The Nightlife Issue by Vegas Seven

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For tickets visit cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ﬁreworks VIP Cabanas available. Must be 21 years or older. Management reserves all rights. Subject to change without notice. © 2012 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. All Rights Reserved.

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CASINO FLOOR PARTY Friday December 28 Saturday December 29 Sunday December 30 Monday December 31

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Monday December 31

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R E S O R T

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THE LOUNGE Sunday December 30 // 11pm Monday December 31 // 10:30pm No cover

PITBULL

THE PEARL Friday December 28 Saturday December 29

THE BEST PLACE TO WATCH NYE FIREWORKS ticketmaster.com // pearl box ofce 702.944.3200 palms.com Must be 21 or older to purchase wristbands, be on the casino floor and at The Lounge. All-You-Can-Drink Wristbands available at The Lounge, The Mint and Tonic, while supplies last. ÂŠ2012 FP Holdings, L.P. dba Palms Casino Resort. All Rights Reserved.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30 Tickets available at all locations, ticketmaster.com, mgmgrand.com, or charge by phone at 866.740.7711.

Sundays

PREMIERING JANUARY 13, 2013

DINING / FASHION / NIGHTLIFE

Crystals at CityCenter

Dessert shots at Botero Supper Club.

24 | The LaTesT

“The Year the Silver Linings Shone.” A look back at 2012, in the words of Las Vegans at the center of the storm. Plus, Media, Tweets of the Week and Anthony Curtis’ The Deal.

26 | About Town

“Residents’ Evil,” by Geoff Carter. Every so often a new word worms its way into the Vegas lexicon. And then it lays eggs.

30 | Green Felt Journal

Not every hotel-casino has gotten in on the nightclub boom—and some of the holdouts are happy about it. David G. Schwartz on nightlife against the grain.

32 | National

The New York Observer on the etiquette of gifts to teachers.

34 | The nighTLife awards

The night is young—learn how to spend it in style with our annual celebration of the clubs, trends and people that make Las Vegas the after-dark capital of the world.

57 | nighTLife

Seven Nights, Seven More Nights, Gossip, Q&As with Eric Prydz and Sol Shafer, a profile of go-go dancer Saturn Reyes, and photos from the week’s hottest parties.

97 | dining

“The New Dinner Party,” by Xania Woodman. As the dining and nightlife scenes continue to converge, vibe dining and supper clubs boldly take dinner where it hasn’t gone before—the dance floor. Plus, a profile of SHe chef Todd Mark Miller, Dishing and Cocktail Culture.

109 | a&e

“Survival of the Wittiest,” by Steve Bornfeld. Artist Jevijoe Vitug cleverly portrays the struggle of immigrants caught in the teeth of the Great Recession.

112 | Music

Jason Scavone’s roundup of unheralded Christmas music. Plus, Jarret Keene’s Soundscraper, CD reviews and our concert pages.

124 | Movies

A guide to quirky holiday films, plus our weekly movie reviews, including The Hobbit.

128 | TV

“The Unreal Housewives of Clark County,” by Una LaMarche. Sin City Rules is faker than fake, which might make it the purest form of “reality” entertainment. Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Departments 19 | Dialogue 20 | Vegas Moment

136 | Going for Broke 152 | Seven Questions

Photo by Anthony Mair

on the cover

For our special nightlife double issue, we’re celebrating the best in Vegas after dark. Photos by Anthony Mair, with an assist from our ace stylists and designers. See Page 50 for full credits.

17 VEGAS SEVEN

25 | Seven Days

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

22 | Event

VEGAS SEVEN

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eDitorial DireCtor Phil Hagen managing eDitor Greg Blake Miller senior eDitor, nightliFe, Dining anD beVerage Xania Woodman senior writers Geoff Carter, Heidi Kyser assoCiate eDitors Steve Bornfeld, Sean DeFrank, Matt Jacob a&e eDitor Cindi Reed CoPy eDitor Paul Szydelko CalenDar eDitor Deanna Rilling eDitorial assistant Elizabeth Sewell

Contributing editors

Melinda Sheckells, style; Michael Green, politics; Max Jacobson, food; Jarret Keene, music; David G. Schwartz, gaming/hospitality

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dialogUe ediTor’s noTe Much like New Year’s Eve itself, the annual nightlife issue looms large at the end of the calendar year. And each year, I have to ask myself how best to make the special issue fresh and original. Compared with Las Vegas’ dining scene, the nightlife world isn’t rocked by constant change; only a handful of major nightclubs open and close each year. Nightclubs routinely cost upward of $50 million, so they’re expected to stick around for a while. To honor that kind of commitment in our transient town, we’re focusing on the clubs themselves and the people who make them last. It all begins on Page 34 with our Nightclub Awards and the picks of our three experts—Jack Colton (an insightful voice from the industry), Rachel Wenman (an expert on the LGBT scene) and Geoff Carter (our DTLV.com editor and bard of all things downtown). Then, we introduce you to the “Seven People You Meet in a Nightclub” and invite you to celebrate with us at the 2012 Nightclub Awards party. Finally, we lay out the ultimate New Year’s Eve party guide … with a little help from Lil Jon. A toast to you, Las Vegas! – Xania Woodman, nightlife, dining and beverage editor

December 26 & 27

This week @ VegasseVen.com Built for Speed

RunRebs.com has a crisp new look, built for easier navigation and a smooth reading experience. Make sure to stay tuned for all of Mike Grimala’s coverage and analysis as UNLV tunes up against Canisius at the Thomas & Mack on Dec. 22 before a showdown at Chapel Hill on Dec. 29 against North Carolina—a team on a mission after falling to the Rebels in Las Vegas last season. Also, don’t miss Sean DeFrank’s latest Rebelist, dedicated to the most beloved benchwarmers in UNLV basketball history.

Videos of the Week

To accompany our nightlife issue, we’ve got lighthearted video guides to the latest moves—a go-go parody from The Act’s Bambu Jessica and a DJ playbook from Michael Toast. Also, get a guided tour of Drink & Drag from LGBT nightlife expert Rachel Wenman. Finally, take a look behind the creation of this week’s cover. It’s all at VegasSeven.com/Videos.

No Rest for the Famous

The busy Christmas season will soon give way to the even busier celebrities-coming-to-Vegas-forNew-Year’s-parties season. Keep up with everything that’s going on with our glittery overlords at DailyFiasco.com.

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For tickets call 800-745-3000 or go to Ticketmaster.com

19 VEGAS SEVEN

Downtown’s arts renaissance shows no signs of slowing, and we’re telling the tale at DTLV.com. Meet Dana Satterwhite, the man behind the TastySpace gallery, and learn how a neighborhood improves one artwork at a time. Also, don’t miss our look inside the semi-secret Coterie.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Artlicious Downtown

VEGAS SEVEN

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

vegas moment

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

ď&#x201A;ľ Hew Burney

Have you taken a photo that captures the spirit of Las Vegas this week? Share it with us at VegasSeven.com/Moment.

21 VEGAS SEVEN

Make rooM on the ark

and so they came, two by two, in time of flood, unto the ship that would bring them urban vibrancy and meaningful interactions. Thus were the Downtown Programmers saved from the fate of Lesser Vegas, and the Call Center Specialists, and the Denizens of the Cocktail Room, and, at long last, upon the birthday of the Helmsman, came the Unicorn. But of such Specimen, as of the Helmsman Himself, there were not two, but only One. And should some say in Later Days that it was not a Unicorn, but a Pony with a Cone, You shall tell Them that Miracles do occur, and that Downtown, borne through the Great Recession upon the hull of Tony Hsieh, liveth still.

EvEnt

Santa tea

VEGAS SEVEN

[ upcoming ]

Jan. 5 Disney on Ice hair donation campaign for Wigs for Kids at Galleria at Sunset (WigsForKids.org) Jan. 13 Pet adoptions in front of Shaggy Chic at Tivoli Village, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (TivoliVillageLV.com)

Photos by Gabe Zapata

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Holiday cheer was in the air Dec. 15 at Simon Restaurant and Lounge in Palms Place, where chef Kerry Simon teamed with Communities in Schools of Nevada for the annual Santa Tea event, which raised $13,500. The gathering drew a crowd of 140, with kids decorating gingerbread cookies and playing festive games as Simon unwrapped such signature dishes as mac and cheese, tea sandwiches, fresh sushi and a holiday junk-food platter. While waiting for photos with Santa, the kids sipped hot cocoa, while parents were offered cranberry mojitos.

This season, the greatest gift is ours to give. Join us through January 6 for an exclusive holiday Festival only at The VenetianÂŽ. Enjoy skating on the Las Vegas Strip, festive food, musical performances by Mannheim Steamroller, sensational shopping and spectacular sights throughout Winter in Venice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; where new traditions begin.

Visit Venetian.com for special suite packages.

Take a peek at our gifts to you.

“We’ve had Deadmau5 since January, but don’t worry, that national nightmare is almost done.” About town {pAge 26}

News, media, essays and wistful backward glances

The Year the Silver Linings Shone A look back at 2012, in the words of Las Vegans at the center of the storm It was The Year of More in Nevada politics: More ads than ever (Las Vegas was No. 1 in the country, and it started in July). More repetitive rhetoric than ever before (protecting and preserving Medicare, fighting for the middle class and warring on women). And more national attention: more love from presidential campaigns, more annoying robo-calls. All we had less of was policy substance, quality candidates and scintillating debates. Never has so much television time been purchased to affect so few voters to elect so many people who will only repeat this bad behavior two years from now when the next campaign rolls around.

– Jon Ralston, The Ralston Report

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Building a rEnaissancE

VEGAS SEVEN

A year ago, we relocated to the Arts District, joining the influx of creatives with a shared vision for a new downtown. We realized that the renaissance is not only real, but also contagious. Our firm thrived—adding staff, new clients and new downtown projects—and we saw our neighboring businesses flourish as well. In 2012, we discovered the buzz, a little serendipity and a supreme sense of community.

– Dwayne R. Eshenbaugh, principal, NOVUS Architecture

thE hEalth-carE cliff

We have seen a major expansion in health care for veterans with the new VA hospital and clinics around the Valley, yet they face the same problem that additional Medicaid recipients would face if that program were expanded per the Afford-

able Care Act: not enough providers. When I departed the VA clinic in late April, there was a three-month wait for patients to be seen. It will be interesting to see which companies and providers survive, what Gov. Brian Sandoval decides to do with Medicaid and whether providers will be able to keep up.

– Maureen Parker, R.N.

rEnovatE and rEtrEnch

For the hotel-casino business, there were more changes this year than you’d guess from the skyline: Downtown, one “new” casino opened (The D, built on the Fitzgeralds chassis), and one venerable casino expanded (Golden Gate). On the Strip, there was one significant closure (O’Shea’s), one name change (Imperial Palace became the Quad), one opening (Caesars Palace’s Octavius Tower) and one big renovation (MGM Grand). Perhaps the biggest story—and the reason for the demise of O’Shea’s— was the preparation for Caesars Entertainment’s Linq, a no-holds-barred attempt to bring an urban-streetscape vibe to the Strip. For years, downtown was chasing the Strip—one of the ironies of the post-Great Recession era may be the Strip trying to import a little of the downtown spirit.

– David G. Schwartz, director, UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research

going gloBal

The creative energy directed toward downtown’s economic redevelopment has allowed me to cultivate Sin City Gallery’s international marketing endeavors: I’ve focused on promoting local artists to the world and introducing national and international artists to downtown clientele. It is a special feeling when artists and patrons can share an intimate art experience because of your vision. I feel pretty fortunate to be part of the downtown synergy.

– Laura Henkel, artistic director, Sin City Gallery

PErforming local

This was the year of the local performer. Starting with the success of Evil Dead, local production companies have begun to work their way into larger venues, such as RagTag at LVH. It’s a trend that looks strong enough to continue into the future. Shows are starting to reach out to the local community as well, rather than draw on talent from outside of Vegas, which is encouraging. This means that more people who call Sin City home are now working on the Strip in shows, as it should be. I am excited to see what 2013 brings.

– Sirc Michaels of Sirc Michaels Productions

BEttEr BEts

We broke new ground in the industry in 2012. With William Hill, you have the U.K.’s biggest bookmaker bringing fresh ideas into the market—and our current products, such as in-game wagering, will be enhanced as a result. There’s also the growing convenience of sports betting, with mobile betting becoming more prominent. Overall, casinos are giving more recognition to the importance of their sportsbooks, thus breeding more competition. I’ve always said that competition is good for people on both sides of the counter.

– Jimmy Vaccaro, public relations director, William Hill Sportsbooks

schools in flux

The data-driven curriculum has made educational headlines, but educating our children goes beyond the numbers. In 2012, the science of teaching collided with the art of teaching. National initiatives challenged teachers to demonstrate growth in every child to the parents, school and district. Meanwhile, in the classroom, we had to synthesize all this data, differentiate instruction, create engaging lessons, teach social skills, guide peer relationships and manage behavior. All the while, we’ve kept the main goal in mind: providing our children with the tools for success.

– Judy Kraus, math and science teacher, Hyde Park Middle School

Illustrations by PB Jacob

ElEctoral ExcEss

By Bob Whitby

– Dan Decker, artistic director, Las Vegas Shakespeare Company

… But Not for the BArs

When I opened Double Down 20 years ago, I gave the town an alternative to stale, boring corporate chain bars— and at the time it was a hard sell in a town not yet ready for alternatives. Las Vegas is now ready, and a lot of new bars have popped up recently. But no matter how good your concept, a bar will succeed in the long run only if you treat your customers well: Serve them a good drink quickly and respectfully. But what I saw all too often in 2012 is that more and more places are going for the style of unqualified hipsters and [well-endowed models] behind the bar while neglecting the substance of customer service. And until new bars open whose owners understand the importance of both style and substance, I think Las Vegas’ bar culture will continue to spin its wheels.

My attention was focused on the opening of McCarran International Airport’s Terminal 3. During my 15 years with the Department of Aviation, we had never undertaken such a sizable project—something that would bring many benefits to this community for decades to come. It took a lot of hard work from so many people, but we pulled off a phenomenal, Las Vegas-style opening on June 27 and have since remained busy operating the new space and refining how it can best serve our 40 million annual passengers. For me, 2012 will always be remembered as the year of T3.

– Rosemary Vassiliadis, deputy director, Clark County Department of Aviation

leAN ANd greeN

Thursday, dec. 20: There’s not much point in going any

further with this column as the world is ending tomorrow. So tonight you need to party. Eli Roth’s Goretorium has you covered on that end. Dress up as a dead celebrity and drink Mayan Blood cocktails all night long. What have you got to lose? Goretorium.com.

Friday, dec. 21: OK, so the world

didn’t end. But you’ve sold the house, blown your cash, crashed your car and have a wicked hangover. Now what? Time to rebuild. But first, take a moment to reflect on beauty and truth at the World of Art Showcase, today through Sunday at Wynn. The show brings together renowned artists to explain how and why you should buy art, so that when you do rebuild you won’t just go buy more paintings of dogs playing poker. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 20-22, $55 one-day pass, $125 three-day pass, WorldofArtShowcase.com.

– Alfredo Fernández-González, architecture professor, UNLV

saTurday, dec. 22: Ready for a mind-opening, toe-tapping, genre-busting musical experience? Head for the Historic Fifth Street School to see Holidays in Hicksville, a performance by those masters of jazz/folk/pop, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. For a dose of Hicks, visit DanHicks.net. 7 p.m.; tickets $10 in advance, $15 at door; ArtsLasVegas.org.

loud ANd greeN

Friday, dec. 28: It’s the annual

I see the architectural profession emerging from the Great Recession wiser and much leaner than it was five years ago. Many of today’s most successful firms have embraced an integrated design process that involves all interested parties in every aspect of the design process to produce better, more economical, more sustainable buildings. This type of collaboration needs to continue in architecture education in 2013.

– P Moss, owner, Double Down bar

In 2012, environmentalists expanded their community and learned to work with new constituencies. As a result, a larger and more diverse mix of environmentally minded citizens made a difference through advocacy and in exercising their right to vote.

the Art of the Art BusiNess

– Scot Rutledge, executive director, Nevada Conservation League Education Fund

problem: how to fill those slow days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Never fear—in our basketball town, it’s easy. The D3Hoops.com Classic runs through Sunday at the South Point Arena, pitting teams from smaller colleges across the country against one another. $10 general admission, SouthPointArena.com.

reBel remedy

saTurday, dec. 29: OK, now things are

The Las Vegas art market experienced a bump in locals buying basic, entry-level work in 2012. Other galleries and shops tell me that hobbies, crafts and decorative trinkets are selling well. But the year was dismal for emerging artists because collectors of emerging work continued to hold back in their luxury spending. The emerging artist market is my strength, but I made a few folly choices in programming this year due to an unexpected increase in workload: I love being an ambassador to Arts District tourists, but they spend very little and take a great deal of my time. We did have a good year with professional collectors, however, so our bottom line is similar to years past.

– Marty Walsh, owner, Trifecta Gallery

doiNg Justice

This was a record year for the district attorney office’s Family Support Division, which collected more than $125 million for the children in our community. We also took great strides to shed light on those times when our local police officers use deadly force. Earlier this year, we began issuing reports on officer-involved deaths, providing detailed information about these most serious encounters. So far, we have presented 18 of these reports to the public. People deserve to be told what happened and why. These reports give the families touched by these tragedies and the public the answers they are looking for.

– Steven Wolfson, Clark County District Attorney

There is something special about being a lifelong UNLV Rebel, about having the words “Scarlet & Gray” move you emotionally. The Rebels are the soul of this town. They are one of the very few things—if not, the only thing—that brings us together. In 2012, that was as evident as it has been in a long, long time. I am a Southern Nevada native and a UNLV alum, so seeing the Rebels once again assume their place at the heart of our culture has been meaningful for me on more than a professional level. In a community that has faced more than its fair share of challenges in recent years, the Rebels have brought us all a much-needed boost.

– D.J. Allen, senior associate athletic director, UNLV

the revitAlizAtioN Boom

The Zappos effect + critical mass of interest in how preservation is sustainability + decades of benign neglect + a remarkable collection of mid-century modern-era building stock (now officially “historic,” according to the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places) = One of the most dynamic urban revitalization opportunities in the U.S. We have all the ingredients for success that every other place that has done it had. Let’s hope 2012 is remembered as the year it finally all got fully baked.

– Andy Kirk, history professor and director of UNLV’s Public History Program

picking up. Tributepalooza at the Fremont Street Experience is the hot, cheesy ticket tonight. If you can’t find entertainment value in Fan Halen and Led Zepagain, check your pulse. Big plus: It’s free. 6 p.m.-3 a.m., VegasExperience.com.

Tuesday, Jan. 1: How about something

wintery on this first day of 2013? Lake Las Vegas’ ice rink is a unique chance to hone your skating skills in the desert. Grab a cup of hot chocolate, and you’ll think you’re back in Michigan. Through January. $15, $12 children, MontelagoVillage.com.

Wednesday, Jan. 2: 2013 could be the year you open your eyes to social injustice and inequality all around us. A good start: Left of Center Gallery’s juried exhibition Looking the Other Way, a collection of work by local artists on the above themes. It opens today and runs through March 2. LeftOfCenterArt.org.

For our complete calendar, see Seven Days & Nights at VegasSeven.com.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

The Las Vegas Shakespeare Company launched our building-fund drive this year, and we had the mayors of Henderson and Las Vegas join with us in their shared support of the arts. This is significant: We need the active support of our officials, and we have it here. It makes me proud to be part of this expanding arts community and to work in cooperation with private, nonprofit and government entities. On a personal note, the year ended with the LVSC board chairman telling me my Hamlet was the best he’d ever seen—and he’s seen 10 of them, including on Broadway. It doesn’t get any better than that.

tAkiNg flight

25 VEGAS SEVEN

A Boost for the BArd

The LaTesT

about town

What happened to the Swim-InPool neon sign?

Every so oãen a new word worms its way into the Vegas lexicon. And then it lays eggs.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Geoff Carter

VEGAS SEVEN

Las Vegas doesn’t have a large native vernacular. We don’t have neighborhoods with native accents and nomenclature. We don’t have insider stuff that we hide from outsiders; we don’t want tourists to think that we’re withholding anything they could spend money on. As a result, whenever a word or phrase finds its way into our vernacular, we tend to use the hell out of it— often incorrectly. “I got a comp.” “This is my Friday.” The latest such piece of language is the word “residency.” We use it to describe extended engagements by entertainers; first by club DJs, then by anyone else who played the Strip for longer than a few days. Guns N’ Roses’ 12 shows at the Hard Rock Hotel amounted to a residency. Shania Twain’s dates at Caesars—10 this month, with more to come in 2013—are a residency. I’ve even heard three-date engagements called a “mini-residency.” The next inevitable step is the micro-residency— one date, or a simple two-hour layover at McCarran. As near as I can tell, “residency” comes from club culture: I remember encountering the word for the first time back in the late 1990s, in the pages of the dance-music publication Mixmag. Some DJs play gigs that last months, or even years. (We’ve had Deadmau5 at Wynn since January, but don’t worry, that national nightmare is almost done.) “Residency” appears a bastardization of “artist-inresidence,” a phrase and concept that dates back to the 1900s. Artist-in-residence programs are sponsored by cultural institutions and sometimes entire communities, and they allow artists to spend some time living and creating work outside of their native environment, where familiarity and personal obligations can have a negative influence on their art. In return, the institution is enriched by the work the artist creates. Badlands National Park in South Dakota has an artist-

in-residence program, as does the SETI Institute. UNLV has an artist-in-residence program. That brings us back to Guns N’ Roses, Santana, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Def Leppard and the many other extended engagements that have earned the “residency” tag. I’m having difficulty getting my head around this: Considering what I just said, what makes an extended engagement by a musical artist—an artist who probably doesn’t live here in town even temporarily, and who is being paid millions by a corporation for a few weeks’ work—into a residency? Even by the Mixmag definition of the term, it’s wrong—and I sincerely doubt that Axl Rose wrote any new music while he was in town. The closest any Las Vegas casino gets to the true artist-in-residence heritage is the Cosmopolitan’s program at the P3 Studio Gallery, but even those “residencies” last only a month. Imagine if they brought in someone like Augustine Kofie for three months and sponsored his efforts to create large-scale works around town? Or what if the Wynn hosted Röyksopp for as long as it takes for them to make an epic techno record, with no expectations of DJ sets played? Or if any hotel with a dark showroom gave it over to a young playwright for workshopping a play or musical? But that won’t happen, and no matter. We’re stuck with “residency,” now and forever. It’s yet another meaningless phrase for Vegas’ otherwise well-meaning tourism and public-relations people to run into the ground. Probably only a matter of time before we use it retroactively to describe “Elvis’ residency at the International” or “Sinatra’s residency at the Sands.” If Sinatra knew that he’d someday be linked to DJ culture, he might have hung on for a few more years just so he could beat up those responsible.

