2021-07-08- Las Vegas Weekly by Greenspun Media Group

Nanette Beverage Server Boulder Station 26 Years

the local favorite. thanks for the memories.

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PUBLISHER MARK DE POOTER mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER KATIE DIXON katie.dixon@gmgvegas.com EDITOR SPENCER PATTERSON spencer.patterson@gmgvegas.com

EDITORIAL Senior Editor GEOFF CARTER (geoff.carter@gmgvegas.com) Managing Editor/News DAVE MONDT (dave.mondt@gmgvegas.com) Deputy Editor GENEVIE DURANO (genevie.durano@gmgvegas.com) Editor at Large BROCK RADKE (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com) Staff Writers HILLARY DAVIS, JUSTIN EMERSON, MIKE GRIMALA, BRYAN HORWATH, SARA MACNEIL, C. MOON REED, JOHN SADLER, AMBER SAMPSON, RICARDO TORRES-CORTEZ Contributing Editors RAY BREWER, JOHN FRITZ, CASE KEEFER, WADE MCAFERTY, KEN MILLER, JOHN TAYLOR Office Coordinator NADINE GUY

CREATIVE Art Director CORLENE BYRD (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com) Designer IAN RACOMA Multimedia Manager YASMINA CHAVEZ Photographers CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS, STEVE MARCUS, WADE VANDERVORT

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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HEALTH OFFICIALS PUSH VACCINE OVER MASK MANDATES

AUCTION TO BENEFIT BURN SURVIVOR INITIATIVE

Southern Nevada health officials are stressing the importance of getting the COVID-19 shot as cases tick up, but they aren’t recommending new mask mandates for vaccinated people. “The solution for this problem is really having most people who are still unvaccinated receiving that shot,” said Dr. Fermin Leguen, health officer for the Southern Nevada Health District. The World Health Organization urged vaccinated people to wear masks as the highly contagious delta variant becomes more prevalent. Clark County saw its first known case of the delta variant in May. The Health District will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which does not call for vaccinated people to wear face masks, Leguen said. While disease spread is far below last year’s peaks, test positivity rates are at their highest since mid-May. They have been climbing since social distancing and mask requirements were repealed June 1. Leguen said about 95% of local COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths in the past three months have been among unvaccinated people. State and local officials are leaning into vaccination efforts, with a focus on Clark County. This includes relaunching mobile vaccine clinics and expanding other outreach efforts. The biggest challenge is convincing younger adults to get vaccinated, Leguen said. –Hillary Davis

More than a dozen Southern Nevada firefighters will entertain crowds and put themselves up for auction at this year’s Burn Foundation Firefighter Auction on July 16 at the Space. The 7 p.m. event, which will also give attendees a chance to win Raiders tickets, staycations and other prizes, benefits the Burn Survivor Initiative, a group dedicated to helping burn victims and their families across the Las Vegas Valley. General-admission tickets cost $50 in advance and $60 at the door, and VIP tables are available upon request. For more information, visit theburnfoundation.org or thespacelv.com.

THEY SAID IT

Lauren Hesley prepares to play a game of darts June 29 at the iCX Darts booth during the Nightclub & Bar Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The system displays and keeps track of players’ scores, similar to the way bowlers’ scores are displayed at bowling alleys. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

LOMBARDO RATTLES OFF GOP BONA FIDES IN ANNOUNCING RUN FOR GOVERNOR

n “I was definitely triggered and blinded by emotions, blinded by badness, and hurting and hiding hurt. I know I can’t hide myself, so in some type of way, I was trying to hide my pain.” –Olympic track star Sha’Carri Richardson, July 2, explaining that coping with the recent death of her mother led her to use marijuana, and as a result she was disqualified from running in the 100-meter dash in Tokyo

Touting himself as a law-and-order, conservative Republin “These are all smart, strong can, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo formally announced women. I had to stay true his run for Nevada governor June 28 in Las Vegas. to my convictions and my Lombardo said the progressive policies Democratic Gov. politics and not let the physSteve Sisolak has advanced “would make [U.S. Sen.] Bernie ical audience in front of me, which is normally very liberal, Sanders blush.” or the audience on social He told a classroom of about 80 supporters at Rancho media impact my politics. BeHigh School, where he graduated some 40 years ago, that cause a lot of things I say are he’s running because “if we don’t put an end to the sinunpopular.” –Meghan McCain, gle-party rule eroding our state of the values, laws and July 1, after announcing that opportunities that make Nevada great, we won’t have a lot this would be her last month left to fight for.” on The View Asked to expand on his statement, he mentioned big government and reduced criminal penalties, seemingly referring to criminal justice reform passed during the Legislative session this year. “Police reform is needed, and I appreciate that and we have looked at that. But [we’re] reacting too fast,” Lombardo said. “We’re creating an environment where the police are handcuffed and have the inability to do their job.” Lombardo also said he would veto any new taxes a future Legislature might send his way. He said he is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment for “law-abiding” and “responsible” gun owners. He said he supports legal immigration but “zero-tolerance” policies for illegal immigration. –Ricardo Torres-Cortez

1 THINGS THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK

MGM SELLING TWO RESORTS MGM Resorts International announced July 1 it is selling Vdara and Aria, although it will continue to operate them. Blackstone Group, a New York-based investment company, is paying fo $3.9 billion for the properties. MGM also agreed to buy out World Development Corporation’s 50% interest in the CityCenter development, for just over $2.1 billion. –Bryan Horwath

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on July 1 named Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and seven Democrats to a new select committee to investigate the violent January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Pelosi formed the committee after Senate Republicans blocked an independent, bipartisan probe.

California added five states to the list of places where state-funded travel is banned because of laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ community, the state attorney general announced June 28. The list, which now includes Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia, is now at 17.

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

IN THIS ISSUE

10 16 26 30 34 36 38

The Weekly Q&A: Talking treats with a local pastry chef Cover story: Brett Bolton makes music look cool Nights: Downtown's Discopussy has house heads covered Scene: The Latin dance begins its re-emergence Food & Drink: Taverna Costera expands your Arts District options

WEEK IN REVIEW WEEK AHEAD N EWS YO U S H O U L D K N OW A B O U T

Sports: Poirier-McGregor 3 unfolds as a memorable UFC trilogy An illegal firework explodes inside a watermelon during a Fourth of July fireworks safety news conference June 30 at the Las Vegas Fire Training Center. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

Vegas Inc: Lockers to make cannabis transactions smoother

LEAGUE'S BEST GOALIE Marc-André Fleury checked the final box of his Hall of Fame résumé June 29 by winning the award that has long eluded him. Fleury, 36, was named the winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender during the NHL’s award show. The Golden Knights’ backstop had never won the award before or even been a finalist, so the victory fills the final void of an otherwise sterling career as one of the best goalies of his generation.

EXECUTION BLOCKED

COSBY FREED

TRUMP CFO INDICTED

Judge Richard Boulware II said June 28 he would issue a formal injunction to prevent the killing this month of convicted murderer Zane Michael Floyd, whose lawyers argue lethal injection would subject him to cruel and unusual pain. Floyd prefers a firing squad or a single dose of a barbiturate.

Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and released him from prison June 30 in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby.

Donald Trump’s company and its longtime finance chief were charged July 1 in what prosecutors called a “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud scheme in which the executive collected more than $1.7 million in offthe-books compensation, including apartment rent, car payments and school tuition.

L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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Shed stress and solve problems inside a local labyrinth BY GEOFF CARTER

t’s a little embarrassing for me to admit, but I learned about labyrinths from The Dude. In a 2011 interview with the Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Galloway, Jeff Bridges described the grass labyrinth he’d cut into the lawn of his Santa Barbara home. Not a maze, Bridges emphasized; a labyrinth, which gives you the freedom to wander a long, winding path yet still arrive at a central goal, no matter the number of twists and turns you take to get there.

“In a maze it’s, ‘Which way do I go?’ You want to get lost. But with a labyrinth, there’s a pattern,” he said, excitedly grabbing the reporter’s notebook and drawing one. “You think you’re constantly getting close, then going farther away. But you know you’re going to get there in the end.” The point of such a thing might not be immediately evident—Dude, just show me the way to the center; David Bowie’s waitin’. But the purpose of a labyrinth isn’t to confuse or frustrate; the exact opposite, actually. “It’s a walking meditation. … With a maze, you’ve got to make all these choices. With the labyrinth, the only choice is to go in or not,”

said Bridges to GQ writer Caity Weaver in 2017. Asked about its origins, he went full Lebowski: “I think it’s one of those things like pyramids, you know? They just showed up all over the place.” That includes Las Vegas. The Valley has nearly a dozen such labyrinths, most in unlikely locations. One is in the southwest, in a courtyard at the San Martin Campus of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals; another can be found at Blue Diamond nursery Cactus Joe’s; yet another is in Henderson’s Reunion Trails Park. (If you want to find one close to you, check the sidebar or visit labyrinthlocator.com.)

