2023-04-20-Las-Vegas-Weekly

PUBLISHER

MARK DE POOTER mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com

EDITOR

SPENCER PATTERSON spencer.patterson@gmgvegas.com

EDITORIAL

Senior Editor GEOFF CARTER (geo .carter@gmgvegas.com)

Editor at Large BROCK RADKE (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer SHANNON MILLER (shannon.miller@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer AMBER SAMPSON (amber.sampson@gmgvegas.com)

Contributing Writers GRACE DA ROCHA,HILLARY DAVIS, MIKE GRIMALA, CASEY HARRISON, KATIE ANN MCCARVER, TERESA MOSS, RHIANNON SAEGERT, DANNY WEBSTER

Contributing Editors RAY BREWER, JUSTIN HAGER, CASE KEEFER, DAVE MONDT

O ce Coordinator NADINE GUY

CREATIVE

Art Director CORLENE BYRD (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com)

Senior Designer IAN RACOMA

Photo Coordinator BRIAN RAMOS

Photographers CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS, STEVE MARCUS, WADE VANDERVORT

DIGITAL

Publisher of Digital Media KATIE HORTON

Web Content Specialist CLAYT KEEFER

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Publisher of Branded Content & Special Publications EMMA WOLFF

Special Publications Editor SIERRA SMART

Senior Advertising Managers MIKE MALL, ADAIR NOWACKI, SUE SRAN

Account Executives MARY CHARISSE DIMAIN, DEREK EIGE, LAUREN JOHNSON, ANNA ZYMANEK

Sales Executive Assistants APRIL MARTINEZ, NANCY RAMOS

Events Director SAMANTHA PETSCH

Events Manager HANNAH ANTER

Events Coordinator ALEXANDRA SUNGA

PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION

Vice President of Manufacturing MARIA BLONDEAUX

Production Director PAUL HUNTSBERRY

Market Research Manager CHAD HARWOOD

Production Manager BLUE UYEDA

Associate Marketing Art Director BROOKE EVERSON

Marketing Graphic Designer CARYL LOU PAAYAS

Production Artist MARISSA MAHERAS

Senior Tra c Coordinator DENISE ARANCIBIA

Tra c Coordinator ALEX HAASE

Distribution Relations Liaison JIDAN SHADOWEN

Fulfillment Operations Coordinator CASANDRA PIERCE

Route Administrator KATHY STRELAU

GREENSPUN MEDIA GROUP

CEO, Publisher & Editor BRIAN GREENSPUN

Chief Operating O cer ROBERT CAUTHORN

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GUMMIESSODASINFUSED DRINKS

IN THIS ISSUE

SUPERGUIDE

Your daily events planner, starring Sabrina Carpenter, Gojira & Mastodon, Dizzy Wright, Los Bitchos and more.

NOISE

New Zealand indie trio Bailterspace (finally) makes its Vegas debut, and we chat with frontman Alister Parker.

Need more VGK merch for the Stanley Cup Playo s? Maggie Sweeney and her team have you covered, head to toe.

ART

In Bloom, the Bellagio Gallery’s latest exhibit, tells important stories and inspires heartfelt reactions.

NEWS

How local publicprivate partnerships helped transform an old Downtown motel into transitional housing.

Photo Illustration ON THE COVER

COVER STORY

Celebrating 420 Week with a tour of distinct interiors and a dive into some fresh products.

FOOD

Don’t Snooze through breakfast, especially when pancake flights await.

A mural inside Exhale Dispensary (Christopher DeVargas)

SUPERGUIDE

THURSDAY

LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

He’s been busy lately with Wrestlemania duties and making history as the first Latino solo artist to headline Coachella. But Bad Bunny is also the leading nominee for this weekend’s Latin American Music Awards in Las Vegas, tallying 11 nods, including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Trapeando. The annual celebration will be broadcast live on Univision from MGM Grand Garden Arena, featuring performances from megastars like Myke Towers, Pitbull and Chiquis, along with up-and-comers like Colombian merengue artist Ryan Castro and groundbreaking queer Latin trap artist Young Miko. 5 p.m., $68-$435, MGM Grand Garden Arena, axs.com. –Brock Radke

JOHN MULANEY

Thru 4/23, 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

LAS VEGAS

PHILHARMONIC SPOTLIGHT III: LATIN SEDUCTIONS

7:30 p.m., Troesh Studio Theater, thesmithcenter.com.

ADAM CAROLLA

7:30 p.m., Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy Club, ticketmaster.com.

BARRY MANILOW

Thru 4/22, 7 p.m., Westgate International Theater, ticketmaster. com.

MIKE PUSH

With Terminal 51, 10 p.m., Commonwealth, seetickets.us.

EMANUEL AX

7:30 p.m., Ham Concert Hall, unlv.edu.

STONER ROB’S 420 SHOW 9 p.m., Vegas Stand Up & Rock, vegasstandupandrock. com.

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS 6:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

SINEMA

With Stoned Level, 10 p.m., We All Scream, seetickets.us.

MICHAEL GRIMM

9 p.m., Sand Dollar Downtown, thesanddollarlv.com.

Myke Towers (Rob Grabowski/ AP Photo)

SAM HUNT

8 p.m., & 4/22, Resorts World Theatre, axs.com.

OPENING: TRANSFIX Times and dates vary, Resorts World, ticketmaster.com.

THE UNDERGROUND

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

5 p.m., The Mob Museum, themobmuseum.org.

CROCODILES

With Headwinds, 8 p.m., Artifice, seetickets.us.

DEADMAU5

10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

USHER

9 p.m., & 4/22, 4/26, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

NE-YO

11:30 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

BROOKS WHEELAN

7:30 p.m., & 4/22, Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguyscomedy. com.

VEGAS KNIGHT

HAWKS VS. DUKE CITY GLADIATORS

7 p.m., Dollar Loan Center, axs.com.

WE BRIDGE MUSIC FESTIVAL

7 p.m., & 4/22, Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

CUMBIA FEST

8 p.m., Veil Pavilion, silvertoncasino.com.

UNLV BASEBALL VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST

Thru 4/23, times vary, Earl E. Wilson Stadium, unlvtickets.com.

UNLV SOFTBALL VS. SAN JOSE STATE

Thru 4/23, times vary, Eller Media Stadium, unlvtickets.com.

CLAUDE VONSTROKE

With Lubelski, 530, 10 p.m., Discopussy, tixr.com.

VV

7 p.m., House of Blues, concerts.livenation.com.

STEVE AOKI

10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

GRAHAM DECHTER TRIO

7 & 8:30 p.m., & 4/22, Vic’s, vicslasvegas.com.

MIKE ATTACK

11 a.m., Wet Republic, events.taogroup.com.

ELIZA NEALS

10 p.m., Sand Dollar Downtown, thesand dollarlv.com/downtown. com.

LOS BITCHOS

You practically have to squint to spot the overlap portion of a Coachella/Levitation

Venn diagram these days, but two acts apparently appeal to both festivals’ target demos in 2023: acclaimed musical chameleon Yves Tumor and rising London band Los Bitchos. Yves isn’t playing a Vegas show this month, sadly, but Los Bitchos is, and it only takes one spin through 2022 debut Let the Festivities Begin! to envision the female foursome setting o parties among vast fields of youngish pop fans in the SoCal desert and tightly packed crowds of longtime psych zealots in Austin, Texas. These predominantly instrumental tunes—which worship old-school cumbia while sprinkling in surf, Morricone and more—radiate fun, so if you feel like getting out and moving around on a Friday night Downtown, the festivities begin here. With Viaje Nahual, 8 p.m., $20-$25, the Usual Place, eventbrite.com. –Spencer Patterson

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

Sam Hunt (Courtesy/Rob Grabowski)

SUPERGUIDE 22

DIZZY WRIGHT

Las Vegas hasn’t had many musical success stories as big as Dizzy Wright. So when the Vegas-bred rapper, known for his conscious flows and a nity for smoking weed, returns to his hometown for a set? We welcome him with open arms—and the directions to the nearest dispensary so he can pick up his own Dizzy OG Strain. The son of a concert promoter, Wright grew up around the music business, but even as a young rapper, he vowed to do it his way. The MC has held steady on his goals, releasing scores of independent mixtapes and LPs during as an indie artist while collaborating with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Tech N9ne and other mainstays of the hip-hop scene. The 32-year-old’s latest album, Live at Daddy Macs, layers funk over hook-filled flows to create a body of work that’s freeing, danceable and di erent from much of the mainstream rap on the radio right now. “You Get What You See” is a shimmering example of that experimentation, proving that Wright is in total control of his creative process at this stage of his career. 6 p.m., $4.20-$40, 4301 S. Valley View Blvd. #23, eventbrite.com.