Was the Santa Claus at the Boulevard Mall in the 1970s real?

One thing is certain: He was more real than the animatronic reindeer and elves that the mall would set up each year in what was perhaps the most elaborate of local store Christmas displays to date. Back then, the Boulevard (built in 1968 and expanded and modernized in the late 1980s) resembled a promenade of “Main Street” retailers decades before the Forum Shops came along (see VegasSeven.com/BoulevardMall). It featured several fountains, a town square-type clock and street lamps. Santa set up his photo shop near the main fountain, an unusual, midcentury stylized flower-like structure located in the indoor courtyard fronting J.C. Penney. A trip to the Boulevard to marvel at the holiday display was a tradition for many families, and although the animated reindeer and elves have long gone, Santa remains. So, is he real? Well, I got my Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, didn’t I?

Questions? AskaNative@VegasSeven.com.

Photo illustration by PB Jacob

Residents’ Evil

Some folks might confuse this question to be about the sign for the Glass Pool Inn, a south-Strip motor hotel famous for its above-ground pool, and once known as the Mirage (until Steve Wynn made a cash offer the owners could not refuse). That particular pylon sign was unceremoniously stolen from the former Glass Pool site after being taken down last year. But the Swim-InPool sign was entirely different: a modest, animated calling card for the Martin-family owned Swim-In-Pool Supply Company, located at 1314 S. Main St. since 1962. The sign—said to have been hand-built by a family member—featured three neon gals, each placed at various points along a neon slide (see Flikr.com/Photos/RoadsidePeek/6031136125). At night, the three gals would light in sequence, offering the illusion that one happy girl was sliding into a cool backyard pool. The sign was a familiar site on Main Street for decades and celebrated the desert-oasis lifestyle before a population explosion and subsequent water restrictions made such ideas politically incorrect. In November 2009, Swim-In-Pool’s sliding-girl sign suffered an electrical fire and was extensively damaged. Repairs, which required the garage-made sign to meet current code, would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. The owners decided not to pursue it. Rumor has it that the damaged sign remains in the possession of the Martin family. One hopes it will someday end up at the Neon Museum, fully restored.

the latest

media [ VegaS tech ]

Making the Grade in 2012

search for information about an image using Google Goggles, but the mainstream shift I expected is nowhere in sight.

By David Davis

When i made my predictions

for 2012 in January (VegasSeven.com/TechPredictions2012), the Las Vegas tech scene was just starting to take off, Facebook was still a private company, and it seemed like Internet poker in Nevada was just around the corner. Now the local scene is more mature, Facebook’s rocky IPO frustrated some investors but didn’t dent the site’s popularity, and it still seems like Internet poker in Nevada is just around the corner. While my predictions were far from perfect, I was close to the mark on most of them. Ubiquitous social networking— YES Twitter and Facebook links have become standard for businesses. Apple integrated both services into its latest IOS. And people are increasingly trading Facebook information instead of phone numbers. The rise of Google+—NO Google+ isn’t likely to disappear soon, but it will never be a Facebook killer—and it hasn’t even found a significant niche like LinkedIn.

The death of Blackberry—NOT YET Blackberry developer Research in Motion had a bad year, with more financial trouble and network outages. And Blackberry faithful continue to defect to other platforms. But the dramatic acquisition or bankruptcy I predicted hasn’t happened—yet. Android finally presents serious competition to Apple—YES Android smartphones outsell iPhones 3-to-1. Android tablets such as the Amazon Kindle Fire HD provide solid iPad alternatives for less money. Apple still has a light edge in usability, but even that’s changing. More context-aware mobile devices—NO Context-aware services have improved only slightly. More smartphone apps use GPS, but sometimes for little apparent reason. You can

More voice control— NOT YET Siri, the voicecontrol app for the iPhone, got a major upgrade and should soon be integrated into many vehicles. But I expected more competing voice apps integrated into more devices. Voice control is developing, but not as fast as I expected. Cloud computing: More common and less visible—YES The shift to cloud computing is definitely in full swing. Apple and Android devices seamlessly sync to the cloud in the background. Both individuals and businesses regularly back up and sync to the cloud— sometimes so automatically they don’t even realize it. More tech startups in Las Vegas— YES The co-working options downtown didn’t expand like I anticipated, but thanks in part to programs such as the Vegas Tech Fund, more startups than ever were founded in or moved to Las Vegas, such as electronic-publishing company Not Safe For Work, e-mail marketers LaunchBit and bowling innovator Rolltech.

[ Site to See ]

making Overtures

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

(FilmMusicReporter. com)

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I love film scores—enough to have written a chapter Paperman on them in the 2008 Time Out book, 1000 Songs to Change Your Life. (There are a few copies left on Amazon! Makes a great gift!) I like the way that film music takes on its own life and its own characteristics when stripped from its source, and the best composers of the stuff currently working—Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, Carter Burwell—slot nicely into iTunes playlists alongside Radiohead, Explosions in the Sky and other artists who merely sound like they’re scoring for films. There’s more to film music than John Williams’ Star Wars scores, and you should look to the Film Music Reporter blog for a thoughtful, no-nonsense introduction to what really is its own musical genre. By the way: My current favorite is Christophe Beck’s score to the animated short Paperman, which Film Music Reporter tells me is now available on iTunes. I so love a happy ending. – Geoff Carter Follow Carter on Twitter @Geoff_Carter.

found material

Beyond the Bright Lights Sometimes even the most innocent stories manage to take subtle cheap shots at Las Vegas. In a recent Los Angeles Times article about the Las Vegas Astronomical Society’s quest to establish an observatory complex atop Mount Potosi, writer John M. Glionna describes our city as “one of the most light-polluted places on the planet.” Despite the dig, the story does take an insightful look at how the stargazers deal with the excess of artificial light coming from the Valley, how Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory provides a positive example, and the LVAS’s determination to introduce kids to the wonders of our night sky. Find the link at VegasSeven.com/found.

@Kozmoe

Does anyone know what time the world is supposed to end next Friday? I have a social obligation that I really don’t want to attend.

@lileks

Really, who builds a snowman just so they can pretend he’s a religious leader who inquires about their marital status?

@fairWeatherfrnd

If you’ve never been sick and spent the day under a blanket while watching Michael Bublé sing Christmas songs, you haven’t almost not lived.

@eric_Bader

Ah, Christmas time. The time of year where we buy my brother, the meth/crackhead, stuff you can’t pawn off. Like toothpaste & breath mints.

@PaulyPeligroso

The saddest thing about Christmas is all the gingerbread houses in foreclosure.

@Ksenial

Had a small freak out that my flight was canceled. Then realized Vegas actually started with a “L.”

@aprilmacie

I just saw Harvard, Brown & Stanford stickers on the back of a Nissan Altima. My guess is they all finished in the bottom of their class.

@runofPlay

If I could boil the mood in this Vegas sportsbook down to one word, that word would be [an elephant suffocates in a bubble-wrap factory].

@stalkdeja

Opened my wallet to find a piece of ham with a phone number on it written in Sharpie ... Only in Vegas.

@Puddinstrip

Not losing any weight following Gwyneth Paltrow diet tips but I gotta say I’ve never felt more pretentious in my life.

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the latest

The Price of a Laugh

Treasure Island has said “No thanks” to the nightclub boom.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Nightlifeless

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if you’ve been on the Strip in the past five years, you know that nightclubs are front-and-center at most big resorts. Which begs the question: What’s a Vegas casino look like today when you subtract the nightclubs? First off, let’s clarify the definition. Every Strip casino is alive at night. Most of the things people do in Las Vegas—with an emphasis on gambling and drinking—continue around the clock no matter where you are. In most cities, even a place as unpretentious as Ellis Island would be considered a nocturnal hot spot. But in Las Vegas, nightlife means something very specific—the bass-pounding, bottle service-powered nightclub/dayclub engine that, it seems, powers much of the Strip economy today. It’s not news to say this brings in a different kind of customer than Las Vegas is used to—younger, brasher and simultaneously more (rooms) and less (nightclubs) price-sensitive than most Vegas visitors. And they’re far more visible than, say, business travelers: You only spot convention delegates in small clutches as they scurry from the expo hall to cocktails before remembering to remove their badges, but it’s impossible to miss the line of nightclubbers snaking through the property. The funny thing is that nightclubs are to post-recession Vegas what gambling was to most of the country in the 1990s. Remember when people used to say gambling was recession-proof? Turns out it isn’t, but for the past few years, nightclubs seem to be. Lines out the door. Tens of thousands of dollars a night to celebrity hosts. Margins

on bottles that the bean counters dream of. Without them, it’s possible that a few of the Strip’s biggest names would be facing bankruptcy. Nonetheless, for casinos without nightclubs, life not only goes on, but can go on profitably. In such places, you’ll find people doing the kinds of things they came to Las Vegas to do: gambling, drinking and trying to have a good time. And casinos without nightclubs don’t have DJ envy—as a matter of fact, they don’t really miss the action. Circus Circus has consciously chosen not to jump on the club bandwagon, even though owner MGM Resorts has made nightlife a priority at flagship resorts Bellagio and Aria. “The bulk of our current guests at Circus Circus,” says MGM spokeswoman Yvette Monet, “much prefer the experience of the Adventuredome and the circus midway acts to nightclubs. But for our adult guests who want some nightclub flavor, we do have terrific flair bartenders who put on a great show at Rock & Rita’s.” And at least one casino that once embraced nightlife has turned away from it. When it was part of the MGM empire, Treasure Island boasted Christian Audigier the Nightclub—the seemingly inevitable fusion of Ed Hardy with bottle service. But since Phil

Ruffin bought the place in 2009, he’s taken it in a different direction: Earlier this year, Señor Frog’s Restaurant and Bar moved into the space vacated by Christian Audigier and Social House, and Ruffin is in no rush to open a nightclub on the property. “Competing with big nightclubs is challenging,” says Michelle Knoll, Treasure Island’s senior vice president of communications. “You have to be mindful of who you and your clients are. Right now, we’re excited for Senor Frog’s”—the restaurant operates on a straight lease, so it is not, strictly speaking, a Treasure Island product—“but we’re equally happy with our own Seafood Shack, which has a fantastic bar and lounge. … [It’s] a place for people who like being able to sit down and have a drink without having to worry about waiting in lines or paying for bottle service.” But does neglecting dubstep devotees leave Treasure Island at a competitive disadvantage? “We’ve got 10,000 a people a day watching four Siren shows and two Mystére shows,” Knoll says. “We’re mindful of people who want a cocktail after the show. We like the idea of providing a place where they can talk to each other, have a cocktail and just enjoy the property.” That’s a healthy reminder of the basics of hospitality: Places to drink and talk may not make big headlines, but for the vast majority of visitors they’re more essential to the Vegas experience than all the DJs in town. David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

How do you feel about going out to shows? I’m guessing you don’t mind it once you’re there, but it takes some effort to get up and actually do it. And the high-end shows are great, but getting in and out of the big showrooms only adds to the hassle. One way to do the show thing with minimal aggravation is to hit a comedy club. They play in the smaller rooms that are easier to access and, more important, they’re the most inexpensive shows in town. Note that I’m talking about comedy “clubs,” which are different from comedy “shows” featuring headliners such as George Wallace or Carrot Top. A comedy club typically has an MC/opening comic, then two or three other comics over the course of the night. Following is a close-to-inclusive list of the clubs. New ones come and go fast, so it’s possible that something’s been left out. Rather than take up this entire space with disclaimers about which include tax, box-office fees, both or neither, I’ve put the clubs in price classifications, which tells the story well enough. And I’m looking at the lowest price when there’s a range. You can pay up to $68 at Brad Garrett’s club (when Brad’s performing), but do you really need to be up close to appreciate a comedian? Nah. The top-level shows come in at between $35 and $50. Those include Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at MGM, the Sin City Comedy Club at Planet Hollywood, the Improv Comedy Club at Harrah’s, Comedy After Dark at LVH, and the Laugh Factory at the Trop. At the middle level, tickets are about $30 for the Las Vegas Comedy Show at Tuscany, the L.A. Comedy Club at Cabo Wabo Cantina, and Big Al’s Comedy Club at the Orleans (and there’s a free open-mic night on Sundays). Finally, at the bargain level, tickets are in the $10 range, including Wolf’s Comedy Den at the Clarion, the Riviera Comedy Club at the Riv, and Bonkerz Comedy Club, if you don’t mind making the drive out to Primm Valley Resort. Keeping in mind that there tends to be a graduation in the talent level as prices rise, all the classifications seem to make sense, except for one: the Riviera Comedy Club. This club has been part of the Riviera’s entertainment roster for years, and it’s hosted some top-level comedians on their way up. Consequently, tickets were $41, putting it in the top level for cost. But prices were reduced last month to $19 (including all fees) and just $10 for locals, which makes this the top comedy-club play in town. To top it off, most of these shows discount with twofer offers that you can find online, in magazines and at the discount booths on the Strip. Use a twofer for any of these and you’ve scored one of the true deals in Las Vegas’ vast entertainment universe. Anthony Curtis publishes the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com, a monthly newsletter and website dedicated to finding the best deals in town.

A Total Spectrum of

FOOD + DRINK Burger Bar

SPECIALTY The Art of Music

Fat Tuesday

Bay Essentials

Hussong’s Cantina

Cariloha

Minus5 Ice Bar Rick Moonen’s rm seafood

Frederick’s of Hollywood GUINNESS Store

JEWELRY Forever Silver Le Paradis TeNo

CLOTHING Daily Blues Elton’s Men’s Store fashion 101

SERVICES The Art of Shaving Walk In by Robert Cromeans

Flip Flop Shops The Las Vegas Sock Market Maude

Rí Rá Irish Pub

L’CORE Cosmetics

Slice of Vegas Pizza

LICK

Shoe Obsession

Starbucks Coffee

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

Suite 160

Yogurt In

MVP

Nora Blue

Urban Outﬁtters

Nike Golf OPTICA Peter Lik Gallery Ron Jon Surf Shop Welcome to Las Vegas

www.MandalayBay.com

Located on the skybridge connecting Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Free valet parking.

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Stand and Deliver! 4HEÛESIPTESSEÛNFÛSEACHEQÛGIãR By U LM T N Y O

A FEW YEARS AGO, my friend Kabir raked in an amazing Christmas haul at work. “I got a cashmere sweater, really expensive wine, a super nice pen, a Le Creuset pan, a free dinner at Craft, opera tickets to the Met and a $150 watch,” he remembered. “Plus gift cards to everything from Dean & DeLuca to Banana Republic. I never got cash, but the gift cards added up to over a thousand bucks!” Kabir is not a hedge-fund manager, a high-end male escort or—despite the ﬁtting ﬁrst letter of his name—a backup Kardashian. In fact, at the time of this unbelievable bounty, he was a 25-year-old assistant kindergarten teacher at the Grace Church School in Manhattan. When the holidays roll around, there are plenty of handy guides to tell you how much to give your mail carrier, your hairdresser or your gardener. But what to get the beleaguered liberal-arts grad marinating in Yellow Tail Shiraz and student loans who molds the mind of your child? I’m referring, of course, to teachers, the most vexing of all gift recipients. They provide a service, sure, but educating your flesh and blood isn’t exactly on par with touching up your roots. Then again, you’re probably a lot closer to your stylist than to the person you entrust with your children every day. Their gift shouldn’t be a nominal tip, but it’s impossible (even bordering on inappropriate) to make it personal. And, perhaps most important of all, it should send the right message, whether you intend it as a token of appreciation, a status symbol or even a cleverly disguised bribe. I find myself already agonizing over a future of gift giving. As a freelance writer, I may never make much more than a teacher’s salary, so will they understand if I eschew Bergdorf Goodman

in favor of a pan of gingerbread? (What if it has Guinness stout in it, does that sweeten the deal?) Will the value of an iTunes gift card mean the difference between a fun, gossipy parent-teacher conference and one in which the teacher gives me the side-eye and pointedly calls me “ma’am”? Teachers themselves attest that their haul this time of year ranges from a tower of homemade snickerdoodles to a necklace hand-picked from David Yurman’s private collection. “Gift certiﬁcates are probably the best,” one told me, “because cash can be awkward.” But off the record, the consensus is that the higher the price tag, the better the gift—after all, there’s always resale value on eBay. New York’s public schools

are bastions of constructionpaper cards and, well, worse. Susie, a teacher in Jackson Heights, gets “lots of Russell Stover chocolates, re-gifted jewelry and the like,” she said, adding that arroz con leche is a real treat in comparison. One wonders whatever prompted her to relocate to Queens from the Upper West Side, where a former private-school colleague of hers was given $600 in cash one year. (“Any sort of thank-you means a lot,” she insisted.) The thing is, public schools have tried to ban gifts outright. (I hear that Mayor Michael Bloomberg also sends a yearly memo asking teachers not to accept presents of monetary value, which is summarily ignored.) So what usually happens now is that a volunteer will

collect money from everyone for a class gift, through a series of e-mails that some parents disregard altogether. “I don’t know what everyone’s situation is,” said a class parent in charge of just such duties. “But there are always people who give nothing and people who give a lot more than average, and am I going to think the people who ignore my e-mails are assholes? Yeah.” Private schools have cheapskates, too. One class parent recalls a “crazy rich” father who took issue with the $30 minimum donation she requested from each parent toward the teacher’s holiday gift. “You’re spending $30,000 a year to send your kid to school and you’re richer than God,” she said. “And you’re taking issue with spending

$30 on your teachers?” That’s chump change to Kelly, whose kids attend a private school where parents typically pony up $250 for teacher gifts. “Some give one really showy thing, like a bottle of nice Barolo, and others make a gift basket with a lot of smaller things that give the impression of being more extravagant,” she said. This, naturally, incites panic. “You don’t want to be the only one giving a bag full of Clinique samples or whatever when everyone else is going big,” she said. “So right now, in early December, you get a lot more chatting during dropoff, with people ﬁnding out what everyone else is doing. You wonder, is this enough? Am I getting them less than everyone else?” A few years ago, it was much

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Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

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name into print for fear of being ﬁred, says that she once received a class gift (funded collectively by more than 25 parents) with a retail value of almost $7,000. To curb competition, some schools have started collecting money anonymously to divide equally among teachers, not unlike tips at a dive bar (although presumably more lucrative). Meanwhile, Brooklyn Friends, Brearley and Col-

legiate, among others, have a homemade gifts-only policy to avoid any haggling over money, but the results have been mixed. While some parents “buy cookies from a bakery and just stick them in a Tupperware,” according to one former teacher, other school parents interpret “homemade” to mean much more than cupcakes. “A well-known photographer once offered to take my head shots,” the former teach-

er said. “And I rationalized it, because it was technically something he made. It was just something that should have cost me tens of thousands of dollars.” (Incidentally, a note to my son’s future educators: I would be happy to write a column about you for no charge.) But the unrestricted, aboveboard free-for-all continues at plenty of places. And I don’t think I’m telling tales out

of school to say that in the end, that is the policy that some teachers love best, if not parents. “The guilt that very rich parents feel at having their children educated and raised by young people making $29,000 a year is a strange thing,” Kabir—now out of the educational sector and resigned to his gift card-less existence—observes. “But, being young and broke, it was fucking awesome.”

44 VEGAS SEVEN

worse. “All I remember is that one year I was buying little boxes of Godiva trufﬂes, and the next year I was seriously considering getting my youngest daughter’s third-grade teacher a Chanel wallet,” said Joyce, a mother of three daughters who attended an elite all-girls private school. One teacher, who has been at her school for nine years and who refused to allow even her extremely common ﬁrst

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

THEIR GIFT SHOULDN’T BE A NOMINAL TIP, BUT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE IT PERSONAL. AND, PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, IT SHOULD SEND THE RIGHT MESSAGE, WHETHER YOU INTEND IT AS A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION, A STATUS SYMBOL OR EVEN A CLEVERLY DISGUISED BRIBE.

VEGAS SEVEN

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

46 VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by A M Styling by N C Hair by A B Makeup by A A

2012 Nightclub AwArds In Vegas Seven’s third foray into handing out the hardware for nights done right, we’d like to direct your attention to the dance àoor—or, rather, to the category that is the pulsating, strobing, beat-matching heart of it all—The Nightclub. Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Deanna Rilling, Jason Scavone and Xania Woodman

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Photo by Anthony Mair

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

1 Oak.

Body English.

Pure.

The Act.

Where East Meets Best: 1 Oak Las Vegas lucked out last year when it welcomed New York import 1 Oak Nightclub to the former Jet space in The Mirage. Actually, it was a lot more than

just luck that led to the 16,000-square-foot space’s sophisticated makeover. As featured in last year’s awards (VegasSeven.com/NightlifeIssue/2011), it was the fortuitous collaboration of New York’s elite the Butter Group and Las Vegas royalty, the Light Group, that brought the Avalon Sound system to life in an all-new design set off by artwork from Roy Nachum. You should know by now that 1 Oak stands for “one of a kind,” and it is, although technically now there are two. We let it go, so should you. In The Mirage, 1OakLasVegas.com. Place to Lose Your Nightclub Virginity: Pure When it’s your “first time,” who doesn’t hope to be delightfully impressed? Get your feet wet at Las Vegas’ first multi-environment megaclub, where you can learn to navigate every nightlife obstacle in one shot, such as how to get a round of drinks through

the crowded main-room dance floor to your thirsty co-partiers with little or no drink spillage, or how to tipsily climb stairs in stilettos and a too-short skirt. Repeat weekly, and you’ll be a nightlife ninja in no time. In Caesars Palace, AngelMG.com. Biggest Comeback: Body English As the final seconds of 2009 counted down on Body English’s final night, local clubbers shed a genuine tear. Three years later, people still talk about the awesomeness of the Hard Rock club, whether it be their love for the venue’s provocative design and vibe or the opportunity to hear great DJs during Godskitchen before the current electronic dance music proliferation. Although initial rumors cast the space as an after-hours foil to Vanity’s prime-time offerings, Body rested in peace, save for a handful of live music concerts and even a haunted house. Till

The Act photo by Shane O’Neil

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Even if you go once, only to decide that the bawdy performances, risqué art and theater-style confines are not for you, The Act is one of those venues you absolutely must see. Without question, the twisted fun house of hallways, the cramped maze of Escher-esque stairs (leading to more hallways) and the pseudo-avant-guard theatrics will leave you either scratching your head or singing its praises. In both cases, The Act is one nightclub you’ll be telling everyone about. In the Shoppes at the Palazzo, TheActLV.com.