Some are grassed in; others are made from arranged rocks or simply painted on concrete. But they all come to the same thing—you wander around for a bit, then you reach a goal. Labyrinths date back some 4,000 years. The term itself is ancient Greek, though labyrinths have been found in Hindu and Hopi lore, and there’s a labyrinth inside France’s Chartres Cathedral that dates back to 1200 A.D. Most use them for prayer—a literal embodiment of the path to salvation— but a growing number of 21st-century users utilize them to clear their heads of stress, or arrive at the answer to a

WINDING AND Labyrinth at Grace in the Desert Episcopal (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

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L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

HEALTH & WELLNESS question that’s been gnawing at them. It might sound crazy, but the process of slowly walking that twisting path, sometimes pausing to take a deep breath or to consider the road ahead of you, really does help to loosen the knot of your brain. Back when I had a labyrinth practically in my backyard—at the currently closed Huntridge Circle Park—I’d make a regular routine of consciously bringing a dilemma into

the labyrinth, considering it as I made my way to the center, and walking out with a solution to my problem. Like all meditative techniques, finding a Zen experience in a labyrinth is entirely up to you; if you want to jog the whole thing, or simply walk directly to the center and bust out a TikTok dance, the labyrinth won’t break, or kick you out. But you will be missing out on some legitimate health benefits that go

beyond the mental. In a 2014 article for WebMD, writer Karen Leland spoke to doctors who noted a slower heart rate and reduced blood pressure in patients who’d made labyrinth walks a part of their routine. So few of our daily activities are slow, deliberated; we drive too fast, eat too fast, think too fast. A labyrinth encourages you not just to slow down, but to trust that the world will still exist when you reach your goal. Before I go, I’d like to tip my hat to another of my role models, former Las Vegas Weekly columnist Stacy Willis. In a 2015 column called “Of Labyrinths and Vertigo,” Willis spelled out some of her reasons for needing some calm (“missing spoiler

alerts, double-entendre emoji, guileful trolls, Donald Trump and #disruption”), and revealed that her first few attempts at walking a labyrinth pretty much failed (“I had a hard time staying inside the lines, and may have skipped a few rows here and there.”) Then, finally, she found her footing. “It demanded patience. Discipline. More patience. Breathing.” And when she reached the center of the labyrinth, she was astonished to discover that all the noise in her head had quieted. “In that silence, I found a nanosecond of balance,” she said. You might find yours, too, if you abide by the turns of the path. Y’know, like The Dude.

UNWINDING LOCAL LABYRINTHS

■ Cactus Joe’s Nursery, 12740 Blue Diamond Road, Blue Diamond, cactusjoeslasvegas.com. ■ Grace in the Desert Episcopal Church, 2004 Spring Gate Lane, graceofsummerlin.org. ■ Reunion Trails Park, 44 Chapata Drive, cityofhenderson.com. ■ St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, 1399 San Felipe Drive, Boulder City, standrewbc.org. ■ St. Rose Dominican Hospitals: San Martin Campus, 8280 W. Warm Springs Road, dignityhealth. org/las-vegas.

L A S V E G A S W E E K LY

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SWEET INSPIRATION Pastry chef Keris Kuwana talks all things dessert

Pastry chef Keris Kuwana (Photos by Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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11I

THE WEEKLY Q&A BY GENEVIE DURANO

eris Kuwana has the sweetest job in the world—literally. As executive pastry chef at the Lev Group, a company that partners with chefs and restaurants to develop brands and concepts, she gets to make treats all day long for beloved Las Vegas restaurants like Al Solito Posto and La Strega. Previously, the native Hawaiian honed her sweet tooth on the Strip at Aureole and Yardbird, and she recently launched her own line of desserts, Keris Sweets, at select Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations across the Valley. The Weekly caught up with the sugar dynamo to talk pastry inspo, mochi doughnuts and turning tiramisu on its head. How did your interest in pastry begin? I was into diamonds, and I actually graduated with a gemology degree. I loved it … but I never knew exactly what I wanted to do. [Then one day], I was decorating Easter eggs with my cousins, and it was absolutely amazing. The following week, they wanted to do some cookie decorating, and I [realized], I just want to do this. I have my creativity, and I love food, so why not do something with pastries? So I quit my job as a gemologist. Downstairs was a very small cookie shop called Hokulani bakery, a Hawaiian cookie company, and I worked for $7 an hour as a cookie decorator. It was a really fun experience—all we did were cookies and cupcakes. Then you eventually made your way from Hawaii to Las Vegas. I worked for a company called 50 Eggs. I was the corporate chef at Yardbird [in the Venetian] and we did Chica as well and we worked on the pool upstairs. It was super fun—piles of pancakes with syrup and confetti, confetti cakes, all those things. They let me be creative with a peach cobbler. I also worked with Vincent [Pouessel], who’s now at Mon Ami Gabi. We were at Aureole for Charlie Palmer, and they also gave me a lot of creative freedom. I mean, to be a small person from Hawaii and to make it in a large casino, it really is something to feel proud of.

Tell us about your current role at the Lev Group. They are so awesome. We have over 60 locations. I do restaurant development for all of the concepts. There’s a dessert program we’re doing for La Strega. At Al Solito Posto, the famous rainbow cake, the budino, the large crostata and the pour-over tiramisu—those are all of our desserts.

Chocolate chip twist with lemon-scented custard, cream cheese pocket and lemon poppy seeds

Strawberry, Oreo and classic glazed mochi doughnut holes

That pour-over tiramisu at Al Solito sounds intriguing. How did that come about? So we didn’t want just the regular tiramisu where you line it with lady fingers and it’s a square cut out of the pan and you slap it on a plate. We wanted something completely different. We took mascarpone mousse—we did a coffee mousse and we froze it into a half sphere that gets popped out and put onto a biscuit joconde. It’s basically a white cake, so it’s slightly drier and absorbs liquid. And so that dome sits on top of that white cake. And of course there’s whipped cream with the tiramisu, so we made little spikes of whipped cream on top of the spheres. It sits in a slightly shallow bowl and we pour the coffee liqueur, with the Kahlua and the espresso, into the bowl tableside. The cake soaks up that liquid, and you’ve got all the flavors of the tiramisu in a very unconventional form.

You just launched your own line of sweets at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and your specialty is mochi doughnuts. Tell us about that unusual treat. We’re going to start with the regular flavors so people are not too scared to order. Because most of the time, people think that mochi doughnuts are ice cream, and it’s not mochi ice cream. They’re made of glutinous rice flour called Mochiko flour. And then, a little sugar and a little bit of oil. We have a mochi doughnut machine that we actually flew in from Japan. The greatest part about our mochi doughnut is that we don’t use any artificial powders. We use real fruit juice. Where do you find inspiration when creating desserts? Both Instagram and travel are my go-tos, for sure. On Instagram, I’ll see how some girl does her wafer flowers, and then it kind of carries me into doing things, like, maybe I should do more flowers for our Mother’s Day cupcake, or, I would have never known that they had those Russian ball tips to make these beautiful flowers just in one piping swipe. And then nothing beats travel. You see food in so many different forms. You get to see people’s different approaches into doing things like an Italian wedding cookie or a Mexican cookie. It’s definitely inspirational.

LV W N AT I V E C O N T E N T

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INTO OMEGA MART

THE WILD AND ECCENTRIC WORLD OF LAS VEGAS’ MEOW WOLF OUTPOST

Putting your finger on Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart is nearly impossible. It’s a transportive, maximalist art installation, rooted in the foundation of a dense, explorative narrative. It’s a place to play and a place to study. It’s the anchor experience at Area15 and Meow Wolf’s largest installation to date, totaling 52,000 square feet. Omega Mart’s art director, Spencer Olsen, describes it as “a psychedelic sci-fi mystery that invites you to investigate as an in-world participant … or a big, fun, explorable art exhibit!” It’s utopian and somewhat dystopian. It’s an experience that refuses to be pinned down—one in which you’re allowed to stumble into a world that’s adjacent to yours, but also lightyears away. Here’s a topline look at the multidimensional environment that begs to be explored, and then explored again.

Omega Mart is stocked with more than 100 custom items—all with the uncanny ability to fulfill shoppers’ desires.

THE FACTORY

A multilevel playground, the Factory is where Dramcorp produces its mysterious products.

