2023-06-15-Las-Vegas-Weekly

MARGARITA MONDAY

$5 Margaritas (Sorry, Taco Tuesday)

June 26

Sip $5 margaritas from 11AM – 11PM

Live Mariachi band from 6PM – 8PM

Must be 21+ years of age. Drink Responsibly.

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)

Deputy Editor 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

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 2275 Corporate Circle Suite 300 Henderson, NV 89074 702-990-2550

lasvegasweekly.com

facebook.com/lasvegasweekly twitter.com/lasvegasweekly

All content is copyright Las Vegas Weekly LLC. Las Vegas Weekly is published Thursdays and distributed throughout Southern Nevada. Readers are permitted one free copy per issue. Additional copies are $2, available back issues $3.

ADVERTISING DEADLINE EVERY THURSDAY AT 5 P.M.

SUPERGUIDE

Your daily events planner, starring

COVER STORY

a Weekly

NIGHTS

NOISE

FOOD & DRINK

ever

He’s performed at Coachella and Electric Forest, and now DJ/producer Frameworks is coming to the Wall at Area 15.

The Dollheads, Past Self, Dizzy Wright and The Rhyolite Sound feature in our latest edition of Local Music Notes.

Café Lola’s rapid, Instagram-aided ascent, plus addictive ceviche at Mezcla.

SPORTS Football season fast approaches, and Case Keefer’s got six suggestions for betting the college and pro games right now.

Mural at Doolittle Avenue & H Street

Photograph by Wade Vandervort

Erykah Badu, Elvis Costello, Goldie, a ‘Call of Duty’ throwdown and more.

THE WEEKLY Q&A

Chatting with OG Vegas punk Rob Ruckus, who reports he’s happier than

in his new role at the Punk Rock Museum.

Conversation from

roundtable on Juneteenth and the Black experience in Las Vegas.

The Dollheads (Courtesy/ Tiffany Salerno)

THURSDAY SUPERGUIDE

MUSIC

JUN.

15

LAIDBACK LUKE

With Father Kap, Pepe Orro, 10 p.m., We All Scream, seetickets.us.

LAS VEGAS ACES VS. SEATTLE STORM 7 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

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

HELLO SEAHORSE! With Dama Vicke, 8 p.m., the Usual Place, eventbrite.com.

SPORTS

ARTS

FOOD + DRINK

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND Noon, thru 6/18, Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com.

ZACH RYAN 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Downtown, thesanddollarlv.com.

KASKADE With Elderbrook, 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

NEVADA CLAY GUILD: 18TH ANNUAL MEMBER EXHIBIT Reception 5 p.m., exhibit thru 8/26, Sahara West Library Gallery, nvclay.org.

VEGAS CITY OPERA: CINDERELLA 8 p.m., & 6/16-6/17, 6/21, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, super summertheatre.org.

CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE FINALS 4 p.m. (& 6/18, 3 p.m.), Allegiant Stadium, ticketmaster.com.

HUMAN NATURE 6:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

BARRY MANILOW 7 p.m., thru 6/17, Westgate International Theater, ticketmaster.com.

PAULY SHORE 9 p.m., & 6/16 (& 6/17, 8 & 10:30 p.m.), Wiseguys, vegas.wiseguyscomedy.com.

SAVAGE MASTER With Crossed Hearts, Riyah, Sorrowseed, 8 p.m., Dive Bar, eventbrite.com.

Hello Seahorse! vocalist Denise Gutiérrez (AP Photo)

FRIDAY SUPERGUIDE

HENDERSON JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL

Thru 6/19, times vary, Water Street Plaza, cityofhenderson.com.

ADELE 8 p.m., & 6/17, the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com

BILL MAHER 9 p.m., & 6/17, David Copperfield Theater, mgmgrand.mgmresorts.com.

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

USHER 9 p.m., & 6/17, 6/20, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

KEITH URBAN 8 p.m., & 6/17, 6/21, Bakkt Theater, ticketmaster.com.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

LIVE: VIEW FROM ABOVE 7:30 p.m., Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com.

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

GUCCI MANE 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

THE MALTESE FALCON

Thru 6/18, times vary, the Beverly Theater, thebeverlytheater.com.

CYNIC & ATHEIST

With Pillars of Creation, 7 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, seetickets.us.

CHUBBY CHECKER 7:30 p.m., thru 6/18, South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

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

CEDRIC GERVAIS

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

JASMINE CROWE

With Yellacat, 8 p.m., the Gri n, eventbrite.com.

KURT TRAVIS

With Amarionette, Moxy the Band, 7 p.m., SoulBelly BBQ, eventbrite.com.

GRAPHOUSE PARANOIA

6 p.m., Fergusons Downtown, fergusonsdowntown.com.

NOSTALGIA

Ft. Koroner, Siniestra Kabaret & more, 9 p.m., the Usual Place, theusualplace.vegas

DECAYING TIGERS

With Rough Dreams, The Reppertons, Trivial Menace, 9 p.m., Double Down Saloon, doubledownsaloon.com.

KIM LEE

Noon, Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com.

MARIANO GONZALEZ

11 a.m., Winchester Dondero Cultural Center, facebook.com/winchester cultural.

CASH CASH

Noon, Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

ERYKAH BADU

Erykah Badu hasn’t released a new album since 2010 (2015’s But You Caint Use My Phone was a mixtape, mind you), but we’ll still help fill the pews in worship of this divine performer. Badu’s catalog is a lushly produced playbook of neo-soul that laid the foundation for the Ari Lennoxes, Janelle Monaes and Summer Walkers of the world. Generations lucky enough to experience 1997’s Baduizm in its prime would be hard-pressed to forget Badu’s lyrical acrobatics on “Appletree” and the easy listening of “On & On.” The debut put the eccentric visionary on track as one of the most innovative voices of her generation and genre, and that impact will surely stand the test of time. Accompanying Badu on her Unfollow Me Tour is none other than Yasiin Bey, the conscientious rapper formerly known as Mos Def. Together, they’ll surely bring an emotionally charged show to the stage. 7:30 p.m., $44-$133, Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com. –Amber Sampson

(Courtesy/Jordan Smith)

SATURDAY SUPERGUIDE

LAS VEGAS JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL 4 p.m., World Market Center, june19lv.com.

VEGAS CITY OPERA: SONGS OF FREEDOM 3 p.m., West Charleston Library, thelibrarydistrict.org.

RADIANCE WELLNESS & MUSIC FESTIVAL With Matisyahu, The Original Wailers, Cydeways, Laivy, Area15, area15.com.

KATHY GRIFFIN 10 p.m., Mirage Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

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

ZEDD Noon, Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

KELSEA BALLERINI With Georgia Webster, 8 p.m., the Theater at Virgin, axs.com.

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

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

BRIAN MCKNIGHT 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

SOULJA BOY

9 p.m., 3rd Street Stage at Fremont Street Experience, vegasexperience.com.

MUSTARD 11 a.m., Marquee Dayclub, events.taogroup.com.

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

KT TUNSTALL 8 p.m., Side Lawn at Sunset Station, ticketmaster.com.

2 CHAINZ 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

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

ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS

Funny thing about Elvis Costello: He gets better and better, the longer you listen to him. I’ve found that to be the case with his live shows—they end stronger than they begin, with Costello in better voice and delivering bigger hits—and, in a way, with his discography, too. That’s not to say that his most recent album, 2022’s The Boy Named If, is superior to 1977’s My Aim Is True, or even equal to it. But there’s something that happens when you allow yourself to really dive into his work, similar to what you feel when you begin bingeing a TV show: You find yourself with an appetite that can only be sated by listening to even more Elvis Costello. Luckily for you, he’s bringing some 46 years’ worth of music to the Palms, along with two great support acts in Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets. 7:30 p.m., $34+, Pearl Concert Theater, ticketmaster.com.

–Geo Carter

(Courtesy/Mark Seliger)

SUPERGUIDE

LAS VEGAS ACES VS. MINNESOTA LYNX 6 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com.

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

STOP THE PRESSES Ft. Mojo Reggae, Black Tie Society, NotForSale, 8 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

O.T. GENASIS 11 a.m., Tao Beach Dayclub, events.taogroup.com.

THE VOLSTEADS 7 p.m., the Underground Speakeasy at the Mob Museum, themobmuseum.org.

DJ FIVE Noon, Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

TONY HOLIDAY 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Lounge, thesanddollarlv.com.

MONDAY

MONDAYS DARK 8 p.m., the Space, mondaysdark.com.

TOFU TEES’ JUNETEENTH FAMILY NIGHT 5 p.m., Fergusons Downtown, fergusonsdowntown.com.

DEAN EDWARDS With Dennis Regan, Chloe Hilliard, Des Bishop, Michael Yo, 7 & 9:30 p.m., thru 6/24, Comedy Cellar, comedycellar. com

MICHAEL MALONE

With Dobie Maxwell, Trixx,8 p.m., thru 6/21, Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, bradgarrettcomedy.com.