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The Must-See Club of the Year: The Act

Jack colton’s industry awards Editor’s note: Jack Colton is the founder of the nightlife guide JackColton.com, which helps tourists plan their Las Vegas experience. Throughout the year Colton honors his fellow nightlife industry members in celebrations and nightclub contests, naming the Most Influential People, the Most Beautiful People, the city’s most successful VIP hosts and the best DJs. Vegas Seven tapped Colton to help us recognize this year’s most valuable power players.

scene stApLe

People choose to move

NIGHTL

to Las Vegas for a variety of reasons. For Sancho Van Ryan, it was for love and a serious relationship—which ultimately ended up being with Las Vegas nightlife. Van Ryan started out as a Blush Nightclub door host in 2008, and felt at home with the nightlife-industry family. He became a scene staple by enthusiastically attending as many nightclub and pool events as possible. In his latest venture, VivaVegas.tv, the omnipresent Van Ryan and his film crew cover the entire spectrum of Las Vegas entertainment with all the excitement that brought him into it. “I’m passionate about nightlife, because it isn’t seeing the world as it is, but as it could be.” womAn in chArge

Amber Anderson moved to Las Vegas to pursue a

professional dancing career on the Strip, but ended up a choreographer, of sorts, for the team of hosts she oversees and mentors as Marquee’s customer development manager. Anderson acknowledges her rare-commodity status, and believes that many clients prefer to socialize with a female host. Her advice to would-be hosts: “Stay very organized, keep up with your database and follow up with everyone.” JAck-of-ALL-trAdes

Nightclub marketing directors have many tasks: marketing, talent coordination, emceeing, DJing, executing events, keeping customers happy and being a team player. But 1 Oak’s Pearce Cleaveland has perfected the art of juggling it all. Prior to his current

position, Cleaveland served as director of restaurant marketing, handling all six of Light Group’s restaurants. This Montana native used to get in trouble for throwing parties in high school and was kicked out of college for partying. I believe this is called having the last word. rocketmAn

Just 27, Light Group vice president of nightlife Robert Gamch has skyrocketed up the company totem pole since moving to Las Vegas six years ago to play baseball at UNLV. Beginning his career as a flier promoter for Treasure Island’s [now-closed] Mist Lounge, Gamch perfected the art of customer interaction before moving into hosting and eventually becoming everyone’s boss. His secret? Remember that in Las Vegas you never know

to whom you are talking. Biggest innovAtor

There’s been so much innovation in the Las Vegas nightlife scene over the past seven years that it’s difficult to imagine a new venue being able to offer anything that much different than what has already been done. However, with his latest creation—The Act Nightclub in the Shoppes at the Palazzo—Simon Hammerstein reminds us that innovation is always possible by pushing the envelope on how provocative a Las Vegas nightclub can be. The centerpiece of The Act—the menu of extremely sensual live-theater performances— subliminally encourages everyone to let loose just that little bit more in an intimate space designed to intrigue and titillate.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

DJs get billboards; hosts, bartenders and waitresses enjoy the genuine (and monetary) thanks of their customers; and the owners and managers get the press and accolades. The promotions team? Often overlooked. Our unsung hero, XS and Tryst promotions manager Michael Gallagher, keeps the club’s promoters exactly where they need to be and is reaching the crowd that needs to be there. Without the efforts of his team, the party would be a lot less of a party.

SEVEN

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Photo by Eric Ita

nightLife’s UnsUng hero

Local- and industryappreciation parties are a given these days, but this wasn’t always the case. Throughout his career, Surrender and Encore Beach Club marketing director Steven Lockwood has spearheaded the idea of a nightclub spending money on contests, promotions and competitions on nights that attract local industry members. It was a gamble that these events would, in turn, heighten the overall party and entice a big-spending clientele in the long run. The concept proved extremely successful and has allowed Lockwood to mentor many of today’s leading club event planners.

VEG

Lifetime Achievement AwArd

Most sophisticAted pre/post: Gold Boutique niGhtcluB & lounGe

Before hitting the gym for a strenuous workout, your trainer will advise you to warm up. And before hitting the showers, you need to cool down. As your personal nightlife trainer, Vegas Seven prescribes a proper pre/post in the dark, opulent environs of Gold to prepare you for a vigorous night of partying at Haze. Here you’ll become acclimated to sophistication, cocktails and proximity to sexy people. Most of the lounge’s decorative allusions to Viva Elvis disappeared with that Cirque du Soleil show, and thankfully, no snakes, spiders or tennis balls have been incorporated since the arrival of Zarkana just down the hall, so if Haze is not on your itinerary, Gold is the best warm-up or cool-down for seeing the show, as well. You wouldn’t want to pull a hammy either way. In Aria, LightGroup.com. Best locAl heAdliner: tABú ultrA lounGe

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Ray Srp’s Blood & Sand at Savile Row.

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Best supporting Acts Lounges, ultralounges, boutique nightclubs … Whatever you want to call them, these are the best at what they do.

Best Afterhours: the ArtisAn

Whether it’s because Artisan Afterhours is hassle-free or tourist-free (or both), the gothic hot spot still dominates the late-night hours as the go-to place to keep the party going. DJs are able to dig deeper into underground sounds where the music and vibe takes precedence over selling bottles. You’re pretty

Sure there are plenty of local DJs spinning up and down the Strip—some even have parties named after them. But the party that truly embraces and highlights the spinner who is front and center is Forbes Fridays. Bay Area native Eric Forbes worked his way up the ranks from being a Studio 54 bartender back in the day to the weekly headlining gig at Tabú. Taking a cue from his last name, Forbes Fridays comes complete with his face on faux bills, so even the most non-baller can make it rain and feel like a million bucks for at least one night. In MGM Grand, AngelMG.com.

hottest MAkeover: lily BAr & lounGe

Taking what works and making it bigger isn’t just a great idea, it’s our birthright as Americans. So Light Group did what any redblooded American nightlife company would do and in February it unveiled Lily, taking the former Caramel space at Bellagio, expanding it and making it even more plush and cozy. The only more American improvement than that? Throwing steak at it. Wait, you can order off the Fix menu? God bless this country. In Bellagio, LightGroup.com. Best hip-hop pArty: the BeAtles revolution lounGe

Now that the lines of genres in club music are beyond blurred, you can at least guarantee you’ll get a healthy dose of real hip-hop on Thursdays at Revolution. And we’re not just talking about the music, but the accompanying culture as B-boys and girls get down with the Good Foot crew in the dance challenge, surrounded by graffiti art. Open bar for ladies until midnight is always a bonus, too. In The Mirage, Mirage.com. Best cocktAils: sAvile row

A perfect Manhattan, served up in an elegant piece of glassware is a great accessory for that custom suit or chic satin dress. In a bustling nightclub, it can also be the demise of both. Nightclub bartenders tend to encourage simple cocktails that stick to the [spirit]-and-[mixer] formula that saves them time and you dry-cleaning expenses. However, within the attractive and petite Savile Row you can have your craft cocktail and hot DJ sounds, too. Under the watchful eye and tasteful palate of lead bartender Ray Srp (also a portfolio mixologist for TEAM Enterprises—think Bacardi, Bombay Sapphire and Grey Goose), Savile Row offers a menu of cocktails that would easily fit into a mixology bar. Like a bespoke glove. In Luxor, AngelMG.com.

Photo by Anthony Mair

much guaranteed to run into industry buddies chilling on the patio with a hookah as the sun rises. And even though it gets packed on weekends, you’ll never encounter that annoying door hold in an effort to make the place look busy or sketchy hosts trying to give you the shakedown. 1501 W. Sahara Ave., ArtisanHotel.com.

now: Body English returns Dec. 28. So, it’s a good thing that $250,000 chandelier is still in place. The winner of the centerpiece on closing night must have decided it wouldn’t do a thing for his living room. In the Hard Rock Hotel, HardRockHotel.com. Best Party Patio: Chateau Nightclub & Gardens We’re suckers for attention to detail. Stepping out of the elevator and onto the outdoor patio at Chateau has a way of transporting you to a world beyond the neon, while still feeding off its energy. Perched above Chateau and beneath Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the party patio’s Gardens are adorned with greenery. Here, roving costumed characters channel the debauchery of a secret, champagne-fueled soirée—a slice of Versailles that comes with a killer view of the Strip. In Paris Las Vegas, ChateauNights.com.

Big Country’s Best Move: Stoney’s Rockin’ Country We’re sure those living in the Manhattan Condos facing the former Stoney’s location on Las Vegas Boulevard miss their rowdy neighbor—especially during National Finals Rodeo and Professional Bull Riders events—but those city slickers can still get their dose of Stoney Gray and Chris Lowden’s rockin’ country (as well as a little peace and quiet) now that the country megaclub has moved into a sprawling corner of Town Square with enough parking for the whole herd. Inside, the pine floor is as slick as ever for complimentary line-dance lessons before the cow(boy)s come home for Shiner Bock and Jack Daniel’s. Gone are most of the arcade games, but billiards and beer pong are still gentlemanly pursuits in which you can engage between the Cowboy Cha-Cha and Sleazy Slide. Plus it still has that new-club smell. And did we spy a poker table in a private VIP room? In Town Square, StoneysRockinCountry.com.

Best Ladies Night: Vanity Local ladies happily avail themselves of the complimentary admission and free booze on offer at almost every club, every night of the week. But dangle a sparkly carrot in front of them (or, better yet, a purse), and you can expect an early rush of girls as giddy as if they were about to receive a pink convertible on their 16th birthday. With big sister Body English returning this month, Vanity’s long-term future is uncertain, but for now, thanks to Rock, Paper, Scissors Fridays, ladies can get while the getting is good and walk away with covetable clothing, accessories and timepieces with labels that have included Carlos Santana handbags, Hello Kitty Pink Head, NYX Cosmetics and more. Soooo much better than chumming the waters with free extra-large T-shirts and light-beer key chains. In the Hard Rock Hotel, VanityLV.com.

Vanity.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

The Chateau Gardens.

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Stoney’s photo by Kin Lui, Chateau photo by Al Powers

Stoney’s Rockin’ Country.

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Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013 VEGAS SEVEN

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B S P: G If you want a full-on nightclub experience without the late nights—or a daytime party while the pools are closed— GBDC (Ghostbar Dayclub) is where it’s at in winter. Now in its second season, GBDC encourages guests to don costumes as if every Saturday is Halloween, with themes such as a “Post-Thanksgiving Sweatin’ to the ’80s Turkey Burn-Off,” a “Jammie Jam” and a “Hello Kitty Party.” This adult Romper Room keeps clubbers occupied with piñatas, high-end beer bongs, go-go dancers with attitude, tutu’d waitresses and tasty nibbles 55 floors above the Strip. The fun begins at 1 p.m., but with no set closing time, the GBDC crew will keep the party going till you can’t party anymore. In the Palms, 9GroupVegas.com/GBDC. B R DJ R: XS If there was one kid who holds all the music marbles, it’s XS. Although many of the top talents on the Wynn residency roster are shared between the property’s nightlife venues, XS seems to get the lion’s share of the top pop EDM DJ/ producers, including Tiësto, Afrojack, Diplo, Deadmau5, Steve Angello, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Nero, Nervo and nearly every other superstar DJ the masses could want on any given weekend. It’s good to be the Wynn—er, the king. In Encore, XSLasVegas.com. B C P: G’ S, D H & B-B-Q Fans of Gilley’s at the dearly departed New Frontier hotel shed a whiskey’d tear in 2007 when the property was closed and then razed to make way for … absolutely nothing. Where were they to get their simultaneous fix of barbecue, line dancing and bull riding? It would be nearly three years before the answer would once again be Gilley’s. The beloved saloon was revived better—and cleaner—than ever with a parquet dance floor, lots of seating, a barbecue restaurant and a mechanical bull known for being the bucking-est in town, operated by an old pro with a mean streak. The bikini bull riding (10 p.m. Sundays) continues to be the best free show on the Strip. In Treasure Island, GilleysLasVegas.com. M A N C: H Construction walls are up at Mandalay Bay as Cirque du Soleil and Light Group team up for the eagerly awaited second coming of Light in the former Rumjungle space. But since construction walls don’t talk, it’s easy to keep tabs on the progress of Angel Management Group’s next nightlife foray, slated for a spring 2013 opening, via the live construction camera at HakkasanLV.com. As the façade behind the MGM’s golden lion is adorned in scaffolding, progress on the nightlife and dining experience

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There’s no better way to show love to the #TranceFamily on the dance ﬂoor.

I can see that you’re tough, Dawg. What ’hood are you from, Pasadena?

Michael Toast offers additional poses, “Shit Vegas DJs Say,” and the worst DJ shout-outs at VegasSeven.com/Videos.

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Not only can I spin this track, but I can play the chords along with it on my giant invisible piano!

continues, and the marketing machine churns away, teasing as to what’s to come. Multiple environments channel Hakkasan London’s modern chinoiserie design. Big-name DJ residency rumors also abound for the former Studio 54 space that will span more than 75,000 square feet. In MGM Grand, HakkasanLV.com.

Bottle service at Tao.

Best Peep Show: Haze If your M.O. is to make a beeline to the dance floor or VIP table at Haze, you may have missed one of its best features: elaborately costumed dancers, hidden in plain sight behind glass—almost like mannequins in a department-store window. A rotating cast of ladies in little more than lingerie languidly interact with one another, delicately caressing each other—and even themselves—much to everyone’s delight. Hey, voyeurism might be your new thing in 2013. In Aria, HazeLasVegas.com. Best Bottle Service: Tao If Peter Pan taught us nothing else, it’s that fairies draw sustenance from audience approval. They’re needy like that. But Tinker Bell wouldn’t have had to beg you to clap if she showed up with a bottle of vodka the way Tao’s “bottle fairies” do every night. Oh, we believe, Tao; we believe! (We also could use some more ice—would you send a busser over?) Every night, Tao’s bottle fairies fly above the din and clamor of the crowd on a mission of mercy: delivering booze to those most desperately in need. Sometimes it’s one big splash entrance. Sometimes, as it was in December 2011, they have to deliver a “seemingly endless” supply of champagne to Jay-Z. Hey, they’ve got to earn their wings somehow. In the Venetian, TaoLasVegas.com. Best Industry Night: Lavo If you missed your favorite electronic DJs over the weekend, All Night Tuesdays are your party do-over. Since many of the guest headliners also hold residencies at Marquee and Tao, they’ll often arrive in Las Vegas early or stay a few days late for an extra gig at the intimate Tao Group nightclub. The energy rises even higher now that the DJ booth has been relocated to preside over the dance floor for superstars such as Arty, Cosmic Gate, Gabriel & Dresden, Rebecca & Fiona and Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, as the industry lets loose for their weekend. In the Palazzo, LavoLV.com. Best Big Entrance: LAX

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Best Dressed: Surrender Whether the “Surrender Dome” was an intended name or an office joke that took wing, locals have developed a fondness for the indoor/outdoor nightclub’s solution to Las Vegas’ inconvenient winters. Instead of closing off the massive pool deck, losing a large chunk of bottleservice real estate in the process, up goes the clearplastic climate-controlled tent that’s keeps the party going straight through till spring. The “winterization,” as they’d probably prefer we’d call it, effectively doubles the square footage of Surrender’s interior, as well as the gaming pavilion. In Encore, SurrenderNightclub.com.

Bottle service photo by Al Powers

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Surrender.

Little girls dreaming of making a grand entrance at key moments in their lives, such as prom or their wedding day, likely imagine an impressive and elegant staircase. And guys wishing to cut a dashing figure want everyone in the room to notice their swagger upon arrival. Both fantasies become realities on the staircase at LAX, where you can put your best face and most stable foot forward. Because you never know who could be looking on in adoration … or waiting for you to bite it and roll the rest of the way down. Either way, it’ll be one for the memory books! In Luxor, AngelMG.com.

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Photo by Andrew James

Editor’s note: Las Vegas native Rachel Wenman is an established nightlife-industry influencer. The senior manager of brand marketing for 9Group at the Palms is also an asset to the Las Vegas LGBT community. At the forefront of the city’s gay and lesbian club scene, Wenman introduced the lesbian-focused monthly event Down at Ghostbar, and continues to concentrate on her philanthropic efforts on St. Baldrick’s Foundation and on Cabanas for a Cause Mondays every week during the summer at the Palms. For her contributions, Wenman was named one of the Most Influential People in the LGBT Community by QVegas magazine, as well as one of the Most Inspirational Women in Las Vegas by SpyOnVegas.com. Most AnticipAted new nightclub

After eight successful years

at home on the Las Vegas Strip, Krave Nightclub is joining the downtown movement as Krave Massive. Owner Kelly Murphy is looking to open the “world’s largest gay nightclub,” which, from the looks of it, is exactly what is going to happen when construction is completed on the former 80,000-square-foot movie theater on the third floor of Neonopolis. KraveMassive.com. best Monthly pArty

Also downtown, Artifice has embraced the LGBT community by launching PRISM (“Passion, Radiant, Instinct, Sexy, Magic”), a monthly opportunity for both the gay boys and the ladies to party together. It’s one of my favorite parties, thanks to the fun, inclusive atmosphere, the great drinks and the super-cute bartenders serving them. I

truly hope to see this party stick around for a while. 1025 S. First St., ArtificeBar.com.

Sept. 5-9 at Rumor Boutique Resort during Las Vegas PRIDE. ShedonismVegas.com.

best tighty-whitey pArty

best newcoMer to the scene

The rising popularity of Share Nightclub is making it my choice for Best Boys Party this year, as it is always well attended, with lots of attractive male eye candy, a sexy atmosphere and good music. This is a great all-around nightclub for boys looking for boys. 4636 Wynn Road, ShareNightclub.com. best weekend pArty

Hats off to Lisa Pittman for producing Shedonism Vegas, the first successful girls weekend that, for two years, has attracted thousands of women to Las Vegas for a four-day lesbian extravaganza including 10 parties all over town. Setting a record for the LGBT community, Shedonism was the first lesbian event to take over and sell out an entire hotel. My anticipation is already building for the third installment,

Looks like us gays are really trying to put our stamp on downtown! Drink & Drag is definitely my new favorite spot—it doesn’t hurt that I live right across the street from it either. I just couldn’t ask for a better neighborhood bar. This one-stop drag-shop has all the ingredients for a good time: bowling lanes, sexy drag queens and an always-packed dance floor. In Neonopolis, DrinkandDrag.com. lifetiMe AchieveMent AwArd

Freezone has always held a special place in my heart. It was my first gay-bar experience,

and years later, walking in still feels the same—familiar bartenders, the Friday-night drag show and the cheap drinks. It’s the Cheers of the LGBT community, but with a nightclub feel on the weekends. 610 E. Naples Drive, FreezoneLV.com. best proMoter

Record-breaking Shedonism Vegas aside, Lisa Pittman has been building successful events for the lesbian community since 2007 such as BootyBar, CandyBar and Kitty Dip. As both a promoter and a sought-after DJ, Pittman has not only revolutionized the standards for the lesbian nightlife scene with the quality of her events, but she has always personally strived to keep the lesbian community connected, inspired and strong. DJLisaPittman.com.

Wenman visits Drink & Drag for a chat with the ladies of the lanes at VegasSeven.com/Videos.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Rachel Wenman’s lGBT aWaRds

45 VEGAS SEVEN

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Markus Shulz at Marquee.

Best Place to Disappear: Drai’s After hours

The 7 MosT overplayed Club songs of 2012

You want to keep the party going, but you don’t want to bother with the standard nightlife-industry chitchat. You want instead to blend into the candlelit darkness. So go incognito at the longest-running after-hours spot deep into the recesses of the soon-to-be reinvented Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon, where pesky sunlight is never a threat to ruin your buzz. And you never know when you’ll get a special treat when the occasional underground house DJ makes an appearance. And to insure the party will keep going while Bill’s gets a facelift, Drai’s After Hours will relocate to Bally’s for the duration of its renovation. In Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall & Saloon, Drais.net.

1. “Le7eLs,” by Avicii.

Photos of signs banning DJs from playing it have gone full-on meme—why do you continue to torture us???

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013 VEGAS SEVEN

mer, mer, mermermermermermermermermermerMERmermer.

It’s your party—you can ball if you want to. And if there was ever a nightclub to blow a paycheck on a highly visible table and all the champagne you can spray, it’s The Bank. The elegant, tiered and compact club was perfectly designed for partying at your table (with little room for much else). You can wow your friends—and just about everyone else—as staff parades your bottle of bubbly the looong way through the club. Bottle of Dom: $790. All eyes are on you, salivating at your ultimate baller status: Still $790. But the Instagrams will be priceless. In Bellagio, TheBankLasVegas.com.

7. AnyThinG by rihAnnA.

Best DJ Lineup: Marquee

Every radio station, every hour, every club, every DJ set. Twice. 3. “sexy And i Know iT,” by LmfAo.

Making awkward and fairly nauseating banana hammocks totally acceptable and embraceable. 4. “GAnGnAm sTyLe,” by Psy.

So catchy we’re beginning to twitch. Perhaps it’s time to notify the Centers for Disease Control?

5. “in my mind,” by feenixPAwL.

The new mark of success is when hamsters dance in a commercial to your track. 6. “cALLinG” by sebAsTiAn inGrosso & ALesso.

Mer, mer, mer. Mer-mer, mer,

Yeah, it’s a repeat from last year’s list because remixes of her songs are still on repeat. – Deanna Rilling

Amid rumors of unrest among the city’s contracted turntablists, the battle for the biggest resident DJ roster continues on the Strip. But Marquee not only features the best of the best—such as the world’s reigning No. 1 DJ accord-

Shulz photo by Al Powers

Best Club to Party Like a Boss: The Bank

2. “somebody ThAT i Used To Know” (Any remix), by GoTye feATUrinG KimbrA.

ing to DJ Mag, Armin van Buuren, or DJ Times’ America’s Best DJ Markus Schulz—it also has a knack for finding your new favorite DJ as well. While those big names attract crowds, a variety of breakthrough artists keeps ’em coming back to the highest-ranking U.S. club (DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs 2012). Here we’ve encountered the likes of Tommy Trash, Arty, Alesso, Zedd, Audrey Napoleon, Nicky Romero, Hardwell, 3LAU, Pretty Lights, Pendulum, Dillon Francis, Glenn Morrison, Swanky Tunes, Stafford Brothers, 12th Planet, Zeds Dead, Madeon, Chus + Ceballos, TyDi—you get the idea. In the Cosmopolitan, MarqueeLasVegas.com.

Rain.

Best Party Under the Stars: Moon Admit it: It’s still impressive when you’re perched atop the back of a VIP booth, vodka-cran in hand, and you look up to realize you’ve got a direct view of the moon and stars. Maybe it prompts you to take in the night air with a stroll on Moon’s patio, as well. Or maybe you stay put and let the celestial canopy orbit you. Either way, as long as it’s not raining, you’ll be dancing under a climate-controlled night sky. In the Palms, 9GroupVegas.com. Lifetime Achievement Award: Rain When pouring one out for your homies this year (RIP, T-Dawg from The Walking Dead), don’t forget to splash a little OE for Rain, which, following one final New Year’s Eve, is closing its doors after a 12-year run. Which in club life is, like, 150 years. The 9Group stalwart was the first of its kind in town, reinventing itself in 2008 with Paul Oakenfold’s Perfecto, marking the beginning of the DJ era in Las Vegas and offering a break from celebrity-driven club nights. It was largely responsible for the EDM takeover in town. Rain also featured DJ AM starting in 2009 before Z-Trip and Diplo had their own nights as well. A new concept will settle into the spot in 2013. In the Palms, 9GroupVegas.com.