THE EXPERIENCE Described as “America’s most exceptional grocery store,” walking into Omega Mart is the beginning of an adventure. “At Meow Wolf, we like to introduce visitors to our permanent exhibitions in a way that’s familiar, whether that be a seemingly average neighborhood home—as with the House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe—or a grocery store like we have with Omega Mart,” Olsen said. “From there, we present opportunities to expand one’s way of thinking, and new ways to experience otherwise average tasks and processes through the exploration of creative narratives.” As soon as you drop into Omega Mart, other exhibits come into focus, with four main anchor spaces in the exhibit.

325

The number of artists and collaborators that have contributed to Omega Mart—comprised of four anchor spaces with 60 additional unique environments and 250 unique projects throughout the exhibit.

THE STORY

As you travel through Omega Mart, a rich and complex narrative begins to develop using audio, video and print media. The timeline of the story goes back hundreds of thousands of years, and breadcrumbs are scattered throughout the exhibit for visitors to uncover. Olsen recommends taking notes. “Everything is there for a reason, and we tried to add a lot of continuity so you can learn about something you find in one location elsewhere as you explore. If you think something might be a clue, take a picture.”

Pro tip: Ask an Omega Mart employee for a boop card—it’ll give you hints as you unravel the storyline.

DRAMCORP OFFICES

Dramcorp is the parent company to Omega Mart, and as you’ll soon find out, it’s hiding a secret.

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13I

C R E AT E D A N D P R E S E N T E D B Y M E OW WO L F

IS IT SIMILAR TO THE HOUSE OF ETERNAL RETURN IN SANTA FE? Yes and no, but you’ll have to dive in to find out. “For the narrative deep divers, there are similarities,” Olsen said. “They are completely different artistically and experientially, but there is an underlying sub-fiction in stories about groups and entities with the ability to travel between worlds. There will be more revealed around these relationships between the stories in Denver and other future exhibits.”

OMEGA MART

A grocery shopping experience like no other.

*May already be out of stock.

DATAMOSH Omega Mart’s in-world bar features eight specialty craft cocktails, including the Meowjito.

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Should I take the kids? Yes, Omega Mart is a playground for everyone who enjoys mystery and mischief at any age.

SPACES WITHIN SPACES Within each anchor space, there is an everunfolding cast of unique experiences, and choosing a favorite may be impossible. “It’s hard to pick one [favorite experience], so I’ll pick some distinct ones,” Olsen said. “Pulse, by Claudia Bueno, achieves something remarkable. I’ve heard someone describe it as ‘healing,’ which is as good of an experience as I can think of. Uploaded Ghosts, by Stephen Hendee, with musical collaboration by Beach House, feels like the artistic and emotional summit of the show,” Olsen said.

THE PROJECTED DESERT

Light, color, sound, space, the Projected Desert is a sensory realm for visitors.

Open Call!

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LV W C OV E R S T O R Y

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U2’S BONO

THE ROLLING STONES’ MICK JAGGER

BRUNO MARS

Brett Bolton (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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LV W C OV E R S T O R Y

17I

HARRY STYLES

MAPPING HIS PATH

BY GEOFF CARTER

e’re sitting next to an interdimensional portal of Brett Bolton’s design. It’s not really a portal; that’s just what I like

to call it. One of the walls of the Downtown cocktail lounge Velveteen Rabbit was damaged in an electrical fire years before the bar’s 2013 opening, and owners Christina and Pamela Dylag decided to preserve its scorched beauty with a coat of protective lacquer and a piece of projected, constantly-changing digital art, courtesy of Bolton. When you cast a shadow on Velveteen’s burnt wall, the wall plays with it; the negative space around your outline breaks into woozy, geometric ripples. The burn marks on the wall act as rocks would, diverting those waves in new directions. The 34-year-old Bolton, as polite and easygoing a man as you could ever hope to meet, seems a bit embarrassed by my praise of his Velveteen Rabbit piece. He didn’t pick our meeting place because it has his work in it; he just likes the

Vegas multimedia artist Brett Bolton builds dazzling concert visuals for Bruno Mars, Billie Eilish, U2 and many more

KATY PERRY bar. (Artist Spencer Olsen, with whom Bolton has collaborated on several cool projects—including pieces for Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart—accurately describes his friend as “aggressively chill.”) Bolton takes the opportunity to explain how he imagined the piece, demonstrating a talent that probably serves him well in his work: He can explain pretty much how any piece of sound or visual technology works in a few seconds. “Something two-dimensional like this wall—you take a photo of it, bring it into the software, and then map it,” he says. “You take the outlines of the shapes, and then you can do all types of things with them.” The original Velveteen wall employed a Microsoft Kinect, a motion-sensing input device that was originally offered as an add-on for the Xbox 360 in late 2010. You could stand in front of the Kinect and move your arms and legs, and the device would read the movements and replicate them in an on-screen avatar. In essence, it made your body the controller. Microsoft used the Kinect for more than 120 games, but I’d wager none of them were half as fun to interact with as the old Velveteen wall, which ran visuals created in Quartz Composer (“The iTunes visualizer!” he says, chuckling). At a given moment it could bury you underneath a cascade of plastic balls, or manifest a virtual version of a Velveteen bartender taking a long drag off a cigarette and enveloping you in a billow of smoke. “This was self-taught, from the internet,” he says. “There weren’t a lot of people making installations like this at the time, just because it was either, like, proprietary systems that were really expensive, or they had to hack things together like I was.”

Bolton picked up the information he needed from various web forums—“Just nerds going back and forth, trying to figure out how to do things.” Bolton has since updated the wall with an Intel RealSense, a more advanced version of the Kinect technology. “It spits out an infrared reflection of what it sees, right back to the sensor—so that anywhere that your body is on the wall, it creates a white value, like a mask. You can use that image to drive anything,” he says. “Once you get to 3D scans for multiple projectors, though, it gets a lot more intense, but you have operators that are trained for that.” As Bolton explains this stuff to me, two things become evident from his description of the Velveteen wall: He has an immense gift for seeing beyond what a piece of hardware or software can do to what it might do; and part of the reason he’s reluctant to accept my praise for a decade-old art installation is that he’s moved so far past it. Today, Bolton is all about virtual stages, augmented reality—and his aptitude in creating content for those arenas, both real and digital, has led to him working with some of the biggest music stars in the world. * * * * * Bolton’s CV reads like a Billboard chart. Over the past decade, he has designed stage visuals for Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, U2, Katy Perry, N.E.R.D., The Chainsmokers, Harry Styles and The Rolling Stones. Even now, he’s working on a raft of superstar assignments, most of which he can’t talk about due to nondisclosure agreements. But you can easily find his past work on YouTube: Mars and Anderson .Paak performing on the 2021 Grammys against a swirling backdrop of stars; U2 framed against a massive, desert canyon-like backdrop of dreamlike images during the 2017 Joshua Tree tour. It’s beautiful, immersive stuff—much more intense and epic in scale than Velveteen’s motion wall, but Bolton is up to the challenge. He’s certainly got the

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BIllie Eilish’s Where Do We Go? livestream (Silent Partner Studio/courtesy)

Over the past decade, he has designed stage visuals for Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, U2, Katy Perry, N.E.R.D., The Chainsmokers, Harry Styles and The Rolling Stones.

right temperament for it: No matter how elaborate the project or how much circuitry is needed to realize it, Bolton keeps the soul intact. It’s never just pixels he produces. It’s wonderment. “I’m always ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the stuff that he does,” Olsen says, “and like this amazing humble collaborator, he says, ‘Nah, man, the stuff that you do is magical.’” The how and what of Brett Bolton is all out there. The why of it—well, that’s what brought us here this evening, to have some beers by the Velveteen Rabbit portal and talk

about what makes someone see music as pictures. * * * * * Brett Bolton’s family moved to Las Vegas from Orlando when he was 2 years old. “I travel a bunch,” he says. “Most of my clients are in New York, Montreal, London and LA, so I’m usually bouncing between those places. But Vegas has been my home.” He got his education here; attended Faith Lutheran High, then went to UNLV, where he studied … business. “That was a practical thing,” he says. “Basically, throughout high

school, I was just addicted to music.” Bolton played drums in “bunches of pop-punk bands, and bunches of emo bands after that,” including Nightlife, Sidewalk Stereo, Red Light School District and Jr. Anti-Sex League. After college, he found work as a sound designer, primarily making music for slot machines. Concurrently, he was teaching himself motion graphics, and learning the ins and outs of home production— “basically experimenting with all the different instruments I could, and recording myself.” Before long, his restless

