election and early months of the new administration, and is peopled, beyond the First Family, with mostly long-departed factotums like Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon. Remember the Breitbart guy? Got fired, got a Democrat elected to the Senate from Alabama, then got dumped by his benefactors Bob and Rebekah Mercer?
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63 PRINT
FIRE AND FURY PAINTS AN UNFLATTERING PORTRAIT OF AN UNWITTING FIRST FAMILY
I know it was last week, but concentrate: The Major Revelation of Michael Wolff ’s book is that nobody in the First Family-to-be wanted to be in the First Family—that all concerned, from candidate to third trophy wife to ambitious offspring and in-laws, wanted to lose the 2016 election. That this would amplify the family brands seems a long shot, though, given that the candidate’s first insulting sallies into campaigning lost him not only endorsements but his ties with his network, NBC. But then, as the Wolff book makes clear, the family and its minions are not the most, uh, savvy of operators. Wolff himself was surprised that nobody seemed to understand what he was up to. Or much else, for that matter. Of course, that’s his story; you’ll recall some concern about Wolff ’s probity as a journalist. Could be some sources were
not inept but burned. Could be, too, those staffers, aware of their leader’s lack of “strength, acumen and forbearance,” as Wolff puts it, dismiss talk of collusion with Russia but fear that investigations will uncover dirtier deeds: “It was all too possible that the hardly plausible would lead to the totally credible.” Thus, against Bannon’s unusually prudent advice that it would backfire, “Jarvanka” got FBI Director James Comey fired. So, Wolff makes a convincing case that the campaign that expected to lose gamely morphed into the administration that can’t run the empire. Blithely out-ofdepth and led by a witless, vain and mean man, it is unlikely to improve with Wolff ’s sources mostly gone. But the Trump regime has done the nation damage and can wreak worse yet. Here’s hoping you haven’t learned this the hard way.
WEEKLY | 01.18.18
AAACC FIRE AND FURY By Michael Wolff, $30.
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The cast of Company rehearses. (Courtesy)
STAGE
WEEKLY | 01.18.18
Cold feet, warm heart Las Vegas Little Theatre’s Company asks its questions in song By Molly O’Donnell ne of the timeless social pressures of both comedy and life is marriage. Once you’re in your 30s, everyone from your mother to your neighborhood barista inevitably begins to question your marital status. Sometimes it seems as if the first thing people do after they get married is try to convince everyone around them to do the same. If you happen to be single, God help you. Whether this pressure is a case of misery loving company or more being merrier is perhaps an eternal question. Nevertheless, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company attempts to answer it. And from January 19 through February 4, the Las Vegas Little Theatre will have its own go with a mainstage production of the musical. Setting this version in the 1970s world of the original play, director Walter Niejadlik purposefully takes on the work’s timeless aspects,
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arguing that “the show is relevant: We see tion infectious musical numbers like “Getting Bobby [played by Adam Dunson], a New York Married Today” and “Being Alive.” City bachelor who, like anyone, feels alone but The music—presented by a nine-piece live is having trouble connecting or comband of woodwinds, brass, drums and mitting to another person.” more—is the aspect most likely to set aaacc the Little Theatre’s production apart. Bobby’s conundrum is the topic of Company debate, speculation, and outright arguNiejadlik explains that having a liveJanuary ment between his married friends— music component became essential af19-February five couples who hash out the issue in a ter last season. “We ran A Little Night 4, ThursdaySunday, times series of nonlinear musical vignettes. Music as part of our foray into the vary, $21-$24. These couples’ various problems, Sondheim canon, and the band really Las Vegas including infidelity, alcoholism, was a hit with our patrons,” Niejadlik Little Theatre, 702-362-7996. undisclosed bisexuality, divorce and says. run-of-the-mill annoyance, are paired Adding nine musicians to the with Bobby’s flawed exes and dates, and already-large 14-member cast makes they do more to confuse him than help for a lot of moving parts. With luck, the to resolve his indecision. Once again, though, extra hands will make the show as popular with as in life, so in art—the journey is the thing. audiences as the last Sondheim production, acThe fun for audiences will be in the en route centuating the pluses of being in good company, dialogue, rife with sarcasm and wit, not to menquirks, complexities and all.