Gallery.

Best Country Crossover: Revolver Saloon & Dance Hall Sexy, sweaty people storming to the dance floor in rainbow tutus and neon mesh. Is LMFAO in the house? Nope, but one of their songs might be up next on Blackout Thursday at Revolver Saloon & Dance Hall, where country meets rock, Top 40 and electro-house music. Sure, the place bears all the expected country sign points—hot chicks in chaps, big buckles, buckets of suds, hardwood dance floor, Western decor—Revolver wisely incorporates pop culture to please a suburban crowd that wants all the excitement the Strip has to offer, but without Strip prices and hassles. Follow Revolver’s 6-foot, spinning disco armadillo, Delilah (@DiscoDelilah), for the latest. In Santa Fe Station, NightlifeStation.com.

The New Kid on the Block: SHe by Morton’s The female-focused concept in Crystals opens its doors New Year’s Eve in the space previously occupied by Beso Restaurant and Eve Nightclub. SHe is the product of a partnership between Landry’s (owners of Morton’s) and two of the original concept’s owners, Jonas Lowrance and actress Eva Longoria, and is managed by Epic Enter-

47 VEGAS SEVEN

Girls, girls, girls: wriggling overhead in cargo nets, seductively groping one another around a stripper pole and immortalized forever in tasteful black-and-white nude photographs—there’s never a shortage of something sexy to admire in Gallery. But wait, there’s more! The sexy streak continues, extending into the adjoining Pussycat Dolls Burlesque Saloon with modern hurly burly and pop-y performances from the next generation of Robin Antin’s Dolls. In Planet Hollywood, GalleryLV.com.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Best Two-for-One Experience: Gallery and the Pussycat Dolls Burlesque Saloon

Hyde Bellagio.

Tryst.

tainment Group. As its sexually vague name hints, SHe promises a little something for everyone: theatrical elements, a fashion-show runway and chic dining in an artdeco décor do-over courtesy of Charles Doell. We’d send the team a “Welcome to the neighborhood” fruit basket, but chef Todd Mark Miller (see Page 94) pretty much has the menu well under control. In Crystals at CityCenter in Aria, SHe-LV.com. Best Place to Impress: Tryst When it matters, capturing and focusing the attention of a sexy companion on, say, your awesome commitment abilities or your chiseled cheekbones is paramount. Simple: Whisk them to a private island. Or Tryst. Gazing across the dance floor at the club’s waterfall, impressively framed by stories-high rocky cliffs with the cascading water reflecting the frenetic light show inside, the opulent club typically moves even regulars to wide-eyed wonder. Nice job, Romeo. In Wynn, TrystLasVegas.com. Best View: Hyde Bellagio

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

We’re So over It!

VEGAS SEVEN

Glow batons/foam phalluses branded plastic sunGlasses dJ Groupies and bottle rats skrillex haircuts confetti poppers any combination of tutus, neon and animal print rented animal costumes

If there’s one place sure to have a mini traffic jam, it’s Las Vegas Boulevard in front of Bellagio. Tourists hang their cameras, arms and entire torsos out of car windows just to snap a blurry shot of the fountains. Fortunately you can get an unobstructed view of the dancing waters show from Hyde’s Fountain Terrace and South Terrace from sunset to sunrise. Then, when the waters are still, turn your attention back to the party already in progress. The view inside SBE’s jewel-box nightclub is often just as attractive and stimulating. In Bellagio, HydeBellagio.com. Best Place to Party With Your Parents: Voodoo Rooftop Nightclub Look, we don’t want to make a big thing about this, but your mom? She needs to get out a little more. Don’t ask us how we know. And when she and dad swing through town and want to get a little taste of that Las Vegas nightlife you keep going on about, Voodoo at the Rio is the spot. It’s not just that a fruity, sweet Witch Doctor is both boozy enough and doesn’t-taste-boozy-enough to get her on the dance floor like it’s 1976 all over again. It’s just that they can spend so much time admiring the view, they have a focal point for when they want to willfully ignore the fact that you’re mercilessly hitting on a 22-year-old nursing student from Akron. In the Rio, RioLasVegas.com.

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Best NightcluB that’s Not Really a NightcluB

Men’s Health recently called Insert Coin(s) “Downtown’s best velvet rope.” The “videolounge gamebar” often seems more like a nightclub than an arcade, largely because, for most of 2012, Insert Coin(s) has

been behaving like a nightclub—booking a killer rotation of resident and guest DJs, packing its small dance floor. It’s only a matter of time before Strip nightclubs add Pac-Man machines to keep up. 512 E. Fremont St., InsertCoinsLV.com. hottest DJ sceNe iN a tight space

This year proved that you couldn’t judge a club scene by its size. The long, narrow space that is Vanguard Lounge has produced a DJ scene that explodes, in close quarters, nearly every night until 2 a.m. Partiers squeeze into Vanguard’s skinny throughways to dance to whatever’s on the menu—everything from downtempo to trap—and if someone tries to get through with one of Vanguard’s fine specialty cocktails, dancers just step aside with a compact but nonetheless rhythmic movement. 516 E. Fremont St., VanguardLV.com.

This spacious downtown bar and performance venue is many things to many people— but once a month, to the city’s black-garbed faithful, Scarlet at Artifice becomes a sexy and inviting pit of darkness. (This year, Artifice really impressed me with its ability to try on most any outfit and make it look good.) It’s all very simple, really: DJs Style and Morpheus Blak spin goth, industrial and ’80s tracks, and we dance like puppets whose strings are about to be cut by an occult hand. It’s an unexpectedly great match of venue and genre. 1025 First St., Suite A, ArtificeBar.com. Best DowNtowN DJ Night

The Get Back celebrated its 10th year in October. And the vibe of this decade-old funk/ soul/rock-and-roll party, held every First Friday at the Beauty Bar, is every bit as fresh as it was in 2002—a rarity among dance parties, which tend to lose steam as tastes change. The Get Back has become such a beloved and indelible part of the down-

town cultural landscape that it’s even begun to rename it: This year I noticed that many locals call the alley behind Beauty Bar “Get Back Alley.” 517 E. Fremont St., TheGetBackVegas.com. Best place FoR No-Bullshit live Music

There are those nights where you don’t care to hear another pre-recorded beat or be part of the downtown scene that you yourself helped to build. For those nights, there’s the Bunkhouse Saloon—Westernthemed, out of the way (at 11th and Fremont), and forever reverberating with the sounds of live punk, garage, reggae, rockabilly and metal. Come on down, pay the nearly-alwaysunder $10 cover charge, jam a cheap beer in your face and just be a nodding head in the crowd. 124 S. 11th St., BunkhouseLV.com.

Best DowNtowN DJ

DJ Aurajin is a downtown resident DJ. By that we mean this wildly popular DJ has been spinning his electro, downtempo and classic hip-hop beats at the Griffin, Insert

Coin(s) and at the mighty Get Back for several years now, but also that Aurajin lives downtown—within walking distance of the venues he plays. Somehow, you can feel his love for downtown Las Vegas in every patently urban beat. It really makes a difference, partying where you live—and this year, people really noticed Aurajin’s downtown pride, and moved their bodies to it. DJAurajin.com. Best place to staRt out aND/oR eND up

We Downtowners call it “The HT”—and truthfully, some of them would rather you didn’t know the Huntridge Tavern exists. They’d like to keep this venerable dive bar’s easygoing vibe and impossibly cheap drinks (we’ve never paid more than $5 for anything) entirely to themselves. But it can’t stay secret. Thing is, the HT is the best place to begin a long night of partying or wind down from one—and now the Zapponistas are beginning to hang out there, so you might as well go before they drive the prices up. 1116 E. Charleston Blvd.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Carter photo by Anthony Mair

Editor’s note: Geoff Carter is the editor of DTLV.com, our new website about all things downtown. If you’ve been downtown recently, you know that the old urban core is steadily being renewed and revitalized: New bars, galleries and restaurants are opening nearly every month, and young, urban-minded Las Vegans are moving there in droves. Yet for all this new development, downtown’s nightlife still feels organic and intimate: The dance floors are small, the crowds full of familiar faces, and the beats come from vinyl records. This is real local nightlife, and it’s only just beginning to take root.

Best place to get youR goth oN

49 VEGAS SEVEN

Geoff Carter’s Downtown awarDs

the life of the party The Seven People You Meet in a Nightclub Photography by Anthony Mair Styling by Nicole Chandler Prop styling by Nicole Chandler Hair by Allison Barfield Makeup by Adriana Aldana

Get a behind-the-scenes peek at the making of this feature, as well as this issueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cover, at VegasSeven.com/Videos.

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The VIP Host

The Party Girl

Lauren, Aaron, Dashenka and Derric for Envy Model Management

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

The Boss (a.k.a. The Bottle Buyer)

The Bartender

The DJ

the party!

The Cocktail Server

51 VEGAS SEVEN

The Security guard

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Party with us at Vegas Sevenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2012 Nightclub Awards, 10 p.m., Jan. 2 at The Act in the Shoppes at the Palazzo. Open Belvedere Vodka bar till midnight.

Photek.

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Fun.

New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eve partY guide Get down with the countdown. Where will you be at the stroke of midnight? Compiled by Deanna Rilling

Avicii photo by Tomo

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Avicii.

Ice-T and Coco.

As the cherished nightclub Body English reopens on Dec. 28, the momentum picks up where it left off with a DJ set from Kele of British indie-rockers Bloc Party, plus Adam 12 of She Wants Revenge and rising EDM talent Richard Beynon. In the Hard Rock Hotel, 10 p.m., HardRockHotel.com. Marquee undergoes a new Metamorphosis production in conjunction with resident DJ/ producer Benny Benassi headlining the transition into 2013. Open bar and passed hors d’oeuvres from 9 to 11 p.m., with a champagne toast at midnight. In the Cosmopolitan, 9 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com. Our pick for potentially the best New Year’s Eve DJ set, house music maestro Eric Prydz (see interview, Page 60), headlines at Surrender with support from the lovely and talented Tara Brooks. In Encore, 9 p.m., SurrenderNightclub.com. Yeaaaah! Have a crunk New Year with Lil Jon over at Tryst as he spins a special DJ set with hosted Belvedere bar from 9-11 p.m. Jon offers his advice on how to get the most out of your partying on Page 55. In Wynn, 9 p.m., Tryst.Wantickets.com. Remember all the “Levels” of 2012 with Grammy-nominated Swedish DJ/producer Avicii at XS. In Encore, 9 p.m., XSLasVegas.com. Celebrity Sightings Think pink this New Year’s Eve as rapper Nicki Minaj hosts the affair at Pure. In Caesars Palace, 8 p.m., AMGNewYears.com. They’re the only reality couple we’ve seen that genuinely seem to adore each other—well, most of the time. Ice-T and Coco welcome 2013 while hosting at LAX. Get toasty with an open bar from 9 p.m. to midnight. In Luxor, 8 p.m., AMGNewYears.com. Double the celebrity, double the fun at both Tao and Lavo. Hip-hop artist J. Cole leads the countdown at Tao alongside DJ Ross One, while singer/actress Brandy and DJ Five are on hype duty at Lavo; passed hors d’oeuvres from 9 p.m. to midnight and open bar until 11 p.m., and access to both clubs with one ticket once 2013 hits. In the Venetian and Palazzo, 9 p.m., TaoLasVegas.com and LavoLV.com. Pool season might be over, but there’s a good chance of a strip-down and Speedo sighting when Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte hosts at Gallery. DJs Reach, Duane King, Pizzo, Konnex and Z-One will provide the musical motivation for him to get crazy like his buddy

It isn’t New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas unless a Kardashian is perched atop a VIP booth somewhere, microphone in hand to conduct the countdown. The family’s biggest asset, Kim Kardashian, does the honors at 1 Oak, while DJ Que provides the tunes. In The Mirage, 10:30 p.m., LightGroup.com. Delve into the elaborate theatrics of The Act with a surprise performance, celebrities and a complimentary open bar until 11 p.m. In the Shoppes at the Palazzo, 9 p.m., TheActLV.com. If you really want to impress the folks back home—or at least make them think you hobnobbed with the stars—Madame Tussauds transforms into Waxx Ultra Lounge, complete with DJs and bottle service. In the Venetian, 9 p.m., MadameTussauds.com/LasVegas. Live Performances Last chance to party at Rain! The megaclub reopens for one last weekend and a final New Year’s Eve bash with Travis Barker and Yelawolf headlining. In the Palms, 9 p.m., Palms.com. TheDreamer/The Believer, Common, is in the house at Hyde where he’ll perform live. In Bellagio, 9 p.m., HydeBellagio.com. Over at Bagatelle, partygoers will experience the world of Lucent Dossier performing throughout the evening. Singer Robin Thicke will also take the stage, and Stan Courtois from Malosax is on DJ duty. In the Tropicana, 9 p.m., BagatelleLasVegas.com. “Til Death” do we party this New Year’s Eve when Wynter Gordon flies to Moon for the big celebration. In the Palms, 9 p.m., Palms.com. How can a New Year’s Eve party not be Fun when the band of the same name is headlining? Haze welcomes the group behind “We Are Young” and “Some Nights” for a special performance and to host the countdown, plus DJ E-Rock. In Aria, 9:30 p.m., LightGroup.com. Show your liver no “Mercy” as award-winning hip-hop star 2 Chainz performs live at Chateau for a “Midnight in Paris” party alongside DJ Orator. In Paris, 8 p.m., ChateauNights.com. All the other kids with the “Pumped Up Kicks” will be at The Bank when Foster the People perform that hit and more. DJ Karma also spins. In Bellagio, 10 p.m., LightGroup.com. “Get It Shawty” at Revolution as multi-platinum R&B singer Lloyd hosts and performs that hit, plus “Bed Rock,” “Lay It Down” and more along with an open bar until midnight. In The Mirage, 10 p.m., LightGroup.com. If you prefer a full-on concert experience instead of a three-song set or so in a nightclub, check out Grammy Award-winners The Black Keys in concert for some “Gold on the Ceiling” at The Joint with special guests Divine Fits. In Hard Rock Hotel, 9:30 p.m., HardRockHotel.com.

LOOK WHAT’S COMING NEXT Few places announce openings as early as Las Vegas, and with its competitive marketplace for restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment, that’s understandable. Here’s the best of what’s to come in 2013 (and beyond): The LINQ

Opening December Caesars Entertainment is building this open-air retail and entertainment extravaganza across from Caesars Palace to link (get it?) properties such as the Flamingo, Harrah’s and the Quad (the erstwhile Imperial Palace). Famous names in food, drink, entertainment and shopping will abound, including Yard House, Sprinkles Cupcakes/Ice Cream and Brooklyn Bowl. This is also where you’ll find one of the Strip’s two new Ferris— ahem, observation—wheels. Caesars.com/TheLinq. hakkasaN

Opening spring Prepare for Michelin-rated, mod-Cantonese fare from the London transplant that’s taking over the MGM Grand space formerly occupied by Studio 54. Mysterious and contemporary with late-night tracks to amp things up, zen’s the word at this decidedly chill supper-club-turned-nightclub. MGMGrand.com. LIghT

Opening March Here’s what we know: Every guest will be a part of the show at this Cirque du Soleil-inspired club from the Light Group, which will be in the old Rumjungle space at Mandalay Bay. Think 38,000-squarefoot venue filled with theatrics, cutting-edge video mapping, top-name DJs and avant-garde costumes—where you might even get to play dress-up. Intrigued? Stay tuned. MandalayBay.com. The DeLaNo

Opening 2014 Goodbye, THEhotel; hello, Delano. The South Beach hotel icon is migrating west, bringing allsuite stays to Mandalay Bay. If the Vegas version mirrors Miami’s, you can expect whimsical, artdeco design. MandalayBay.com. BILL’s gamBLIN’ haLL

Opening April 2014 The name of the new boutique hotel-casino replacing Bill’s (said to be managed by Gansevoort Hotel Group) is still under wraps, but in the meantime, file this under “fabulous.” Caesars’ “fully re-imagined hotel experience” will give folks a new place to rock out by day and night, and lay their weary heads when they’re done. Notably, the property’s roof will sport a 65,000-square-foot pool and day/nightclub run by nightlife impresario Victor Drai, and a new secondfloor restaurant. BillsLasVegas.com. – Jen Chase

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Tonight, you’re going to need a lot of bass. SMASH! and HyperAudio present Shelter at Beauty Bar with Grammy-nominated headliner, the creator of intelligent drum and bass, Photek (read more at VegasSeven.com/ Photek). Add to that two areas of face-melting sound, custom video mapping and visuals, plus no dress code, no bottle service, no $20 drinks and no BS! 517 E. Fremont St., 9 p.m., Tinyurl.com/ShelterTix.

Prince Harry, and the four-hour open bar doesn’t hurt, either. In Planet Hollywood, 9 p.m., Tix.VegasNightlife.com.

53 VEGAS SEVEN

Superstar DJs

Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Nicki Minaj.

2 Chainz.

The Black Keys.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at the Chelsea might be sold out of general admission tickets, but there’s still a few options if you want to catch a glimpse of the band—and of the NYE fireworks. Blvd Social Club will hold a viewing party to watch the concert live on the 65-foot-tall marquee. Or you can opt for baller status with a table purchase to the concert or as part of a VIP room package. In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., CosmopolitanLasVegas.com.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Fireworks

VEGAS SEVEN

For one of the best views of the fireworks and a party to boot, Vegas Banger and Benny Black will be bumping tunes 55 floors above the city at Ghostbar. In the Palms, 8 p.m., Palms.com. There’s no party bound to elevate your night more than the Tower Parties at the Stratosphere, where New Year’s is covered top to bottom with multiple levels of festivities, plus a special show from resident headliner Frankie Moreno and open bar. 8:30 p.m., StratosphereNewYears.com. Downtown Party corner-to-corner on Fremont Street for the price of one. First stop by the new Commonwealth. New York duo Pink Cashmere will lay down classic-

rock-style blues guitar over choice house beats. Catty-corner in the parking lot at the forthcoming Park on Fremont, DJ Overwork throws a concert amid food trucks and bars. And $35 gets you access to both venues, plus a raffle ticket for a Fiat and complimentary drink ticket. Confetti cannon show at midnight. 525 E. Fremont St., 8 p.m., Facebook.com/ CommonwealthLV. Keep it casual down at the recently opened Triple B: Backstage Bar & Billiards as co-owner DJ Lethal of House of Pain commands the party along with special guests. 601 E. Fremont St., 10 p.m., BackstageBarandBilliards.com. Fremont Street Experience’s Downtown Countdown under the Viva Vision video canopy hosts a concert with co-headliners Buckcherry and Queensryche, plus special guest Quiet Riot, Pop Evil and Otherwise. 6 p.m., VegasExperience.com/NewYearsEve. Turn the clock back to the Atomic Era with the Gold Spike’s ’50s-and-’60s-inspired bash channeling vintage Vegas with retro tunes from DJ Lucky LaRue. 217 Las Vegas Blvd. North, 9 p.m., GoldSpike.com. Off-Strip Parties Get your Sounds of the Underground on when

the New Galaxy crew continues the tradition with Glow 2013 and old-school good vibes with DJ Opel, Canada, EzzKid, Breadman Lives and more at the Fort Cheyenne Events Center. 2428 E. Cheyenne Ave., 8 p.m., Facebook.com/SoundsOfTheUndergroundLV. For a twist on the traditional festivities, join the Collective Zoo crew for A Great Gatsby New Year’s Eve black-tie affair. Enjoy the swanky sounds of the Roaring ’20s with the UNLV jazz quartet in one room while DJs Anthony Passion, MICS, Well Groomed and Kid Conrad bump popular sounds in the other. Oh, and did we mention it’s in an airport hangar? The Sky Combat Ace Hangar at Henderson Executive Airport, 8 p.m., CollectiveZoo.com. Skip the Strip for the Silverton’s New Year’s Eve bash, which offers an all-you-can-drink wristband for the entire hotel and Veil Pavilion from 7 to 10 p.m., dance party and a champagne toast at midnight. 7 p.m., SilvertonCasino.com. If you’re up on the west side, ring in the New Year at Revolver, where admission includes two free drinks, a champagne toast at midnight, party favors and $3 shots, $2 wells and $1 drafts until midnight. In Santa Fe Station, 9 p.m., NightlifeStation.com.

Afterhours The party starts early—10 p.m.—for Drai’s After Hours in honor of the countdown, and it just might go until 1 p.m., like last year. In Bill’s Gambling Hall, Drais.net. Afterhours at the Artisan also starts during regular hours for NYE as the ultimate energetic party machine, Donald Glaude, will be on the decks along with DJs Crime, Jordan Stevens and JustIn Key. 1501 W. Sahara Ave, 10 p.m., ArtisanHotel.com. Have a titillating New Year’s as Playboy model and World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament winner Nicolette Shea hosts at Crazy Horse III, followed by a late-night industry appreciation breakfast and endless Bloody Marys from 4-8 a.m. 3525 W. Russell Road, CrazyHorse3.com. Nightclub Alternatives Ring in 2013 as if it’s 1933 with a gangstersand-gun-molls mob attire costume party at Rí Rá Las Vegas. And if you just can’t hang until midnight, make it an early one and ring in the Irish New Year instead at 4 p.m. in honor of the pub’s homeland. In The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay Place, 11 a.m., RiRa.com/Las-Vegas. Get intimate with DJ Wendi Cakes at Tabú with surprise celebrity appearances and performances and open bar from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. In the MGM Grand, 9 p.m., MGMGrand.com. Howl at midnight with the sassy ladies of Coyote Ugly Bar & Dance Saloon as they shimmy and shake atop the bar, with bottomless

drinks from 9 p.m.-midnight. In New York-New York, 6 p.m., AMGNewYears.com. Does an entire year of 13 make you a bit nervous? Gilley’s Saloon, Dance Hall & Bar-B-Que flips it around for a Lucky ’13 New Year’s Eve party with a three-hour open bar, party favors, live entertainment and views of fireworks and stumbling partiers on the Strip. In Treasure Island, 9 p.m., TreasureIsland.com. Party Dinners Officially “Unveiled” tonight, the new nightlife and dining concept SHe rings in the New Year with sounds by Mikey Swift and an open bar until midnight. In Crystals at CityCenter, 9 p.m., SHe-LV.com.

LiL Jon’s LiL Guide to a Crunk new Year’s eve

Sushi, sake and socialize your way into 2013 with an exclusive eight-course premier chef tasting menu courtesy of executive chef John Chien Lee at Social House. In Crystals at CityCenter, noon till late night, AMGNewYears.com.