NICK HEIDE QUARTET

With Trevin Snow, 7 p.m., Maxan Jazz, maxanjazz.com.

ERIC SCHWARTZ

8:30 & 10:30 p.m., thru 6/21, Laugh Factory, ticketmaster. com.

GREG WILSON

8 p.m., thru 6/25, L.A. Comedy Club, bestvegascomedy.com.

DIVE IN MOVIES: ELVIS

For those of us too young to have seen Elvis Presley perform in Las Vegas, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is something of a revelation. Most of us grew up with the notion of Elvis as a character, a guy in a funny jumpsuit. Elvis, built around an all-time great Austin Butler performance, strips Elvis of the idol worship and commercial dross that’s been shellacked onto his name since his death, leaving only a man who wanted to make better music and much better movies. It’s weird that it took Luhrmann, a director who’s the very exemplar of style-first maximalism, to give Elvis’ time in Vegas a fair look. But it’s there on the screen: The film’s depiction of rehearsals for Elvis’ Vegas shows sends shivers down the spine, which are easily controlled by watching Elvis from the Cosmopolitan’s beachlike swimming pool. 7 p.m., $10-$15, Boulevard Pool, cosmopolitan lasvegas.com. –Geo Carter

(Courtesy/Warner Bros.)

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

Candace Parker (Wade Vandervort/Sta )

SUPERGUIDE

TUESDAY

GOLDIE

There have been plenty of holy sh*t bookings at Downtown dance spot Discopussy in recent months, and now you can add drum and bass icon Goldie to the list. Fresh o a tour of his native U.K. and Europe, the 57-yearold producer and Metalheadz label founder visits Las Vegas for a planned three-hour marathon set under the illuminated octopus, sure to be a celebration of jungle, hardcore, and other electronic genres he has mined through the years. Goldie recently announced that his debut album, 1995’s Timeless, will be remixed and re-released next month with contributions from Break, Grey Code, Scar, Nookie, OneMind, Baby Boy and more. With Chiee , 10 p.m., $18, Discopussy, discopussydtlv.com.

–Brock Radke

READING: OTTESSA

MOSHFEGH

7 p.m., Beverly Theater, thebeverlytheater.com.

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

6:30 p.m., thru 6/22, South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

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

USHER AFTERPARTY 11 p.m., On the Record, ontherecordlv.com.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD 8 p.m., Resorts World Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

MIKE LOVE & THE FULL CIRCLE

With Keilana, Driftone, Robert Stokes, 8 p.m., Backstage Bar & Billiards, seetickets.us.

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

COMPOSERS SHOWCASE 9:30 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter.com.

JUSTIN MARTIN

With Grand Puma, Oscar Molina, 10 p.m., We All Scream, weallscream.com.

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

CRIMSON RIOT

With White Noise, Dreaded Laramie, 9 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

RADICAL WEST

With Ilan Dvir-Djerassi, 6 p.m., the Lawn at Downtown Summerlin, summerlin.com.

(Courtesy)

RUCK AUTHORITY

Rob Ruckus at the Punk Rock Museum (Wade Vandervort/ Sta )

BY GEOFF CARTER

Rob Ruckus has a history in Vegas. It’s a good one. He witnessed the birth of this city’s punk scene in the 1980s—both from the stage, as a member of The Vermin, and from the crowd as a regular presence at Vegas’ generator-run desert band gigs. He appeared, with former bandmate Dirk Vermin, on two seasons of the A&E reality series Bad Ink. He was one of Southern Nevada’s first advocates for medicinal cannabis, and one of its first budtenders. He makes cool, silkscreened Vegas T-shirts (check out his Etsy shop, Hardcore Las Vegas). And he continues to perform music locally, with The Souvenairs, The Shakewells and Self Abuse.

Now, Ruckus is building on that unique local history as the caretaker of the recently opened Punk Rock Museum’s Jam Room. He spends the day surrounded by instruments and amplifiers belonging to the likes of Joan Jett, Fishbone and Rancid, keeping them in performance-ready shape and handing them to awestruck museum patrons to play. The Weekly caught up with him after another blissful day of tuning guitars and gluing smashed basses back together.

How was the museum’s first Punk Rock Bowling weekend?

It was one of the greatest weekends of my life. I mean, I got to play guitar with one of the Ramones [C.J.]. I got to hang out with Lee Ving. I handed a bass to Louiche [Mayorga] from Suicidal Tendencies every day. I ran sound for Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and The Casualties. Don Bolles from the Germs. Pinch from The Damned. Everybody was doing guided tours over the weekend and hanging out. It was absolutely amazing—a huge family reunion.

Speaking of family, the museum’s Vegas wall is amazing—all that local punk history. Did you have a hand in that? Originally, Danny [Breeden, frontman for Vegas punk band FSP] was going to curate it by himself. Danny has most of his own artwork, but he didn’t have a lot of the other stuff, and I did. I’m somewhat of a hoarder when it comes to old punk rock stuff; I have tens of thousands of albums, flyers, posters and sh*t lying around. So when they first said they were going to do this, I was like, “Just come over to my house and take whatever you want.” … I called Robert Picardo and was,

like, “Hey, do you have something from Subterfuge?” And luckily, he still had their kick drum head. My Rickenbacker bass went in. Dirk [Vermin] had donated his bass before I became a part of it; he belongs in there, too.

And the sign for the Underground. Absolutely. If it wasn’t for [former owner] Wayne Coyner … Half of the records I have behind me right now came from the Underground. He was our Punk Rock University. You wouldn’t even have to look through the racks; he would tell you what you wanted. Like, “Hey, I just got this new Misfits or Dead Kennedys or Discharge or whatever record that I think you’re gonna like.” And he was right 99.9% of the time. … The Underground changed a lot of lives.

When I was last at the museum, you talked about gluing Fat Mike’s bass back together, and doing painstaking work on other instruments to make them playable. Is that another secret talent of yours? (Laughs.) Nope. I’m not a luthier. I’m a punk rocker that’s been playing music for 40 years, breaking his own sh*t and having to fix it quick while you’re still onstage.

Do you have a favorite instrument in the Jam Room? My absolute favorite is Chett Lehrer’s setup from the Reagan’s In album by Wasted Youth. It’s his Marshall amplifier and his 1969 Dan Armstrong guitar. Now, those Dan Armstrong guitars are basically a big piece of plexiglass called Lucite, and they’re just heavy as hell. So Chett sanded down the top and the bottom of it to make it thinner, and then drilled a whole bunch of big-ass, like, inch-wide holes into it, which changed the tone of the guitar. So if you plug in that guitar, it sounds exactly like Reagan’s In. It’s one of the most amazing things to me, because I grew up on that album.

A lot of kids’ first version of “F*ck Authority” was by Pennywise. Well, mine was by Wasted Youth, and it was back in the early ’80s. To be able to pick up that same exact guitar that recorded that album, which makes that high-pitchy, screechy sound, and to be able to play those songs on that guitar … to me, it doesn’t get any more special.

You sound really happy, Rob. I’m the happiest I’ve been in years, man. But it took 40 years’ worth of work to get to this, so I deserve it. One of my favorite things about this is being able to call up my mom and go, “Remember when you used to ground me for crawling out the window and jumping down the second story of the house to go out and play gigs out in the middle of the desert with these terrible-sounding bands? Well, now we have a museum. I’m in it, and I work there.”

OG Vegas punk Rob Ruckus helps keep the Punk Rock Museum in tune

(Left to right) Ashanti McGee, Earl Turner, Tony Gladney and Erica Vital-Lazare (Christopher DeVargas/Sta )

A DAY OF REFLECTION

A candid conversation about Juneteenth , the Black experience and the next generation

BY AMBER SAMPSON

Considering all the liberties we enjoy today, it’s easy to forget that freedom wasn’t always a reality for the enslaved African Americans in this country. By necessity, it was a state of mind.

Juneteenth marks a different day of independence for the Black community. It’s a personal unshackling of sorts—a celebration of our ancestors’ newfound freedom and a chilling reminder of the injustices they endured for far too long. On June 19, 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed the last slaves in Galveston, Texas, were officially free.

In remembrance of Juneteenth, and in an effort to look forward, we invited four Black visionaries from the Las Vegas community to join us for a roundtable discussion at the Weekly offices.

Tony Gladney, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion for MGM Resorts International, moved to Las Vegas during the 1980s. He has been a pivotal force in the gaming and hospitality industry for 30 years.

Ashanti McGee is a visual artist, gallerist and grants and access manager for the Western States Art Federation. She’s also an arts collective participant at Nuwu Art Gallery and Community Center.

Erica Vital-Lazare, a CSN professor of creative writing and marginalized voices in dystopian literature and composition, also heads up the Obodo Collective nonprofit to help end generational poverty in the Historic Westside neighborhood.

And Earl Turner is a longtime Las Vegas showman who has been headlining Strip shows since the days of the Dunes and the Desert Inn hotels.