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68 LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
LA VIE EN PRIMROSE THE FIRST PARK MGM RESTAURANT SETS A FRESH STANDARD BY BROCK RADKE here are two new destination restaurants leading the Monte Carlo’s transition into Park MGM. While most Monte Carlo restaurants opened up to the casino, the first Park MGM restaurants, Primrose and Bavette’s, feel like separate entities. Each has a passageway leading into an uncommon universe of dining and drinking in a sophisticated environment. That approach makes a big difference. Primrose is located right off the new hotel lobby and includes a handsome bar, a charming library suitable for anytime lounging and a brunch-ready patio adjacent to the pool. There are French country-home influences on the menu and in the dining room, making everything feel warm and soft in a fresh, springtime way. Primrose marks the Strip’s latest manifestation of the casino three-mealer, but it’s no utilitarian 24-hour coffee shop. Daytime’s when you want to eat here, when tasty breakfast, brunch and lunch menus blur together. Simple dishes get exquisite touches like bruléed French toast ($12) and buttermilk pancakes with almond cream and maple syrup ($14). You can’t lose with the “grilled cheese” section, especially a decadent Croque Madame saturated with gruyére ($17). There’s a toast menu, too; spring for cucumber and labneh with preserved lemon and dill. The house share platter ($25) is delicious anytime, a feast of charcuterie selections with mustards and tapenades. Simplicity done well is the Primrose way, even more evident when you’re eating lunch or dinner. Easy appetizer hits include the mozzarella croquette with a rich tomato sauce ($12) and fried chicken Provençal, perfect chicken tenders spiked with herbs de Provence and served with a bright spring onion aoli ($17). There’s shortrib ravioli ($36) and a dry-aged burger ($17) for serious appetites and simply grilled meats and fish ($21-$36) for lighter eaters. Be sure to order the delightful vegetable side dishes, including roasted eggplant or thymesautéed wild mushrooms. End with a refreshing green apple granite with fluffy almond cream.
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PRIMROSE Monte Carlo, 702-730-6600. Sunday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 7 a.m.midnight.
Primrose’s bouillabaisse beckons. (Peter Harasty/File)
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FOOD & DRINK
las vegas weekly 01.18.18
Go digging at Laos Market. (Christopher Devargas/Staff)
Long live Laos Market The small grocer and snack spot remains “hidden” after all these years serving the local community in the same location for more than 20 years. We’re a city of nondescript strip malls There’s a lot to browse within the small marand identical parking lots—that’s one ket, but the refrigerator is a good place to start, of the most common complaints I hear where pre-made items like spicy minced chicken about Las Vegas. But many of those naysayers salad (lap), fermented pork nam and desserts don’t realize that some of those strip malls are like coconut pudding khanom-tako await. actually treasure troves, home to some of Laos There’s also a sign near the register with a the city’s most prized gems. Market small list of noodle soups, beef and pork lap One fine example is Laos Market, an au629 Las thentic Laotian grocery across the street Vegas Blvd. and papaya salads. N., 702Laos Market isn’t a typical sit-down from the Neon Museum on Las Vegas 366-0881. restaurant—the dining area consists of a Boulevard. The store’s stocked to the brim Daily, few tables and chairs sandwiched between with an assortment of Asian dry goods, 9 a.m.7 p.m. aisles of produce—but it’s absolutely worth seasonings, sauces, snacks, seasonal prothe trip. The traditional beef and meatball duce like rambutan and mangoes and prepho bursts with sweet, herbaceous flavor pared foods, and it also features a small perfect for a chilly night, and the must-order menu of made-to-order Laos and Thai specialties. lap with chicken, liver, fish sauce and onions is a Owned by the Luangpraseuth family, Laos Market salty and spicy delight. is a real-deal mom-and-pop shop, and it has been
By Leslie Ventura
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Beginning bites at the Palms’ new buffet I’m a huge restaurant snob and have been forever, so I can’t really believe I waited in a 45-minute lunchtime line to try our new Vegas buffet. It’s a great sign for the Palms that A.Y.C.E. (702942-7777, open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday) is packing them in after just a few weeks, but I need the greatest buffet experience of my life to justify that wait. Fortunately, the food was delicious enough to make me want to come back: shockingly good smoked brisket, flavorpacked baba ghanoush and vegan chili, fun little elotes on skewers. My fave bites were pie babies, hot ramekins filled with homestyle chicken pot pie and a salty, spectacular shepherd’s pie with ground meat and creamy whipped potatoes. I’ll get back in line for breakfast, earlier this time. –Brock Radke
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CALENDAR
LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 01.18.18
MUSIC
LOCAL THEATER
ARTIFICE Dr. Sketchy’s 1/18, 8 pm, free. VYCE 1/19, 9 pm, $10. Scarlet 1/20, 10 pm, free. The Downtown Jam 1/22, 9 pm, free. Karaoke 1/24, 10 pm, free. 1025 S. 1st St., #A, 702-489-6339.
LAS VEGAS LITTLE THEATRE (Mainstage) Company 1/19-2/4, days & times vary, $21-$24. (Black Box) Time Stands Still 2/2-2/18, days & times vary, 14-$15. 3920 Schiff Drive, 702-362-7996.