Who better to dish out partying advice than the man with a pimp cup full of Don Julio? Before his Dec. 31 DJ gig at Tryst, Lil Jon called with tips to make the most of the final moments of 2012.

The New Year’s Eve edition of Magnum Mondays is under way at STK with S.K.A.M. Artist DJ Homicide hopping on the decks at 9 p.m. Opt for an open-bar package or go all out dining at three seatings throughout the evening. In the Cosmopolitan, 5:30 p.m., STKHouse.com.

It’s always great when you don’t even have to leave the hotel to go party, so you don’t have to worry about cabs—the cab line is gonna be crazy. You don’t have to worry about driving, because somebody’s gotta be the designated driver—you just walk to the hot clubs. And Encore and Wynn have all of the hottest DJs in the world playing the whole New Year’s weekend.

Have the sweetest New Year’s at Sugar Factory not only because Miss Joy is spinning, but with views of Bellagio’s fountains and a four-course meal from chef Matthew Piekarski. In Paris, 7:30 p.m., SugarFactory.com. For more dinners, see Dishing on Page 93, and visit WeeklySeven.com/NYE2012.

What’s the first step in prepping for nye?

are there fashion elements to avoid?

Ladies shouldn’t wear dresses that are too tight and too short, because if you get drunk, how are you gonna get home in that dress? Maybe stick to tight pants, that kinda thing, so that you look sexy but you don’t gotta worry about your dress coming up.

2013 glasses and hats—yay or nay?

I would not be caught dead in any of that stuff.

Champagne or shots at midnight?

For me, it’s all about having a shot on New Year’s. We drink Don Julio tequila, so I would say a shot of Don Julio 1942 at midnight. Of course you can have a traditional glass of champagne, but let’s take it to 2013 with a shot of Don Julio 1942—that’s the way to go.

What about noisemakers? as a dJ, are those fun or annoying?

If you already have someone that’s your friend and you’re cool, but you never really went to that next level and you want to, New Year’s Eve is the time to hang out with that person so you can steal that little kiss.

do you have any hangover Cures?

Ghostbar

Yeah, I guess one: Take Alka-Seltzer before you go to bed or when you wake up, because it settles your stomach and gets rid of your headache. Then there’s another drink called NoHo [“The Hangover Defense”]. It’s really good. If you see that in the store, get that. I usually take two or three of those, put them in my pocket. I drink one at the beginning of the night and one at the end of the night, and I wake up—no hangover! – Deanna Rilling

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

any tips for single folks to vetting the right person to make out With When the CloCk strikes 12?

55 VEGAS SEVEN

Fremont Street Experience

It’s a part of New Year’s Eve. Sometimes you stop the music and start the countdown. I might start at 30 seconds, and then hearing that, it gets you amped up. Five minutes of that after the New Year, that’s enough; then you can put those down and get back to partying.

[ By Deanna Rilling ] “Making music is like writing a book. Why would I want to write a book that’s already been written?” ‘ pryda house music’ {page 60}

Your city after dark and the business of Body Talk GoGos

Fri 21 If you aren’t holed up in a doomsday bunker somewhere, celebrate the most current end-ofthe-world prediction at Commonwealth for the La Fin du Monde bash. As the official Las Vegas draught debut of Unibroue’s Belgian-style trippel, toast the world goodbye at midnight. (525 E. Fremont St., 8 p.m., CommonwealthLV.com.) More apocalyptic shenanigans are under way with an End of the World Party at Revolution, where you’re invited to drink like there’s no tomorrow with a $40 open bar till 1 a.m. (In The Mirage, 10 p.m., LightGroup.com.) Additional endof-the-world partying is taking place at the Artisan for Artiscension with DJs Brett Rubin (1), Vibonacci featuring Jennesis, Crime, Bizee Mnstr, Jeremy Espinosa, Chris Arelius and more. Be sure to wish Loose Cannon’s Gray Fuss a happy birthday while you’re there. (1501 W. Sahara Ave., 10 p.m., Facebook.com/ LooseCannonPromotions.) End of the world or no, Frosty needs to party. Sounds of the Underground presents the holidaythemed Frosty’s Apocalypse at the Fort Cheyenne Events Center including DJs Kinekt, Bear, HellNegative and Focus at the teen-friendly dance party. (2428 E. Cheyenne Ave., 8 p.m., Facebook.com/ SoundsoftheUndergroundLV.)

saT 22 Oh, look. We’re still here. If you aren’t nursing a killer hangover because you thought the world wouldn’t be here today, join the GBDC crew and DJ Mark Stylz for an “I Survived the End of the World” celebration. (In the Palms, 1 p.m., Palms.com.) Hey ladies, if you need some extra cash for the holidays, head downtown for Golden Gate’s 2012 Miss Santa’s Helper Contest and a chance to win $5,000. (In Golden Gate, 5 p.m., GoldenGateCasino.com.) In non-postapocalypse-or-sexy-holiday news, get back to the basics of partying with some good tunes from Dutch DJ/producer Sander van Doorn (2) along with a performance by dancemusic songstress Nadia Ali (3) at Marquee. (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

A Festivus for the rest of us! Join Bagatelle for a brunch in honor of the non-secular pseudo-holiday made recognizable thanks to Seinfeld. Feel free to air your grievances during the meal then demonstrate feats of strength— although security may not like the latter. (In the Tropicana, 1 p.m. BagatelleLasVegas.com.) What would Linus be without his blanket? And plenty of needy people in the Valley could use one as the temperatures drop, as well. Stop by Ghostbar for a Charlie Brown Holiday Party Blanket Drive with PJ Produkt and DJ Casanova. (In the Palms, 11 p.m., Palms.com.)

mon 24 If you aren’t doing that whole family thing during the holidays and are stranded in Las Vegas, join in the annual White Trash Xmas Party tradition at the Double Down Saloon with The Vermin, DJ Rex Dart and the Bargain DJ Collective. Plus, since the Double Down never closes, you can just keep drinking until Wednesday and forget Christmas ever happened. (4640 Paradise Road, 10 p.m., DoubleDownSaloon.com.)

Tue 25 Strippers: just another way to get through those pesky holidays in true Las Vegas fashion. Yup, Crazy Horse III is open and celebrating the last day of its 12 Days of Christmas Open Bar, where revelers receive one free drink every hour until 11:59 p.m. (3525 W. Russell Road, CrazyHorse3.com.)

Wed 26 Recover from the eggnog-and-fruitcake gluttony during the Xmas Hangover Bass Facial Banger at Oracle Mansion. Splitbreed (4) performs along with DJ sets by Stellar, Teenwolf, Kid Funk and Shelco Garcia. (3500 W. Naples Drive, 10 p.m., OracleMansion.com.)

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Ho-Ho-Ho’s abound at Haze. Jolly ol’ Moose A Clause dons his big red suit for the annual festive search for the Sexiest Mrs. Clause in town. The lucky lady takes home $5,000. (In Aria, 10:30 p.m., LightGroup.com.)

sun 23

57 VEGAS SEVEN

Thu 20

nightlife

weather is always great, great people, good food and it’d give me a chance to concentrate on touring in North and South America for a bit. It’s funny, I was playing in the pool yesterday with my girlfriend and my little daughter, and I was reading the Swedish newspaper online, and there was this headline about this big snowstorm and it’s 18 degrees below zero, and I was like, “OK, I made the right decision.”

The Pryda House Music Eric Prydz moves to America and, Surrenders his New Year’s Eve to Las Vegas By Deanna Rilling

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

We could have chosen any of the big-name electronic DJ/producers playing New Year’s Eve to profile, but in our minds there was only one name. Well, one very talented Swede who goes by many names. In a rare interview, Eric Prydz (a.k.a. Pryda and Cirez D, among others) gives Vegas Seven an exclusive look into his world and dishes about his move to L.A., his Epic Radio podcast, and if he’ll be singing live anytime soon. Prydz, who just received his second Grammy nomination, promises to challenge the norm Dec. 31 at Surrender with a three hour-minimum set.

VEGAS SEVEN

On the three-disc Eric Prydz Presents Pryda album you actually sing on the track “You” with respectable results. Have you considered singing live while spinning? No! [Laughs.] Never! How would that look? That would be silly. To be honest with you, I can’t sing. I know how I want it to sound, and I will sit at that mic and do retakes and retakes and retakes until I get what I want, but I would never do that live. I’m not a singer. I’m a true producer and a studio geek; I can make stuff sound good, but I would never be able to do that live. I would sound like someone was trying to strangle a rooster or something.

There are also two retrospective discs. Looking back on 2012, what’s your take on the year in electronic music? A lot of producers have gotten very, very lazy. Very little original music is coming out. I think everyone is just copying each other and all the tracks—I’m not saying all the tracks—but the tracks that you see in the Top 10s and the tracks that all the DJs are playing are very generic, and [if] you’ve heard one, you’ve heard them all sort of thing. That’s kind of sad. People need to put a bit more effort into trying to be original. Making music is almost like writing a book. Why would

I want to write a book that’s already been written? I want to tell my own story. It’s the same with music—or at least it used to be. But that’s just one side of the music of 2012. If you look at the underground scene, the deephouse wave is really, really good now. So many talented producers are pushing deep house in new directions. You’re six episodes into your Epic Radio show. What prompted you to start a podcast, and what do you feel sets Epic apart from the others in the industry? I can only speak for my own podcast. Epic Radio is such a great way for me to reach

people where I normally don’t go DJ because I hate flying. South Asia, South Africa, Australia ... there’s so many places that I never go to and can’t really hear me DJ. Now they can just download the podcast and tune in to the radio and listen to the music that I’m really into at the moment and the new releases coming up on my label. On Epic Radio I always play unreleased and super-up-front material, my special private edits and stuff. If you like what I do, Epic Radio is a must. Your fear of flying has caused some issues for you. Now you’ve relocated to L.A. Was that part of the reason? I’m originally from Stockholm. About eight years ago I decided to move to London because I was fed up with [Sweden’s] weather and only having two months of summer every year. And because I travel by train to my shows, London was so much better. I lived in the U.K. for eight years; I wanted to try something new and obviously the sunny West Coast—the

With multiple production monikers, do you take on different personas in the studio? No, it doesn’t really work like that. First of all, it’s nice to hide behind another name that’s not your own, because whenever I release an “Eric Prydz” record, there’s so much pressure on me. I could give you an example: There was one record—I don’t remember what it was—but this comment that this person made really stuck in my head. It was a YouTube clip of one of my new tracks, people were discussing whether they liked it, this one guy said, “Yeah, I really like it, but it’s not groundbreaking.” And I’m like, “Hang on a second. Does every new track I release have to be groundbreaking? Do I need to reinvent dance music with one track every time I have a release?” It’s silly. What will the New Year bring for you? I have a lot of things that are going to come out in 2013—a lot of ‘Eric Prydz’ stuff, more ‘Pryda’ releases, more ‘Cirez D’ stuff as well. There are a few new remixes that I’m still working on. This whole move to L.A. has kind of set me back a little bit time-wise; I need to get into my new studio, I need to set it up before I can start working again. You live practically down the road. Will Las Vegas get to see more of you? I’m doing the New Year’s Eve show [at Surrender], and I’m going to be back a few more times during the year.

Eric breaks down the difference between Prydz, Pryda and Cirez D at VegasSeven.com/EricPrydz.

nightlife

Saturn Reyes (purple hair) with dancers Alexx Smiles (pink) and Teresa Glam (blue).

for a bit of a getaway, because I was in honors classes and had so much on my plate when it came to school and work,” Reyes says. “Dance music has always been something that I’ve really enjoyed.” Always a familiar face at the teen-friendly Sounds of the Underground (SOTU) parties at the Fort Cheyenne Events Center—and known for her creative, colorful outfits—Reyes initially stepped on the go-go platform as a favor to her buddy DJ Greatwood during his set. “I didn’t know that I could go-go dance at all; I’d never really

EZ and Fire ’n’ Ice Entertainment. Body Talk has also been featured at Extreme Thing on the Frequency dubstep stage, AWOL Productions events, Digital Madness spring break with DJ Bl3nd, Fright Dome, Burner parties, Shambhala in Canada, Big Bang in Denver and Love Freak in California. Additionally, Reyes and her dancers appear as promo girls for Shrapnel Streetwear among other apparel companies. And this was all before Reyes turned 21 in November. “So many doors have already been opening for us since we

VEGAS SEVEN

Body Talk

Go-go dancer Saturn Reyes turned her raving hobby into a fulßlling career By Deanna Rilling

And they sAid us “kandi kids” wouldn’t amount to anything. Add 21-year-old Saturn Reyes (yes, that’s really her name) to the list of partiers turned successful nightlife industry professionals thanks to her company, Body Talk GoGos. “I started being a little raver when I was about 13 or 14, which is kind of bad I guess. But back then I was looking

thought of it,” Reyes says. “I was just a theater nerd who dressed crazy at parties.” She was then offered a job dancing at all of the SOTU events and began recruiting others for her team. “I involved some girls who were really good and who didn’t just show up in their thongs and bras,” Reyes says, laughing. “Even when I was go-go dancing there at 16 and 17, I was wearing lots of layers. Of course as I got older I lost some layers, but I feel go-gos should have an equal balance of skin and clothing, always keep it classy, sexy, sassy—which is our motto.” As she built a troupe and racked up gigs both in and out of Las Vegas, Reyes completed her business degree at the College of Southern Nevada to master all facets of running Body Talk GoGos (Reyes’ supportive mother suggested the name). “The name stuck because that’s the way I dance and that’s the way I like my girls to dance: You’re telling a story with your body—which is part of my theater background—with your motions. Whatever the DJ is feeling, you’re hoping to be able to take that emotion from their music and put it into a dance style to make it your own.” Thus far, Reyes and her Body Talk GoGos have already amassed an impressive résumé that includes performing the past two years during Insomniac Events’ Electric Daisy Carnival and Nocturnal Wonderland, along with fellow troupes Team

started; I’ve had to turn down a lot of things because I wasn’t 21,” Reyes says. But now a new world of possibilities lies ahead for the troupe when paired with the right event. “My ideal client would be someone who is looking for uniqueness, not just a hair-flip 9-to-5 go-go, but a girl who knows how to perform, gets the crowd pumped and enjoys what they’re doing,” Reyes says. “My girls are always smiling and having a good time, trying to get the crowd involved.” In addition to adding choreographed numbers, a bit of burlesque and fire acts to their repertoire, the costuming makes Reyes’ girls stand out from the average dancers. “Even though there are a lot of go-go girls or teams, the difference is that I make the costumes, I don’t just buy them,” Reyes says. “We get together and have craft nights, go thrift shopping to find articles of clothing and take them apart; a lot is repurposing and made from scratch. There are so many websites where you can go and buy all these pieces. And you might look cute because you’re all neon’d out and adorable, but what sets you apart?” If your party is in need of steampunk bumblebees, Army brats, bass kittens, seductive zombies, butterflies with Isis wings or anything else dancing like there’s no tomorrow, find Reyes and crew online at Facebook.com/BodyTalkGoGo.

Photo by Shane O’Neal

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

“You’re telling a storY with Your bodY ... with Your motions.”

[ By Deanna Rilling ] “You can always tell a good DJ if they’re making people’s feet move.”

‘diagnose the dance floor’ {page 76}

Your city after dark, party pics and ‘SMB’ is the new ‘GTL’

thu 27 Las Vegas loves throwing parties to commemorate future parties, such as halfway to Halloween or Christmas in July. Tao Group and Insomniac Events are marking another midpoint milestone with Halfway to Electric Daisy Carnival parties all weekend. Sure it may seem a bit in advance to talk about, but if you’re like us, you’ve already busted out the hot glue gun and sewing machine to start painstakingly handcrafting three nights’ worth of unique outfits. Get a taste of the EDC spirit at Tao with a special set from Dutch DJ/producer Hardwell. (In the Venetian, 10 p.m., TaoLasVegas.com.)

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

fri 28

VEGAS SEVEN

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting all year for! Well, more like since November, when it was announced that our beloved Body English would be reopening. And as if they read our minds (or Tweets), they’re mixing things up. Deep Dish’s Sharam kicks things off tonight. But wait, that’s only the start for what Body English has in store: Saturday welcomes a DJ set from French import M83, plus the first performance from Las Vegas’ own Black Boots (1) (who recently debuted on Ultra Records), along with Richard Beynon and Teenwolf. Add to that Switch, Drop the Lime (2), Mr. White and Destructo (3) on Sunday. If they keep bookings like this up, you’ll know where to find us in 2013. (In the Hard Rock Hotel, 10 p.m., HardRockHotel.com.) Also on the premier front, upscale supper-to-nightclub Andrea’s celebrates its grand opening this evening and offers an Asian-ish menu. Swedish superstar DJ/producer Steve Angello serves as the “musical chef,” providing freshly prepared playlists promised to satisfy diners’ aural palates via the hands of guest DJs spinning from 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. (In Encore, WynnLasVegas.com.) SHe by Morton’s, the female-centric dining/fashion/nightlife venue, celebrates its grand opening New Year’s Eve, but you can get a first peek tonight while dancing to the sounds of DJ Five. Start your evening with dinner in the “modern boutique steakhouse” when doors open at 5:30 p.m. (In Crystals at CityCenter, SHe-LV.com.)

sat 29 Not only should you toast the New Year this weekend, but also take a moment to raise a glass in honor of Rain. This weekend marks the last official one for the megaclub and includes a special performance tonight from singer Kelly Rowland. (In the Palms, 10 p.m., Palms.com.) Imposters in bow ties and sunglasses step aside, the real Psy (4) is in the house at Pure. The Korean YouTube sensation will celebrate his birthday and, of course, perform “Gangnam Style” to cap off 2012. (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., AngelMG.com.)

sun 30 On this, the penultimate night of 2012, R&B singer-songwriter John Legend brings his soulful sound to a performance at Haze. (In Aria, 10:30 p.m., LightGroup.com.) Fresh off the stage at the recent VH1 Divas concert, Aussie Havana Brown (5) pulls double duty, both spinning and singing at Hyde. (In Bellagio, 10 p.m., HydeBellagio.com.)

Mon 31 There’s no way we could have fit all the New Year’s Eve madness in this little space, so turn to Page 52 for the guide on where to party. But a few more suggestions that we couldn’t squeeze in include keeping it casual and chilling with the Insert Coin(s) crew, DJ 88 and the rest of the residents for a block party-style evening downtown. (521 E. Fremont St., 10 p.m., InsertCoinsLV.com.) For a unique—and somewhat disturbing—New Year’s Eve experience, join the ghouls at Eli Roth’s Goretorium for a bloodthirsty Vampire Masquerade in the attraction’s Baby Dolls lounge overlooking Strip. (3717 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 8 p.m., Goretorium.com.)

tue 1 So, you blew all your money on New Year’s Eve and you’ve got a wicked hangover. Thankfully, our Nickel F---ing Beer Night buddies will help you out with a Hair o’ the Dog Edition. And if you don’t know what to do with those rogue presents from grandma, rewrap them and bring ’em along for the Sh*tty Gift Exchange, too, and let the hilarity ensue. (At Beauty Bar, 10 p.m., Facebook. com/VegasNickelBeers.)

Wed 2 Come party with us tonight and we won’t take “I’m still tired from NYE” as an excuse. The official Vegas Seven 2012 Nightclub Awards Party celebrating this issue takes place tonight at The Act, and darn near anyone who’s anyone will be there. It’s kind of a big deal. (In the Shoppes at the Palazzo, 10 p.m., TheActLV.com.)

nightlife

Diagnose the Dance Floor

Tao Group music director Sol Shafer sheds some light on how to grade Vegas’ DJ talent By Deanna Rilling

VEGAS SEVEN

When you’re considering a DJ for a booking, what are the key professional and personality characteristics that tell you if it will be a good fit? Music is the most important thing for setting up the right mood for any kind of event. No. 1 is music selection—which is the obvious. Playing the right songs at the right time is absolutely crucial. No. 2 would be the ability to read the crowd. It’s very important because if certain things aren’t working for whatever reason, the DJ will always find a way of taking it into a different direction. Being able to adapt on the fly is key for sure. The third thing would be mixing skills and transitions. This is absolutely crucial to any dance-music event. People need to be taken on a journey that is smooth and flawless. Any other way would be grounds for immediate termination in my books. A fourth thing would be showmanship. DJs are the main focal point of any dance-music event. In today’s age, it’s unacceptable to be playing with your head down, frowning, not moving, or just standing there like a deer in the headlights. DJs are the conductor of the event and must control the room and all the elements of the space. At the end of the day, the best DJs can walk into a room, control the experience and leave an impression on people that they will never forget. That is when you know you have the right DJ for the event.

How can new dance-music fans determine if the person up there is any good? It’s kind of hard to see true talent from the dance floor. I can tell if someone is really a good DJ by looking at people’s feet. As crazy as that may be, you can always tell a good DJ if people are hearing the music from a different room or different area and they’re making people’s feet move. I also look for smiling faces. The more people that are smiling, the better time everyone is having, which resolves to the better the DJ talent is. It’s the simple things. As much as you ask about technical, it’s not so much about being technical nowadays; it’s more about curating that perfect moment. When you sift through tracks for potential DJs, what are you keeping an ear out for? A track that gets me is something that when I listen to it, I can visualize the entire club going off at that moment. And you know when you hear it. There are very few lines between something that’s really good and something that’s really bad. What’s the key to identifying the best emerging producers on the scene? Have your finger on the pulse. You have to get out. You have to go to these events where these young kids are attending. You have to watch how a DJ or a producer does with these young kids. A way

to seek these new producers is to listen to satellite radio. Read and listen to the playlists that other big producers are playing. Really digging into people that are veterans and looking to them to tell us what’s going on and what’s going to be hot in the future is a great way to find out who’s up and coming. Who are going to be the breakthrough artists of 2013? Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano are definitely breakthrough artists in my eyes. Their sound is warm, sexy,

bumping music. They get the party feeling ooey and gooey and just SMB—shake, move, bounce. Also Krewella; I’ve been watching these kids for a while now and they seem to have the complete package: They’re young, they put on a great show and their musical style crosses over between genres, which makes everyone like them in their own way. Another one to keep an

eye on is Zedd. He’s obviously a musical genius who’s very young and really talented. He just seems to be having a lot going on for him. One of my true favorites for next year, who’s broken through on the other side of the pond and hopefully catches some movement here is Example. He caught my eye in 2009, and for some reason I just knew he was going to be huge.

Shafer calls out the best and worst EDM trends of 2012 and explains why you should “shut up, smile and keep dancing” at VegasSeven.com/SolShafer.