“I see this becoming a very important part of my life,” Turner told the group. “I see myself with you all, at breakfast and at lunch, keeping in touch with each other after this. Thank you again for bringing us together.”

Parts of this conversation were guided, while others broke off organically into new directions. The following has been edited for clarity and space.

The Significance of Juneteenth

Las Vegas Weekly: Thank you all so much for taking the time to be here. Juneteenth is approaching fast, and it’s an incredibly special day for the Black community. President Joe Biden recently made Juneteenth a federal holiday, which feels long overdue. What does the day mean to you?

Tony Gladney: In the same breath, I’m proud and I’m also relieved. Relieved because our freedom was constituted, although it didn’t happen at the time when they made the announcement. I’m proud because it shows that Black people were part of the creation of this country. … It really hits a couple of scenarios for me personally, because historically, we can look at what was done, what we’re doing and what we continue to do as a people to really move forward. There are still issues, and there’s still a way that we have to come as far as equality. But that’s what I’m really proud about.

Earl Turner: I’m a Baby Boomer, so we didn’t celebrate Juneteenth. We’ve definitely become more and more aware of it over the last 30 to 35 years. When I was a kid, I had a history teacher who was the first Black woman everything. She loved history. She was the person who would say to the kids, “Well, why didn’t we know that? Because the history books didn’t want to put it in there.” She was that person, but she never taught about Juneteenth. So for me, it’s an awareness that

I have heard about, and learned about and understood that I should have had when I was coming up. I was 10 years old when Kennedy was assassinated. I was sitting there in my grandparent’s yard when Martin Luther King was assassinated. Did I understand the intense nature of it? Yes and no, because I was a kid. But to understand now what Juneteenth means, it’s significant for a person of my age.

Erica Vital-Lazare: Where did you grow up?

ET: In a small town in Missouri. I remember people saying, “Go around to the back, or you can’t go in this store.” I never saw black and white fountains, but there was an understanding. You don’t go in there. You don’t drink over there. You don’t do this. Your folks already told you.

Ashanti McGee: Juneteenth to me is like many things being Black in America: It’s complex, it’s layered. I remember when more people started commemorating the holiday, and I received, ‘Happy Juneteenth!’ But … is it happy? I feel like a lot of us live in that duality of being celebratory but also remembering how much it’s taken to even get here. Just to even acknowledge that Black people have been, like Tony said, contributing to this country, building this country, have bled, have fought, have died for, and because of, this country. … A lot of that is thinking about the complexity of who we are, who we’ve been and who we’re becoming. That’s what I think about Juneteenth and also amplifying and showing the complexity of Black people in the United States and how many of these stories

are not that far away generationally. When you’re talking about the emancipation of slavery, it really wasn’t that long ago. I’m thankful people are more aware of its history.

Vital-Lazare: That duality, that double consciousness, encompasses so much, because just like blackness itself, it’s so sweet. There’s such bounty and beauty in who we are. Then with the sweetness, of course, comes the bitter. Juneteenth is a clear reflection of that. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by January 1, 1863. So we’re celebrating finally reaching fruition for Texas, which had over 70,000 black folks down there who had no idea that this proclamation had been issued. They were still being held in bondage.

When you look into the history, where we reside since the 1619 landing of the first 20 Africans here, we’ve been struggling and building and inventing and fighting on this soil. But when you look at the history of that proclamation and you are so very grateful for the freedoms, you’re still aware that Juneteenth is every day. We’re living in that liminal space of an awareness of our freedom and a reminder that we are not. I love the arrival of this holiday and that President Biden issued a federal proclamation that it be recognized. At the same time, I’m sort of disturbed by the way it’s co-opted, how the history is erased. You get these bright banners, but there’s no discussion of these slaveholders who, upon the issuing of the proclamation in the South, drove many other slaves to Texas, so that they could still be held in bondage. We don’t talk about that.

“I’m convinced that change is not made from without; it’s made from within. You can’t change things until you get inside there. You have to get inside and work inside the system to make the system function better.”

Navigating the Black Experience

LVW: Erica, your point makes me think about Las Vegas as a whole. It once held the nickname “the Mississippi of the West,” and yet we are now one of the most racially diverse cities in the country. How has living in such a place affected the Black experience for you as professionals and even parents?

Turner: What we have to teach our kids is that subliminally racism and discrimination and prejudice still exist. I remember once I was up for a very important job, and the word that came back to me was that my audience wasn’t “wide enough.” Y’all know what I’m saying? I understood exactly what that meant. … These are things that you are going to have to overcome and/or accept and move on. But quitting is not an option. It’s so fortunate that we have diversity offices, people who oversee that, and companies giving them credit for what they’re interested in doing that.

Gladney: What I’ve been fortunate to do, from a DEI perspective, is work for companies, such as MGM Resorts, that actually want to listen and take proactive steps forward to make sure that inclusion is a priority. Why? Because it’s smart business and good business. But also because we have a huge customer base as the No. 1 tourist destination, and if entities don’t pay attention, they could possibly cease to exist.

McGee: When it comes to a lot of the corporations, diversity is definitely there and there’s efforts to really push that. On the local level, there’s still a lot of issues. Black people exist with understanding a lot of these nuances, a lot of this coded language where people don’t flat out just deny you. They say that your audience isn’t wide enough or maybe you’re not quite our demographic or not quite what we’re looking for. Maybe you weren’t professional enough, all of these different things.

… In the tech sector, for example, and even in the arts, too, there’s really not that representation. It doesn’t mean that Black people are incapable. It’s really about people being able to actually do the work to find out how you actually bring these people in.

Turner: I’m convinced that change is not made from without; it’s made from within. You can’t change things until you get inside there. You have to get inside and work inside the system to make the system function better.

McGee: Yes, and there are some of those occasions where, if you do it well enough on the outside and you make enough noise, they’ll get the idea. That’s one of the things I’m really enjoying right now. You told me that I couldn’t play in your sandbox. You told me I couldn’t do these things because I lack whatever it is, but somebody has given me an opportunity. I’ve really been fortunate that there have been times where doors have closed and there’s been other ones that say, “We actually appreciate what you do, who you are and what you’re capable of.”

Turner: Same for me—that’s how I was able to accomplish things in my career. But when you have the [Gladneys] inside, it makes it so much easier. Because it’s hard to find those people that are in your corner.

Case in point: In 1985 I had been traveling and playing my clubs, predominantly white nightclubs in the South. I wanted to hire my first Black musician, because I had four white musicians. I told my manager, and he told me one of the places that I worked for in Dallas said, “If he hires another Black musician, we’re probably not going to be able to hire Earl Turner.” It’s all right for one, but when you start talking about two … now what’s that gonna draw? Within six months, I hired two. Someone has to take that chance to speak.

Gladney: When an individual gets an opportunity to be in that situation, there is an accountability. Your prayer is that you can work for a company that understands that accountability that you’re held to. That they are an organization that does not have a problem with speaking truth to power. That is an organization that doesn’t put you in a scenario for you to tell them what they want to hear, but to tell them what the reality is.

We’re gathered here today to have a frank conversation about this Juneteenth period. How many companies are bringing up the very essence of what we’re talking about as an issue of awareness in their workforce? … We need to make sure we set process, policy and procedures to make sure that there is fairness, that there is equity. What actions are we going to take to make not only our internal workforces, and our internal organizations, better, but also the communities around us?

Vital-Lazare: So you’re talking about real action, real economic outcomes in the lives of the people that companies profess to celebrate on June 19th by stocking Juneteenth ice cream on their shelves?

Everyone: (Laughter)

Vital-Lazare: The real question is, how

are you actually moving your Black employees and [people of color] through the ranks from the floor up to the upper office of your organization? There’s a new Underground Railroad, and it’s an economic one. It’s an aspirational one. It’s a professional one.

Preparing the Next Generation

LVW: So then how do we teach the younger Black generation to advocate for their brothers and sisters? They are motivated in many ways, but some might also say their efforts are a bit diluted compared to past generations.

McGee: I’m not so sure if it’s necessarily diluted or if it’s just changed. This is a generation that has never experienced life not having a Black president. That’s one of the works, really understanding the roles of different generations. A lot of the younger generations, they’ve got the spunk, they’ve got the tenacity. A lot of the older generations have this decades-long time frame of seeing transition, seeing progression and maybe regression. So it’s having an opportunity to have the guidance of the older generations talking about the work that people have gone through. It’s just another lens of the Black experience. All of the generations have work to do.

Gladney: Marcus Garvey once said, One who does not know their history is like a tree without roots. Every individual that’s assembled here today has expressed their stories from where they’ve been, from the challenges they’ve had, to the successes they’ve had. [In terms of] the millennials and Gen Z … there’s so much promise. But we need to make sure that they know where they come from. That it is not only never forgotten, but that it is a reminder of the work that has been invested from our parents, our grandparents, from us that are sitting around this table. They’re part of that continuous legacy.