–Amber Sampson

SATURDAY

EARTH DAY FESTIVAL

10 a.m., Springs Preserve, springspreserve.org.

GANJA WHITE NIGHT With Wreckno, Smoakland, Notixx & more, 7:30 p.m., Area15 A-Lot & Portal, area15.com.

SCOTTY MCCREERY

8 p.m., Sunset Station Amphitheater, ticketmaster.com.

PEACE LOVE & HOPPINESS

NEVADA SHAKESPEARE

FESTIVAL: ROMEO & JULIET

6 p.m., Solista Park, nevada shakespearefestival. com.

DIPLO

10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

DAVID GUETTA

11 a.m., Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com.

TIËSTO 11 a.m., Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

POWWOW FOR THE PLANET 11 a.m., UNLV Chem Lawn, unlv edu.

UNLV CHORAL ENSEMBLES: SPRING CONCERT

7:30 p.m., Ham Concert Hall, unlv.edu.

DEMON HUNTER

With Opponent, 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, seetickets.us.

ILLENIUM 11 a.m., Tao Beach Dayclub, events. taogroup.com.

RUSSELL THOMPKINS JR. & THE NEW STYLISTICS 7 p.m., Sam’s Town Live, ticketmaster. com.

PURE SPORT With Damaged Savage, Second Echo, 9 p.m., Vegas Stand Up & Rock, vegasstand upandrock.com.

ZEDD 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

PRETTY BOY FLOYD With Jet Black Romance, 8 p.m., Count’s Vamp’d, vampdvegas.com.

THE FLAMETRICK SUBS

With The Tragic Radicals, 77, The Finger Guns, 10 p.m., Double Down Saloon, doubledownsaloon. com.

Big Dog’s Brewing Company’s annual spring beer and music festival is ready to set you up for summer a little early with all the hop-forward beers and barbecue bites you can handle at its northwest headquarters. More than 45 selections from local and independent breweries curated by the Big Dog’s crew await, and the home team’s signature suds samples will be available— along with a special collaboration with 595 Craft & Kitchen—at the Satellite Beer Trailer. Shore things up with grilled tri-tip or pulled chicken sandwiches among other eats from local vendors, and round out the experience with live music. Plus, you can feel good about doubling up on your favorite Double IPA, because a portion of proceeds will benefit local charities.

3-8 p.m., $34-$60, 4543 N. Rancho Drive, bigdogsbrews.com. –Brock

Radke

SABRINA CARPENTER With Blu DeTiger, 8 p.m., Theater at Virgin, axs.com.

(Courtesy)

MONDAY BODY LVNGUAGE 7 p.m., the Wall, area15.com.

DJ SOURMILK 10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

GOJIRA & MASTODON

With Lorna Shore, 7 p.m., Theater at Virgin, axs.com.

BEYOND THE SONGBOOK Featuring the music of Henry Krieger, 8 p.m., the Space, thespacelv.com.

ERICA SPERA

With Greer Barnes, Michael Yo, John Joseph, 7 & 9:30 p.m., thru 4/29, Comedy Cellar, comedycellar. com.

TRIXX 8 p.m., thru 4/30, LA Comedy Club, bestvegascomedy.com.

BAILTERSPACE

With The Acid Sisters, Orange Eats Creeps, 8 p.m., Artifice, eventbrite.com.

NELLY With Justin Credible, 11 a.m., Tao Beach Dayclub, events. taogroup.com.

RICH HOMIE QUAN Noon, Daylight Beach Club, tixr.com.

THIS IS A MAN’S WORLD…BUTTT 3 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com.

DJ PAULY D 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

RYAN BAKER 7 p.m., Maxan Jazz, maxanjazz.com.

DJ CROMM 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Downtown, thesanddollarlv. com.

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

Mastodon (Courtesy)

MUSIC

LAS VEGAS AVIATORS VS. TACOMA RAINIERS 4/25-4/29, 7 p.m.; 4/30, noon; Las Vegas Ballpark; ticketmaster.com.

FIXON With Badbeat, Naum, Yo Khed, 10 p.m., La Mona Rosa, dice.fm.

WEDNESDAY

ACRAZE 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night, wynnsocial.com.

STRUCK NERVE With Acid Teeth, Gob Patrol, 9 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

JUDITH KLAUSNER: (DE)COMPOSED Thru 7/3 (Mon-Thu, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri-Sun, 10 a.m.6 p.m.); Windmill Library, thelibrary district.org.

APR.

26

DYING FETUS & SUICIDE SILENCE With Slay Squad, Crown Magnetar, Sanguisugabogg, Aborted, Born of Osiris, 4 p.m., House of Blues, concerts.livenation. com.

USA OPEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 10 a.m., 4/26-4/30, South Point Arena, ticketmaster.com.

JUSTIN CREDIBLE 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events.taogroup. com.

SHANDA’S VIVA VEGAS SHOWCASE 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Lounge, thesanddollarlv.com.

LEMA 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events.taogroup. com.

EXTREME MEASURES 7 p.m., Maxan Jazz, maxanjazz.com.

FOOD + DRINK

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

Shanda & The Howlers (Courtesy/Robert John Kley)

Maggie Sweeney inside the Arsenal at City National Arena (Wade Vandervort/ Staff)

Diving

Vegas Golden Knights merchandise with Maggie Sweeney

THE WEEKLY Q&A

BY SPENCER PATTERSON

Maggie Sweeney has gone from Original Six to New Kids on the Block during her National Hockey League career. ¶ A native of Cleveland (“I didn’t have a hockey team growing up,” she laments), Sweeney spent nine years with the Detroit Red Wings, working her way up to director of retail for that organization—and for the Detroit Pistons and both of those teams’ Little Caesars Arena—before moving to Las Vegas. ¶ Once here, Sweeney began heading up the UFC retail account for the local company Legends before rejoining the hockey world in 2021 with the Vegas Golden Knights as their director of retail operations. ¶ We caught up with Sweeney in the days leading up to this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, to dig into the merch available at T-Mobile, City National and Lifeguard arenas and beyond.

Coming to the Golden Knights after your time with the Red Wings, how would say the two fan bases compare? The way the team was embraced here, and how quickly and wholeheartedly, is really amazing. It was amazing to watch from a distance and then even more amazing to see up close and then become a part of it. I think it goes back to being a sports fan for the fun of it, for the love of it. You don’t have years of fandom clouding things, so it’s a very pure form, and that’s really fun to see. It’s definitely a different experience than an original six team.

Do you and your retail team have freedom to introduce new items, or is it governed by the league as a whole? Both situations actually exist in the NHL. There are licensees who work with the league overall and have rights for all the teams, and they do product development. They run it through the NHL’s quality control process, and then it’s presented to us. It’s great to have that element—dedicated people who are working on things for you. And a lot of them will work with the teams specifically, so that we can make exclusive team items, add a little

variety, make it market-specific. But we do have the rights to locally license and create our own products when the need calls for it. So anything that’s quick-turn or that a licensed vendor can’t produce, we get to develop on our own and work with vendors of our choice to create.

What’s a recent example of something you guys devised in-season? There have been requests for more products that feature our mascots—[VGK’s] Chance, Lucky of the Silver Knights and Risk of the Knight Hawks. One of our designers drew out this amazing piece of art with all three of them, and we recently got that in store for kids—it features all three mascots, and it says “the three best friends.” The designer had just been sketching it, in case it could ever be used, so it was great to be able to bring that to life and see people’s reaction to something that was created in our offices.

Am I right in assuming the top-selling VGK product is the jersey? Yes, and that’s not the same across the [league], so it’s great that people in this area have really embraced wearing a hockey jersey.

Which players tend to be the top jersey sellers? Your original crew that’s been here since day one, of course, always stand out and stay strong.

So Karlsson, Marchessault, Theodore … Exactly. Often, there’ll be a team where, like, 85% of jersey sales are this person, the rest is split between these two and that’s pretty much it. But for us it is spread fairly evenly. You see spikes at different times—[goaltender Logan] Thompson shot up there for a while, when he first really started to have a presence on the VGK roster, because I think this demographic has proved that they like their goalies. But for the most part, it’s the most evenly distributed numbers I’ve ever seen.

Does a new player—whether it’s a kid like Pavel Dorofeyev coming up and making a splash or someone arriving at the trade deadline—tend to drive sales? It definitely can. If someone new is coming in and I don’t feel like I have enough insight into it, our communications team is really helpful, social media, because they see all the comments out there, on what I should be prepared for. And our

broadcasters—if someone’s coming in from another team, it’s like, are they going to immediately resonate here or might it take them longer? They’ll have great insight.