Photo by Andrew James

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Having booked sucH top talent as the world’s No. 1 DJ Armin van Buuren and America’s Best DJ two years running with Kaskade and Markus Schulz, Sol Shafer has an ear for the best. Hailing from Montreal, with a lengthy résumé that includes Godskitchen, After Hour Power at Avalon Hollywood and Perfecto at Rain, Shafer is the director of special operations and music for Marquee, Tao and Lavo nightclubs in addition to working with Insomniac Events. Even after more than a decade in the industry, Shafer still gets that spark in his eye when the topic turns to electronic music and events. Shafer briefs us on what he looks for from DJs to make the dance floor “SMB”—shake, move and bounce.

nightlife

parties

taO

The Venetian [ Upcoming ]

VEGAS SEVEN

See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Powers Imagery

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Dec. 27 Halfway to EDC with Hardwell Dec. 28 Special appearance by Nas Dec. 29 NYE weekend with DJ Vice

nightlife

parties

Encore [ Upcoming ]

VEGAS SEVEN

See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com

Photography by Danny Mahoney

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Dec. 28 Tiësto and Deniz Koyu spin Dec. 29 Steve Angello and Third Party spin Dec. 30 Deadmau5 and Chris Lake spin

dining

“Yes, it’s easy to open a steak house and say, ‘We’re open,’ but what sets us apart is the technique and thought that goes into it.”

DINING PROFILE {PaGE 94}

Trends, Diner's Notebook and a dreamy Champagne cocktail for your New Year’s toast

Sharing is caring! The beef carpacio roll at Botero Supperclub won’t weigh you down.

The New Dinner Party

As the dining and nightlife scenes continue to converge, vibe dining and supper clubs boldly take dinner where it hasn’t gone before—to the dance àoor By Xania Woodman

[ Continued on Page 90 ]

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Dining With a Scene 9Group’s nightclubs always had a good neighbor in N9NE Steakhouse (and later Nove Italiano), but Tao Group really got the ball rolling with Tao, a restaurant, nightclub and lounge all under the same roof. We called it “dining with a scene,” an indication that the party vibe started at the restaurant podium. You ate in a hip environment, and then proceeded to the party, likely close by, if not just upstairs as in the case of Tao and Lavo. Light Group is the heavyweight champion of the genre, with a lineup that

89 VEGAS SEVEN

Photo by Anthony Mair

StuDIO 54’S VIP section routinely featured a room-service cart of sandwich and cookie platters back in 2002, the thought being, I guess, that if you fed us we would stay. (It worked.) Of course, there are much finer things on offer today for pre- and post-party dining on the Strip—First Food & Bar in the Palazzo, Rattlecan in the Venetian, Allegro in Wynn and Society Café in Encore. But the lines are increasingly blurring between dining and partying; pre/post is giving way to during, a sort of a “You got your dinner in my party, you got your party in my dinner” development, and a delicious one at that.

[ Continued from Page 89 ] Dining

DINING

SeveN reStauraNtS to try before the eND of the worlD—er, year 2012 was an eventful year for the Las Vegas food scene. An especially large number of new restaurants opened—some relentlessly hyped, others quietly so. In no particular order, here are seven of my favorites, which you should try to get to before the year is up. Assuming, of course, that we’re still here. Bacchanal Buffet. This splashy, $17 million dollar food extravaganza at Caesars Palace has succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Dishes are prepared in several interactive kitchens. With an encyclopedic selection, highlights include barbecue, dim sum and incredible seafood. In Caesars Palace, 731-7110.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

includes Fix and Yellowtail in Bellagio, Stack in The Mirage, Brand and Diablo’s Cantina in the Monte Carlo, and most recently a Light Group-run Red Square do-over in Mandalay Bay. Light Group’s restaurants tend to be situated nice and close to their nightlife venues, or are—as is the case of Diablo’s and Brand—a party unto themselves.

VEGAS SEVEN

Vibe Dining “Dining with a scene” is a mouthful, and as buzzwords go, a little dated. The latest marketing axiom, “vibe dining,” further blurs the line between dining and partying. There might be a DJ in the restaurant. Plus, your table might be in a lounge, or might be a couch and coffee-table set-up. I first heard the term in reference to STK, a female-friendly steak house in the Cosmopolitan, but first saw it in print announcing the Dec. 28 arrival of Andrea’s (formerly Switch), a hip, Asian concept adjoining Surrender, with a patio that opens right into the pool complex. Here, Wynn resident DJ Steve Angello, of Swedish House Mafia fame, will curate the music program. Wynn Resorts had already showed its hand with the establishment of Botero Supperclub, a vibe-dining overlay at Botero Steakhouse that includes a late-night menu, live DJ and a patio party. (Rumor has it that Wynn’s Mizumi and Lakeside will soon join in the trend.) Also arriving Dec. 28 is SHe by Morton’s, another chic, femalefriendly steak house—this one with fashion runway downstairs and a nightclub upstairs—in the former Beso Restaurant/Eve Nightclub footprint. (See Page 102). The Supper Club Just another word for vibe dining (or perhaps a subset), the supper club seems to bring dining into the

chada thai & Wine. Bank Atcharawan—an alum of our most famous Thai restaurant, Lotus of Siam—finally has his beer and wine license. That’s good news for lovers of small-plates Thai cuisine and German riesling, which is the ticket at this Chinatownadjacent restaurant, a dark room filled with Thai objets d’art. 3400 S. Jones Blvd., 641-1345.

Clockwise from top left: Yellowtail’s Big Eye tuna “pizza,” Lavo’s onepound Kobe meatball and Tao’s miso-glazed Chilean sea bass.

nightclub, as opposed to merely turning up the volume in the restaurant. Known for its command of all things nightlife, dining and hospitality, SBE got a foothold in Las Vegas with Hyde Bellagio, where food and frolic come together. A menu of small bites (call it “supper club lite”) comes from the Circo kitchen before the curtain rises on the nighttime festivities. Dining and partying might also be concurrent, as it is at Bagatelle Restaurant & Supper Club in the Tropicana (which is now said to be pulling back on its perceived nightclub persona and focusing on dinner and brunch). And it doesn’t stop there! 2013 will only serve to reinforce the trend, whatever you choose to call it, with the arrival of two more Light Group offerings at Mandalay Bay—Citizens Kitchen & Bar and an as-yet-unnamed Asian concept. Slated for a spring 2013 arrival, Hakkasan at MGM Grand looks to be Angel Management Group’s answer to Tao, with Michelin-starred Cantonese cuisine and a massive nightclub.

Naturally, detractors of the trend worry that all this emphasis on nightlife might take away from the dining experience, from quality and from service. Rightfully so. It’s definitely … different. The dining pace changes when you’re clubbound, not unlike pre-theater dining. Luckily, many of these venues offer nightlife-friendly menus: At Tao and Lavo, there’s a three-course Three Square benefit menu ($55); Botero Supperclub offers a substantial late-night menu; and at most Light Group venues, your server can guide you to “the greatest-hits” items, where everyone can share small bites. Personally, I love Lavo’s onepound Kobe beef meatball, which I savor greedily with my own basket of bread and a glass (or three) of wine. But really, no lady wants to strap on the feed bag then try to dance on the banquettes of a nightclub in a tight dress. Better to nibble daintily on Yellowtail’s delicate Big Eye tuna “pizza” and Tao’s meaty-yet-light miso-glazed Chilean sea bass. Vibe dining saves the day! Well, the night.

eat. Downtown Las Vegas finally has a top-quality breakfast and lunch joint, thanks to chef Natalie Young (Nat to her many friends), materfamilias at this casual spot. Young does incredible pancakes, and an egg dish called huevos motuleños for breakfast. Lunch runs to homemade soups, and sandwiches come with the best potato salad in the world. 707 Carson St., 534-1515. Gordon ramsay steak. We know this towheaded, foul-mouthed TV icon for his English accent and tough love, but he’s also a terrific technician, and his new steak house was the top Strip opening of 2012. I’d return just for his British ale and cheese soup or his astronomically priced fish and chips, but the steaks are first-rate. And then there’s that sticky toffee pudding … In Paris Las Vegas, 946-7000. honey salt. Society chef Kim Canteenwalla jumped ship at Encore to open this Rampart Commons restaurant with his wife, restaurant consultant Elizabeth Blau, and so far, it has been packed. The eclectic menu features dishes such as New England Fry (a mix of Ipswich clams and calamari) and chicken cooked under a brick. 1031 S. Rampart Blvd., 445-6100. meat & three. The idea is simple: one entrée and up to three sides at bargain prices. Chris Herrin’s best entrées include Salisbury steak and fried chicken, and there are more than a dozen side dishes from which to choose. In the Sunridge Heights Center, 10940 S. Eastern Ave., Henderson, 473-5577. tetsu in Bar masa. Think of it as a sort of upscale Benihana of Tokyo, a teppanyaki place where you can get an entire lobster or Wagyu beef done without the histrionics. Bar Masa is the most expensive restaurant in Las Vegas, but it’s possible to dine at Tetsu without straining your wallet. In Aria, 877-230-2742. Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at VegasSeven.com/blogs.

Dining

gorDon ramsaY steak

The New Year should begin with a bang, and there’s no better place to feel that spark than in the dining room of a world-famous (and infamous) chef. Gordon Ramsay’s five-course menu starts with a Scotch egg, and features Ramsay’s signature beef Wellington Rossini and the traditional British sticky toffee pudding (pictured). $200 per person, in Paris Las Vegas, 946-4663, ParisLasVegas.com.

guY savoY

Want to feel like a VIP at any party you roll into on New Year’s Eve? Dine at Restaurant Guy Savoy first. The French restaurant offers an early menu specifically for those who want to go out not only in style, but well fed to boot. The five-course menu features all of Savoy’s greatest hits, including the multiple layers in the Colors of Caviar and his legendary artichoke and black truffle soup. $258 per person, in Caesars Palace, 731-7110, CaesarsPalace.com.

twist bY Pierre gagnaire

Legendary chef Pierre Gagnaire is in the house to debut his 2013 tasting menu. Known for his sense of whimsy and innovation while at the same time emphasizing local ingredients, Gagnaire offers two seatings on Dec. 31. The first features four courses, including spiny lobster fricassee

Comme Ça

David Myers’ casual bistro goes straight-up gourmet for New Year’s Eve. The first seating features four courses, where guests may choose between langoustine crudo and Tasmanian trout and then poached lobster, roasted rabbit or filet of beef for the main. The second, slightly more extravagant seating offers you a choice of all those main courses plus veal sweetbreads with white truffles, along with the necessary champagne toast at midnight. 5-7 p.m., $95 per person, $45 wine pairing; 8-10:30 p.m., $195 per person, $75 wine pairing, in the Cosmopolitan, 698-7910, CosmopolitanLasVegas.com.

honeY salt

Elizabeth Blau and Kim Canteenwalla have the Summerlin celebration covered. Their intimate dinner features four courses of homey, earthy cuisine, including Périgord winter truffle risotto and a choice of wood oven-roasted Alaskan halibut or a surf and turf of braised beef short ribs and Maine lobster tail. Kiss your way into 2013 with New Year’s First Kiss, a dark chocolate and pink peppercorn bouchon with raspberry clafoutis. $135 per person, 1031 S. Rampart Blvd., 445-6100, HoneySalt.com.

For more New Year’s Eve dining options, see the New Year’s Eve Guide on Page 52 and visit VegasSeven.com/NYE2012.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Compiled by Grace Bascos

with mango étouffée and poached filet of sole with baby oysters. The second seating includes those and adds a starter of Ossetra caviar and a Gagnaire’s New Year’s Stew. Seatings available from 5:30-10 p.m., dinner starts at $395 per person, wine pairings at $175, in Mandarin Oriental, 590-8882, MandarinOriental.com/LasVegas.

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new Year’s Dishing

VEGAS SEVEN

➧ eva longoria may be the face of

He’s Got What SHe Wants When it comes to food ladies love, chef Todd Mark Miller should be your wingman By Grace Bascos

SHe, the “boutique steak house” with a feminine touch opening New Year’s Eve. But it’s chef Todd Mark Miller who’s responsible for keeping the ladies happy. Miller, who opened STK in the Cosmopolitan and most recently Miami Beach, has served as executive chef at STK’s Los Angeles and New York outposts and consulted at various locations around the country, so he knows his way around a good piece of meat. He understands the finesse that goes into not only a great steak, but producing a steak-house experience that resonates with female clientele. For Miller, this means seasonality. Also, “It’s not the very heavy, heavy classics, but you can have the option of going large and incharge, or go small for your appetite and build a tasting menu,” he explains. Miller grew up in Utah and started his career at the Deer Valley Ski Resort before moving on to Prime, Jean George Vongerichten’s Bellagio steak house. Following a Five Diamond rating at the Four Seasons Las Vegas, he was tapped for Four Seasons Maldives and followed by the brand’s property in Singapore. His signature is not so much any particular dish as it is his philosophy on how to properly treat quality ingredients, a reflection of his overseas travel. “I love to follow the seasons and do whimsical stuff,” Miller says. “It’s fun, and that’s who I am and how I like to cook.” The fun is in “taking the old and reinventing it.” Steak Rossini, for example, is traditionally an already luxurious filet. In Miller’s hands, “It’s not a play on it, but I made it more luxurious.” Miller takes it over the top as a Royal Rossini by butter-poaching a steak that’s topped with foie gras and truffles, and which lounges on a bed of brioche. “Yes, it’s easy to open a steak house and say, ‘We’re open,’ but what sets us apart is the technique and thought that goes into it.” On the other end of the spectrum, the humble chicken, too, receives careful consideration. Simply marinated, yet still interesting, Miller says, “because we’re searching out for the best chicken we can find, cooking it slow and low, and finishing it by crisping up that skin … then serving it with kale, bacon and some melted shallots.” Miller also

What she eats Getting Miller to give up his favorite SHe dishes wasn’t easy. “I’m a Libra, and I don’t really necessarily believe in the signs,” he admits. “With that said, I’m literally the scales. I have no favorites. No favorite color or car, so I can’t say which is my favorite dish.” So here are the three he knows will be big hits: • Little Big Royale, sliders named for the French name of the Big Mac as popularized in Pulp Fiction. “Those are going to be pretty dynamite,” Miller says. • “The Crab Cocktail is a different approach, served with fresh lime and ginger and lettuce cups, so you can build a crab taco.” • And a nod from his stint in Singapore, “a Sweet Chili Crab [pictured] with fresh herbs, chili, crispy garlic and shallots.”

recognizes when it’s best to leave well enough alone. “When corn is at its best, why would you want to change that flavor? You want it to scream corn. The only things that make it better are going to be salt, butter and pepper.” Mlller knows that part of SHe’s caché is it’s see-and-beseen atmosphere, but promises a dining room that will be fun, without getting out of hand. “With all the elements they have built in, with the runway, it’s got that same atmosphere where some steak houses would get crazy. SHe can get crazy, but at the same time is going to be reserved, doing it like a lady.”

Photo by Andrew James

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

dining

profile

MONDAY DECEMBER

Tickets Starting at

$50

All-You-Can-Drink Access Starting at

| PM

$75

DJ | Entertainment Special Guest Appearance for the Midnight Ball Drop and Fireworks

Bo le Service Available. See The Pub for Reservations. Must be 21 years of age. Fireworks viewing weather permi ing. Including taxes and service fees.

@MonteCarloVegas @redbulllv

Dining

drinking

Dare to Dream How do you fit the personality of an entire casino-resort into one delicate little glass—a Steve Wynn casino-resort, at that? For starters, keep it simple. Wynn Resorts property mixologist Patricia Richards has a rule: A cocktail that requires more than six ingredients is probably too complicated for its own good. Second, splurge a little; use the freshest, highest quality ingredients possible every step of the way. It pays off in the quality of the composed drink. Inspired by Le Reve, Wynn Resorts’ signature cocktail The Dream accomplishes both of these missions. “It’s crisp and effervescent, with some bready, yeasty notes from the Champagne, rounded out with floral notes of St-Germain and the subtle sweetness of hibiscus syrup,” Richards says. “It’s elegant and sophisticated, celebratory and playful.” More than a mere glass of bubbly poured hastily in the fleeting pre-countdown moments, but far less complicated than breaking out the tins and strainers for cocktails, The Dream makes short work out of preparing an entire round of drinks. Your guests will also make short work out of drinking them. One final rule: Always leave them wanting more.

The Dream

$22, available at most Wynn Resorts bars Add ½ ounce St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur and 1 barspoon Wild Hibiscus syrup (available at Whole Foods and WildHibiscus.com) to a chilled 6-8-ounce Champagne flute. Top with 5 ounces Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne. Drop in one Wild Hibiscus flower garnish.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Watch Patricia Richards make The Dream come true at VegasSeven.com/Videos.

Photo by Kin Lui

VEGAS SEVEN

A&E

“If you like watching Botoxed bitches brawl, you could not find a better show.” Television {PAGe 120}

Artist Jevijoe Vitug cleverly portrays the struggle of immigrants caught in the teeth of the Great Recession Vitug photo by Zack W

By Steve Bornfeld

chased a home in Las Vegas in 2008 and lost it to a short sale this year. “The recession hit when I came here, but you cannot see that because you’re really happy. But then it changes. It shifted my perspective to just survival of everyday life.” Struggling to endure the rough times when you’ve never known the flush times in a country you’ve yet to really know at all is the theme coursing through How To’s, the 35-year-old’s series of socially pointed yet humorous oil paintings on display at the Winchester Cultural Center Gallery. Survival is the goal, but How To’s is, in fact, a “how-to” in artistic form. Utilizing Asian-style

design, corporate symbolism and religious iconography, the pieces serve as both commentary and guidebook, employing arrows so patrons can follow Vitug’s suggestions for practical living in tight times. While he depicts Filipino figures as representative of the immigrant theme, his advice is applicable to all. “When we [lost the house], I was asking, ‘Why? Why?’” says Vitug, the married father of two small children, his family now living in a Las Vegas apartment. Hardship inspired the piece titled “How to Build a Sustain-

[ Continued on Page 102 ]

101 VEGAS SEVEN

Survival of the Wittiest

oPPorTuniTy is suPPosed To

knock—not knock and run away like a kid playing a prank. Yet the Great Recession is no prank, putting a dent in the American dream not just for natives of this country who at least recall more robust times, but particularly for recent immigrants who haven’t even had a shot at prosperity on these shores. Frustration finds expression in ways both civic and aesthetic. Occupy Wall Street protests fulfilled the former. Heartfelt art addresses the latter. “The sky is the limit when you get here,” says Filipinoborn artist Jevijoe Vitug, who arrived stateside in 2007, pur-

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Music, movies, art, concerts and holiday songs that don’t hurt

[ Continued from Page 101]

art

A&E

Vitug and his two paintings: “How to Conserve Water by Bathing Together” (top) and “How to Carpool and Still Party.”

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102

able Home.” Woven in a style reminiscent of a Persian rug, it displays a collection of Vegastype houses and energy-saving panels. Framed by familiar logos How to’s including Ameriby JeviJoe vitug can Express, Citibank, Bank of Winchester America and MasCultural Center tercard, it sugGallery, 3130 S. gests the Money McLeod Drive, 10 Class is circling a.m.-8 p.m. Tuelike sharks. Fri, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. “I realized Sat, through Jan. with the banks, 4, free, 455-7340 they’re just making money from my house,” he says. “There are people who are surviving by building a sustainable home. The heat of the sun just passes through those panels.” Addressing the same theme with a more playful vibe is

“How to Carpool and Still Party,” in which revelers are redistributed from several cars into a single limousine, spilling out of the sunroof and making merry. “The limousine is practical,” Vitug says. “It turns into public transportation.” Straightforwardly titled “How to Have a Life That Should Be Totally Cheap” pictures a woman on a bicycle eschewing the car culture, surrounded by logos of gas companies, including Chevron and Shell, that we could toss out of our lives. Metaphorical and Vegas-specific, “How to Build Your Own Barrel Raft” depicts icons of the Strip—the old Dunes and Sahara signs, the Stratosphere tower, even a marquee trumpeting the

Supremes—being swept away on an onrushing blue wave as men construct a raft to remain afloat. Vividly, it is a vision both apocalyptic and playful. Conversely, “How to Conserve Water by Bathing Together,” portraying a man and woman disrobing to do exactly that, is simple, yet sexy in a chaste fashion. While Vitug’s tableaus are reflections on a nation no longer nirvana for newcomers, they are also strangely upbeat. Drawn in clean strokes and often pastel colors, the pieces

give off a sense that the ghost of the American Dream hasn’t left the building, but is merely hiding, awaiting its inevitable cue to return. Likewise, an easygoing optimism emanates from the boyish-looking Vitug, a man refreshingly free of artsy angst and intensity when he speaks in heavily accented English. Developing the reputation of an artist of social conscience, he hails from the province of Pampanga in the Philippines, and was drawn to the U.S. after receiving a grant. Reconnecting via Facebook with a friend from the Philippines living in Vegas—who would soon become his wife— brought him out West, where he’s been noted for art that deals with survival, globalization, poverty and the environment. Representing the latter theme in his current exhibit is a piece titled “How to Survive an Avalanche of Waste,” in which a man struggles against a mountain of what Vitug calls “global excess,” including discarded pieces of snazzy advertising from the Vegas Strip. While it is an environmental indictment, it also fits comfortably into the idea of paring down elements of our lives in an effort to survive. Known as well for some performance art around town, he became something of a shock sensation when he drank

his own urine last summer at a local version of the London Biennale he staged at Henderson’s Pop Up Art House. Survival, once again, was the theme he was illustrating, the act based upon his childhood experience when Mount Pinatubo, a volcano in the Philippines, erupted in 1991. Trapped for three days on the roof of the family home, and with his paraplegic father, he knew his dad needed the available water first, which left few options. Publicly at the show, Vitug drank water, peed into a cup, then consumed its contents. Startling for onlookers and gutsy of the artist, it’s a moment that has followed him. “It bothers me sometimes,” he says about the event’s aftershocks as some people immediately associate Vitug with that one moment. “People just see the act, but not the why,” he says. “They don’t think of it in terms of survival.” (By the way: “In a military handbook on how to survive, they say that is not good,” he says. “It contains salt and impurities.”) Contemplating survival in more traditional terms, How To’s is a beautifully rendered follow-up on that theme, a guide to living today with a hint of hope for tomorrow.

An Artistic Convergence On Dec. 20-22, contemporary sculptors and painters such as H.R. Giger and Nelson Shanks leave their studios and descend upon Las Vegas to exhibit for-sale original masterworks at the World of Art Showcase in Wynn Las Vegas. Giger, whose piece “Li II” is shown here, won an Academy Award for his design work on 1979’s Alien. During the three-day celebration of visual arts, collectors can mingle with renowned artists such as Daniel E. Greene and Jota Leal, who

will have live demonstrations. “[This event aims to] restore art to where it rightfully belongs in society,” says Mario Parga, executive director of the showcase. “Artists are constantly being pushed to the back of the line; no one is taking it seriously anymore. This show is to be a vehicle to introduce painters to serious collectors.” To purchase tickets, visit WorldOfArtShowcase.com. – Grace Bascos

Vitug photos by Zack W

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Known as well for some performance art around town, Vitug became something of a shocK sensation when he dranK his own urine.