Turner: Maybe instead of trying to give our kids everything we didn’t have, we give them what we did have. There are three things I was taught as a young Black man by my parents, and particularly my grandparents. Firstly, they told you about the truth. The second thing they told you is that you’re going to have to have strength to hear the truth. Then, whatever that truth is, you’ve got to have perseverance to stay in the game long enough to overcome whatever that obstacle is. That’s

a big challenge for us. We have to tell our kids the truth, and we don’t do that. Because of that, negative things that happen to them take precedence over who they are.

Vital-Lazare: Why don’t we, though?

Turner: That’s something we need to figure out. I remember talking to this man who owned a company. I asked him, “Why don’t you have Black employees in upper management?” He said, “I think it’s that if John is a Black employee, but he aspires to do more and didn’t say anything, I don’t know that John wants to do more.” On so many occasions, it’s about throwing your hat in the ring. You’ve got to go in letting people know, “I may be right here, but I’m looking to go there.” My parents told me, “Don’t ever reach over, reach up.” These are lessons, I gotta tell you, white people have taught me.

McGee: When I was growing up, it was just do as you’re told. You have to question if this is a dynamic that makes it difficult for us to progress. Because if there is this expectation of, I’m going to tell you a task as your superior; just do as you’re told, this doesn’t really give an opportunity for expansion and for that growth. When I was in my early 20s, I was working in a copy center. People told me, “It’s surprising that you’re here. You’re so knowledgeable about all these different things.” It was having opportunities, being exposed to a variety of different people and seeing how you can make these transitions to upward mobility. … That was something I was not taught by the Black community.

Turner: That’s the nail on the head.

McGee: I think that intergenerational

Upcoming community events

communication and relationships has been an incredible strong point for us as Black people. Many of us have had strong influences from our grandparents or aunts and uncles. One of the things I really appreciate about different initiatives like Obodo Collective is that you have this gathering of intergenerational communities, where you have young people talking to the elders, talking to all of these people with knowledge and who have persevered.

Even with some of the racial and political issues that have been happening, one thing I found really profound was seeing a lot of these Civil Rights leaders going back into classrooms or into these young groups and teaching them a lot of these Civil Rightsera tactics and nonviolent opposition. It’s us really making sure we remember we depend on each other.

It’s been really important for me to learn about my elders. My mother’s family is from South Carolina, but particularly Abbeville. We have family members who were enslaved individuals who became sharecroppers in the same place where the Confederacy was established. I have a cousin who is 85, and he’s still growing beans and okra in his garden. We talked about what he’s seen, about these transitions and about the things that just stay the same, how we should constantly question where we’re at and what is progress.

Vital-Lazare: Watching you with your children, Ashanti, and how you teach them by example how to be in community with one another, that’s an important component. Not only will we raise warriors for our people but warriors for the sake of human-

ity, for anyone who is being mistreated, misvalued, categorized. All of us want three things. … Erving Goffman, [author of] The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, said we want to feel included, we want to be secure and we want to be seen as competent. So we teach our children how to make sure that they garner those things for themselves, but also stand in the gap when they see others in the room are being excluded.

Gladney: I think it’s been vocalized in how our children see it and how we see it that wrong is wrong. If it’s wrong for me, then it’s wrong for you. That has been an important part of how we’re raising our kids. How Earl, as an entertainer, was trying to make sure he made the impact he could make. That Erica, through what she’s done, wasn’t only targeting Black people but targeting all of us to learn through our efforts. That’s something we can be proud of, not only from a standpoint for us, but a standpoint of what’s right for all of us.

McGee: Thank you for saying that. That’s a testament to Civil Rights and a lot of the work that Black people have done since we’ve been here. It has been an effort for everyone. Fannie Lou Hamer once said we’re not free until we’re all free. Having that mindset, understanding that what I do, I do not only because I think it’s right. I do it because I want it to be easier for someone else.

This life doesn’t make sense to me if I’m watching people around me suffer and I’m the only one doing well. That’s one of the things I found so beautiful about all of the Black folks that I love and respect—they continue to do what they do in efforts to help someone else and to grow.

COMMEMORATING JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth Jazz Concert & Miss

Juneteenth

Ceremony

June 17, noon6 p.m., free, West Las Vegas Library, thelibrary district.org

Honoring Juneteenth With Spoken Word Originals June 17, 2-3 p.m., free, Clark County Library, thelibrary district.org.

Vegas City Opera: Songs of Freedom

June 17, 3 p.m., free, West Charleston Library, thelibrary district.org.

Las Vegas Juneteenth Festival June 17, 4-9 p.m., free, World Market Center, june19lv.com.

Henderson Juneteenth Festival

June 17-19, times vary, free, Water Street Plaza, cityof henderson.com.

Tofu Tees’ Juneteenth Family Night June 19, 5-8 p.m., free, Fergusons Downtown, fergusons downtown.com.

A History of Juneteenth: From Galveston, Texas, to Las Vegas, Nevada June 23, 2-3:15 p.m., free, Clark County Library, thelibrary district.org.

NEWS IN THE

NEVADA RAISES HOME CARE WORKERS’ MINIMUM WAGE

When Chrystal Taylor left her job in early childhood education more than a year ago to become a home care worker, she knew a pay downgrade was inevitable. What she didn’t expect was having to choose between paying her electricity bill or getting food for her family each month.

The single mother lives with her own mom and three kids, all between the ages of 10 and 22 years old, two of whom are autistic. Taylor, 44, supports them all with a job in which she works about 27 hours a week and earns about $11 an hour.

“It’s a struggle trying to determine from paycheck to paycheck which bills are going to get paid, which one I have to wait on because I don’t have enough to pay what needs to get paid when it needs to get paid, based off of the amount that I get,” Taylor said. “We’re not treated properly for what they’re expecting us to do for other people.”

But with Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada Legislature agreeing on a state budget last week, that’s about to change. Tucked into the legislation for Nevada’s estimated 13,000 home care workers is a minimum wage increase from around $11 to $16 an hour. It’s the first raise in more than a decade, according to officials with SEIU Local 1107, the union that represents home care, health care and public service workers in Nevada.

Home care workers, also known as home health and personal care aides, assist senior citizens and people with disabilities or chronic illnesses that need daily assistance, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

They’re usually required to have at least a high school diploma, put in about eight hours of training and gain certifications in areas like CPR or first aid.

–Grace Da Rocha

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

JESSIE RAE’S BURNS DOWN

The 5611 S. Valley View Blvd location of Jessie Rae’s BBQ, last year’s Best of Vegas winner for Best Barbecue, was a “total loss” after a fire on June 13, according to a social media post by the eatery. The Henderson location remains open.

A’S STADIUM NEARS APPROVAL

A Nevada Senate committee voted on June 13 to approve an amended $380 million public financing package for a Major League Baseball stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. It appeared likely the bill would pass through the full Senate next.

SHELLEY BERKLEY AIMS TO RETURN TO ELECTED OFFICE

Shelley Berkley is retiring, then, she hopes, immediately coming out of retirement. The former seven-term congresswoman from Las Vegas, will step down June 30 as chief executive and senior vice president of the Touro University system. She took on the post last year after leading Touro University Nevada, a private health sciences-focused university in Henderson, and the Touro system’s Western division since 2013.

Now, Berkley is setting her sights on the office of mayor of Las Vegas. The seat opens next year with the retirement of Carolyn Goodman, who has held the position since 2011.

Berkley, who began her career as a practic -

CCSD AGREES TO HYBRID SCHOOL BOARD MODEL

The Clark County School District School Board will research its options now that it is set to become a hybrid of elected and appointed members under a new state law.

ing attorney, was first elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1983 and then served on the Nevada Board of Regents from 1990 to 1998.

From 1999 to 2013, she was in Washington representing a congressional district in the heart of the Las Vegas Valley. After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012, she had to find something else purposeful, she told the Las Vegas Sun in a recent interview.

“It was the challenge and the idea that it would be something so completely different from what I was accustomed to,” Berkley said. “It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

–Hillary Davis

Current members were noncommittal on details, but unanimously agreed June 8 that “with the intent to ensure that we protect the children of our school district, which we are entrusted to protect, that we research our options as it pertains to the implementation of AB175,” said School Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales.

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a law this month directing the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, and the Clark County Commission, to each appoint a nonvoting advisory member to the board. Assembly Bill 175, a bipartisan effort, becomes law in July.

Reformers cited the seven-member board’s open fighting and suggested expanding diversity of thought. Opponents, current members among them, said the move stifles democracy and accountability.

–Hillary Davis

HYPNOSIS PLUS COMEDY New Vegas production Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis opened for previews June 10 at Harrah’s Showroom. The show combines hypnosis and improvisational comedy.

Golden Knights teammates surround center Chandler Stephenson (20) after the first of his two goals in Vegas’ win over Florida on June 10. At press time, the Golden Knights led the Panthers 3-1 in the teams’ Stanley Cup Final series, with Game 5 set for June 13 at T-Mobile Arena. Pick up our June 22 issue for continuing VGK coverage.