Aside from jerseys, what are some current items that excite you and your team? I think there’s a great enthusiasm around a lot of our themed nights and products relating to those, particularly the ones that raise awareness for causes, like Hockey Fights Cancer and Military Appreciation. And VGK has introduced their own theme nights, like Hispanic Heritage, which has been really well-received and really well-designed by our team internally. Hats. No one can ever have too many hats. And if I’m on the other side of the country and I spot a Vegas Golden Knights hat, that’s an exciting moment. There are also fun products that aren’t wearables—just a great comfy blanket that people can have in their home because VGK is such a part of their life. And we’ll do some things on a limited basis, like gameday pucks in small, exclusive runs. We have one at City National Arena in the morning on a game day that’s only 48 pieces. Giving people something to remember an experience by is fun.

To close, what’s it like for you to walk into an arena and see so much stuff that originated with you and your team? That’s great, and hearing people’s reactions is helpful. But I think for anyone in this organization, when you walk into the arena and it’s full of fans, it reminds us why we do what we do. We get to walk into a building with 20,000 people who are pumped to be there.

And from a retail standpoint, how exciting is it being back in the playoffs? More hockey games makes everyone happy, right?

SEIZE THE SUN

STEP INTO PARADISE

Immerse yourself at Vegas’ Mykonos beach oasis, where toes belong in the sand and heads stay among the clouds. A new summer has begun in the Vegas pool scene – and it’s your time to shine.

AT VIRGIN HOTELS LAS VEGAS

High Style High Style High Style

High Style

BY GEOFF CARTER

The first time I visited an adultuse recreational cannabis dispensary was in October 2014, in Seattle, Washington. The dispensary had only been open a few months at that point, and its offerings were bare-bones by today’s standards: flower, dabs, edibles, prerolls. They were arranged inside a long glass case that might have once displayed jewelry or cameras, and I remember that the wall behind the counter was hung with a thick, wall-to-ceiling curtain.

“I have an inexplicable fear that we’re being punked by the Feds,” I whispered to my girlfriend. “Like, that curtain will drop, and a dozen agents will pour out.”

She agreed, eyes darting left and right. We hastened our purchase and walked back to our friend’s house at a brisk clip.

4 2 0

I have no doubt that Seattle dispensaries have evolved since then. Some of them might even be as calming, handsome and colorful as the dispensaries of the Las Vegas Valley, which are marvels of retail craft.

Drawing from the best practices of current retail presentation—think REI, or better still, the Apple Store—Vegas’ dispensaries are low-pressure, smartly arranged spaces with vibes that

range from zenlike to dazzling. And, considering that recreational cannabis now includes literally thousands of products, they’re gradually becoming bigger and bigger.

Take Planet 13, a genuinely fun dispensary that answers my question, “What if EPCOT had a weed pavilion?” Or Downtown’s NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, which I’ve described to visiting friends as “practically a weed IKEA,” and is currently expanding into an even larger space.

But it’s not all about size. The best dispensaries offer something memorable, something that has little to do with selling cannabis—whether it’s speakeasy cool (MedMen, Cookies), garden-like greenery (Cultivate, Jardin) or locally-made art (Sanctuary, Health for Life). And because Vegas’ dispensaries frequently change hands, they’re remodeled often; several dispensaries we checked out this past month, like Rise, were in the process of renewing themselves.

Here are a few Vegas dispensaries that are as much fun for the eyes as they are for your neurotransmitters. Get a good look at them now, because once consumption lounges become commonplace, they’ll likely change their approach all over again.

Vegas’ visually diverse dispensaries are redefining the retail experience

Planet 13

So much fun, even the robots are into it

“OMG. Is it that time? Is it 4:20?” an employee asks. Another employee rebukes her: “Stop making friends with those humans. You’ll get a virus.”

Fittingly enough for a sci-fi themed dispensary, Planet 13’s two most photogenic employees are robots. They perform various tasks inside Planet 13’s glass-walled production facility, but are seemingly never too busy to clown for selfies. And they’re far from the only photographic element of this massive, malllike complex, which also includes an interactive video floor, display cases with hovering platforms and a stickered-up microbus that smokes on command.

But Planet 13’s real draw is its dispensary floor, which is positively vast and boasts a staggering number of products. And when you make your selections and check out, it’s against the backdrop of a walllength, hi-def video screen, At Planet 13, it’s 4:20 all day long. 2548 W. Desert Inn Road #100, 702-8151313, planet13lasvegas.com.

NuLeaf

A little bit apothecary, a little bit co eehouse

When you enter NuLeaf’s Twain and Paradise location, you’re directed to the right, past a seating area softly illuminated by a vintage drugstore sign. An old-school pay phone—rotary dial!—hangs on a nearby wall. The sales floor is laid with a honeycomb of black-and-white hexagonal tiles, like your great-grandparents stood upon when they picked up their salves and tonics at the town apothecary.

NuLeaf feels a bit like that, if that turn-of-the-century apothecary was later taken over by a co eehouse, and that co eehouse became a dispensary. It’s friendly and calming, with a neighborly feel that carries over into its service. 430 E. Twain Ave., 702-297-5323, nuleafnv.com.

Cultivate

You don’t find many dispensaries with sales-floor windows. Sometimes there are windows in the waiting area, but then you’re buzzed into a windowless box (which is usually smartly decorated and merchandised, but still windowless.)

Cultivate, located at the western edge of the sprawling Chinatown district, flips that script. It has floor-to-ceiling windows that admit natural light by day—vital to Cultivate’s greenhouse-like assortment of live (non-cannabis) plants—and look out onto the middle Strip at night. Those windows make Cultivate feel wide open, yet isolated from the bustle surrounding it. Like a quiet corner of a city park, Cultivate is an ideal place to find your calm and take a bit of it home with you. 3615 Spring Mountain Road, 702-778-1173, cultivatelv.com.

Curiouser and curiouser

“I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other,” says the title character of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, “but the great question is ‘What?’”

Exhale, located on Flamingo Road just across the street from the Palms, handily answers that question with its broad selection of edibles, drinkables and smokables. And they’re arranged within sight of Alice herself and the ever-elusive White Rabbit, coolly depicted in a vibrant Brett Rosepiler mural.

There’s something refreshing in the way Exhale’s decor leans hard into psychedelia. Many dispensaries try to present the image of medical o ces or day spas. Exhale beckons you down the rabbit hole, where the Caterpillar is ready to pu -pu -pass the hookah. 4310 W. Flamingo Road, 702-447-1250, exhalebrands.com.

The outside world is in

(Courtesy)

(Brian Ramos/Sta )

(Christopher DeVargas/Sta )

These days, walking into a dispensary can feel a lot like a choose-your-own adventure. There’s so much to see (and try, once you get home), but that freedom can quickly become overwhelming. We consulted the experts at Deep Roots Harvest (deeprootsharvest.com) to recommend five musttry products.

Bluebirds

Smokers who prefer something strain-specific will appreciate Deep Roots’ in-house grown Bluebirds prerolls. Chris O’Ferrell, senior director of cultivation, says cannabis lovers who want a sweeter hit will gravitate toward fruity hybrids like Apples and Bananas and Apple Tarts, which have a higher terpene concentration.

For a smooth and tasty toke, consider the energizing Old School Lemons at 24.8% THC and Finger Lime, a hybrid with sativa-dominant properties that’ll pump up your productivity. O’Ferrell notes that newer strains are always in the works, and Deep Roots will soon o er 50/50 hybrids like Black Velvet and indica-based fl ower like Gush Mints, Point Break, Blueberry Mu n and LA Kush Cake.

Firebird Infused Prerolls

Sitting around 35-44% THC—a significant boost from the 18-25% of your average joint, these highly potent prerolls pack a seriously euphoric punch.

“The key word here is infused, so what we’re doing is taking a dab and mixing it with the flower. Similar to our Bluebirds, which is flower only, these now have cured resin and live resin,” says Dave Servati, production manager at Deep Roots Harvest.

“The e ect is obviously a lot stronger, so a Firebird may be more for experienced users.”

A hybrid strain such as the Banana Cream Tru e, said to deliver a high that’s both cerebral and body tingling, hovers around 44% THC, and you’re in a complete state of relaxation. For a happy medium, try the tart-flavored Member Berry, which hangs around with a pleasant, manageable buzz that will carry you through the day.

Prospectors Disposable Pen

A discreet alternative to rolling your own joints, Prospectors’ cartridges and disposable pens make smoking on the go simple, with dozens of distillate blends in the 79-94% THC range— and they’re never cut with chemicals.

“We only use botanical terpenes that we reintroduce at the distillate stage, meaning they are not made in a lab,” explains Staci Martinez, extraction supervisor at Deep Roots Harvest. “They are derived directly from the cannabis plant, so that sets us apart.”