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learning and compulsion to make music resulted in one of the Vegas scene’s most unique homespun bands. Kid Meets Cougar was an indie-electronic power duo comprised of Bolton and Vegas scene stalwart Courtney Carroll. (The two were dating at the time; the name of the band was a tongue-incheek reference to the relatively small age difference between them.) “We started out as just two regular ol’ drummers, trying to make some weird monster drum set,” Carroll says. Realizing they needed to add instruments “if we were going to actually write some songs,” Bolton rigged together “his drum machine, a guitar and a couple Line 6 looper pedals,” and Carroll added a keyboard to her percussion setup. “After a while Brett realized he could also sync up visuals to the drum pads, and basically ‘play’ the visuals and sounds at the same time,” Carroll adds. “Then, of course, we had to build a whole set which the visuals could be projected onto, and Brett had to learn how to map the visuals to that set. The

songwriting and projection mapping began going hand-in-hand.” Olsen remembers his first encounters with Bolton. “He was a musician; that was his art form, and the video stuff was more like his day job,” Olsen says, adding that once video became equal to audio in Bolton’s mind, “he really became centered around performance. He’s not necessarily about releasing singles, at least not that I’ve seen; it’s usually a video on YouTube.” Eventually, Bolton and Carroll had created their monster. Kid Meets Cougar had a killer set of smart, catchy indietronica, which they delivered with visual panache the likes of which Vegas had never seen. Using Bolton’s homebrew gear, the band was bathed in eye-popping graphic art from start to finish. “That was the first time I’d done interactive projection mapping,” Bolton says. It wasn’t just a light show, or a screen behind the band showing unrelated images; the visuals clung to the players themselves, accenting the music—and commenting on it, too. (One of my favorite bits: the digital clocks that

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Steve Aoki and Travis Barker (Silent Partner Studio/Courtesy)

appeared on Bolton and Carroll’s t-shirts, counting down the seconds until the song concluded.) As you’d expect, Bolton’s influences are both musical and visual. He loves the music of German indie rockers The Notwist (“Their Neon Golden album was a huge inspiration”), British electronocist Rival Consoles (“Electronic instrumental music that has so much impact, depth, and feel to it)” and Brooklyn electro-rock duo Ratatat (“I just love the guitar-driven beats they create. Their live shows have always been inspiring as well … especially after seeing that they added and triggered their own

Keke Palmer hosts MTV’s 2020 Video Music Awards. (Silent Partner Studio/Courtesy)

visuals live.”). His audiovisual inspirations include Nonotak (“An AV duo that’s constantly creating new and dynamic real-time live performances and installations”), Max Cooper (“The super intricate layers and textures he adds to the sound design of his music is perfectly matched with the visuals of his live shows.”) and Daito Manabe (“He writes his own code to create these really intricate and beautiful performances and installations”). Still, it’s rare for an artist like Bolton to have a notable inflection point—a moment when the light bulb goes on and one says, “This is what I wanna do.” Carroll believes she can pinpoint it for Bolton. “When Kid Meets Cougar played the Kernel Festival in Italy in 2011,” she says. “It’s an electronic sound, audiovisual-mapping, interactive and digital art festival at a very old villa in [Monza,] Italy, [and] it friggin’ blew our minds. His drive to create visual art only got stronger after seeing what was possible and thinking about what could be possible.” By the time I happened upon Kid Meets Cougar’s show in May 2012—totally by accident—the band’s sets were kaleidoscopic, intoxicating celebrations, a happy state the band called “Super Party Time.” But all parties, even super parties, eventually wind down. In 2013, the band split, as did the couple—though Carroll and Bolton remain solid friends, and Carroll appreciates what she learned from the partnership. “I had to learn how to sing, play keyboard and play to a click track.

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Brett Bolton’s “Potential Energy,” a 2019 interactive installation “that allows people to control the music as well as the visuals.” He plans to update it for future interactive festivals. (Courtesy)

It made me a better drummer and musician for sure,” Carroll says. “As for my influence on Brett, I was into dancey and ambient electronic music and brought aspects of that into the band, so I think that musical influence may have stuck with him a bit. “Our biggest success was creating a show and a space where people could dance and have so much fun,” she says. “[It was] definitely one of the funnest times of my life.”

* * * * * Kid Meets Cougar opened doors for Bolton, both in terms of combining his own music with visuals and applying his art to different, larger commercial projects. He created visuals for some of the Strip’s tall, rectangular digital signs—the Linq’s sign, in particular—and began to land bigger and bigger projection-mapping gigs, in both status and scale: parties for Zappos, events for MGM and,

“I just love creating new things, spacing out and thinking up new ideas.”

on New Year’s Eve 2016, a date with a giant, venerable Strip icon. “They had this crazy idea to projection-map the Mirage’s volcano—and I was like, ‘I’m in.’ I did all the content myself. We had like a company come out to scan it with a laser, and that gave me a 3D model that I could then manipulate in software. Then we had another company actually set up the projectors and blend them all. “And I got to sit there and play the videos for the night,” Bolton

Radii (Courtesy)

Queen + Adam Lambert (Stufish/Treatment/Courtesy)

says, with the disbelieving grin of someone who was handed a landmark to play with. You can find video of the installation on YouTube (bit.ly/2U3HMDv), and you really should watch it. The way his animations transform a slab of textured plaster make a strong case for making Bolton’s volcano a permanent part of the streetscape. Bolton did the volcano project through Space Cadets AV, the interactive design company he co-founded with his friend, sound designer Benton Corder, whom he met while working up slot-machine soundtracks for local firm Dog and Pony Show (now Monster Sound and Picture). It was the

beginning of an eruption of jobs for Bolton, as word of his talent spread. He designed show visuals for Blink-182 and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, and soon fell in with Silent Partners Studio, a video design firm that employs Notch—a game-changing piece of real-time motion graphics software—to create concert visuals and “extended reality” environments. Imagine the Velveteen Rabbit’s funky wall, only it’s the entire world around you. “[Silent Partners’] J.T. Rooney said, ‘If you learn this software, we can hire you.’ It was the next step for me, and perfect timing for that, too,” Bolton says. A short time later, Bolton was

invited to a small town in Pennsylvania for a couple weeks of Notch work. He accepted, and was told matter-of-factly that he was working for Bruno Mars. “Oh, damn!” Bolton exclaims, recalling his reaction at the time. “Luckily, we had a whole crew of Notch designers all learning the software on site, making new versions of it.” (Remarkably, for a piece of software that’s become an industry standard, Notch is still in beta; Bolton often speaks with its developers about ways it can be modified. “They’ve become good buddies of mine,” he says.) Bolton speaks excitedly about his work for U2 (“particle-heavy; really cool”) and what Silent Partners is doing with “extended reality” (putting bands at the center of an “LED volume”—a curved bank of super high-definition video walls capable of displaying environments that change in real time, similar to what Disney/Lucasfilm use to make The Mandalorian). It’s a level of technical sophistication most of us are incapable of understanding without the benefit of doodles on a whiteboard, but as Courtney Carroll says, it’s the kind of new world Bolton was made to build. “I don’t even pretend to know how Brett’s insanely genius brain operates,” she says. “He’s the hardest-working, most tunnel-visioned person I know—in the best way, of course. When he has an idea, he will not stop.” * * * * * On the day I wrote this story, Bolton texted me a piece of good news: he’s creating all the visuals for Canadian electro-pop band Purity Ring’s upcoming tour. “Pretty excited about it, since I’ve been a fan of theirs for years now and it’ll be my first time creating a show directly with the band.” But that group’s music isn’t the only sound playing in Bolton’s head right now. He’s begun another musical project called Radii (the plural of

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radius). The first such project he’s done under his own name (he previously recorded solo as Kitze + The CPUs), Radii features a circular interface, projected on a drumhead that Bolton uses to trigger sounds and video effects. Go to brettbolton. net/radii, watch the videos and let the sheer, indescribable magic win you over. “It’s not just music, with video supporting the music,” Olsen says of Bolton’s solo work. “It’s more like a symbiotic, harmonious thing.” Bolton plans to build Radii out— “to a full show; I’ve got like eight songs or something,” he says—and submit it to several festivals built around electronic-based art, like Montreal’s MUTEK or North Carolina’s Moogfest. “I would love to get on that circuit.” In the meantime, his Notch work will continue, Space Cadets AV will proceed and Bolton will likely figure out some other piece of hardware or software that stands between him and the audiovisual dreams he has yet to make real. It’s rare talking to someone who feels like they’re in a ceaseless ever-forward motion, but that’s Brett Bolton. Who knows what he’ll be inventing a year, a week or even a day from now? “I just love creating new things, spacing out and thinking up new ideas, pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make things work, finally figuring it out and then being able to release something new into the world,” he says. “I love every step of the process, and I’m super fortunate that I’ve been able to make a career out of it.”