NUMBER OF COUNTS TO WHICH DONALD TRUMP PLEADED NOT GUILTY ON JUNE 13 IN FEDERAL COURT. THE CHARGES ALL RELATE TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS.

(Steve Marcus/Staff)

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

A ROADWORK ORANGE

Vegas’ roads are a mess right now, but relief appears to be in sight

BY GEOFF CARTER

The orange cones are seemingly everywhere. Anyone who has driven the city’s freeways or tourist corridor in recent months is keenly aware of them—reducing multiple lanes to few, redirecting traffic into unexpected detours or blocking off sections of roadway that no longer exist.

It almost feels like a prank, all these streets and highways undergoing improvements at the same time. But according to representatives of the agencies doing the work, it’s just an extraordinary bout of coincidence, precipitated by explosive Valley population growth, long-needed infrastructure replacement and the upcoming Formula 1 race.

“We do appreciate everyone’s frustration. We’re all living in it together,” says John Peñuelas, director of engineering services–streets and highways at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTCSN). “I live in Boulder City and come in on the 515, where there’s median work going on, so there are cones and lane restrictions there. Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has a project they’re working on in Summerlin, and obviously there’s the Tropicana work on I-15. So, there’s no way into the Valley, really, without going through a work zone.

“But the overall level of cones on the roadways is—just based on my experience of being in this position for eight years— really not any more than it has been any other year. It’s just in bad spots,” he says. “And there’s a lot going on at one time, because of the time pressure.”

Navigating these pain points takes some doing, both in terms of driving and determining the scope of the work. There are three different entities currently out there digging trenches and laying down asphalt. Here are progress reports from all of them, with descriptions of the work being done and, more importantly, when they expect it to be completed.

Formula 1 Track Construction

With a race set to take place November 16-18, the Formula 1 Grand Prix paving project—overseen by Formula 1 itself, in cooperation with Clark County—is the most time-critical project on the list. It involves pavement replacement on tourist corridor roads and track construction to loop around a new race paddock and the MSG Sphere,

and it will affect traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard and several adjacent roads well into September.

That said, judging from the final track paving schedule, the most disruptive parts of the project should be done by early August. Work on much of the Sands Avenue/Las Vegas Boulevard leg—from the looks of things, the track’s sharpest turn—is scheduled to be completed by July 21. Work on the Strip straightway, past Caesars, Horseshoe, Bellagio and so on, is targeted to end on July 28.

Paving of the Harmon Avenue section, from the Strip to Koval Lane, is scheduled to conclude August 6. Work on Koval Lane—located roughly between the F1 paddock site at Harmon and Koval, and the southeastern face of the MSG Sphere—is set to end August 18. And the Sphere section, which circles the big ball before rejoining Sands Avenue, completes the paving project with an end date of September 15.

Work will start and stop on those sites throughout the summer, so it’s best to avoid those streets entirely. But if you can’t, remember that Waze is your friend.

NDOT: Freeway Improvements

Let’s start with the elephant in the road: The I-15/Tropicana Interchange project, which has recently added painful minutes to the northbound I-15 rush hour commute, will be a fact of life until early 2025. But the sheer amount of stuff that the Nevada Department of Transportation will fix with this work seems worth the trouble: Tropicana Avenue widened from six lanes to eight between Polaris Avenue and the Strip; more left turn lanes for freeway entrances; added capability for widening I-15; a realignment of Dean Martin Drive that will pass under Tropicana without stopping; a widened offramp to Arena Drive and more. We just need to tap the brakes for a while to get there.

Work on I-515 (aka U.S. 93) is a bit further along. It’s a multifaceted project that includes lane surface replacement, widening of Charleston Boulevard at I-515 and the addition of extra lanes at the “Charleston curve” that should relieve the problematic congestion that builds up at that north-to-west turn. The I-515 project is scheduled to be completed in summer 2024.

Other NDOT freeway projects include ongoing work on the Centennial Bowl interchange, connecting U.S. 95 to the 215 Beltway, due for completion in early 2024; overnight repaving of I-15, between the Spaghetti Bowl and Craig Road, concluding this December; the widening of I-15 north, from Speedway Boulevard to the Great Basin Highway interchange, estimated for completion in April 2024; and various improvements to Summerlin Parkway, which should be completed by August.

RTCSN: Street Improvements

The RTC has been improving Vegas’ surface roads, little by little, for years. Its process typically includes widening, repaving and replacing outdated utility lines and traffic signals; improving pedestrian accessibility; creating bus turnouts; adding new lighting and landscaping and so on.

That process continues around the Valley, in too many individual locations to name here. But some projects stand out. Charleston Boulevard is undergoing major work between Maryland Parkway and Boulder Highway—sewer, utilities, new pavement, the works—and will be reduced to a few lanes through the end of the year. And the Charleston Boulevard Medical District project, located adjacent to University Medical Center and UNLV’s new medical school, will bring widened sidewalks, intelligent streetlights and other improvements for drivers and pedestrians alike; it wraps in December 2024.

The rehabilitation of Las Vegas Boulevard’s Downtown stretch—from Sahara Avenue to Stewart Avenue— also continues, with a targeted completion date of June 2024. Many parts of the project are completed, including fresh-paved roadway and restored neon signs added to the median.

And the RTC is making a Valleywide effort to improve pedestrian crossings—work that includes the construction of curb extensions, ADA ramps and new crosswalk markings. If you’re slowed by one of these project sites, just grip the wheel more tightly and try to remember that everything has an end, even this superbloom of orange cones.

There’s no way into the Valley, really, without going through a work zone.”

-John Peñuelas, director of engineering

services at the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada

(Shutterstock/ Photo Illustration)

ASTONISHING. UNPREDICTABLE. MIND-BENDING. Omega Mart is an immersive interactive experience from the groundbreaking art collective, Meow Wolf. Featuring jaw-dropping work from international and local artists, Omega Mart sends participants of all ages on a journey through surreal worlds and immersive storytelling. Discover secret portals or simply soak up the innovative art as you venture beyond an extraordinary supermarket into parts unknown. Tickets at OmegaMart.com

DANCING IN THE DARK

DJ/producer Frameworks brings emotive electronic music into focus

BY AMBER SAMPSON

Matthew Brewer, the Manchester, Englandbased DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist known as Frameworks, has composed deeply ruminative dance music for the past decade. But only recently did he discover a crucial piece to his production puzzle: his inner child.

“That was a major theme for [April album Re ections], just trying to get out of my own head and be playful,” says Brewer, who will play an intimate set at the Wall at Area 15 on June 16. “The moment I sit down, I’ve got too much of an idea of where I want to take things. But what you’re doing is neglecting the element of surprise and creation. So many things happen when you’re just playing.”

On his fourth LP, Brewer unshackles himself from the restraints of routine. “Cold,” one of the producer’s favorite tracks, toes into trip-hop territory. On “Blue Light,” he unleashes sumptu-

ous bass, sleek synths and hints of lightly applied percussion. Paired with vocals from Australia’s Cleopold, the music on Re ections beams with a vulnerability that has only recently been realized.

“The things that I would have shied away from 10 years ago, I’m now more than happy to own,” Brewer says. “Age has been a big part of that for me and the ability to just be myself. I don’t want to hide behind a genre.”

before I delved into electronic music,” Brewer explains. “My rst call is always drums. It felt like a natural thing to have. It makes me feel comfortable.”

FRAMEWORKS With Murge, J. Handel. June 16, 9:30 p.m., $23. The Wall at Area15, area15.com.

Frameworks’ meditative melodies have entranced fans on the U.S. festival circuit, with performances at Coachella, Electric Forest and Shambhala propelling the DJ up the rungs of respected artistry. His live set has also earned merit as one few to include live percussion.

“I started o as a drummer and I was in and out of live bands, so I came from that world

Frameworks has played Las Vegas once before, but you could say the memory is a bit … fried. “It was very hot,” he laughs. “Where I am it’s gray and raining 90% of the time, so it was a bit of a culture shock. But it was great.” He says he generally builds his sets around the time of day. Since the Wall is an indoor venue, he’s excited to set the mood and encourage people to “cut loose.”

“I hate the idea of someone being self-conscious at a show,” he says. “I like to have the dance oor as unlit as possible, just so people can lose their inhibitions a little bit and feel free.”

Frameworks (Courtesy)

LOCAL MUSIC NOTES

BY AMBER SAMPSON

NO KIDDING School’s out, and the teenage siblings of The Dollheads have a packed summer vacation ahead. Fresh off the release of May EP Et Cetera, the pop-punk band has touring dates set for Arizona, California and Utah, and an overseas debut in London at the Loud Women Fest in September.

The Las Vegas trio—16-year-old Angela Avery (lead vocals/guitar), 15-year-old Samantha Avery (bass) and 13-year-old Austin Avery (drums)—began performing in 2022, but they’ve been jamming since elementary school. The music of Rancid, the Ramones and Green Day raised these young rockers, who recently made their Punk Rock Bowling debut.