For a calming e ect, try the indica-dominant Coma distillate. Hitting at 83.7% THC, this blend stimulates the senses with a crisp hint of spice that’ll make the day’s troubles go up in smoke.

Boom Town Concentrates

Recreational users who want a pure, potent and longer lasting high should look no further than Boom Town concentrates, which come in a variety of forms, including diamond, shatter, sugar and crumble.

“It’s hard live resin, shucked right o the plant, put into a vacuum sealed bag and frozen immediately to preserve all your terpenes and trichomes, which makes it a more flavorful, brighter, colorful concentrate versus your cured resin,” says Martinez. Cured resin, by comparison, is “shucked, hung and dried naturally,” she adds. Select varieties boast more complex terpene profiles like the aromatic and earthy Amaretto Sour. If the 70% THC range is where you wish to be, Boom Town’s a fine dab to lift o with.

Helix Gummies

Whether you’re an experienced user or looking to build your tolerance, you can’t go wrong with edibles. Helix Gummies come 10 to a pack, at about 100 mg of THC, and are perfect for people who “want to be a little bit more on the quiet side of using,” Servati says.

“Some people just don’t like to smoke, so this is a great alternative that has nice flavors,” he adds. “We have sour blue raspberry, cherry, orange, lime, and peach. And for newer users who are just experimenting with cannabis it’s a nice little introduction.”

Deep Roots’ Cheeba Chews, a ta y-like edible that comes in fresh flavors like apple, lemon and caramel also present a tasty option for a slow burn buzz. “Some people take the little caramels and drop them in their co ee and sip it along the day,” Servati says. “It’s a pretty casual way to get your

In High Demand

Deep Roots Harvest guides us to five must-try cannabis products

BY AMBER SAMPSON

4 2 0

$965,091

Rolling Numbers

Las Vegas’ cannabis consumption, expressed in facts and figures

BY GEOFF CARTER AND SHANNON MILLER

Cannabis is a star. Since Vegas’ first dispensaries opened in 2015, there’s been a lot of medical and adultuse recreational cannabis floating around the Valley—a lot of dispensaries, brands and products, enjoyed by visitors and locals alike. With the help of the Cannabis Compliance Board, the Nevada Cannabis Association and a few local retailers, here’s the Weekly’s attempt to quantify just how popular it is.

16,000 square feet

The size of NuWu’s soon-to-debut Sky High consumption lounge, inside its new, 40,000-square-foot dispensary complex on Main Street in Downtown Las Vegas

100

Number of strains Curaleaf offers at any given time, across all product formats (flower, edibles, etc.)

100

The approximate number of Strat towers you’d need to equal the number of prerolls Curaleaf sold in 2022, laid end-to-end. Here’s our math: Curaleaf sold approximately 231,000+ prerolls in 2022. The Strat tower is 1,149 feet, or 13,788 inches. A one-gram Curaleaf preroll is about 4 inches long; stacked one on each other, you’d need 3,447 to reach the top of the Strat. This would’ve been much easier to figure out if Curaleaf had a Strat-sized preroll. Hint, hint.

4 2 0

Number of active cannabis dispensaries in Nevada, according to the Cannabis Compliance Board

91,123

4 2 0

RECREATIONAL: 94.89%

Taxable sales of cannabis in 2022 (CCB)

Medical: 5.11%

18,400

That’s the number of agent cardholders (dispensary employees, cultivation house employees, etc.) as of January 2023, according to the Nevada Cannabis Association.

How can some dispensaries allow customers to pay at the register with debit cards?

Medical vs. adult-use recreational customers

in

total 2022 sales

(Calculation based on total sales, not the total number of of customer transactions)

30,400

$147 MILLION

An annual industry demographic survey by the CCB found that, of more than 18,000 agent cardholders surveyed (840 of which identified as cannabis board members, officers, business executives and owners), 60% identified as male and 39% as female; more than half (53%) identified as white, while 19% identified as “Hispanic” and 1% identified as Black.

Curaleaf’s top product categories in terms of units sold, from most to least

We’ve become accustomed to paying cash for cannabis as a result of the difference in legality between the state and federal governments. But some local dispensaries now offer customers the ability to use their debit cards at the register. A source at the Source explains how their “card transaction machines” work:

The total number of drive-thru transactions at Curaleaf’s Las Vegas Boulevard location in 2022

Flower Vapes

Edibles

Concentrates

Beverages

1. Customers use their debit cards on “mobile ATMs,” also called “ATM terminals.”

2. The mobile ATM converts the transaction to cash.

3. “For what started as a card transaction for the customer, we give change in cash,” says the Source employee.

Cannabis sales that went toward funding Nevada K-12 education in 2022 (NCA).

Number of provisional consumption lounge licenses announced by the CCB in November 2022, with 37 of those opting to open in unincorporated Clark County or the City of Las Vegas

40 1,110+ Products available at NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, including flower, vapes, CBD oil, concentrates and more

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

SUPERBLOOM IN THE WEST

From the mist-shrouded San Francisco Bay area to the deserts of Arizona near the Mexican border, there are flashes of color popping up after an unusually wet winter helped produce a so-called “Superbloom.”

NEWS

PHANTOM EXITS STAGE RIGHT

The final curtain came down April 16 on New York’s production of The Phantom of the Opera, ending Broadway’s longest-running show—35 years—with thunderous standing ovations, Champagne toasts and confetti bursting from its famous chandelier.

INTERIOR SECRETARY CELEBRATES AVI KWA AME

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland met the sunrise April 14 in southern Clark County at Avi Kwa Ame with sacred song and dance from the Mojave people who revere the mountain as the cradle of humanity and the surrounding desert as church.

“As I participated in the blessings and watched dancers grace the ground in unison with the songs, I was struck by the power and presence of the ancestors,” said Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation in March capping off a nearly 25-year journey to legally protect what is now Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. The site is about 80 miles from Las Vegas, near Laughlin.

The titular mountain, known in English as Spirit Mountain, along with more than half a million acres of culturally and ecologically significant surrounding lands are now federally protected from development.

On this day, the people who patiently ushered in the designation celebrated at another bright spot for Southern Nevada conservation, Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.

Haaland was joined there by leaders from the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe— one of about a dozen regional tribes to consider Avi Kwa Ame significant— along with Nevada Democratic U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cor-

tez Masto, and Nevada Democratic U.S. Reps. Susie Lee, Dina Titus and Steven Horsford.

Fort Mojave tribal leaders presented members of the congressional delegation with hunaak, a type of beaded necklace given to friends.

Tribal Administrator Ashley Hemmers explained that beadwork was hard to obtain. Mojave people believe that their spirit infuses their beadwork, and when they gift beadwork they also give pieces of themselves and their families.

At death, their regalia and belongings, including beadwork, are cremated in the desert, and all of the spirit within goes up to Avi Kwa Ame.

“When you feel that sunrise, you feel the spirit of all of those who left, and it’s the responsibility of all of our families to keep those memories, those traditions and those stories,” Hemmers said.

Avi Kwa Ame, then, is a source of life.

Professionally and culturally, as a member of the Pueblo of Laguna of New Mexico, Haaland knows she is obligated to protect and care for ancestral land. She was raised that way, she said.

“Everyone should feel a deep connection to the land because everything we need and everything we are comes from it,” Haaland said.

–Hillary Davis

TAXPAYERS WHO CALLED THE IRS HAD AN AVERAGE WAIT TIME OF 4 MINUTES THIS TAX SEASON, COMPARED TO 27 MINUTES ONE YEAR EARLIER.

TWITTER PAUSE

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation paused its use of Twitter on Monday after the social media platform stamped CBC’s account with a label the public broadcaster says is intended to undermine its credibility. NPR had done so the previous week.

NEVADA LEGISLATURE

LAWMAKERS PUSH FOR SAFER RAILWAYS

There are nearly 1,200 miles of Union Pacific Railroad track carrying freight through Nevada, rail cars loaded with everything from coal and chemicals to consumer goods.

After a series of train derailments nationally, including one in Ohio involving hazardous materials that set off two days of fires and the release of toxic chemicals, Nevada lawmakers are considering actions to make the rail system safer in the state.

A proposal being considered at the Legis -

lature would require that devices be placed along railways to detect potentially defective equipment and alert the onboard crew. Assembly Bill 456 passed out the Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure and is now headed to the full Assembly for consideration. The proposal also calls for any train that has come to a complete stop and is blocking a railroad-highway crossing to be cut or moved to clear the way for emergency vehicles.

–Casey Harrison

BILL BEING CONSIDERED TO END PANDEMIC MEASURES

One of the last remaining COVID-19 measures in Nevada might soon see its end, as state legislators consider passing a bill to repeal a COVID-19 law that mandated daily room cleaning in public accommodation facilities, including resorts and hotels like those on the Strip.