(Portrait by Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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06.23.21 PHOTOGRAPHY BY WADE VANDERVORT

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BIG THIS WEEK

BEAUTY AND THE BEAT TURNS 40 The multimillion-selling debut album from recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Go-Go’s celebrates its fourth decade this month, but you wouldn’t know it by listening. The pop-punk classic—featuring singles “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat”—remain a perfect summer spin.

COSPLAY COMEDY

CHELSEA HANDLER AT MIRAGE THEATRE Thank goodness for Chelsea Handler, who broke us out of our pandemic doldrums with her HBO Max special, Evolution, last October. Her recently launched advice podcast, Dear Chelsea, has been another bright spot at a time when we could all use more heart-to-heart. And now she’s hitting the road for a 40-city tour to spread her gospel of unvarnished truth, dubbed #VaccinatedAndHorny. July 10, 10:30 p.m., $70$140. –Genevie Durano

NIGHT OF THE BLACK WIDOW AT MILLENNIUM FANDOM BAR Disney+ spoiled Marvel fans this past year with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. But it’s about time we saw a hero on the big screen. On July 9, Black Widow debuts in theaters, and Downtown’s Millennium Fandom Bar will celebrate with a femme fatale party. Don your best Natasha Romanoff costume for an evening honoring the skillfully trained assassin and Avenger. No cosplay will feel too understated or too over the top, so go with what’s comfortable. July 9, 8 p.m., no cover, fandombar.com. –Amber Sampson

PARTY

DISCLOSURE AT AYU DAYCLUB Everything about this pool party screams out shiny and new: the host property (Resorts World), the venue (Ayu Dayclub), the event (reoccurring bash Moonbeam, debuting here) and the headliner (U.K. garage duo Disclosure, making the first of two scheduled Ayu appearances this year). Brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence splashed onto the dance scene with 2013 hit “Latch,” and they’ve been a force ever since, sending all three of their albums into the U.S. Electronic chart’s Top 3. It’s a safe bet their DJ set will feature something new—or new-to-you— too. July 11, 3 p.m., $100+. –Spencer Patterson

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STAR WARS: BIOMES Here’s a new one: Star Wars for relaxation. Lucasfilm’s Biomes re-creates key locations from its ever-expanding universe as quiet, atmospheric flyovers intended to calm your nerves. The Battle of Hoth has never felt so chill. Disney+

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (Disney/Courtesy)

OUR PICKS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

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CONCERT

GARTH BROOKS AT ALLEGIANT STADIUM Garth Brooks has already performed some of the most celebrated concerts in Las Vegas history, specifically his Wynn residency from 2009 until 2014. So we don’t need to remind you that his postponed show at Allegiant Stadium, likely to be the first capacity event at the 65,000-seat megavenue, could go down as one of the biggest Vegas concerts ever. It initially sold out in 75 minutes, but there were $80ish upper-bowl seats available at press time. July 10, 7 p.m. –Brock Radke

EXHIBIT

CINELOGGIA’S GRAND OPENING EXTRAVAGANZA

ROD BENSON: NEON BLACK 2 AT THE HERBERT

Movie props and memorabilia museum Cineloggia opened quietly during last year’s lockdown, but on July 10, it’ll be fully ready to rock and shock. The featured guest will be Ed Gale, the actor who provided the physical performances for Chucky in the first two Child’s Play movies and the title character in Lucasfilm’s 1986 Howard the Duck. Cineloggia will also introduce new exhibits, which, considering the museum’s already-formidable collection of sci-fi and horror props, is reason enough to show up. July 10, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (Gale arrives at noon), $20. 900 Karen Ave. –Geoff Carter

After a personal experience with police brutality in Las Vegas, retired basketball player Rod Benson decided to express his pain through art. Several years later, the San Diego native is back in Las Vegas with a solo art show Downtown. Titled Neon Black 2, it features vibrant portraits celebrating black hair. “Few things are a signal of the Black experience more than our hair is,” Benson says in a press statement. “We love it. We hate it. We try to make it work in white spaces. We tie our identity to it.” Through July 17, noon-6 p.m., free, 801 S. Main St. #130. –C. Moon Reed

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NIGHTS

TO Fremont East’s Discopussy makes a quick impression on the house and techno scene

BY AMBER SAMPSON

on’t bother trying to explain Discopussy to your parents, or why it’s in your Google search history. Even Corner Bar Management’s Mauricio Morales still has trouble, and he helped open the venue. “The theme’s pretty jarring,” he admits with a laugh. “It was really hard telling my wife where I was going to go to work.” As vice president of marketing and entertainment, Morales books all the musical talent for Corner Bar, the company behind Downtown staples Commonwealth, Park on Fremont, Lucky Day and now, Discopussy. “For a long time, before I came on board, we were definitely playing music that’s more open format,” he says, “more hip-hop, R&B, catering to the local and tourist crowds there. But Discopussy was our first chance to

DISCOPUSSY 512 Fremont St., 702-754-1225, discopussydtlv.com. Thursday-Sunday, 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

really make a dedicated house and techno venue.” Everything about the cavernous 6,500-square-foot space looks the part: neon LED lights wrapping the bar, industrial black textures hugging the walls, a gigantic disco octopus sprawling with tentacles in the center of the room. It’s strange. It’s cool. And it’s exactly what Morales envisioned when he used to DJ at the bygone Insert Coin(s) video game bar, in the

space where now Discopussy stands. His dream of this space becoming a home for “house heads” like himself wasn’t far off. Since Discopussy debuted last year, Morales’ keen eye and ear have brought some of the deepest cuts in techno and house to the Downtown lounge. From The Juan MacLean and Matthew Dear to Todd Terry and Mark Farina, Discopussy is a love letter to old-school house, “harkening

back to warehouse raves,” he says. “We try to be as eclectic as possible, but as much as possible honor where that music came from. So that’s where you’re gonna see those classic Chicago, Detroit, New York house heads coming into Disco to play music. “We want them to know that as the entertainment capital of the world, there is still a place for authentic house,” Morales says. And though it can be risky going against the Top 40 grain in any club— Morales has seen talent pulled off the decks for it—he’s adamant artists can play what they want at Discopussy, which attracts a good blend of young and veteran dance-music fans. “We all find out that every song we love that is produced in 2021 has riffs and rhythms and melodies that were anchored in classic house songs from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” the

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34-year-old Morales says. “They end up learning something new, or they catch on to a familiar lyric.” And after the past year, he adds, people are excited to get back on the dancefloor no matter what’s spinning. By booking timeless talent, he’s looking to give Discopussy’s crowds the “sort of indescribable magic that happens when you’re a house head,” he says. “It’s almost a type of religious experience. “I’m conscious that every bar that we build, especially ones that are dance-forward like this, create memories for people,” he continues. “If we have an opportunity to make that memory better by getting some unknown, unnamed talent or known talent, then I’m gonna go for that.”

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DIscopussy’s interior (Anthony Mair/Courtesy)

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THE STRIP

ORIGINAL ART Mystére’s grand reopening (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)

Mystére continues to build on its unique Las Vegas legacy BY BROCK RADKE

reasure Island was among the first wave of Las Vegas Strip resorts to reopen after the state-mandated shutdown of casinos to fight the spread of COVID-19. The 28-year-old TI threw open its doors on June 4, 2020, and officials declared that when big Vegas shows were allowed to reopen, Mystére would be at the front of the line. That seemed like a daring statement amid last summer’s total uncertainty, but it ultimately worked out. Cirque du Soleil’s first resident show on the Strip became its first production to come back to life on

June 28, mostly due to casino owner Phil Ruffin’s enthusiasm for getting Mystére back onstage asap. Cirque officials originally planned to start with Bellagio’s O, the company’s biggest and most popular Vegas show, a logical choice considering all of Cirque’s productions are based at MGM Resorts properties except for Mystére. Cirque has also been collaborating since April with the other MGM—the Metro Goldwyn Mayer entertainment company—to create a feature documentary film (directed and executive produced by Dawn Porter) telling the story of Cirque’s struggles to return to live performances

during the pandemic, focusing on O’s comeback. But Mystére coming back first—a few days before July 1 O’s reopening—brings a sort of fairytale closure to this dark and difficult chapter of Cirque du Soleil’s Las Vegas life. Very little has changed with this very happy show since it opened on Christmas Day 1993, and while Cirque has gone on to create bigger and bolder productions on the Strip and around the world, the whimsical charms of Mystére have stood solid. A 10-year extension of the show at TI was announced on the same day it reopened. It was all business for the artists onstage during that first show back, but when the cast of 65 returned for the final bow, joy and relief were palpable. The audience cheered

louder and laughed harder than ever throughout the entire presentation, celebrating the comeback. The music performed by the live 10-piece band seemed much more electric on that Monday night. The acrobatics seemed to move faster and soar higher. The unique, intimate theater felt more colorful and comfortable. Mystére is an iconic piece of the Strip, not because it was Cirque’s first, but because of the era when it came to be, a magical time for Las Vegas when new standards were being set and innovations in entertainment and hospitality were building the base of today’s dynamic landscape. The artists and technicians behind the show recognize that, which explains their joy and relief that night—and their extra-big smiles during that final curtain call.