ARTISAN HOTEL Devastate, Daniel Park, Sunday Clothes 1/19, 9 pm, free. Music for the People afterhours 1/19, midnight, 1501 W. Sahara Ave, 702-214-4000.
MAJESTIC REPERTORY THEATRE Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Thru 1/28, Thu-Sat, 8 pm; Sun, 5 pm; $25. 1217 S. Main St., 702-478-9636.
BACKSTAGE BAR & BILLIARDS Mustard Plug, Buck-O-Nine, Tiki Bandits, Light ’em Up 1/19, 8 pm, $15. 601 E. Fremont St., 702-382-2227.
SUPER SUMMER THEATRE A Baby Boomers’ Toast to Broadway Thru 1/21, Fri-Sat, 7 pm; Sun, 2 pm; $25. 4340 S. Valley View #210, 702-579-7529.
BEAUTY BAR Queens of Noise, Flight of Ryan 1/18, 8 pm, free. Unwritten Law, Runaway Kids, Silent X, Mercy Music 1/19, 8 pm, $18. Haunted Summer, Future Vinyls, Teddi & The Northern Lights 1/20, 8 pm, free. Esham, Donnie Menace, Late for Dinner 1/22, 9 pm, $10. 517 Fremont St., 702-598-3757.
GALLERIES & MUSEUMS
BUNKHOUSE SALOON Dreams Never Die, Arty Basqiyah, Mac Nealy, Chop808 1/18, 8 pm, $5-$7. The Union Drifters, Matt Morgan, Elko 1/19, 9 pm, free. Rock the Revolution 1/20, 9 pm, $5-$10. Karaoke 1/22, 9 pm, free. Honky Tonk Heavyweights 1/24, 9 pm, $5. 124 S. 11th St., 702-854-1414.
BARRICK MUSEUM OF ART (East Gallery) Preservation Thru 1/20. (West Gallery) Liminal Thru 1/20. (Baepler Xeric Garden) Katarina Jerinic: Astronomy of the Asphalt Ecliptic Thru 1/20. (Barrick Auditorium) Mon-Wed, Fri 9 am– 5 pm; Thu, 9 am-8 pm; Sat, noon-5 pm. UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-895-3381.
COUNT’S VAMP’D The Hellenbacks, Garage Boys 1/18, 9:30 pm, free. Outta the Black, Bakers Dozen 1/20, 10 pm, free. John Zito Electric Jam 1/24, 9:30 pm, free. 750 W. Sahara Ave., 702-220-8849.
CHARLESTON HEIGHTS ARTS CENTER GALLERY Jeana Eve Klein: Past Perfect Thru 1/20. Wed-Fri 12:30-9 pm, Sat 9 am-6 pm, free. 800 Brush St., 702-229-2787.
THE DILLINGER The Elephant Ballet 1/19. Marty Feick 1/20 All shows 8:30 pm, free, unless noted. 1224 Arizona St., Boulder City, 702-293-4001.
CLARK COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER ROTUNDA GALLERY Holly Rae Vaughn: Collide Thru 1/19. Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm. 500 Grand Central Parkway, 702-455-7030.
THE DISPENSARY LOUNGE Ryan Baker 1/19, 10 pm. Karen Jones 1/20, 10 pm. Ronnie Foster Trio 1/24, 9 pm. Shows free unless noted. 2451 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-458-6343.
LA darkwave act Glaare plays Starboard Tack on January 22. (Nedda Afsari/Courtesy)
DIVE BAR The Dirtball, Fear Itself, AJ, The Jones, DJ Eddie Ruxspin 1/19, 9 pm, $8-$10. 4110 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-586-3483. DOUBLE DOWN SALOON Water Landing 1/19. The Living Deads 1/21. Prof. Rex Dart & The Bargain DJ Collective 1/22. Unique Massive 1/23, midnight. The Psyatics, The Pine Hill Haints, Slow Motion Cowboys 1/24. Shows 10 pm, free unless noted. 4640 Paradise Road, 702-791-5775. GILLEY’S SALOON Western Fusion 1/18, 9 pm. Michael Austin and the Law 1/19-1/20, 10 pm. Shows $10-$20. Treasure Island, 702-894-7722. THE GRIFFIN Pity Party, Grumpster, The Plastic Brains 1/22, 9 pm, free. 511 Fremont St., 702-382-0577. HARD HAT LOUNGE David Reed Watson 1/20, 10:30 pm. 1675 Industrial Road, 702-384-8987.
STONEY’S ROCKIN’ COUNTRY Jeremy McComb, Kimberly Dunn 1/19, 9 pm, $5-$20. Town Square, 702-435-2855.