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on April 11 discussed Senate Bill 441, which would nullify some provisions of 2020’s SB4—a pandemic-era law that required additional health and safety measures in the hospitality industry. While opponents of the new legislation cited a need to protect guestroom attendants and codify pandemic preparedness, its supporters—including retail,

commerce and hotel representatives—said COVID-19 regulations outlined in the 2020 law made sense at the start of the pandemic but were no longer necessary.

“This isn’t a repeal of something we got wrong … this is a sunset of something we got right,” said state Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, who is sponsoring the bill. “It worked then, but it doesn’t work now.”

Dondero Loop emphasized that she was proud of SB4 and what it had accomplished during the uncertainty of the pandemic, but that the time had come to usher out COVID-19-era requirements and make way for post-pandemic health and safety standards.

BUSINESS

MSG SELLS TAO GROUP HOSPITALITY

New York-based Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., which is working to complete the construction of the $2.2 billion MSG Sphere venue near the Strip, has sold its ownership of Tao Group Hospitality to global investment company Mohari Hospitality for approximately $550 million. The transaction is expected to close next month.

Founded in 2017, Mohari is focused on luxury hospitality in prime urban and resort markets, including development and operations. Tao Group, first acquired by MSG in 2017, operates dozens of restaurants, nightclubs and lounges around the world, including prominent Las Vegas brands such as Tao, Hakkasan, Omnia, Beauty & Essex and Marquee. The company is preparing to open another Strip restaurant, Cathédrale, at Aria on April 28.

Mohari managing partner J. Allen Smith said in a statement the company is looking forward to working with the existing Tao management team “to continue growing Tao Group’s business.”

The 17,500-seat MSG Sphere is expected to open in September with the debut of a new concert residency from U2. –Brock Radke

Kevin Martinez, owner and lead trainer at the Doggy Dojo, and Daniella Church, K9 training apprentice, demonstrate some of the skills Hondo, a 4-year-old Australian Shepard, has learned as a protection dog.

(Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

–Katie Ann McCarver

Public-private partnerships transform an old Downtown motel into transitional housing

BRIDGE TO BETTERMENT

BY SHANNON MILLER

On one of the first warm mornings this spring, Clark County officials hosted a ribbon cutting at the site of the former Safari Motel on Fremont Street—now a bridge housing complex that provides supportive services for 50 clients at a time, or up to 184 homeless adults per year.

With U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford present, officials announced the 90-day bridge housing program was made possible through public-private partnerships. Although the housing is not exclusive to veterans, the local chapter of the national nonprofit U.S. Vets runs the housing, known as the BETterment Community.

Since opening in late February, the complex has served more than 20 clients, according to staff. Stephen, 56, a resident who declined to provide his last name, told the Weekly that he feels staffers there “want you to succeed.” Prior to losing his job at a gaming counting room in February, he was living paycheck to paycheck, he explained, but was “never homeless.”

“We don’t feel set aside here. Everybody’s got their own story,” he said as he helped put away chairs at the April 6 ribbon cutting.

Giovanni Lo Magno, BETterment’s program manager, says the program can help during a transition point that largely hinges on making a steady paycheck.

“I’ve had clients living here who’ve told me, ‘I can’t get anywhere in the shelter,’ because they put you out at 6 in the morning. You have to go back at 8 o’clock so you can take a shower, but you may be waiting until 12 o’clock. By then, your day is over,” he says.

“Here, we afford them the opportunity to have their own space, be able to go out and look for an appointment. … We try to wrap every single service around them that they possibly need.” For example, transportation for

medical appointments, getting ID, volunteer opportunities to build a résumé, internet access to apply for jobs or help with job interviews, he says.

Bridge housing is designed to serve as temporary housing for those transitioning from homelessness. On any given night, more than 5,600 estimated Southern Nevada residents are sleeping in emergency shelters or on the street.

“We need 50 more of these, and that is [our] focus … in terms of how we provide this to people with successful outcomes,” county manager Kevin Schiller said during his remarks at the event. “As we look to the models that we’re funding, and we look to shelters and other pieces, we have really moved to this model of public-private partnerships, so we can have four walls around individuals with services. That is so important to the success of where we go.”

Clark County has put $4 million toward two years of BETterment, the “BET” portion of which stands for Bridge, Employment and Training. Supportive services include case management, provided

by local nonprofit Caridad, and employment assistance from Help of Southern Nevada.

Haley Exon, BETterment’s project director, acknowledged that 90 days, an industry standard, is a “short time frame” to transition to permanent housing. “We focus solely on employment, training and housing,” she said at the event, adding that their model includes “therapeutic classes, and what we call a ‘therapeutic community.’”

The renovated motel provides a unique Vegas vibe and includes wheelchair-accessible rooms, laundry machines and a spacious courtyard with a zen garden donated by the Venetian. Each room includes a bed, closet, bathroom and kitchen equipped with a refrigerator and appliances.

“There’s nothing [of this nature] across the country,” Michele Fuller-Hallauer, Clark County’s social services manager, said at the event. The seed of the project initially was planted in 2019, when she noticed a bottleneck in bridge housing services for homeless residents.

“I told [Schiller] that, in the fall

of 2019, we had 2,000 people in our community queue—our list of folks who’ve had housing assessments and who’ve let us know that they’re ready to be housed. And of that 2,000, we had about 1,000 that really only needed employment assistance to get back on their feet and some assistance getting housed,” she explained.

Fuller-Hallauer said she looked to a bridge housing program run by U.S. Vets as a potential model that could work.

“Providing supportive services in bridge housing is a proven solution in an individual’s journey toward sustained recovery and stability,” Shalimar Cabrera, executive director for U.S. Vets Las Vegas, said in a statement following the ribbon cutting. “We’re pleased to lead an effort that can help individuals transition into long-term housing.”

Stephen Peck, president of U.S. Vets, said that since the nonprofit started in the early ’90s, it has helped reduce homelessness for U.S. veterans by about 85% in areas in which it operates.

“The number of veterans experiencing homelessness in our community is going down, while the number of individuals who are non-veterans and experiencing homelessness is going up,” Cabrera said during his remarks. “And even since that time, it’s gone up [more than] double, since 2020.”

Fuller-Hallauer says that today, about 1,500 people in the Valley are in need of bridge housing, and the county’s community queue is now some 4,000 names long—double the amount from 2019.

Lo Magno—once a client of U.S. Vets and now an employee—says this kind of supportive housing and programming “saves lives. It gives them something to put on their résumé. It gives them a sense of community. And when they’re helping each other out, it shows that they truly care.”

U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford tours a room during the BETterment Community launch. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

SPACE TRAVELERS

Resurgent New Zealand trio Bailterspace brings its noisy brand of shoegaze to Las Vegas (at last)

BAILTERSPACE With The Acid Sisters, Orange Eats Creeps. April 23, 8 p.m., $15-$20. Artifice, eventbrite.com.

(Courtesy)

NOISE

BY SPENCER PATTERSON

When Matador Records celebrated its 21st birthday at the Palms in Las Vegas in 2010, locals were treated to sets from ’90s indie titans like Pavement, Guided By Voices, Cat Power and Belle & Sebastian. One key band from the era that didn’t make it here for the party, however, was New Zealand’s Bailterspace. ¶ That rock trio, which began life as The Gordons in 1980 before re-emerging under its new name in 1987, released a string of noisy-yet-hypnotic albums on Matador in the U.S. and on the seminal Flying Nun Records in its home country. The band has been less active in recent years but still releases new music and performs on occasion—and on April 23, Bailterspace will play its first-ever Las Vegas show, at Artifice in Downtown’s 18b Arts District. ¶ The Weekly tracked down singer/songwriter/ guitarist Alister Parker for a rare interview from his home in New York City, a few weeks before the group headed out for a six-date U.S. run.

You’re only doing six U.S. shows, and Las Vegas got one. How? So, like, three months ago, I decided we should do a show in New York. And we sorted a sellout show, actually, at the Mercury Lounge. And then I thought, I’ll put together six shows around the U.S., just to say, “Bailterspace are present. Here we are.” We wanted to play in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and I said, we’re gonna need one other show [on the West Coast]. [And our booking agent said,] I can get a Las Vegas show for you. And I’m like, yeah, never been there. So this is a first, a new one for Bailterspace, and something very exciting.

If things go well with these gigs, might there be more? Yeah, that’s sort of the idea. We love to play. And I think it’s gonna be a really sensational

evening in Las Vegas. We’re gonna play some beautiful music.