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BAILANDO DE

Students practice salsa dancing at Feel the Music Dance Studio. (Photographs by Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

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As the pandemic recedes, Latin dance picks back up in Las Vegas BY SARA MACNEIL

ancers sway their hips to the sharp, cracking sound of Latin percussion sticks, embracing a new partner with a maskless smile with every new song. More than 80 people have assembled inside Pancho’s Vegan Tacos on Fort Apache after midnight on a Friday for this salsa dance gathering. For many, it’s their first time on a public dancefloor in more than a year. Pancho’s has brought back Latin dance events since coronavirus restrictions loosened earlier this summer. Likewise, the weekly salsa and bachata nights that were canceled indefinitely in 2020 have come back to Dance Starz Cafe on South Jones, Casa Amigos on East Flamingo and El Toque del Sabor on East Tropicana—and the list goes on. Last weekend, Rhythms Dance Studio housed Las Vegas Super Weekender 2021, a salsa festival with master workshops, social dances, competitions and performances. A few DJs and dance studio owners hosted invitation-only dance parties during the pandemic, with security at the door to count heads. But running an event requiring close contact, heavy breathing and sweating in a cramped indoor space was a quick way to draw the attention of COVID-19 compliance regulators. “Social dancing was completely illegal,” says Raphael Salomão, an independent salsa and bachata instructor. “How can you do a couples dance if you are 6 feet away?” Even with vaccinations available and the state’s mask mandate loosened, some dance organizers declined to talk with the Weekly about their events, as if they were running a speakeasy during Prohibition. “It’s [still] kind of taboo

right now,” Salomão explains. Pre-pandemic, it was easy to find salsa dancers shimmying and spinning at local restaurants, bars and studios most nights. Some bought tickets to salsa festivals months ahead of time, like Las Vegas Super Salsa Congress 2020, which was canceled due to COVID-19. ■■■■ Salsa dance instructor Jose Velez closed his Feel the Music Dance Studio on North Rampart Boulevard for four months last year, dropped prices and taught via Zoom. He says he missed watching his students improve. “I look to see that glow in their eyes, like, ‘OK, I got it.’ If they have the deer-in-headlights look, I have to find another way,” says Velez, a Puerto Rico native with more than 30 years

Jose Velez (in purple shirt) teaches his students salsa dancing at Feel the Music Dance Studio.

of teaching on his résumé. Even after Velez opened his doors again, social distancing meant he could only teach footwork in person. “It’s like someone trying to learn how to swim without going into the pool,” he says. This summer, Feel the Music moved to 101 S. Rainbow Blvd., a more visible location. And after a tumultuous year, more and more students are coming back, Valez says. On a recent Wednesday, about 20 dancers faced a mirrored studio wall in his salsa partnerwork for beginners class. Besides the masks some wore with their salsa heels, one other change stood out: Pre-pandemic, students would routinely change partners; now, they must stay with the same partner throughout class.

(Continued On Page 32)

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Students practice salsa dancing at Feel the Music Dance Studio. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

(Continued from Page 31) ■■■■ Jonathan Tucker III, a Feel the Music apprentice instructor, is an Iraq War veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2014, he found a brochure at a San Diego Veterans Affairs medical facility for Soldiers Who Salsa, a nonprofit that offers free dance classes to veterans. He says dancing can be as healing as therapy or meditation. “It allows me to control racing thoughts, because I have to think of so many moves at once,” he explains. Large crowds often trigger panic attacks for those with PTSD, but Tucker says a packed dancefloor has become

his safe place, thanks to the supportive community. After the pandemic forced him to spend most of 2020 dancing alone in his apartment, Tucker says he’s looking forward to the salsa scene re-emerging throughout the summer months. “It’s a different vibe. Everything feels new,” Tucker says. “My former dancing rhythm is gone, so I’m developing a new rhythm.” ■■■■ While salsa dancing returns, its tango counterpart—which relies largely on an older set of participants—hasn’t bounced back in the same way, says Argentine tango

instructor Michael Thomas. Argentine tango is more intimate than the ballroom tango typically shown in movies. Dancers push their heads together and stare into each other’s eyes. “The music is very dramatic and dark and rich in poetry,” Thomas explains. Thomas grew up dancing tango in Argentina, tagging along with a father who attended dance socials almost every night. “Imagine a 10-year-old in a nightclub,” he says. Years later, Thomas sold the hardware store he owned in Argentina and moved to Las Vegas to teach tango full time at his father’s suggestion. He met his dance partner, Nella, at an event three years ago, and they have become a power tango team together, teaching

classes on Sundays and giving private lessons during the week. “The longer you can stay with a partner, the better that connection gets,” Nella says. The pair recently began offering Sunday lessons again at Ballroom Addiction on Renaissance Drive, and about a dozen students show up to every class. Still, the pandemic forced Thomas to re-evaluate his career. He took a position as a cook at Esther’s Kitchen Downtown, and he’s saving money for culinary school. “I realized that it’s so fragile, the world of art and dancing and teaching,” he says. “Art in general is very fragile to crisis and changes in society. You can survive with tango, but you can’t really make a future.”

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TRIPLE TREAT

Taverna Costera’s restaurant, coffee shop and rooftop bar add to the fast-growing Arts District BY GENEVIE DURANO

eff Hwang, owner of the new Taverna Costera in the Arts District, modeled the space after largescale casino projects on which he has worked in the past: The more attractions a spot has, the more it will draw in crowds. So the Downtown site, which houses a restaurant, also features an adjacent coffee shop called Dragon’s Alley Coffee Co. and a rooftop bar with a 200-square-foot performance stage. (Look for Hwang’s own bands—90 Proof, The Syndicate and Grind—to make appearances in the space.) The concept fits well within the Arts District, which has seen massive transformation lately. Breweries, shops and restaurants keep sprouting up, bringing in locals and giving tourists another Vegas corridor to explore. The growth feels organic, and despite the pandemic, the area is thriving. Add in First Friday—in full swing once again— and the Arts District has suddenly become a critical cultural center of our recovering city. Taverna Costera has a modern industrial vibe. Work by local artists lines the walls (all pieces are for sale), and the restaurant staff mostly comprises entertainment-industry veterans. Hwang says his goal is to bring together local food lovers, artists, musicians and other entertainers together for a convivial night out. Patrons can move seamlessly from one part of the venue to the next. Up for a full-on dinner-and-drinks evening? Head for the restaurant. A smaller, fast-casual snack? The coffee shop offers food from the same kitchen, along with coffee and handcrafted teas. Late-night drinks? The rooftop has you covered, sometimes with an acoustic

set on the side. Chef Ray Samlow describes Taverna Costera’s cuisine as coastal Mediterranean fusion, with French, Italian, Spanish and Greek influences. “Lighter, smaller portions, lots of lemon, garlic,” he notes, “but I want you to leave feeling full and satisfied and to make sure that there’s lots of flavor in there.” Get your table started with the Taverna tapas platter ($21)—crudité, hummus, citrus shrimp, ceviche and a Rustico flatbread—and a round of cocktails ($13 each). The Lemnos (Hornitos Reposada tequila, limoncello and lemon juice) is a puckery delight that pairs well with the tapas, while Old Town (Bulleit 95 rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and orange bitters) offers a refreshing take on the Manhattan. In keeping with the overall Mediterranean vibe, there are plenty of plantbased selections. Vegetarian favorite jackfruit ($15) makes an appearance, enrobed in sweet and tangy pomegranate barbecue sauce and served over Greek potato hash. La Femme en Papolette ($16) is a marinated pink oyster mushroom cooked with vegetables, potatoes and herbs and served in a paper purse. Really. Among more casual fare, the coffee shop offers a build-a-plate menu ($10$14). Choose a base (from six options, including rice, flatbread and orzo), a flavor profile (Moroccan, Nicoise, Athenian, etc.) and a protein like chicken, shrimp or fresh mozzarella to top it. And don’t skip the outstanding organic tea selection, made by local company Tranquili-Tea. Up on the rooftop, you’ll get a bird’seye view of fast-changing neighborhood. And Taverna Costera is right in the middle of all that action.