PERFORMING ARTS & CULTURE
THE RESOURCE For comprehensive casino venue listings, look inside Industry Weekly.
SAND DOLLAR LOUNGE Ryan Tharp, Jacob Furr 1/18. Chris Tofield 1/19. The Moanin’ Blacksnakes 1/20. Dan Fester 1/21. Johnny Burgin 1/23. Shows 10 pm, free unless noted. 3355 Spring Mountain Road, 702-485-5401. STARBOARD TACK Glaare, Fearing, Dark Black 1/22, 9 pm. 2601 Atlantic St., 702-684-5769.
CLARK COUNTY LIBRARY Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers 1/21, 3 pm, free. 401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400. LLOYD D. GEORGE U.S. COURTHOUSE King Ibu 1/19, noon, free. 333 Las Vegas Blvd. S., 702-229-2787.
7:30 pm, $24-$95. (Cabaret Jazz) Keola Beamer, Henry Kapono 1/20, 3 & 7 pm, $37-$59. Frankie Moreno 1/23, 8 pm, $30-$42. Steve Smith & Vital Information 1/24-1/25, 7 pm, $39-$65. 702-749-2000. THE SPACE Good Night Gala storytelling 1/20, 7 pm, $75-$125. Mondays Dark 1/22, 9 pm, $20-$50. Naomi Mauro 1/23, 9 pm, $10. 460 Cavaretta Court, 702-903-1070. UNLV (Artemus W. Ham Hall) Essentially Ellington Festival 1/18-1/19, 7 pm, $8-$10 per day. Musical Arts Society: Handel/Haydn/Rutter 1/21, 3 pm, $10-$20. (Alta Ham Fine Arts) UNLV Second Stage: House of Yes 1/18-1/28, days & times vary, free. 702-895-2787. WEST LAS VEGAS LIBRARY Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers 1/20, 3 pm, free. 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., 702-229-4800.
CLARK COUNTY LIBRARY Las Vegas News Bureau/Nevada State Museum: Las Vegas Lineup Thru 2/18. Mon-Thu, 10 am-8 pm; Fri-Sun, 10 am6 pm. 1401 E. Flamingo Road, 702-507-3400. CSN (Fine Arts Gallery) Margaret Noble: Resonating Objects Thru 1/20. Mon-Fri, 9 am6 pm; Sat, 10 am-4 pm. (Artspace Gallery) Marianic Parra: In Dreamy Solitude Thru 1/27. Mon-Fri, 8 am-10:30 pm; Sat 8 am-5 pm. 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 702-651-4146. DONNA BEAM FINE ART A Wail and a Clang Thru 1/20. Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm; Sat 10 am-2 pm. UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, 702-895-3893. NEVADA HUMANITIES PROGRAM GALLERY Mojave: Transcendent Desert Thru 1/25. Mon-Fri, 1-5 pm, free. 1017 S. 1st St. #190, nevadahumanities.org. PRISCILLA FOWLER FINE ART Benjamin Schmitt: Celestial Abstractions Thru 1/27. Wed-Sat, noon6 pm. 1025 S. 1st St. #155, 719-371-5640. RISE JW Caldwell: Cognitive Dissonance Thru 1/30. Holsum Lofts, 241 W. Charleston Blvd. #130, 510-936-4052.
THE MOB MUSEUM Block 17: The Roots of Black Las Vegas 1/20, 2 pm, free w/admission. Daily, 9 am-9 pm. 300 Stewart Ave., themobmuseum.org.
WINCHESTER CULTURAL CENTER Quarteto Nuevo 1/19, 7 pm, $11-$13. 3130 S. McLeod Drive, 702-455-7340.
WHITNEY LIBRARY Ronda Churchill: 96 Hours 1/18-3/18. Reception 1/18, 5 pm, free. Mon-Thu, 10 am-8 pm; Fri-Sun, 10 am-6 pm. 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., 702-507-4010.
THE SMITH CENTER (Reynolds Hall) Paula Poundstone 1/19, 7:30 pm, $33-$69. Wynonna & The Big Noise 1/20, 7:30 pm, $29-$95. Pilobolus Maximus: Beyond the Limits of Dance 1/23,
WINDMILL LIBRARY James D. Gish: So in Love 1/19, 7:30 pm; 1/21, 3 pm; free. Curie Me Away! (A Radioactive Musical) 1/20, 3 pm, free. 7060 W. Windmill Lane, 702-507-6019.
WINDMILL LIBRARY Nevada Arts Council: Basin and Range Thru 1/22. Mon-Thu, 10 am-8 pm; Fri-Sun, 10 am-6 pm. 7060 W. Windmill Lane, 702-507-6030.
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