Without spoiling anything, what might the setlist feel like? At the moment, I have a pool of songs written down on bits of paper, about 24 tunes. And then normally, I chose the songs on the night that we play, and then off it goes. It’s a sonic thing, and it’s got a movement to it, if you like.

Matador reissued the band’s fifth album, 1995’s Wammo, on vinyl two years ago, but most of your catalog remains out of print. Are there plans to press others?

Definitely, but it’s not the same as it used to be, where I could just call up a record company and go, “All right, we’ve got this ready to go.” So we’re gonna press our own vinyl, like we

pressed our own CD release of [2020 album] Concret

Let’s talk about that latest album, which to me fits nicely into your catalog as a whole. How did the recording process work for it? You and drummer Brent McLachlan live in the States, and bassist John Halvorsen lives in New Zealand, correct? That’s right, Halvorsen lives back in New Zealand, so we’re touring with [bassist] Eric Klaastad, who we played with at the Mercury Lounge and we’re rehearsing with at the moment. He’s fantastic.

But we managed to get to New Zealand, and we booked this fantastic studio and knocked Concret out in like five days, rehearsing, doing vocals, and then there were a couple more days mixing things there.

You’ve also been putting quite a bit of old material up on Bandcamp—live shows, demos and such. Is that something you enjoy, the archival aspect? Oh, I love it. It’s been a marvelous thing for the group, and it’s hit a spot with people all over the world. There’s gonna be some new things turning up on Bandcamp shortly. We’re getting some archival tapes transferred at the moment. I really like keeping it going.

You guys lost a friend and a former bandmate earlier

this year. When you reflect on your time with [founding Bailterspace drummer] Hamish Kilgour, what comes to mind? I miss Hamish, and I grieve for him. He was the most amazing person to work with, and we played a lot of stuff together, him and I, and wrote together a lot. He was quite the artist, mate.

A lot’s been said and written about the New Zealand scene and Flying Nun in the ’80s, but what did that time mean to you? We had a really amicable relationship with all of those groups, The Clean and Straitjacket Fits, the whole lot, but we knew that we had our own thing going. We used to call ourselves an art movement (laughs). But there was total respect between all of those groups.

You know, one of the things that we used to do was, we would walk into a venue, ring the room and then make it sound really loud. It wasn’t all that loud, really—it just sounded loud. We just used harmonics, and rang the room out. It’s about resonance and we’re, I think, quite good at it. We’re a bunch of engineers, in a way, so we listen to the room and then we know what it’s gonna turn out like later. And then you know, give the sound engineer a bit of a talking to (laughs).

For more of this interview, visit lasvegasweekly.com.

NIGHTS

SIZZLING SOUNDS

Acraze ’s hot dance music takes up residence at Wynn

BY BROCK RADKE

Acraze is on a bit of a hot streak. The rising DJ born Charlie Duncker in Staten Island, New York, made a major breakthrough two years ago with “Do It to It,” a thumping evolution of R&B girl group Cherish’s 2006 hit. (You definitely know it—“Bounce with it, drop with it, lean with it, rock with it.”)

The track’s prominence in clubs across the country helped Acraze book his first Vegas residency at Hakkasan, and then he dropped deep house anthem “Believe,” crafted with production duo Goodboys, along with an infectious remix of the Sam Smith-Kim Petras smash “Unholy.”

Acraze has continued to step it up this year with a new residency at Wynn—including two sets this week at Encore Beach Club—and another sticky single with “Take Me Away,” also built on an incredibly familiar pop refrain.

“I probably started working on that record two years ago, listening to the Natasha Bedingfield song ‘Pocketful

of Sunshine,’ and I heard that part ‘Take me away’ and just thought it could sound crazy as a [dance song],” Acraze tells the Weekly. “I just couldn’t figure out the actual structure for it, so I gave up on it for a bit and it sat on my computer for a year.”

He polished the track and showcased it as his opener during an epic set last year at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris with DJ Snake, “and it absolutely went off. Then everyone was asking for it, so I finished it up but couldn’t get [samples] cleared for a while, because we couldn’t get in touch with Natasha.”

When Team Acraze finally connected with the U.K. singer and songwriter, she didn’t just clear it, she wanted to get involved. Bedingfield performed her original song during Acraze’s Hollywood Palladium show in January. “It was really cool and super iconic, because everyone knows that record,” he says. “We did my version, and it was just super cool to see both her and the universe of music she comes from, and

how that works in the dance world.”

That kind of musical moment-making that has boosted Acraze into the upper echelon of EDM. That sensibility also makes him perfect for Vegas.

“Honestly, it was never my goal to have a residency in Vegas. I thought that was out of my reach,” he says. “But once I started, it felt awesome … and I feel like my shows do well at venues where you’re selling tables and bottles. Just going from my own small shows to ticketed shows to doing stuff in Vegas, it doesn’t feel too different; it doesn’t feel out of reach.”

Acraze plans to keep the Strip dancing all year long by releasing a half-dozen more new tracks, and he’s booking more performances around the world this year than ever before, including a trip to Australia and some first-time festivals.

“I’m still tweaking those tracks, and I’m definitely dabbling in different sounds,” he says, “but when it all comes together, it will feel like me.”

(Courtesy)

ACRAZE April 23, noon, Encore Beach Club; April 26, 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night; $20-$30, wynnsocial.com.

SPRING AWAKENING

Courtesy of the artist and RYAN LEE Gallery

BY AMBER SAMPSON

Aesthetically speaking, Bellagio is always in season. With the help of a small horticulturist army, the Strip hotel and casino transforms its 14,000-square-foot conservatory and botanical gardens into a blooming arcadia every few months. It’s a symbolic tradition, imbued with the intention of a fresh, life-a rming start. And in many ways, Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art’s springtime exhibit, In Bloom, is a harmonious extension of that.

“In Bloom connects our shared experience of seasonal change and rebirth to artworks that either address ideas of transformation directly, subversively or abstractly,” Demecina Beehn, director of art and culture for MGM Resorts, explained in a press release. “With this exhibition, we ask our audience to consider their perspective around the new growth that comes after a cold winter.”

Through the vibrant display of more than 20 globally recognized contemporary artists’ works, In Bloom sprouts new narratives around humanity, identity, rejuvenation and what drives us to transform. In collaboration with the Tia Collection in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Bellagio Gallery selected paintings, sculptures, sketches and portraits by Regina Bogat, Salvador Dalí, Nick Cave, Martine Gutierrez, Alex Katz and many more to challenge our conventional understandings of change—and to inspire us.

Here are a few works that stood out during my recent visit.

“Soundsuit 8:46” (2021)

by Nick Cave

Standing over 8 feet tall, this

In Bloom inspires through its artwork

IN BLOOM

Through September 10; daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; $20. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, bellagio.mgmresorts.com.

regalia of the mystical Flower Prince with nose and lip jewelry, textured garbs and a crown of braids and metallic owers, “Xochipilli” is a hallucinatory vision. As a trans artist exploring identity, sexuality and everything in between, Gutierrez has always been her own muse. The Brooklyn-based artist spent four years creating Indigenous Woman, a 124-page magazine highlighting portraits of Indigenous deities in high fashion, and each portrayal loosens the rigid constructs of gender. By embracing femininity and masculinity to exaggerated lengths, Gutierrez challenges us to move beyond the boundaries we unconsciously set for ourselves.

“Bicycle Basket With Flowers” (2014) by Ai Weiwei

After being detained for 81 days by the Chinese government for baseless economic crimes and having his travel restricted for more than two years, artist Ai Weiwei fought back.

piece is as menacing as the story behind it. Following the brutal beating of Rodney King in 1991, Cave, a Black, Missouri-born sculptor, erected his original “Soundsuit,” a life-size costume consisting of hundreds of small, jagged twigs.

“I built this sort of suit of armor, and by putting it on, I realized that I could make a sound from moving in it,” Cave told The Washington Post in 2012. “It made me think of ideas around protest and how we should be a voice and speak louder.”

“Soundsuit 8:46” carries that mantle of social justice forward. But here, instead of twigs, it’s adorned in bright sequins and silk oral arrangements similar to the May Queen costume in the 2019 lm Midsommar. The added “8:46”

numbers refer to the duration of time Minnesota police o cer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck before he died. (It’s now estimated to have been even longer.)

Powerful doesn’t begin to describe Cave’s visual embodiment of this story. His soundsuits, while physical manifestations of the past, motivate me to never forget what we’re ghting to see changed in our future.