MusIc A&E

Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae, “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” There’s been a creeping sentiment over the last few years that this song is, how shall we say, date rapey. Which is a horrific and terrible thing to say, and anyone who could still think that after hearing Sammy vamp his way through this version is literally history’s greatest monster. Bonus points for another Rat Pack member taking a song most closely associated with Dean

Harvey Danger, “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes).” Up to and including the strippers and hookers, is there any place on the planet where that’s more true than here? What’s that? Jerusalem? Very good, carry on then. The Youngsters, “Christmas in Jail.” The hero of the song got busted on a DUI and had to miss out on Christmas dinner. If you’re not immediately thinking of at least one

Drop the ‘Jingle Bells’ and Back Away Slowly

Vegas Seven’s resident Christmas fanatic oÞers this guide to the non-obnoxious sounds of the holiday

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Jason Scavone

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“I haTe chrIsTMas music,” you say. “It’s all the same, it comes on before Thanksgiving and I’m tired of hearing Andy Williams 40 times a week,” you say. Shut up. Shut up. Shut Up. What are you, some kind of Abominable Snowman just waiting for Yukon Cornelius to bury a pick in your cold, Bumble heart? There’s a better than 92 percent chance you possess all of the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile. Did you steal that one kid’s Christmas shoes? … I, uh, I actually don’t know how that last one goes. I just know that song makes me want to stab a reindeer in the neck every time

I hear it, which is how I haven’t made it more than halfway through the first verse. The thing is, there’s a ton of great Christmas music out there, and mixtaping a new album every year is far more enjoyable than shopping for like 75 percent of your relatives. It will also get you laid. (Editor’s Note: Christmas mixtaping has never gotten anyone, anywhere, laid.) The trick to a good Christmas mix is finding offbeat covers of classics from unusual sources (Like Bad Religion’s live “Silent Night”); originals that haven’t been beaten to death (Blackalicious’ “Toy

Jackpot”); and archive material from the golden age of really, really weird Christmas records (Paul Johnson’s “Fat Daddy,” by way of the A John Waters Christmas album). You just have to do a little bit of digging to find it all. Or, I had to do a little bit of digging to find it, and you just have to download these tracks for a Vegas Christmas playlist: Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, “Christmas in Las Vegas.” Let’s roll a yo beneath the mistletoe, the faux-lounge singer croons. It’s an obvious place to start, maybe, but Christmas isn’t about subtlety.

Martin and doing it better. Louis Prima, “What Will Santa Claus Say? (When He Finds Everybody Swinging).” Every time I hear this song I get a crystal-clear vision of Christmas Eve 1956 in the Sahara’s Casbar, with a room full of welldressed people just out of their freaking minds on nog. The Clydesdale, “Imo Shoot Me a Reindeer.” There’s plenty to love off the Double Down Saloon’s 2008 Merry X-Mas Dammit compilation album, but I’m partial to tales of unleashing violent retribution against an unsuspecting Claus. Call it a weakness. Darby O’Gill and the Little People, “Whiskey Christmas.” I’m also partial to tales of Christmastime debauchery, and children’s choirs telling Santa and Jesus to kiss their Irish asses. I can only assume this local Irishesque troupe has a lot of really cool friends willing to lend their kids to this kind of project. Bruce Springsteen, “Pilgrim in the Temple of Love.” No, but really, show of hands: How many of you are going to be spending your Christmas Eve in a strip club? That’s not a lot of hands. Some of y’all are liars. Tom Waits, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.” Can we all agree that the inclusion of a titular hooker makes this at least spiritually a Las Vegas Christmas song?

friend who’s highly likely to reenact that scene this year, that means you just moved here. Squirrel Nut Zippers, “A Johnny Ace Christmas.” In 1954, 25-year-old R&B singer Johnny Ace killed himself on Christmas Eve in Houston. Why? He was playing Russian Roulette. This is why we stick to Russian Blackjack, wherein you do a shot of vodka every time the dealer draws 21 to your 19 or 20. We’re usually sauced before the first $50 is up. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, “Mr. Heatmiser.” Truly, it’s the greatest of all our big band covers of Christmas songs from 40-year-old stop-motion animation specials. But it’s doubly apt for Vegas with a first-person account from Mr. Heatmiser: He’s Mr. Green Christmas, Mr. Sun, Mr. Heat Blister, Mr. 101. Elvis Presley, “Santa Claus Is Back in Town.” There are people who might try to tell you that this isn’t the greatest Christmas song ever recorded. There are also people who think Miracle on 34th Street is a better Christmas movie than Die Hard, so … you know. Los Straitjackets, “Christmas in Las Vegas” Different song—this one an instrumental track by a luchadore-maskwearing, surf-guitar band, but just like the yearly seasonal cycle of “Christmas” and “Not Christmas,” we’re back where we belong.

Photo illustration by PB Jacob

The Trick To a good chrisTmas mix is finding offbeaT covers of classics from unusual sources— like bad religion’s live “silenT nighT.”

A&E

MUSIC

Heat and Serve

Motown trIbUteS, PerSIan PoP and wIne rIngS

Spoon’s Britt Daniel hopes listeners will gorge on his hot new band, Divine Fits By Jarret Keene

the genreS of IndIe-roCk and synth-pop

often converge. But rarely do they meld as seamlessly as they do in Divine Fits. Spoon front man Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs front man Dan Boeckner and New Bomb Turks drummer Sam Brown comprise this band, which formed earlier this year. The group released a debut, the moody and melodic A Thing Called Divine Fits, on Merge Records in August to much acclaim. Now the Fits are fixin’ to play two Vegas shows over New Year’s—Dec. 30-31—at The Joint in the Hard Rock, along with Grammy-winning garage-blues duo the Black Keys. Daniel called from his home in Austin, Texas to chat with Vegas Seven.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Divine Fits performed last month on the Late Show. David Letterman offered to manage you. Was that cool? It was cooler than cool—awesome and unexpected. We even talked with him after the show for an hour. With Spoon, I’ve played Letterman four times and never shared a word. I grew up watching him and the bands he’d bring on his show.

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Your album is a neat fusion of synth-pop and roots-rock. I imagine you and Dan writing the album awash in Cure and Tom Petty CDs. Far off? The Cure’s definitely a band we both love. The first time I met Dan, I had gone to see a Handsome Furs show

Britt Daniel, Sam Brown and Dan Boeckner.

based on the only song I heard up to that point—“Dumb Animals.” It sounds like an early, dark Cure single—superintense, unabashedly moody. So, yes, we played The Cure, but I also made him listen to a lot of AC/DC.

and as Dan was writing it he played the first three chords, then told me, “It needs another section.” I said, “Yeah, but that’s hard.” We were also working to get the album done quickly, so we added one more chord near the end.

The Fits cover Petty’s “You Got Lucky”? Our album is 11 tracks, 40 minutes long, so we needed a few more songs for our live set. We tried a cover or two, but Dan wasn’t too jazzed on them. Then Petty came on the car radio, and I suggested we cover it. Turns out Dan had done the song live for years with the Furs.

“Baby Gets Worse” has lyrics that make you wonder who is the baby in question. It could be the speaker, his object of affection or the relationship. As a writer, do you prefer ambiguity or concreteness? I think either can work, and they both have pitfalls. Dan knows what he’s writing about, but I don’t always ask him about a song’s meaning. Maybe that song’s about his wife, but I never inquired. Just never came up.

The best bands you and I grew up listening to—Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr.—had two competing songwriters. Is songcraft a competitive thing for you and Dan? Not at all. I love trading off songs, though, and some of my favorite bands are the ones you mentioned. I’d add the Beatles, The Clash, the Rolling Stones—bands in which a couple of writers bring it together and become greater exponentially because of the other. One writer doesn’t want to let the other outdo him, but they feed off and thrive on the other’s accomplishment. That’s what Dan and I do. The Fits’ song “My Love Is Real” only has about three chords. Was that the intent? We went through a thing with that one, actually. It wasn’t a simple song,

It seems like synth-pop is about rediscovering where songwriting might’ve gone had rock and grunge not muscled aside new wave. I think any song—with heavy guitars or heavy synth—can survive if it has a great melody or great lyrics or both. Hopefully they’ll be the ones played on the radio years from now. Vegas on New Year’s. Pumped? A lot of people are going to be in Vegas for that show, so it makes sense for there to be a good crowd of music lovers present. Divine Fits with the Black Keys. 9:30 p.m. Dec. 30-31, The Joint in the Hard Rock, $95-$171, 693-5222.

[ viDEogrAPHy ]

‘Radioactive,’ imagine dRagons Imagine Dragons jumped a whole new species of shark with the video for the second single from their Night Visions album, “Radioactive.” Directed by the appropriately named Syndrome, it’s Fight Club meets Fraggle Rock, in which La Bamba’s Lou Diamond Phillips smokes cigars and laughs maniacally while overseeing underground puppet-fighting. Meanwhile, Dragon head Dan Reynolds, for unclear reasons, heroically mallets a marching-band bass drum in a gladiator cage. The song has always been an unintentionally straight-faced and trudging take on comedy-pop act The Lonely Island’s “Space Olympics.” But watching a pink teddy bear incinerate Mexploitation baddies as Reynolds epically gesticulates like he’s competing with Coldplay underscores the Dragons’ dilemma: They’re tone-deaf to their own joke status. – Jarret Keene

In the days before (and after) Santa squeezes his rump down everyone’s chimney, you’d think local bands in Las Vegas might cease stirring. No chance. Give the gift of live music by taking a loved one to the following: A free holiday-season celebration, a Tribute to Motown & Funk, arrives at Artifice at 10 p.m. Dec. 21. Top local acts are playing under the proverbial mistletoe, including Thee Swank Bastards, Alethia Prudence, Deadhand, Trevor and the Joneses, Chocolate and Candy Warpop. The latter performs with an assemblage of musician-friends dubbed The End Is Nigh Orchestra—a reference, no doubt, to visions of the 2012 Mayan-prophesized apocalypse dancing in people’s heads. The dudes in my favorite rock band, Deadhand, confirm they’ll deliver the Jackson 5’s “Who’s Lovin’ You” and Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is.” My chestnuts are roasting in anticipation. No cover. Two intriguing world-pop concerts are slated for the Strip. L.A.-based Armenian pop singer Armenchik checks in at the Pearl in the Palms at 8 p.m. on Dec. 22. Armenchik’s music is at once contemporary and traditional. Meanwhile, Persian pop singer Ebi pops into Planet Hollywood at 8 p.m. Dec. 24. Ebi does it all—authentic Persian music to Western pop—and while he doesn’t sing in English much (if at all), the emotions he communicates are crystal-clear. Reggae-rockers the Aggrolites agitate Vinyl in the Hard Rock at 9 p.m. Dec. 27. This L.A. band’s most recent studio effort, last year’s Rugged Road, boasts a hardcore Jamaican-rocksteady vibe, of which I can’t get enough. The ’Lites’ single from that album, “Complicated Girl,” is killer. Finally, heavy alt-rock supergroup A Perfect Circle (pictured), which is now essentially comprised of Tool/Puscifer front man Maynard James Keenan and guitarist Billy Howerdel, makes a rare live appearance at Planet Hollywood at 8 p.m. Dec. 29. The lineup will be rounded off by James Iha (ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist), Matt McJunkins (bass) and Jeff Freidl (drums). Tickets start at $47, and there’s also a VIP wine tasting and soundcheck package (starting at $250) that looks damn cool. And the wine is likely from Keenan’s own winery. Always-sweating Portland stand-up alt-comedian Neil Hamburger opens. Best Christmas song that never was? (Mine’s Danzig doing “I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus.”) E-mail Jarret_Keene@yahoo.com.

music

cD reVieWs By deanna rilling Tech house

Trent Cantrelle, The Right Way EP

(Work Records/Spinnin)

Oh, yeah, this is what real house music is supposed to sound like! From the pulsating tribal beats to the grooving changeups and funky flair, the talented-yet-underrated Trent Cantrelle goes back to basics and channels the heart and soul of true house. Cantrelle says he never created the three-song EP specifically with DJ sets in mind, rather more of a guilty pleasure throwback, but one could definitely hear the likes of Carl Cox throwing “Prowler,” “Ride” or “The Right Way” into heavy rotation for sure. More tracks, please! ★★★★✩ Tech house

2. Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox 3. Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day 4. Green Day, ¡Tré! 5. Mumford & Sons, Babel 6. Wiz Khalifa, O.N.I.F.C. 7. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city 8. Deftones, Koi No Yokan 9. Fun., Some Nights 10. Of Monsters & Men, My Head Is an Animal According to sales at Zia Record Exchange on 4503 W. Sahara Ave., Dec. 10-16.

Warung Brazil 2012 (Bits & Pieces/Armada) If you were to pull a quote from a review to slap on a billboard or ad, “stunningly beautiful” would work for this album (especially “Wounds”). As an admittedly picky, picky bitch, I can say wholeheartedly this is one of, if not the best, electronic albums I’ve heard all year. Two CDs with 21 tracks of original material—already a rarity in itself these days—Peter Kriek and Ariaan Olieroock successfully create a two-and-a-half hour mix journey inspired by their favorite club in South America. Sexy Brazilian nuances punctuate the album along with minimal beats and a vibing ebb and flow that induces goose bumps—it’s that good. And if “6 O’Clock in the Morning” doesn’t become a go-to set staple for after-hours DJs, there’s something wrong with the world. ★★★★★ chrisTmas

William Close,

Holidays (self-released) I am not a fan of Christmas music. That being said, if I were in need of a seasonal album or a great gift for my mom, I’d lean toward Holidays, from the amazing William Close & the Earth Harp Collective. The America’s Got Talent finalist (you can catch him in the live show at the Palazzo for a second run in January) creates ingenious original instruments including his signature Earth Harp, the largest stringed instrument in the world, with its deep resonating tones heard throughout the 10 seasonal standards. Think of it as a much cooler Mannheim Steamroller for the next generation. ★★★✩✩

Disc scan

Upcoming albums on Deanna’s radar ... JaN. 15: Cypress Hill’s DJ and producer, DJ muggs, branches out on his own with some dubstep, glitch and grimy electronic on his Ultra Music debut entitled Bass for Your Face. It’s complete with guest appearances by Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Dizzee Rascal. FeB. 11: Russian producer Proxy drops the second part of his debut album, Music From the Eastblock Jungles.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

1. Game, Jesus Piece

16 Bit Lolitas,

107 VEGAS SEVEN

What We’re Buying

a&e

concerts

La Fin absoLute du Monde Bunkhouse, Dec. 13

deana Martin’s christMas show

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center, Dec. 14

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The audience was primarily septuagenarians with nostalgia on the brain. Introduced by a video of “Father Dean,” Deana Martin took the stage with a spirited version of “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” Supported by a quintet—including original Rat Pack musicians Vincent Falcone on piano and Joe Lano on guitar—Martin presented a jolly bag of holiday cheer mixed with plenty of yesteryear. Her vocals seemed best served when singing in tandem with tracks of her late father and the late Andy Williams. The best moment had to be her rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” highlighted by Falcone, Lano and vibist Dale Rampton all playing the melody as one. Martin displayed the traits of her famous father’s stage persona, including an oft-sipped martini glass and loads of stories and jokes. Her shining moment came when she announced that she was going to honor her Uncle Frank [Sinatra] by first singing “The Lady Is a Tramp,” and then going to “beat somebody up in the parking lot.” In tune with her father’s variety show, surprise guests Rich Little and Pia Zadora popped in to keep things rolling along. There was plenty of audience participation during “Memories Are Made of This” and “That’s Amore.” Although there were Christmas tunes sung and Christmas stories told, this concert was primarily a love letter to Father Dean’s act that the Sun City crowd clearly came to see. ★★★✩✩ – Danny Axelrod

La Fin Absolute du Monde photo by Glenn Brogan; Deana Martin photo by Wayne Posner

The El Cerrito, Calif., band’s dark, experimental sound was a stark contrast from the Bunkhouse’s décor. The saloon was decked with twinkling Christmas lights and holiday bobbles—even the deer head was wearing a white, fluffy beard and Santa hat. It would have been more suitable if we were all outside in the night rain. Although the audience was small, consisting of about 20 people, the duo had the entire room’s complete attention. Cyndy Melanio and Jason Myles make up La Fin Absolute du Monde (French for, “the absolute end of the world), an engaged couple who, incidentally, met in Las Vegas. They promptly began making music together after meeting a few years ago. Their music is a blend of electronic, ambient and alternative. It’s chaotic, yet fluid. There is a definite Deftones influence. Melanio’s understated but strong voice echoed off of the walls of the room as Myles fervently played the guitar behind her. The passion and drama were evident. Their eight-song set left us in a state of gloomy awe. ★★★✩✩ – Haley Obata

Lamb of God

House of Blues, Dec. 12 The hard-driving metal music steam-rolled the audience, proving why the band is a leader of the genre. From the first downbeat of the drum intro for the opening song, “Desolation,” the band cranked out their blend of high-energy blast beats and groove that had every kid in the mosh pits practically killing each other. This was a makeup concert, and in an oddly touching apology, vocalist Randy Blythe, 41, mentioned that he had been a “shit and vomit fountain, and was so fucking sorry for canceling last month.” But, as his grandmother always said, “better late than never.” After kicking off the set with a few songs from their latest

release, Resolution, Lamb of God dove right into the classics “Set To Fail” and “Walk With Me In Hell,” which prompted a lot of call-and-response chorus lines with the audience. Blythe dedicated “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For” to our armed forces, praised the U.S.A. and made mention of how he’s had a rather interesting summer overseas. (Blythe spent 37 days in a Czech Republic jail facing manslaughter charges stemming from a 2010 concert where he allegedly pushed a fan from the stage, causing death by a brain hemorrhage two weeks later. He is facing up to 10 years imprisonment if convicted.) For the encore, Lamb of God kept the energy levels up with their most successful hits, “Redneck” and “Black Label,” providing a nonstop musical assault that leveled the audience and had everyone screaming for more. ★★★★✩ – Jack Hallows

Pentatonix Lamb of God photo by Glenn Brogan; Pentatonix photo by Linda Evans

The Hard Rock Café on the Strip, Dec. 15 The self-proclaimed “choir nerds” and Season 3 winners of NBC’s The Sing-Off are an a cappella group of five vocalists who create their own beats, sounds and harmonies. Using nothing more than their voices, Pentatonix remix and re-create current hits and old favorites. The group smoothly, then passionately performed Florence + the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over” and mashed-up Justin Beiber’s “As Long as You Love Me” with Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake.” The show’s high point happened when Pentatonix invited a young lady named Dorothy to the stage, sat her down in a chair and serenaded her to the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get it On.” They mixed her name into the lyrics while giving her a four-way lap dance, much to

Dorothy’s (and the audience’s) bashful approval. A medley (which included “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, “We Are Young” by Fun. and “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Making Mirrors) kept the audience singing along before the group brought holiday cheer with a moving performance of “Angels We Have Heard on High.” ★★★★✩ – Brjden Crewe

BLUES BOUND: How many times have I said that Social Distortion needs to get a Vegas residency? Not “should get,” not “would be nice if it got”—the venerable SoCal punk band needs one, because they embody what a Strip show should be. They have terrific energy; their live show just flies by. They’ve got sing-along hits (“Story of My Life,” “Prison Bound,” “Bad Luck,” “I Was Wrong,” “Ball and Chain” and many others)—and they give audiences the faithfully executed versions of those hits, the versions everybody knows by heart. And singer Mike Ness talks to the audience (some say too much), telling stories, acknowledging current events and actually indulging in “where you folks from”-style banter. To my mind, that’s what a Vegas residency should be—it should emphasize intimacy over spectacle, with a ticket price you can actually fucking afford. And even if you don’t like the band, you should be able to walk out the doors at the end and say to your spouse without irony, “Honey, that was a heckuva show.” Social D could do that. And while their threenight stand at the House of Blues (Dec. 20-22, tickets $38) isn’t really a residency, at least it’s a step forward. THE DISPARATES: Begin the year with the Psychedelic Furs (pictured) and The Fixx at the Hard Rock Café on the Strip on Jan. 1 ($33)—a double billing that could alternately be called “every song played on KROQ Los Angeles from 1984 to 1987.” The Fixx will open the show with their arsenal of dry synth-pop hits—“Saved by Zero,” “Red Skies,” “One Thing Leads to Another”—and then the Furs come on strong with their arty postpunk (“The Ghost in You,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Love My Way”). It’s actually kind of a weird pairing, actually; back in the day I might never have guessed that these bands would like each other well enough to tour together. Maybe they don’t, really. Maybe the show will end in a fistfight. NOW ON SALE: It almost sounds like a Smiths lyric: “Trudging slowly over wet sand, back to the Cosmopolitan where my November gig was canceled.” Almost. Morrissey makes good on his postponed date at the Chelsea on Feb. 9 ($84).

Music

Take a Lick

For 40 years, roots-rocker Dan Hicks has kept on ticking and guitar-picking

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Jarret Keene

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110

“EnigMas on Thin icE.” That was the title mistletoe. Thwapping stand-up bass. Rolling Stone writer Charles Perry used Scorching fiddle. Skiffle-strumming in his 1973 cover story on the breakup of guitars. seminal San Francisco folk act Dan Hicks “I avoided doing a Christmas album & the Hot Licks. Given that the band— for years,” Hicks says. “But recently the with its refreshing Western-swing/jazz powers that be wondered where my grooves and call-and-response between holiday record was. So I acquiesced.” Hicks and his female backup singers— Turns out Hicks possessed a backlog of was reaching new levels of popularity, yule-log ditties. Having played with the the title seemed fitting. Christmas Jug Band since the mid-’70s After all, what kind of musician and performed holiday sets over the shuts things down the moment his years, he ended up with a formidable profile heats up? repertoire. The musical eggnog isn’t too “The writer asked me to name the spiked, though. The terms “irreverent” article,” says Hicks, 71, during a recent and “dry humor” are often applied to phone chat from his home in the Bay Hicks and the Licks—for good reason. Area. “I threw the enigmas-on-thin“It comes naturally to me,” Hicks ice thing out there as a joke. Officially, says. “When I start creating or coming I was tired of being a band leader.” up with stuff, the humor’s in there. He never regrets breaking up the It’s innate to what I do.” band. He continued to perform live and Humor comes with the territory— make records, and in 2000 Hicks and namely Hicksville, a bizarro version his Licks reunited for Beatin’ the Heat, of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. an album featuring collaborations with Indeed, Hicks has incorporated the Tom Waits and Bette Midler. He’s still mythical province in many of his best known for his classic 1969 songs album titles such as Last Train to Hicks“I Scare Myself” and “Canned Music.” ville and Return to Hicksville. But in the last dozen years, Hicks has “In high school, I noticed the lunchcontinued to earn acclaim for his room straws were made in Hicksville, original music as well as novelty tunes N.Y.,” he says. “Since then, I’ve been to and assorted parodies. Especially on the actual Hicksville a few times and his most recent release, 2010’s Crazy bought everything I could from the for Christmas, of which he’ll town’s sporting-goods stores. play plenty during his Dec. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but also Dan hicks anD ThE 22 set at Historic Fifth Street a state of mind, a way of lookhoT Licks prEsEnT School downtown. The disc ing at things differently.” hoLiDazE in hicksviLLE includes “Santa Gotta Choo With time, Hicks has Choo,” where St. Nick treats learned to solve his own 7 p.m. Dec. 22, himself to a new set of rails, enigma: “I never take anyHistoric Fifth and “Christmas Mornin’,” thing for granted, though. Street School, 401 about how the North Pole I want to please. I want the S. Fourth St., $15 winds down after a long audience to dig it right away ($10 advance), night of gift-giving. It’s all and be glad they came. I’m 229-3515, Artsput to music that makes like, ‘Thank you, Jesus, for LasVegas.org. country, ragtime and pop letting the audience get kiss each other under the what I intended.’”