“As a performer and a band, I think that was the best weekend of my life,” Austin says. “Watching bands like Rancid, Bad Religion, The Interrupters and Dropkick Murphys and being able to play … I loved it even more.”

“I crowd-surfed for The Casualties,” Angela adds, grinning. The trio returned to Downtown’s National Southwestern Recording to create Et Cetera, a tightly produced sequel to last year’s What Teenage Angst. “We still wanted to stick to that theme of our experiences being teenagers and growing up,” Angela says, “but we also wanted to work more on the musical aspect, getting the layers in and maturing with the way we were writing out words.”

Despite their ages, the Averys are hardly a “kid band” at this point. The Dollheads have played every major Downtown music venue and have a fan base that includes UFC president Dana White, recently seen rocking their merch at an event. Local acts including White Noise, Pure

Sport, Elevated Undergrounds and Secos have also rallied around the trio. “It was like joining a family,” Samantha says.

The Dollheads will headline a back-to-school show at SoulBelly BBQ on August 5. linktr.ee/dollheads

PAST PRECEDENT And now, a moment of silence for Luxury Furniture Store. No, the dreamy darkwave trio, known for its shape-shifting sound and gloriously gothic aesthetic, hasn’t split up. But it has changed its name—to Past Self

“We just didn’t feel like the previ-

ous name was very evocative of what we were doing,” explains Will Kim (aka Proteus), singer and guitarist of the Vegas-based band. “We wanted our audience and new fans to get an understanding of what to expect when they hear the name.”

With that also comes the announcement of new material. Kim, along with bassist Julian West (aka Spektor) and synth player Holly Haywood (aka Aether), recently finished recording a new EP as a followup to their hazy debut, 2021’s Bedrot

“It’s a huge update from what

we’ve been up to for the past two years,” Kim says. “There’s stories and references to what we’ve been through in recent times. It’s very introspective. We actually tried to come down to earth a little bit.”

Keeping the music as close to its original state as possible also took precedence this time around, he says: “With Bedrot, we would have an initial spark, and then we would chisel away at it so much that some of the songs would lose the purpose of the initial emotion.”

With its first West Coast tour behind them, Past Self is looking to

The Dollheads (Courtesy/Tiffany Salerno)

The Dollheads come out to play, Luxury Furniture Store embraces its Past Self plus more

expand its fanbase with more outof-state shows and new costumes, similar to the way Slipknot swaps masks for each album era, Haywood explains.“The visual is the bait.” linktr.ee/pastself

HELLOS AND GOODBYES

New off-Strip venue the Industrial Sound kicked off its Far Out West concert series last month with a set that will see a vinyl release as The Rhyolite Sound’s new live record. Those in attendance also bid farewell to drummer A.J. Palluck, who’s leaving the band to “focus more on my family and [studio] Sonic Rodeo,” according to a post on his Instagram.

The 10,000-square-foot Industrial Sound, a new division of the Industrial Event Space on Industrial Road, boasts a 650-person indoor capacity, concert-grade audio systems, advanced lighting and video tech and an outdoor area that can hold around 2,000 concertgoers. Far Out West continues on June 17.

LISTEN HERE Secos, the desert rockers who recently downsized to a four-piece, have released Loveseat, a five-track EP just in time for summer. Desert Island Boys also dropped an EP called Chazzed Bangers. Singer and guitarist

Miles V. offers up stripped-down single “Melancholy Phrase.” And if you like Dominic Fike from HBO series Euphoria, you’ll love local singer-songwriter Juno Rucker’s new guitar-laden track “Pretty People.”

ALSO Vegas-bred rapper Dizzy Wright returns home with the Proud 2 Pay residency, a 10-show series, starting on June 22, and fans can “pay what they want to attend,” according to his social media. Tickets include a meet-and-greet with Wright, who has also recruited Vegas bassist CoCo Jenkins to play in his band. Shows are limited to 60 people and set to take place at the intimate Griffin Rehearsal Studios (for more info, visit dizzywright.com). … Desert Honeypot and Pulsar Presents join forces for their first Heavy Honeypot, a showcase of female metal, featuring touring acts Savage Master and Crossed Hearts and Las Vegas’ Riyah and Sorrowseed at the Dive Bar on June 15. … In psych-rock news, Hunter’s Briefcase will play an EP release show with Pure Sport, Post NC and White Noise at Fergusons Downtown on June 24, while Viaje Nahual has begun hosting a cumbia goth party called Tropidarks. Oddfellows held the first event in May and more are in the works. The five-piece, set to hit the road this July, also announced its album release show at the Dive Bar on July 6 with Portland’s Gata Galáctica and local bilingual songstress Dama Vicke.

2 FOR 1 ENTRY

The Rhyolite Sound (Courtesy/John Thompson)

LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 39 I 6.15.23

POSITIVE SIGNS

Muralist Iandry Randriamandroso celebrates the Historic Westside through ASL

In January, the City of Las Vegas and the West Las Vegas Arts Center unveiled several new murals within view of the Historic Westside’s Kianga Isoke Palacio Park. One of them, Iandry Randriamandroso’s “I Rise,” stands out with its distinctive graphic style, bold color and use of American Sign Language (ASL). “I chose ‘I Rise’ as a title [because] that is the collective spirit of the Historic Westside,” Randriamandroso explains on his Instagram page (@iandryrex). He notes that the 16 ASL characters in the piece, spelling out the name of the neighborhood, are modeled by “Historic Westside community members with different backgrounds,” adding, “Hands can represent past, present and tools to shape the future.” Randriamandroso’s striking work could inspire many to put their own hands into the work of keeping Historic Westside on the rise.

–Geoff Carter

“I Rise” by Iandry Randriamandroso (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

PRETTY IN PINK

Tasty treats from Café Lola (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

BY AMBER SAMPSON

Alexandra Lourdes and Lin Jerome—the co-founders behind Café Lola, voted Nevada’s Most Instagrammable Restaurant by the Food Network—have two rules when it comes to their business: “Make it an experience, and make it gorgeous.”

“We don’t want anything to be ‘normal.’ It doesn’t work for us. So in coming up with the design and decor, it always had to be beautiful,” says Jerome, who also runs sister concepts Saint Honoré Doughnuts & Beignets and Pizza Anonymous along with marketing firm the Refined Agency with Lourdes. “You shouldn’t have to go to a coffee shop and have it just be white walls and brown. Why not have fun with it?”

Café Lola has been nailing that assignment since 2018, when it first opened in Summerlin. Since then, Lourdes and Jerome have launched four more locations—in the southwest, in Henderson, at Allegiant Stadium and most recently on the Las Vegas Strip at the Forum Shops at Caesars.

accents of gold and shades of Champagne pink to top it off. It’s intentionally delicate. Elegant enough to host a Bridgerton-themed tea party. Exactly the kind of place that serves bottomless rosé and creme brulee lattes dusted in 24k gold.

“We wanted it to be very feminine, very inspiring, somewhere women could go that they felt like this was their home,” Lourdes says. “We pretty much made every single dream that we ever thought of come true at Café Lola.”

THE MIX IS IN

725-696-5658,

Daily, 8 a.m.10 p.m.

Jerome, who graduated from UNLV’s Law School, and Lourdes, a UNLV grad who holds a Ph.D in higher education, both admit they had decent “fallbacks’’ if Café Lola didn’t work out. But with two restaurateur husbands at their side, the self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneurs” took the plunge, bridging the gap between fine dining and fast-casual to create a mini-empire of eateries where the food is always ready for its close-up.

What started as a fast-casual eatery fueled by passion, pastries and pastels has quickly become a homegrown success—and the hard work is in the details.

Each Café Lola is a Pinterest board brought to life. Floral backdrops—arranged by hand— set the airy, spring-like scene, with warm

“One of our core values in our handbook is that the camera eats first,” Lourdes says. “Our clients come here to take photos of our beautiful food and the environment, so we always want to make sure the food’s made the same, the drinks are always made the same, so everyone can have that same experience.”

Café Lola’s Strip location symbolizes a change. Jerome says they’re “tightening the reins” to perfect the concept, but an expansion into other markets is imminent.

“We plan to take Café Lola national,” she says. “That is our goal.”

And when it does? The duo will have its hometown to thank.

“I don’t know if we would have been able to do everything that we have done so quickly in another market.

Vegas is booming, it’s expanding,” Jerome says. “We know we are a hospitality driven community; we take care of each other. That really has helped to propel us to where we are now. Had it not been for Vegas, I don’t know if there would be Café Lola.”

Good things go together at ceviche and tequila bar Mezcla



Mezcla is Spanish for “mix.” It’s a fun word to say, and a perfect name for a cozy Arts District bar that serves tequilas, rums, salsas and ceviche, in a neighborhood that boasts upscale dining, antiques, microbreweries, world-class street art and an increasing number of young roller skaters. Mezcla, the bar, fits neatly into that offbeat mix.