TAVERNA COSTERA 1031 S. Main St., 702-749-0091, tavernacostera.com. Sunday-Thursday, 3-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m.-1 a.m.

Taverna’s tapas platter with Rustico flatbread, rojo shrimp scampi and cocktails (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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FOOD & DRINK

STACKED SATISFACTION

The Bomber (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

WOODS FAMILY SANDWICHES

Woods Family Sandwiches checks all the lunchtime boxes

931 American Pacific Drive #106, 702-8262230, wfsandwiches. com. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

BY BROCK RADKE

here are plenty of amazing sandwiches to hunt down and devour across the Las Vegas Valley at all different types of restaurants (especially if you consider a cheeseburger a sandwich, but let’s not get into that today). But there aren’t enough straight-up sandwich shops, where the beloved lunch dish is front-and-center all the time. It somehow took me almost six years to find Woods Family Sandwiches, hidden in an industrial park just south of Henderson’s Valley Automall. Once I walked in and saw the Ms. Pac-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade cabinets in the corner, I knew this was the place—exactly the kind of unassuming eatery I’d like to see in every neighborhood. Daelyn Woods and her family run WFS and proudly use Boar’s Head products to build seemingly simple subs ($8-$11) on crusty, chewy rolls. The most popular choice is pastrami, and you can stick to a hot pastrami sub with three-pepper cheese, pickles, pepperoncini, red onion and mustard; the #2 with Thousand Island, melted Swiss and coleslaw; or get wild with the Bomber. Before my first bite, I would have shouted blasphemy at the combination of hot pastrami and cool, fluffy, homemade egg salad. But somehow the Bomber, also topped with pickles and pepperoncini to cut through the creamy and salty layers, makes total sense. WFS also uses London broil with melted provolone for a solid French dip, and serves plenty of cold subs ($7.50-$10.50), including homemade tuna salad, Buffalo-spiced chicken with fried onions and blue cheese dressing, and a veggie sandwich with cream cheese, cucumber, sprouts, avocado and tomato. Salads, wraps (those definitely aren’t sandwiches, right?) and breakfast options such as ham or bacon on a toasty bagel with egg and cheese ($4.40) round out the menu, and catering is obviously a big deal here, too. Even if this isn’t your neighborhood, it’s a cozy lunch worth the trip.

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SPORTS DUSTIN POIRIER

How Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier arrived at a third fight BY CASE KEEFER

n July 10, Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor will join the pantheon of megafights to reach a trilogy when it serves as the main event of UFC 267 at T-Mobile Arena. Any pairing that proves compelling enough to get booked a third time has built a great deal of history, and Poirier vs. McGregor is no different. Here’s how the rivalry between two of the UFC’s best lightweights and former champions developed chronologically.

2011-2012

(AP/Photo Illustration)

On January 1, 2011, Poirier became the ultra-rare fighter to debut in the octagon before his 21st birthday, when he beat Josh Grispi by unanimous decision at UFC 125. He was given the opportunity after UFC absorbed sister promotion WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) to grow its roster. Poirier quickly became a rising star with wins in his first five UFC fights, including one over eventual champion Max Holloway. McGregor, meanwhile, was an unknown toiling in regional promotions in his native Ireland. McGregor, living off public assistance at the time, rebuked pleas from his parents to pursue a steadier career in plumbing.

2013-EARLY 2014 Behind his knockout power and brash demeanor, McGregor built a following in his home country, something UFC President Dana White couldn’t ignore. White signed McGregor and began touting him as a future star. The fighter held up his end of the deal with three straight wins to open his UFC career, including a unanimous decision over Holloway—despite a torn ACL—in August 2013. McGregor returned from the injury less than a year later to knock out Diego Brandao in front of a hometown crowd in Dublin, as the hype surrounding him erupted. Poirier, on the verge of a title shot, called McGregor out after the fight, and the latter obliged. “I know he doesn’t want the fight,” McGregor said. “He can pretend he does want the fight and send tweets about this and that, but let’s do it. I’ll take every single one of them out, and if next is Dustin, let’s do it.”

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014 McGregor and Poirier met at UFC 178 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. McGregor relentlessly taunted Poirier going into the fight, including threatening him in a private room just outside the MGM Grand lobby and pointing and smiling at him before they walked out on fight night. The fight-week scuttle had McGregor in Poirier’s head, and that appeared to be the case when they got into the octagon. McGregor outclassed Poirier, knocking him out at 1:46 of the first round. Years later, Poirier said the whole experience sharpened his mentality and served as a turning point in his career.

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CONO R MC G R EG O R

UFC 267: Poirier vs. McGregor When: Saturday, July 10, undercard 3:30 p.m., main card 7 p.m. Where: T-Mobile Arena Tickets: $300-$10,000, ufc.com/tickets Pay-per-view: $70, plus.espn.com Other main card bouts: Gilbert Burns vs. Stephen Thompson; Tai Tuivasa vs. Greg Hardy; Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya; Sean O’Malley vs. Louis Smolka

APRIL 2021

LATE 2015-EARLY 2020 McGregor grew into arguably the biggest star in combat sports, capping a whirlwind two and a half years in the UFC by knocking out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to win the undisputed featherweight title at UFC 194. He parlayed his success into more seven- and eight-figure paydays in the UFC before crossing over to boxing for the ultimate prize—a bout with Floyd Mayweather with base pay of more than $100 million. Although McGregor became the UFC’s first dual-division champion by beating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt in November 2016, his results were increasingly up and down at the peak of his popularity. Poirier turned into a cult hero by comparison, with an electric, fan-friendly style that guided him to a 17-4 overall UFC record and an interim title with another win over Holloway in April 2019.

JANUARY 24, 2021 McGregor and Poirier met at UFC 257 at Fight Island (Abu Dhabi) for their second fight. McGregor handpicked Poirier to come back from a half-hearted retirement announced out of frustration when the latter couldn’t agree to terms with the UFC on staging a bout during the pandemic. Unlike virtually every other McGregor fight, he showed no hostility toward Poirier. The two acted cordial, with McGregor even pledging a $500,000 donation to Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation, a charity organization that helps children in underserved communities. As for the fight, McGregor had his moments in the first round, but Poirier turned the tables, pulling off the upset with a knockout at 2:32 in the second round.

A third fight was all but officially announced. McGregor requested it immediately, and Poirier gleefully accepted, saying the money he’d earn in the bout was more important to him than fighting for the vacant lightweight title. McGregor predicted a knockout win, irking Poirier, who in turn accused McGregor of reneging on his promised charity donation. McGregor called Poirier an “inbred hillbilly” and said he never received a requested breakdown of how his money would be utilized. He also announced he no longer planned to fight Poirier again and would instead choose another opponent. White and the UFC were able to smooth the spat over and keep the bout together, but tensions remained between McGregor and Poirier. To end the charity dispute, McGregor wired a $500,000 donation to the Boys and Girls Club in Poirier’s hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana.

JULY 10, 2021 McGregor and Poirier will meet at T-Mobile Arena to complete the trilogy. Unlike the first two fights, for which McGregor was a hefty favorite, the odds declare this matchup a pick’em. The winner is expected to emerge as the top lightweight contender and could potentially take on champion Charles Oliveira for the title by the end of the year.