“Demons,

Xochipilli, The Flower Prince” (2018)

by Martine Gutierrez

In this stunning portrait, model and photographer Martine Gutierrez feminizes the persona of Xochipilli, the male Aztec god of art, owers and games, with a tie to the queer community. Adorned in the

In 2013, the outspoken activist announced a plan to place a bouquet of owers into the basket of a bicycle outside his studio every day until his passport was returned. The act drew the attention of The New York Times and other national publications as Weiwei protested for his freedom. Two years went by before he received it. “Expressing oneself is a part of being human,” he has said. “To be deprived of a voice is to be told you are not a participant in society; ultimately it is a denial of humanity.”

These porcelain owers are a commemoration of Weiwei’s power struggle. They’re a showpiece of resistance, and a reminder that change doesn’t always happen overnight, but it can over time.

Bellagio’s

(Above) Ai Weiwei’s “Bicycle Basket With Flowers”

(Left) Martine Gutierrez’s “Demons, Xochipilli, the Flower Prince”

(Courtesy/Tia Collection)

HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON

FOOD + DRINK

Pancake ights are universal. That’s why Snooze, a Colorado-based breakfast joint chain planning to open three to ve restaurants in Las Vegas in the coming years, didn’t have to make big changes to its menu to cozy up to local diners. The Summerlin-area store that made its debut in early December was a hit right o the bat, thanks partly to that customizable hotcake o ering.

“The pancake ight ($13) is one of our signatures, and historically, it’s always been a great seller,” says regional manager Zac Woods. “There are three di erent pancakes you can pick, or you can switch it up and do two of one kind, or even throw some French toast on there.”

Or, if you dig one avor above all, just go with a full order of Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes ($11), u y discs layered with caramelized pineapple chunks, vanilla crème and cinnamon butter; the similarly sweet Blueberry Danish Pancakes ($11) with their almond streusel and lemon

cream cheese lling; or the unique Sweet Potato Pancakes ($11) with caramel, candied pecans and ginger butter.

“Breakfast but different” is Snooze’s slogan, and while its menu—also loaded with vegetarian dishes, various Benedict options and breakfast tacos and burritos—and its atmosphere might separate it from other local morning hot spots, it’s a similar experience to other Snoozes in states like Arizona, California, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee.

“We put a fun spin on our menu items, but we’re also big on atmosphere and culture,” Woods says. “There’s not really competition for our model. So far, we’ve been busier than what we planned and budgeted for, which is nice. We didn’t do a lot of pre-marketing, because we … like to sort of ease into a new market and let the cooks and servers and baristas get their footing. But we’re [ahead] of our plans at the moment.”

A new neighborhood breakfast spot builds buzz

BY BROCK RADKE

A pancake flight at Snooze (Courtesy)

Snooze grabbed a prime location in a former retail space at the bustling corner of Charleston and Rampart, where neighbors already visit often to dine at Honey Salt and North Italia. The next location will open at Sunset and Durango in the southwest Valley.

In the meantime, Snooze just rolled out spring menu options including the Love You E’lote breakfast pasta, spaghettini tossed in cotija cream sauce with roasted corn and other veggies and topped with a sunny-side up egg; adobo roasted veggie breakfast tacos with soft-scrambled eggs, pickled red onions and cilantro garlic aioli; and the Double Bacon Sandwich, a brioche roll stacked with havarti cheese, an over-medium egg, bacon and cider-braised habanero pork belly. And the wildly popular, house-made bloody mary ($9) gets a Korean kick with its spicy kimchi version, laden with tamari soy and gochujang. That’ll wake you up and wash down those pancakes.

REACHING FOR ROOTS

The Istorya Origins pop-up series tells stories with its food

BY BROCK RADKE

Walbert Castillo is a storyteller. He has only been in Las Vegas for a year and a half, but the documentary producer—latest project Climate Next is streaming on Prime Video—has already begun sharing the stories of his immigrant family and cultural identity through something that bonds us all together: food.

SNOOZE

1075 S. Rampart Blvd., 725-258-4750, snoozeeatery.com.

Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

ISTORYA ORIGINS

POP-UP DINNER

Originally from the Chicago area, Castillo moved from Washington, D.C., to Vegas to help take care of his parents, and when he learned about the abundant and dynamic Filipino community here, he knew he was in the right place to continue the story he had already started scripting. “My parents immigrated to this country in the 1970s; my mom had me at age 46 … and I’m an only child. I’ve always felt disconnected to my heritage,” he says. “Growing up, I joined groups and organizations that were specifically Filipino to learn more about my culture, where I come from, and the one thing I noticed across these organizations is that the feeling of being disconnected is shared by many.”

April 25, 5 p.m., limited walk-in reservations available at secretburger. com. Vegas Test Kitchen, istoryalv.com.

dinner concept that has already hosted a few events in Las Vegas. With help from a creative team and the talents of Catherine Carlucci—former executive sous chef at Momofuku—Istorya’s Origin series is highlighting the cuisine of the pre-colonial Philippines, a topic researched deeply by Castillo in collaboration with author and historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, vice president of the Food Writers Association of the Philippines. That means the ceviche-like kinilaw with bigeye tuna, coconut and lime, and the fire-roasted ube with turmeric cream served at this week’s sold-out pop-up at Vegas Test Kitchen is food you won’t get anywhere else, and a story you won’t consume any other way. “This is still Chapter 1, and in the ingredients we’re serving are inspired by what was native to the island before 300 years of colonization,” Castillo says. “We want to tell these di erent chapters over time. The second might be a Chinese-influenced menu, the third might be Spanish.”

Creating and strengthening those connections is one of the primary goals of Istorya, Castillo’s experiential pop-up

If you can’t snag a seat at the Test Kitchen, don’t worry—the series will continue, and those ready for the next chapter should subscribe to the newsletter at istoryalv.com for updates. Castillo and his team plan to keep building in Las Vegas and eventually take the experience across the country, making more connections before ultimately working on a restaurant. There’s a lot left to this story.

Kinilaw tuna carpaccio, part of Istorya’s Origin menu (Courtesy)

PRIME PRIZEFIGHT

Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia break boxing norms while putting their undefeated records at risk

BY CASE KEEFER

Cynical longtime boxing fans surely thought discussions for a ght between young superstars Gervonta “Tank” Davis and “King” Ryan Garcia would go nowhere when they began last year.

Many of the same hurdles that have tripped up countless potential blockbuster bouts in the past stood in the way of Davis vs. Garcia. There were legal issues (with Davis), competing network and streaming-service interests (Davis ghts on Showtime, while Garcia is partnered with DAZN) and major contract disputes (headlined by a disagreement on a rematch clause).

But somehow, the camps for Garcia, who’s represented by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and Davis, who’s associated with longtime boxing power broker Al Haymon and his Premier Boxing Champions brand, navigated through them all. The two undefeated boxers are set to face o on April 22 at T-Mobile Arena in one of the biggest ghts the sport could currently put together.

“This is the ght to save boxing,” De La Hoya said at Garcia’s media workout in LA 10 days before ght night. “The reason why is, you have two young guys, two undefeated guys who are the best of the best, willing to ght each other. You can see and feel the anticipation.”

Any lingering skeptics of the appeal of Davis vs. Garcia—the rst boxing match of the year at the 20,000-seat venue on the Strip —had to admit defeat when tickets went on sale. The bout sold out in under ve minutes.

Ticket prices on resale websites have yet to dip under $500, with ringside seats fetching as much

as $30,000. De La Hoya, who can be prone to overexaggeration, predicts more than 2 million buys for the pay-per-view.

The sheer numbers accumulating before the ght might be throwing o boxing purists because of the way the 28-year-old Davis and the 24-yearold Garcia have reached the pinnacle of the sport. It hasn’t been through the traditional method of racking up the most prestigious titles and cleaning out all other viable contenders.

Neither Davis nor Garcia in fact hold any major championship belts going into their 136-pound catchweight showdown. They have both proven themselves with a number of dominant, vicious knockout victories, but their popularity has skyrocketed more via social-media clips and presence than through trophy cases.

Garcia has 9.5 million Instagram followers; Davis has 4.6 million. Instead of trying to preserve their auras of invincibility and letting the wide-ranging political pressures of boxing get in the way, they used their in uence to demand a ght between the two.

“If the fans reward this type of event, where two young ghters put it all on the line and they’re both superstars and they’re making money regardless without each other, it will inspire other ghters,” Garcia told Mike Tyson on the former heavyweight champion’s Hotboxin’ podcast. “This will show other ghters this is how you do it. This is where it’s going. This is the trend.”

That philosophy breaks from generations of ghters who have preceding Davis and Garcia. Most famously in the past couple of decades, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao could

never reach a deal to ght one another in their primes, despite being the top two ranked poundfor-pound ghters at around the same weight. By the time they nally met in 2015, both were in their late 30s, with Mayweather’s unanimous-decision win remembered as a letdown and a failure for boxing to fully capitalize on its best-selling ght of all-time (4.6 million pay-perview buys).