Its menu is simple—four pages, with a glossary of terms on the fifth. (Don’t know a pisco from a bacanora? Page 5 will set you straight.) It includes shareables like burnt ends brisket nachos ($18) and main dishes like the adobo chicken enchilada salad with charred corn and cotija ($18) and vegan chorizo empanadas with hominy, green onion, vegan smoked provolone and roasted tomato salsa ($15).

The ceviche stands alone. Several delicious varieties are offered, but there’s a box calling attention to the Mezcal Aguachile ($25), for the likely reason that it’s a tempting, savory beast of jumbo prawns, octopus, yellowtail, scallops, red onion, cucumber and Fresno chilies.

Once you’ve committed to a plate, the drinks will come easy; they fill the next three pages of the menu. Mezcla’s selection of añejos, blancos, cristalinos, mezcals, reposados, rums, cachacas and, yes, baconaras and piscos is deep and thoughtfully chosen. You can enjoy them as two-ounce pours or make them into cocktails for an extra $3. And if that’s too much pressure, simply turn to the page of house and classic cocktails and let Mezcla mix you up something great. –Geoff Carter

A Strip location marks the next step in Café Lola ’s lovely takeover

CAFÉ LOLA Forum Shops at Caesars,

ilovecafelola.com.

Mezcla Aguachile with a margarita at Mezcla (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

Lin Jerome (left), and Alexandra Lourdes at Café Lola at the Forum Shops (Courtesy)

FOOTBALL FIRSTS

Six bets on six of the biggest markets to kick o football betting season

BY CASE KEEFER

It’s beginning to look a lot like football season. While there’s still more than two months before the rst college regular-season games kick o in late August, with the NFL following in the rst week of September, football is already taking center stage in local sportsbooks. With other sports winding down, bookmakers have begun posting a variety of ways to bet on the upcoming seasons on the gridiron.

Some books already have full menus, and it’s worth starting to dive into them. It’s still early enough that bettors can find great value before the market beats the numbers into shape over the next several weeks.

To kick o football betting for the 20232024 season, here’s a futures bet to win the championship, a futures wager on the biggest trophy and a Week 1 play in both the NFL and college football.

BUFFALO BILLS (SOUTH POINT)

as their competitors this o season, because they didn’t need to. They were the best team in the NFL for a large part of last season before a rash of injuries eventually derailed them.

It still took a major upset to knock them out of the playo s, with the Cincinnati Bengals prevailing 27-10 as a 6-point road underdog in the snow. Making Bu alo the fifth choice to win the title coming into this season—behind Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Cincinnati—is a major overreaction to that ouster.

I’m already on record picking the Bills to play in Las Vegas’ first Super Bowl at the conclusion of this season, so count this as a case of putting my money where my mouth is.

TO WIN NFL MVP: LAMAR JACKSON AT 18-TO-1 (CAESARS/WILLIAM HILL)

It’s going to be di cult for anyone to keep up with the statistical production of reigning MVP/Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but the Ravens’ quarterback is one player who has proven he’s capable. See Jackson’s 2018 NFL MVP trophy for proof.

The concern is injury, as the new $260 million man has missed extended time at the end of each of the past two seasons. But at this high of a price, it’s worth the risk.

Jackson won the award five years ago, because he thrived in a unique, new o ense built around his dual-threat talents. This could be a case of history repeating, with new o ensive coordinator Todd Monken, formerly with the University of Georgia, stepping in to build a new scheme for the QB.

Photo Illustration)

GREEN BAY PACKERS (BOYD SPORTS)

Rodgers in a trade to the New York Jets this o season. But Rodgers will turn 40 years old during the season and showed decline last year.

Will longtime understudy Jordan Love really be that big of a drop-o taking over as the starter? Even if Love does struggle at the start of the season, the Packers have a well-built roster around him—especially on defense.

The Bears had the worst record in the NFL last season, and their fate won’t change overnight. The Packers have won and covered in eight straight in this rivalry series, and at this price, should be well on the way to nine in a row.

CARSON BECK

(SUPERBOOK AT WESTGATE LAS VEGAS)

is the team to beat, so how is its quarterback available at this high of a price to win college football’s most prestigious award?

It’s largely because Beck hasn’t been named the starter yet, but that appears to be a formality, given reading reports out of Athens, Georgia. Beck, a fourth-year junior, has more experience than his competitor, third-year sophomore Brock Vandagri , and far outplayed him during spring practice.

Beck, or Vandagri , will have an embarrassment of riches around him at the skill positions to inflate statistical production. And Georgia landed a relatively easy schedule, avoiding both Alabama and LSU in the Southeastern Conference’s rotating set of inter-division opponents.

TO WIN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF: (CAESARS/WILLIAM HILL)

Georgia and Ohio State squared o in an instant-classic national semifinal game in January, with the Bulldogs eventually overtaking the Buckeyes to win 42-41 in the final minute.

The margin was every bit as tight as the final score indicated, so there’s no good reason why Ohio State should be available at this high of a price, with Georgia at as low as +160 (i.e. risking $100 to win $160) going into this season. Both teams lost their quarterbacks to the NFL, but the Buckeyes actually have more overall returning production than the Bulldogs.

$100 to win $160) going into this season. Both

Two-time defending national champion Georgia deserves to be the favorite going into the season, but not this large of one. A few more teams than normal actually have a shot this season.

LSU and Texas are both worth a look if they creep back over 20-to-1, but for now, Ohio State is the best value on the board.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1:

LSU (BOYD SPORTS)

This is the biggest game of Week 1—two top-10 teams and sleeper national-championship picks clashing on a semi-neutral site

in Orlando.

Florida State returns more players

Florida State returns more players than any program in the nation, including virtually all of its skill players, led by quarterback Jordan Travis. But the Seminoles might be outmatched in the trenches, where the Tigers are much bigger and stronger.

LSU’s defense is also chock full of five-star prospects. The Tigers aren’t as experienced as the Seminoles on either side of the ball, but there’s a good chance LSU can overwhelm Florida athletically.

Look for this spread to close more in the range of LSU -3.5.

OHIO STATE

AIRLINES CONTINUE BATTLING POST-PANDEMIC CUS TOMER DISSATISFACTION

BY KATIE ANN MCCARVER VEGAS INC STAFF

Air travel is expected to soar this summer season as demand remains high following the isolation of the coronavirus pandemic. And that demand has led to an increasingly disgruntled airline passenger base, according to J.D. Power’s 2023 North America Airline Satisfaction Study.

The biggest driver of dissatisfaction was costs and fees, said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at the consumer research and data analytics firm.

“Prices will always rise when demand rises for a good that can’t be overmanufactured, [and] there’s only so many airline seats flying,” Taylor said. “The demand for leisure travel’s quite high. It’s higher than I think most everybody expected post-pandemic.”

While the primary factor contributing to inflationary ticket prices is demand, Taylor said, there’s also the underlying cost of goods for the airlines— like the price of fuel.

And, while aircraft are filling up fast, fewer are in the air as the industry grapples with an ongoing pilot shortage. Taylor cited a decade-plus-old Federal Aviation Administration rule that significantly increased the number of hours someone must fly before becoming a copilot, and early retirement packages during COVID-19 as possible factors.

“That’s the constraining variable that everybody’s looking to fix,” he said. “And it’s not a shortterm fix. You can’t hire a pilot off the street and expect them to be flying an aircraft three weeks later. So it’s going to be a long-term problem, because the demand will probably remain high.”

Respondents to the survey, released last month, also showed a desire for additional direct flights to their destination, along with more room on airplanes. The latter is unlikely this summer, Taylor

said, as the load factor—or percentage of seats filled—is expected to reach upwards of 90%.

Summer travel kicked off in earnest over Memorial Day weekend, during which Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air flew hundreds of thousands of people, according to Scott DeAngelo, the airline’s chief marketing officer.

Summer is typically Allegiant’s biggest season, and DeAngelo said this year should be no different. The airline aims to plan ahead and meet the demand of passengers as they come, he said, instead of making promises it can’t fulfill and ultimately having to cancel flights.

“We at Allegiant certainly have prepared for that by not overpromising,” he said. “Meaning, planning in a way that we make sure that we can fulfill all the demand … we have the airplanes, the pilots, the flight attendants, the mechanics required to maintain our operation at [a] high degree of reliability.”

In anticipation of high demand and limited supply this summer, Taylor said many airlines have already taken precautions.

“To cope with the summer, the airlines give themselves a little bit more slack in the system,” he said. “They’ve been canceling flights way in advance.”

DeAngelo said Allegiant and other ultra low-cost carriers have seen many passengers who were previously more likely to fly major airlines like United, Delta or American. He pointed to Allegiant’s multiple direct flights as one aspect attractive to customers, along with cheap rates that allow a passenger to save for their actual trip.

“The more you can save on that flight, that’s more money to spend in the destination,” he said.