VEGAS INC BUSINESS

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Innovative pair set to sell security, convenience to cannabis customers

BY BRYAN HORWATH

hen it comes to the cannabis business, there aren’t many places more attractive than Las Vegas. At least, that’s what best friends and business partners Lindsay Ballengee and Marta SpegmanLopez Venture figured when they moved here from California last year to get their startup off the ground. The pair, who went to the same school in New York City but became good friends later while working in the cannabis industry in Northern California, plan to soon launch SafeArbor, a company that will specialize in secure contactless cannabis transactions. SafeArbor’s locker product—which will be known as “grab-and-go” lockers—will allow cannabis customers to pay for and pick up a dispensary order without ever interacting with a person. It’s basically an Amazon-type locker—like what might be seen outside a convenience store—but specifically for the cannabis industry, Along with recreational cannabis’ legal status here, Ballengee said there were many other factors that helped draw the pair to Southern Nevada. One is SafeArbor’s partnership with American Locker, a manufacturer based in North Las Vegas. Also, “Las Vegas has the right economic climate, and it’s a much more cultural city than I think we think we knew before we moved here,” Ballengee said. The idea for SafeArbor would seem to address a market need. That’s what Ballengee and Spegman-Lopez Venture said they found after visiting with many cannabis industry workers and officials in recent years. “You won’t have to wait in line; you can be on your couch, place your order, then go to the dispensary to pick it up,” Bellengee said. “You’re not waiting in a line with people maybe coughing on you. You go up to the machine, put in some inputs, get a QR code on your phone and the locker pops open.” Spegman-Lopez Venture said she got a good feeling about the prospects for SafeArbor when she saw a

long line of cars waiting to access preorders at a Las Vegas Valley cannabis dispensary last year. “It was right after the first stimulus checks came in,” Spegman-Lopez Venture said. “There was a fourhour line of cars at an off-Strip dispensary. That was eye-opening for us. That was pent-up market validation. There’s a market for people who don’t have eight hours to wait at home for a delivery and who don’t need the budtender experience.” The pair said they’re in talks with some Southern Nevada dispensaries about possible partnerships. They envision a different type of locker they plan to manufacture that would be used to transport cannabis products. They’ve also explored the idea of branching out to provide lockers for the safekeeping

of valuables at Las Vegas resorts. “Our machines protect and transfer product that’s already assigned to somebody, so we can ensure the product’s chain of custody is secure,” Spegman-Lopez Venture said. “Whether it’s a wholesale purchase or a customer-facing purchase, that customer’s identity will be validated by our software system, which we built and coded for, when they scan their identification.” In May, SafeArbor was chosen as the winner of a Shark Tank-like competition put on by an organization called AngelNV, which is made up of local angel investors. The competition’s top prize was a $200,000-plus investment into SafeArbor. Last year, the pair pitched their idea during an event in the Las Vegas Valley and received some pointed critiques afterward. But some local angel investors thought the idea had legs. Soon, SafeArbor’s founders were involved in the investor program and the competition, which included a boot camp that lasted several months. “We were given some great insight in how to build our idea out,” Ballengee said. “We competed against some amazing companies.” Jeff Saling, who helps run the AngelNV organization, said SafeArbor offered investors a “way to get involved early in a new and growing industry.” He called the lockers an “elegant” solution to a problem that exists in the cannabis marketplace. “Marta and Lindsay are creative, driven founders and experts in cannabis regulations, logistics and safety issues,” Saling said. “We’re super excited to be partnered with them and happy they’ve chosen Las Vegas as their corporate home.”

SafeArbor founders Marta Spegman-Lopez Venture and Lindsay Ballengee (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

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where everyone knows someone whose life has been negatively affected by these substances to the point they lose their family, everything they have and their life. If we gave folks cannabis and counseling instead of arresting and imprisoning them, addiction and misinformation would look a lot different in the near future.

Chamber co-founder breaking down barriers, connecting and elevating cannabis community

BY VEGAS INC STAFF or Tina Ulman, the journey toward cannabis legalization was personal. “One too many people in my life lost their life to addiction and imprisonment for unjust drug policy,” she said, “and I am determined to help change the system for the next person who might also experience similar events.” So far, the efforts of the legalization movement are bearing fruit, and Ulman has been a leader in mapping out the next steps for Nevada and the country. As a co-founder and president of the Chamber of Cannabis, and brand manager for Old Pal, Ulman is helping make the industry more inclusive. The Chamber was founded in October to foster resources and connections, and build relationships with political and judicial leaders. It has already scored major victories in the state.

better support patient needs. 3. Deschedule and decriminalize federally. 4. Increase wages and benefits of employees. We have way too many people in Nevada only hiring part time because they don’t want to pay benefits. What misinformation would you most like to clear up about cannabis? That cannabis is a “gateway drug,” when it in fact is an “exit drug” in many cases from substances that have ruined so many people’s lives, such as alcohol, prescription drugs, meth and heroin. We are now at a point

Do you have any recent news to share? This year we led the campaign to pass Assembly Bill 341, Cannabis Consumption Lounge Legalization, and AB400, Cannabis DUI Reform. We were also able to unite and elevate our cannabis community when most everyone felt disconnected and anxious. Nothing has been more fulfilling and needed for our mental health. What are the next three or four goals? The next goals we will be focusing on are … 1. Continuing to increase the owner and operator opportunities in cultivations, productions, retail, delivery and laboratories for those left out of the first two license rounds, which include: Black folks, brown folks, females and those adversely affected by failed drug policy. 2. Continuing to work with the Cannabis Compliance Board to improve the regulations that were created at the beginning of adult legalization and should be revised to increase efficiencies, decrease waste and

Chamber of Cannabis President Tina Ulman (Christoper DeVargas/Staff)

What will the recent cannabis legislation mean for the state? And why weren’t consumption lounges already a thing here? Was it just a blind spot in the original law that no one considered? The recent legislation means dispensaries and independent owners will legally be able to open a venue that allows consumption of cannabis and infused food and drinks. Twenty independent lounge licenses will be issued, and 10 of them will go to social equity and diversity applicants. This bill is also the first to establish what constitutes “social equity.” Consumption lounges didn’t exist prior because it was not included in Question 2, which was irresponsible on our political leaders’ part to not give consumers a legal place to consume. Thankfully, Assemblyman Steve Yeager and other legislators thought differently and passed it. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I see myself as an owner and operator of a successful cannabis business—so successful I can donate thousands of dollars to organizations that support my passions and give others an opportunity to live out their visions. I see myself leading my community to more victories and shaping Nevada to be even more dope and thriving than it already is.

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VEGAS INC BUSINESS

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VegasInc Notes Pahrump Nugget Hotel & Casino announced David Hutchison as the new executive chef for Stockman’s Steakhouse. Previously executive chef at Pahrump Valley Hutchison Winery and most recently sous chef at Red Rock Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Hutchison brings more than three decades of culinary expertise to Stockman’s Steakhouse.

and contributed to the success of the program, guiding it through the pandemic. Additionally, Rogers Art Loft welcomed several new board members to help guide the artist residency program. Joining founding board member and pianist Raja Rahman are Janae Downey, an accountant with Marrs Bergquist; Heather Harmon of Black Mountain Institute; Alisha Kerlin, executive director of Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art; attorney Kerry Kleiman of Reid, Rubinstein & Bogatz; and artist/performer Heidi Rider.

Nicole Mastrangelo was elevated to director of fundraising for Nevada HAND Inc., a nonprofit developer, builder and manager of affordable housing communities. Mastrangelo’s 18-year history as a fundraising proMastrangelo fessional in Southern Nevada will enable Nevada HAND to engage the community on ways to support the organization.

Credit One Bank announced three new hires, Amit Bhargav, Moshe Orlian and Glen Williams, to the company’s corporate leadership team. Bhargav will serve as vice president of fraud Bhargav strategy, responsible for evaluating and mitigating fraud risk for the bank’s products. The role of senior vice president of portfolio growth has been assumed by Orlian, who is responsible for leading the Orlian analytics and strategy behind programs that drive balance growth and enhance customer engagement, such as credit line increases and convenience checks. Williams joined the team as senior vice Williams president in customer service, where he is responsible for call centers, training, command center and procedures.

Cure 4 The Kids Foundation’s clinical nurse educator, Jackie Garcia, was awarded the DAISY Award recognizing compassion and excellence in nursing care to patients and families. Garcia is a hemophilia-oncology nurse as well as a leader and educator at C4K. National Technical Institute, a trade school offering training in HVAC, plumbing and electrical careers, announced a new executive position to support its continued growth. Maria Dezenberg Dezenberg joined the organization as vice president of operations, bringing decades of experience in strategic leadership in career-focused college and postsecondary education settings. In her new role, Dezenberg will be responsible for school operations, new program development and regulatory and compliance, as well as supporting the expansion of NTI across the U.S. Students from the College of Southern Nevada’s videography and film program received six Student Production Emmy Award nominations from the Pacific Southwest National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. With 94 nominations and 44 wins in the past seven years, the program has become one of the most recognized in the country. The Rogers Art Loft promoted Las Vegas-based multidisciplinary artist, illustrator and teacher Lance Smith to residency director. Previously, Smith served as residency manager

The Lee Business School at UNLV awarded its 2021 Alumnus of the Year award to Mike Peregrina, president and co-founder of Homie. Peregrina established the Homie Scholarship Fund to help those who were pursuing their education during the height of the pandemic. Southern Nevada Home Builders Association hired Alexis Duenas as administrative services coordinator. Duenas will leverage her experience at SNHBA in her new position, managing events as well as membership for the organization. Vegas PBS received three 2021 Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards, including Best Public Affairs Program, Best Informational/Instructional Program and Best Arts/Entertainment - Short or Long Format. In addition, several other original programs received recognition from the Telly Awards and other film festivals.

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