In this ght, Garcia would have to be considered the Pacquiao to Davis’ Mayweather. The former has a slightly ashier style, relying on hand speed and freakish punching power. Davis, on the other hand, is more skilled in defense and overall technique, clearly taking some cues from Mayweather, his former promoter and mentor.

Even the betting odds are close to the same; Mayweather was mostly around a -225 (i.e. risking $225 to win $100) favorite, with Pacquiao coming back at roughly +185 (i.e. risking $100 to win $185). Davis is most commonly a -260 favorite, with Garcia o ered at +220.

Mayweather’s victory over Pacquiao eight years ago secured his place as the preeminent boxer of his era. Although Davis vs. Garcia won’t quite reach such commercial heights, the stakes are similar, with the ght being billed as a chance to determine the current “face of boxing”—at least in the United States.

The super ght might not be as long-awaited as its predecessors, but it shapes up as every bit as signi cant. “This one ght means more than the thousand ghts I’ve been in,” Davis said. “He’s a star. I’m a star. I needed a dance partner. We want to see who’s the best, really.”

PRIME PRIZEFIGHT

DAVIS VS. GARCIA

When: April 22, preliminary card, 3 p.m., pay-perview 5 p.m. main event expected around 7:30 p.m.

Where: T-Mobile Arena

Tickets: Sold out but available through secondary and resale ticket sites

Pay-per-view: $85 on Showtime, or $60 on DAZN for existing subscribers

“KING” RYAN GARCIA

TALE OF THE TAPE

GREEN BEER ISN’T JUST FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY

BY KATIE ANN MCCARVER VEGAS INC STAFF

Linda Lovelady and her husband, Richard, have always loved the outdoors and have worked to make their home an eco-friendly one.

When the couple opened their Henderson business—Lovelady Brewing Company—nearly a decade ago, they approached it with the same attitude of sustainability.

The Loveladys use paper bags and cups, compostable eating utensils and more to make their business green. Like all breweries in the Las Vegas Valley, Linda Lovelady said, their business gives its spent grain—a common food waste in the industry—to a local ostrich farmer.

“I think climate change is already here—we’re seeing the effects of it now,” she said. “And I think it’s only going to get worse. And I think everybody needs to do what they can to make a difference.”

She had the opportunity to discuss green practices April 5 at a Sustainable Brewery Summit, hosted at her Henderson taproom by the Nevada Green Business Network and the Nevada Craft Brewers Association.

The summit, attended by local brewers, distillers and others, included a range of presentations on sustainable practices, from energy efficiency—like adjusting refrigeration temperatures and turning off unnecessary power—to reducing and reusing waste—whether that’s composting or

using recyclable straws, can packs and other products.

Erica Gallegos, a Green Business Network speaker at the summit, pointed to checking for and repairing any leaks that could lead to water waste, drought-tolerant landscaping and curbing pollution output as other ways breweries can be sustainable.

The Green Business Network offers a statewide certification program, which recognizes efforts by businesses to save energy, reduce waste, prevent pollution and more that can help transition Nevada to an eco-friendly economy.

“We’re very hands-on,” Gallegos said of the certification process. “We try to help you as much as possible and make sure it’s not too cumbersome.”

She outlined how breweries can be sustainable both in general and in industry-specific ways, and ultimately become green-certified by completing a checklist of environmental practices and passing an on-site visit from the organization.

Some green certifications by other organizations are too rigorous and expensive for small businesses, Gallegos said. The Green Business Network’s program is free, voluntary and straightforward to make being sustainable easy—though, she added, there is always a monetary investment when it comes to sustainable alternatives.

“I know it can seem a little overwhelming hearing it all at once … but I promise it’s not as bad as it seems,” she told attendees at the summit, which also included speakers from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Core Cans from Sacramento, California. “Your green business advisers are here to hold your hand through the process and make things easier for you.”

Another aspect of the brewing process to consider when it comes to sustainability is the use of carbon dioxide (CO2). Lance Rainwater with Denver’s Green CO2 Systems pointed out during the summit that Las Vegas does not have its own CO2 production facilities, so the compound must be delivered from other areas.

Green CO2 Systems has delivered CO2 from production facilities—which might have fertilizer plants or use ethanol—in the past, Rainwater said, but has since opted for a more natural capture of the compound.

“We decided to go with something that didn’t rely on manufacturing,” he said. “We pulled it out of a natural well.”

He thanked brewers in attendance at the summit for being intentional about sustainability and especially CO2—like understanding where it comes from, how it’s transported and how it can be recaptured.

CO2 recapturing systems, solar panels and other sustainable practices might be difficult for smaller businesses, said Lovelady, who is also the legislative chairperson for the Nevada Craft Brewers Association.

But “baby steps” exist for brewery owners to take and still make a difference, she said, and events like the summit give them an idea of how to get started.

“There are always little things that you can do, and then you start to look for, ‘OK, we did this, this and this,’” Lovelady said. “‘What’s the next thing we can do?’”

Linda Lovelady holds up a compostable and biodegradable Eco Six Pack Ring during the Sustainable Brewery Summit at Lovelady Brewing Company on April 5. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

VEGAS INC NOTES

Spotlighting the best in business

American Nevada Company has expanded its accounting staff, hiring Emily Hammond as a senior accountant. Hammond will serve under controller Kathy Marrott and be responsible for preparing and analyzing financial statements, performing account reconciliations, maintaining ledgers and monitoring budgets and forecasts. Hammond has held various accounting positions since 2017, most recently as a property accountant for Thomas Duke Company in Farmington Hills, Michigan, working remotely while she made her new home in Southern Nevada.

Las Vegas-based cashless credit firm Marker Trax hired Val Apoderado as vice president of IT operations and engineering. He will serve as an adviser on all processes, systems and data issues, in addition to ongoing product performance and enhancement. Over a two-decadeplus career in technology operations across multiple industries, Apoderado has built and managed complicated cybersecurity, compliance and governance programs for companies such as Wynn Resorts, Nevada Cancer Institute, Shift4 Payments and others.

PT’s Taverns opened its 65th tavern in Nevada, a PT’s Gold at 8416 W. Desert Inn Road.

Howard & Howard Attorneys announced the addition of David Edelblute to its litigation practice group. He joins the firm as a partner in the Las Vegas office. Edelblute focuses his practice on commercial litigation, real estate and government affairs. He has represented a range of corporate clients, from Fortune 500 companies to local small businesses, primarily in highly regulated or privileged licensed industries, including banking, construction, cannabis, development, gaming, liquor and health care.

UnCommons, Matter Real Estate Group’s 40-acre workplace and mixed-use community, appointed Heather Vincent as community events lead. Bringing nearly two decades of experience in production and event management to this new role, Vincent will manage all commercial events and establish efficiencies in booking property events to maximize sales revenue at UnCommons. Prior to joining UnCommons, Vincent was a freelance producer and event manager for five years, curating weddings, fashion shows, pop-up shows and more for clients such as Credit One Bank, R&R Partners and FiveSix Productions.

Urology Specialists of Nevada added a new health care provider. Maria Eleanor Janus Cayanan, APRN, works at the 2010 Wellness Way location.

Val Apoderado, Marker Trax

David Edelblute, Howard & Howard Attorneys

Dr. Kash Inc. located in Las Vegas, NV is seeking a Marketing Specialist with High School Diploma and 2 years experience.

Please send your resume to: DrKavehkashani@yahoo.com

InPatient Consultants of Nevada, Inc., a Medical Corporation, seeks Hospitalist Physicians in Las Vegas, NV to provide prof. med. health care duties & serves as the physician for hospitalized patients. Med Deg.; Elig. for state med. lic.; residency completed in Int. or Fam. Med. Email: TIFFANY_GOINS@TEAMHEALTH.COM and reference job 532

JOB LISTING

Assistant Casino Controllers sought by Maple Leaf Management Nevada, Inc., Las Vegas, NV to mntn & ovrsee gnrl ledger fnctn & cntrls. Rqrs. Degree and/or exp’d wrkg w/ fincl rportg w/in casino & hotel industry, etc.

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OSCAR MAYER WIENERMOBILE OF LOVE | APRIL 14, 2023 | 6:16 P.M. People who park sideways are the wurst, frankly. If anyone gets a pass, it’s the mustard, know what I mean? Meta is buying a hot dog from a hot dog, but is that implied cannibalism? There aren’t nearly enough food-shaped cars in the world, and food trucks should be edible, if you really think about it. And with that door in the middle … are they saying we’re meant to eat a hot dog from the center? Try it, and let me know how it goes. Wiener takes all. –Corlene Byrd

(Corlene Byrd/Staff)