Allegiant serves more than 60 destinations with nonstop service to Las Vegas, DeAngelo said, and the Harry Reid International Airport is the airline’s top booking for the summer.

Joe Rajchel, spokesman for Harry Reid, expects locals and tourists to take opportunities to travel. The city continues to be in high demand: In 2022, the airport saw a record 52.7 million passengers.

“We are in, I think it’s safe to say, a period of growth,” Rajchel told the Las Vegas Sun last month. “Maybe not past recovery, but growth.”

On a positive note, Taylor said, the study showed an increase in passenger satisfaction with gate agents and flight crews, even though, he pointed out, “A full aircraft doesn’t make for an environment where you can be really friendly with people all the time.”

People in the Southwest ticketing line at Harry Reid International Airport on December 27, 2022 (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

GIVING NOTES Local philanthropy making a difference

The Penta Building Group’s charitable arm, the Penta Cares Foundation, raised $220,000 for four Southern Nevada nonprofits— $55,000 each for Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation, Women’s Development Center, Nevada Military Support Alliance and Opportunity Village—during its 19th annual Charity Golf Classic at Revere Golf Club. The event welcomed 296 golfers representing 75 companies, vendors and clients.

Silver State Schools Credit Union’s Board of Directors announces 10 recipients from the 2023 People Over Profit Foundation Scholarship program. The winners—Southern Nevada high school seniors Adelaide Hubble, Emma Kwok, Samuel Lin, Hannah Miller, Madison

Murray, Garrett Ordonez, William Pirosch, Alex Rieger, Callie Torgesen and Dorian Vila-Barrios—will each receive a $2,000 scholarship for the upcoming fall session. Their scholarships are renewable for up to four years.

East Career & Technical Academy construction program students have completed the construction of 15 doghouses as part of their school project this year, sponsored by local companies GC Garcia, Inc. and Grand Canyon Development Partners. The doghouses are being donated and delivered to local animal organizations this week for them to either keep, give away to people who adopt dogs or auction off to raise funds for their organizations. The Nevada SPCA, Heaven

The FORMULA 1® Brand

The FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023 will take place on November 16-18, 2023 and Formula 1, together with the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. team are excited to bring this inaugural event to the world famous Las Vegas Strip. Extensive preparations are underway for this unique event, which will include official grandstands and official fan experience areas along the Strip.

Official activations will bear FORMULA 1® trademarks, so that we can offer fans an authentic race experience and honor our commitment to, and investment by, our event partners, global partners, suppliers and licensees who have the right to use the FORMULA 1® brand and to associate themselves with our event.

We know the greater business community, particularly those with Strip-front property or venues, may wish to be involved with or celebrate FORMULA 1® coming to Las Vegas. We want to support the local community in creating a passionate, creative and inclusive environment, so long as this is carried out in a manner that respects the FORMULA 1® trademarks and other intellectual property owned by Formula 1.

Great care is taken to protect the rights in the FORMULA 1® trademarks and typefaces, which cannot be used by third parties without a specific license from Formula 1. Furthermore, we do not permit unauthorized association with our brand and event, including public screenings of the event unless the correct license has been obtained from Formula 1, nor can tickets be used for prizes or giveaways unless authorized by the promoter.

For reference, see opposite a non-exhaustive list of official FORMULA 1® trademarks and typefaces. Our trademarks are registered in the USA and/or internationally.

If you have any questions and/or need guidance on any plans you may have for your venue during the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023, if you are unsure whether your activities, or those of others, are an infringement of the above mentioned rights, or are interested in licensing opportunities we’d be happy to hear from you at trademarks@f1.com

Can Wait, Las Vegas Humane Society, Pawtastic Friends, Street Dogz, Amor Peludo, and Michael’s Angel Paws will all receive doghouses.

Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada announced the addition of two new members to its team. Christine Santos serves as director of development and marketing; she previously held various roles in marketing, including VP of marketing. Daniela Azul Landis serves as family services program coordinator (bilingual); most recently, she served as legal assistant for a criminal defense law firm, managing more than 100 clients.

Three Square Food Bank announced Beth Martino as its president and chief executive officer. Martino brings 20

years of leadership experience in the food bank, public affairs and health care sectors. The Board of Directors for local nonprofit R.E.A.C.H. (Research, Education and Access for Community Health) has promoted Luis Aceves to director of marketing and business development and Oscar Aceves to director of outreach and community engagement. Luis Aceves joined R.E.A.C.H. in 2018 and has been responsible for overseeing the development and execution of a comprehensive marketing and engagement strategy. Oscar Aceves joined R.E.A.C.H. in 2018 and has been responsible for managing all community outreach projects and activities during the past five years, including the Mobile Clinic.

Trademarks

Formula 1®

The Official Typefaces

Again, Formula 1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc. are thrilled to bring this highly anticipated event to Las Vegas and appreciate the support and enthusiasm of the community.

Formula 1 and Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc.

Hotel Controller sought by Maple Leaf Management Nevada, Inc., Las Vegas, NV to prep fincl forecasts & P&L stmts, etc. Deg’d applcnts exp’d wrkg w/use of Hotel Mgmt System, etc.

PREMIER CROSSWORD HOROSCOPES “RE-SOUNDING DUOS” BY FRANK LONGO WEEK OF JUNE 15 BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I would love to see you get very up close and personal with nature. I’d also love to see you learn more about where the fundamental things in your life originate. Bonus points if you seek adventures to bolster your foundations and commune with your roots.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Mexican artist Diego Rivera emerged from his mother’s womb in 1886. But some suggest his soul was born in 1920: a pivotal time when he found his true calling as an artist. I speculate that you may have a comparable experience in the coming months: a rebirth of your soul that awakens vigorous visions of what your future life can be.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): My Gemini friend Alicia has worked as a deep-sea rescue diver, an environmental activist and more. I respect her decision to honor her ever-shifting passions. But if she ever chooses to experiment with a bit more stability and constancy, it might happen during the next 11 months. You Geminis are scheduled to engage in deep ruminations about the undiscovered potentials of regularity, perseverance and commitment.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As religious sects go, the Shakers are the most benign. They practice pacifism, disavow consumerism and don’t try to impose their principles on others. I’m not suggesting you become a Shaker, Cancerian, but I do hope that in the coming months, you will place a premium on associating with noble groups whose high ideals are closely aligned with your own.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): For years, Mario A. Zacchini worked at a circus as a “human cannonball.” On thousands of occasions, he was shot out of a cannon at 90 miles per hour. His work might sound dangerous, but he lived to age 87. Let’s make Mario your role model; may he inspire you to be both adventurous and safe, daring but prudent.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Of all the zodiac signs, you have the greatest potential to express thoughtful ideas based on actual evidence. Be a role model for the rest of us! Show us what it means to have articulate, well-informed opinions.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Meditation teacher Cheri Huber wrote a book called Be the Person You Want to Find. You should carry out such a quest during the next 10 months. Two suggestions. 1. Make a list of qualities you yearn to experience in an ally and brainstorm about how to cultivate those qualities in yourself.

2. Name three high-integrity people you admire. Meditate on how you could be more like them, in ways aligned with your life goals.

11 Snow queen in Frozen

12 Stockholm citizens

13 Ovine babies

14 Plain to see

15 Booth or Oswald, notably

16 Defeated by decision in boxing, for short

17 Fork point

18 World power until ’91

22 Slangy ending for switch

24 Slips on sleet, say 28 “Weekend Edition” airer

29 Of the stars 30 Insolently bold

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The next two years will bring rich opportunities to outgrow stale relationship patterns and derive rich benefits from novel lessons in intimacy. An excellent way to prepare is to meditate on the history of your togetherness. PS: The term “fate bait” refers to an influence that draws you toward the next turning point of your necessary destiny. Be alert for fate bait.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian actor Samuel Jackson loves the color purple. He insists on it being featured in his films. I am endorsing his obsession for your use. Why? First, it’s an excellent time to ask for exactly what you want. Second, astrologers say purple is your ruling color. It stimulates your natural affinity for abundance, expansiveness and openness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): People who understand the creative process say it’s often wise to stay mum about your in-progress work. You may diminish the potency of your projects if you blab about them while they’re still underway. I suspect the transformative efforts you are currently involved in will benefit from at least some secrecy. Cultivate the privacy necessary to usher your masterpiece to ripeness.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Musician Frank Zappa (1940–1993) refrained from taking psychedelic drugs and urged his fans to do the same. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to re-evaluate your relationship with influences that weaken the vitality of your body, mind or spirit. It will also be a favorable period to seek new modes of lasting liberation.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I beg you not to let yourself be manipulated or abused by anyone for any reason. These days, it’s crucial not to believe you can succeed by doing things that would hurt or demean or diminish you. For the foreseeable future, you will be wise to show what you do best and express your highest values. That’s the most effective way to get what you want.

2020 KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

JUNE 23, 2023 | 7PM - 10PM

Celebrate a night of opulent delight in all white.

evening inclusive