Music

Hot Pub time macHine

The Jennifer Keith Quintet brings a new mix of old music to the Cosmo’s Chandelier Bar By Danny Axelrod

dressed liKe a pinup girl from a bygone era, Jennifer Keith carries the torch for great American music. The California native and Hollywood legacy (she’s a descendent of B.F. Keith, as in Radio-Keith-Orpheum, a.k.a. RKO Pictures, one of the major studios of cinema’s golden age) has a deep, rich vocal delivery that answers this question: What would Patsy Cline sound like if she had sung jazz? This winter, Keith will perform a series of engagements at the Cosmopolitan with her Jennifer Keith Quintet, featuring Royal Crown Revue co-founder Mando Dorame on saxophone. Unlike typical nostalgia acts, half of Keith’s material consists of original songs written by her and Dorame. (Check out Keith’s sound on her 2011 album Jenny Is Her Name.) Even the covers have a fresh twist.

How do you like the Cosmopolitan? I couldn’t think of a better place than the Cosmopolitan. It’s great because we’re right in the middle of the casino, people are walking by and you can hear us two floors up. Maybe folks hear a song and remember their parents playing a version for them, and then they get drawn in to how we’re doing them a little differently.

Is that where your original songs come in to play? Exactly. We’ve been working on our own The Jennifer KeiTh material for a couple of QuinTeT, aT The years now. We have the chandelier Bar most amazing musicians from Royal Crown The CosmopoliRevue. They’re all tan, 8 p.m. and incredible songwriters. various times, And with our passion Dec. 28-Jan. 1, being the golden age of Jan. 8-13, Feb. American music, our 19-24 and March own material definitely 21-24, free, Cosadds to it. mopolitanLasVegas.com. Who are the songwriters that you admire?

So the Vegas mystique goes along with what you’re doing? We love the old Vegas thing. Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima and Keely Smith— they all had these fantastic lounge acts. That’s what we’re trying to bring back, where people can go get a drink at the bar, sit back in a lounge and be thoroughly entertained.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and the Gershwins.

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What’s unique about your performance style? When a lot of people hear the words “jazz standards,” they tend to think of them as lazy, or boring or just not showy. What we try to do is play these timeless songs, but make them more exciting so a younger audience can also enjoy it.

reading [ Book Jacket ]

in ian Mcewan’s sweet tooth, the byline is better than the book By M. Scott Krause What happens when an accomplished, award-winning author writes a mediocre novel? That’s the conundrum at the center of Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth (Nan A. Talese, $27). On the surface, it’s a novel about espionage, storytelling, and affaires de coeur set in England during the early 1970s, featuring an attractive spy named Serena Frome. In the opening sentence, McEwan tells readers that “Frome” rhymes with “plum” and adds that Sweet Tooth is told from a distance of nearly 40 years. The novel presents itself as Serena’s memoir, but it actually contains semi-autobiographical references to McEwan himself. McEwan’s debut, First Love, Last Rites (1975), won the Somerset Maugham award, and Amsterdam (1998) nabbed the Man Booker Prize—an honor he’s been nominated for six times. Atonement (2001), McEwan’s biggest success, was turned into a popular film. Clearly, the man knows how to tell a story. So why isn’t this book better? Perhaps Sweet Tooth suffers from a heroine problem. Serena is beautiful, but not brilliant. McEwan gives her a math degree, but her true passion is reading, despite her questionable taste. (She declares Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls “was as good as anything Jane Austen ever wrote.”) Serena’s affair with Tony Canning—a married man—leads to a job with MI5, where she’s assigned meaningless tasks. Eventually, she’s handed a project called Sweet Tooth, a plan to financially support writers critical of the Soviet Union. Remember, this is the early 1970s and the Cold War

is still hotly contested. Serena is encouraged to recruit a promising writer named Tom Haley, and their relationship consumes the bulk of the story. Sweet Tooth is more about reading and writing than spying, and the character of Tom is interesting because of his similarities to a young McEwan. McEwan’s mentor, Ian Hamilton, is here, as is his first publisher, and Martin Amis, his literary contemporary. I found Serena’s vivid descriptions of Tom’s work equally interesting. Several stories are told in detail, and it’s no surprise they resemble the grim tales that made McEwan famous. In one, a wealthy eccentric falls in love with a store mannequin; in another, a family must navigate a post-apocalyptic world. Most of Tom’s stories deal with betrayal, deception and failed relationships. None of them would be out of place in McEwan’s own story collection, In Between the Sheets (1978). Despite McEwan’s considerable ability, Sweet Tooth feels routine and pedestrian. At one point, Tom tells Serena, “The end is already there in the beginning. Serena, there is no plot. It’s a meditation.” McEwan has given Sweet Tooth a plot, but I’m afraid it will strike readers as so slight, so lightweight, it may not inspire meditation. ★★✩✩✩ Keep warm with “Book Jacket,” our coolweather reading series by M. Scott Krause.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

[ liBrarian loves ]

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Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. Do we need (or want) another celebrity memoir about substance abuse and subsequent redemption? Surprisingly, Kristen Johnson’s Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster (Gallery Books, $25) provides fresh insights, raw self-exposure and acute comedy. A consummate functioning alcoholic/prescription drug abuser, the television (3rd Rock From the Sun) and stage actor is in denial until her burgeoning habit of two bottles of wine a night accompanied by pills ultimately causes her guts to give way. She nearly dies. Slowly, during her extended stay in a London hospital, she comes to realize what she’s done and what she must do. Brutally honest; exceedingly funny.

A&E

stAge

Vegas Loves Coco

Holly Madison’s replacement brings bigger curves, dance experience and an exhibitionist personality to Peepshow

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Una LaMarche

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CoCo Austin would like to set the record straight about something. And no, it’s not her butt for once. “Listen, I don’t go to the grocery store with a bikini on,” she says in her sweet, breathy chirp of a voice, which has the endearing, little-girl quality of sounding awestruck by every word that tumbles out of her mouth. “I’m not, like, completely naked walking down the Strip!” This revelation may come as a shock to fans flocking to Planet Hollywood to see Austin—better known simply as Coco—headline in Peepshow, where she has been filling Holly Madison’s former Bo Peep corset with her considerable assets since Dec. 3. After all, this is a woman known for posting nearly nude photos at least twice a week (for her delightfully alliterative Titty Tuesdays and Thong Thursdays) on her official Twitter account (@cocosworld), which entertains more than 950,000 followers. Coco’s debut in Jerry Mitchell’s cheeky revue, a soft-core staple of the Strip since 2009, has won raves so far. The gamine Madison may have had Bo Peep’s wide-eyed, Disneyfied babe-in-the-woods act down pat, but she wasn’t able (or, perhaps, willing) to dance a single step, literally wandering around the stage as experienced showgirls showed her up. The buxom, diminutive Coco, by contrast, doesn’t shy from the challenge, and so the show has been changed to suit her talents. She’s been dancing since she was an elementary schooler in Albuquerque, N.M. (a true Renaissance woman, her personal website, CocosWorld.com, describes her as a television personality, glamour/fitness model, actress, dancer, author, fashion designer, entrepreneur, Internet sensation and dog mom—in that order) and has been happily posing nude since the late ’90s. (She’s 33 now, with a strong square jaw, piercing blue eyes, and waterfall of platinum blond hair that calls

to mind a surgically enhanced the guy said, ‘I’m Nicollette Sheridan). homeless, but I just “I’m out there when it comes wanted to see you.’ to showing off my body,” she You know, he said ‘I happily admits. This can work have nowhere to go, in her favor (see aforemenbut I had to come see tioned Twitter following) as well you onstage.’ And I was as against her—Coco was taken like, ‘Oh my God, give to task by husband Ice-T on this guy his money back, Dec. 10 for photos that showed you know? Put some her dancing provocatively with food in his stomach!’” the rapper AP.9. But despite Another fan wrote the trouble they can sometimes her a letter telling her bring, Coco maintains that her that she is “an inspirafans would be disappointed if tion to all women.” her 39DD breasts (which are Coco tracked down the fake, unlike her famously round woman in the lobby rear-end) failed to make an and took more than a appearance in Peepshow. She dozen photos with her. admits to feeling “so nervous” Meanwhile, she’s before her first performance, being treated like a but not because of the nudity, local hero. “Everythe dancing or even making where I go—restauher grand entrance by sliding rants, clubs—they go, upside-down from the rafters, Coco Bo Peep’s in the two stories above the audihouse!” she exclaims. ence. “What I was most nervous It would be easy to asabout was making sume that Coco, my marks,” she says. whose lovably “Because if you miss trashy persona is PeePshow your mark, you might on display every trip another dancer— week in E!’s realPlanet Hollywood or they might trip ity series Ice Loves Showroom, 9:30 you.” She surprised Coco, is just in this p.m. Mon-Tue, even herself by gig for the stunt Thu-Fri and Sun, turning out a perfect casting, since she’s 8 and 10:30 p.m. opening-night only signed on to Sat, $66-$101, performance, for headline the show VIP package is which she received for four months, but $126, 800-745a standing ovation. it’s clear she takes 3000. It meant even more all aspects of the job to Coco because her seriously, not just the entire family (minus eye-popping splits Ice) was in the audience. “I did and kitschy burlesque that disnot mess up, not one time,” she play her figure and flexibility. says proudly. “I don’t want people to Coco says that women and look up onstage and go, ‘Oh, men often come up to her that’s Coco,’ you know?” she on the street wanting to take says. “My character starts out photographs with—and some- as a businesswoman who’s times squeeze—her bodacious unconfident about her body curves, but the fan response and is looking for a man and she’s had in Vegas since her can’t find one. She’s shy at Peepshow debut is overwhelm- the beginning.” If you think ing in a different way. that sounds like a stretch for “People can pay for a meetsomeone who has competed and-greet with me after the in something called the Booty show,” she says. “And this guy Olympics, you’re not the only came up the first night and one. “People ask me, ‘How are looked so shaky I thought he you gonna play the shy part?’” was going to fall over. So I go she muses. “But that’s what actup and say, ‘Are you OK?’ And ing’s all about.”

stage

reflecting on the year that Was, shoWstopper-style

STRIP POSTSCRIPT: On Dec. 11, The Mirage’s Terry Fator appeared on Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show. Fator’s show-ending gig gave off a weird vibe that didn’t flatter him, through no fault of his flawless performance. Despite toting along his metalhead dummy, Dougie, in a bit about marijuana, the ventriloquist routine felt quaint and Ed Sullivan-esque on Ferguson’s postmodern, poke-inthe-eye approach to late-night TV. After all, this is a host who lampoons his onetime use of hard drugs to his gay robot skeleton sidekick. All that was missing when Ferguson joined Fator to wave bye-bye was a Topo Gigio moment: Craig-eee, kiss me gooooodnight! What Strip performer would you like to meet under the mistletoe? E-mail your fantasy smooch partners to Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

look blank-eyed at his Lionel Barrymore impression?” MJ Live! (opened in July at the Rio): “[Michael] Firestone’s sloppy, strangely conceived tribute likely satisfies only those for whom merely a sequinedglove sighting triggers orgasms. iCandy Burlesque (pictured, opened in August at Planet Hollywood): “Triumph of hubba-hubba wholesomeness that honors the erotic arts because it’s infused with as much art as eroticism.” Shades of Temptation (opened in October at New York-New York): “Worthy enough entry in the Strip’s sex-show sweepstakes, even if we could do without an audience moan-along to the recording of an orgasmic woman.” Strip Comedy (opened in November at the Palms): “They engage the crowd in filthy banter when not improvising about spanking, penis exposure, masturbation, sodomy and screwing.” The Phat Pack (opened in December at the Plaza): “They couldn’t put more ya-ain’t-seen-nuttin-yet verve into pleasing audiences if they were all Al Jolson reborn.” Soul2Soul starring Faith Hill and Tim McGraw (opened in December at the Venetian): “Flows smoothly. So does running water. That doesn’t make it interesting to watch.”

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Welcome to shoWstopper: End-ofYear Edition. Or, if you believe the Mayans, Showstopper: End-of-World Edition. Either way, following are review snippets for shows that opened or reopened—and in some cases, quickly closed—in 2012: Evil Dead: The Musical (opened in June at Planet Hollywood): “These actors don’t chew scenery. They gorge on it, swallow it whole and projectilevomit it back at the audience.” Brad Garrett (Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, opened in March at MGM Grand): “He’s an intimidating presence, even unintentionally … mining racial/ethnic stereotypes as America heads toward what demographers term a “majorityminority” nation in which Caucasians will comprise less than half the population. Come that day, the intimidation could be on the other foot.” The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (opened in March at the Plaza): “A production that treats jokes no better than road kill. … It will take more than this Whorehouse to make the Plaza The Best Little Playhouse in Vegas.” Eddie Griffin (residency opened in April at the Rio): “A motherfucking profane preacher.” Big Baby Boomer (opened in April at Palace Station): “Louie Anderson is, after nearly 30 years, evolving from specialty comic—i.e., fat jokes—to generational voice. All it takes is a fatter, aging generation catching up to him.” The Dirty Joke Show (opened in June, closed in July at the Rio): “You deserve a taste of what you’ll get, courtesy of Geechy Guy, who asked what one saggy breast (yes, he used another word) told the other: ‘If we hang around here long enough, people will think we’re nuts.’” Taylor Hicks (residency opened in July at Bally’s): “Musically, Taylor Hicks is enough of a hurricane to show up on Doppler radar.” Surf: The Musical (opened in June, closed in August at Planet Hollywood): “A story with the sturdiness of a Styrofoam cup.” Rich Little’s Jimmy Stewart & Friends (opened in April at LVH): “It feels less Vegas than Smithsonian, comically and culturally. How many under-70-year-olds wouldn’t

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Photo illustration by PB Jacob

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Movies A&E

We Wish You a Merry Movie Follow our guide to avoiding the same old holiday ßlms By Una LaMarche

Emmet Otter’s JugBand Christmas This was Jim Henson’s first full-length movie, which debuted in 1977 as a TV special. It doesn’t feature any recognizable Muppets, and it’s lacking in some of the more sophisticated humor for which Henson later became

These films are like eggnog aT The holiday cockTail parTy—a liTTle risky, buT, TrusT me, They go down smooTh. that Bobcat Goldthwhait is in it, and he is not even a little bit annoying. Santa Claus: The Movie Unlike Scrooged, this odd fish-out-of-water tale of an excommunicated elf (played with apple-cheeked aplomb by Dudley Moore) is an ’80s movie that does not really hold up to critical scrutiny. But that doesn’t make it any less awesome. Part fantasy origin story (David Huddleston—now best known for playing the Big Lebowski in The Big Lebowski—makes a great Santa), part morality play (John Lithgow is only slightly less creepy than Dexter’s Trinity Killer as a corrupt toy magnate), and part shamelessly corny PG comedy (when Moore’s normally chipper character Patch gets down, he’s lacking in “elfconfidence”), Santa Claus: The Movie is undeniably oddball but has enough charm to pull it off.

known, but Emmet Otter is a yuletide gem nonetheless. It’s a retelling of the gift of the magi, about a boy and his widowed mother who compete in a talent show to try to win money to buy each other gifts, and features adorable original songs. Warning: Grinches and Scrooges may find its earnestness cloying. If you like your kid-friendly fare a little more depressing, you should try ... A Charlie Brown Christmas OK, fine, I know: This 1965 classic is not obscure in the least. But it’s the most subversive of all of the popular Christmas movies (technically, it’s only a 22-minute TV cartoon), for the simple fact that if you pay close attention you will notice that every single character—with exception of our titular antihero—is a huge asshole. The Schulz gang puts Tina Fey’s Mean Girls to shame. It’s kind of amazing that America watches this fable of grade-school angst and public humiliation every

December and collectively sighs, Awwwww. But good for Charlie for saying what most of us aren’t willing to admit: The holidays can be rough, existentially speaking. Luckily most kids who watch this don’t know about existentialism yet, or even the truth about Santa’s existence. Die Hard Most people forget that the first installment (1988) of this now-classic action series doubles as an (admittedly kind of dire) Advent tale. In fact, Bruce Willis’ tough NYPD cop John McClane is changing into his most festive reindeer sweater* for a company holiday party when Alan Rickman’s impeccably bearded terrorist, Hans Gruber, takes his estranged wife hostage. (*At least, this is what I like to think he would have worn, had he managed to put something on over his wife-beater.) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Not the best of the Vacation movies (that would be Amy Heckerling’s European Vacation, thankyouverymuch), but a solid entry into the venerable Griswold oeuvre, Christmas Vacation (1989) may be the only holiday movie to feature the electrocution of a cat. But even though it’s full of dysfunctional—and hilarious—slapstick, it’s also quaint in a way, taking us back to a time when Chevy Chase was still kind of a fox, and when Randy Quaid wasn’t running from the law (although, the fact that he was arrested for illegal squatting has harmonious resonance with the film’s multiple outhouse jokes). And that’s what Christmas is all about, isn’t it? Heartwarming memories.

The WorsT ChrisTmas movies on neTflix insTanT Just in case you need an antidote to the season’s rampant good cheer. A ChristmAs too mAny (2007)

Mickey Rooney. Gary Coleman. Marla Maples. And a septugenarian talking about penis size. God bless us, everyone! merry ChristmAs mr. LAwrenCe (1983)

This not-at-all feel-good drama about prisoners of war—including David Bowie!—exploring homoeroticism in ultranationalist Japan is violent and unsettling. Hmmm. Maybe the title isn’t supposed to be literal? hoLidAys in hAndCuffs (2007)

Melissa Joan Hart, desperate for a rebound relationship to show off to her family at Christmas, kidnaps Mario Lopez. (Meh, it’s not like The X-Factor really needs him anyway.) the PAssion of the Christ (2004)

Kind of a downer; no reindeer. – u.L.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Scrooged I am really glad that Richard Donner (of Superman and The Goonies fame) made Scrooged back in 1988 when Wes Anderson was still in college, because I shudder to think what would have happened to my all-time favorite Christmas movie if it had fallen into the wrong hands. I mean, sure, Bill Murray as an Ebenzer Scrooge-like TV exec who gets a wake-up call from ghosts in the forms of Buster Poindexter as an undead cab driver and Carol Kane as a bipolar fairy seems like a home run no matter what, but what makes Scrooged so perfect is

that 1988 Bill Murray wasn’t yet ironic. He was just the guy from Ghostbusters and Caddyshack. And he turns what could have been a lame ’80s Dickens update into a piece of true comic genius that manages to be both biting and sweet, without an ounce of sap. This movie is so magical

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As the lAte Andy Williams sang, It’s the most wonderful time of the year/with much mistletoeing and DVRs glowing ... Wait, those aren’t the lyrics? Well, they should be. Because this month is the only time you can get away with stuffing your eyeballs with Christmas movies: Something about watching characters hang stockings and sing carols just feels wrong in any other season. Unless you literally have nothing else to do (in which case, condolences on your recent unemployment/ paralysis), you won’t have time to watch every one of Tinseltown’s tinsel-themed tidings, so I’ve put together a handy guide to some more underrated flicks. I’m skipping the behemoths such as A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life, because if you pick up your remote, close your eyes, and randomly push a button you have a 95 percent chance of finding one of them on TV right now. These films are like eggnog at the holiday cocktail party—a little risky, but trust me, they go down smooth.

A&E

movies

don’t make this a hobbit

Spreading Tolkien’s slim novel into three ßlms makes for a better bottom line than viewing experience By Michael Phillips

Tribune Media Services

the hobbit , the first of three movies to be yanked out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel of the same name, comes from Mister Middle-earth: Peter Jackson, who thrilled Tolkien fans worldwide with his lavish screen version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s a moderately engaging launch to the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, the homey fellow temperamentally ill-suited to quests involving dragons and goblins and orcs. The manyhands screenplay by Jackson, Guillermo del Toro (originally slated to direct), Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens takes its sweet time getting Bilbo, played with touching vulnerability by Martin Freeman, out of his hobbit hole and on the road. His comrades in the quest are the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and 13 dwarves pining for their ravaged kingdom of Erebor. Jackson’s camera technique remains what it was

throughout the Lord of the Rings movies: a rolling, gliding, tastefully restless observer of both conversations and battles en route to Erebor and the fearsome dragon known as Smaug. Several actors from the Rings trilogy reappear and punch the clock for duty, including Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Ian Holm as Old Bilbo and, most valuably, Andy Serkis as Gollum. This brings us to one of the two scenes lifting The Hobbit out of its own comfortable groove. The famous riddle sequence, pitting Bilbo against the bearer of a very, very important ring, introduces Gollum into the story. In Tolkien’s novel, the scene runs about 30 pages; on-screen it runs a generous but apt and richly developed 10 minutes. For a while, we forget about all the digital amazements and relax into the characters. The other standout is pure showmanship: the slugfest

As Bilbo Baggins, Freeman takes the audience on a very expected journey.

between the storm giants—actual mountain men, made of rock. Unlike other battle scenes in The Hobbit,” this one doesn’t wear out its welcome; it’s brief and to the point. Jackson, shooting digitally, has upped the ante with the most noteworthy and controversial element of The Hobbit. He has photographed the picture in 3-D (no big advance there) but at 48 frames per second as opposed to the standard 24. What does this alleged selling point look like? The Hobbit

in the 48 format resembles an incredibly high-definition simulcast of The Metropolitan Opera Live from Middle-earth. I hate it. It looks like test footage, devoid of warmth and texture, and when backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, sloshing through Howard Shore’s musical score, the mismatch of sound and visuals is remarkable. (If you see The Hobbit, and many of you will, see it in 24.) Extracting three generously proportioned films from

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

short reviews

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Playing for Keeps (PG-13) ★✩✩✩✩

This romantic comedy follows onetime Scottish soccer star George (Gerard Butler), who finds himself down and nearly out. He’s moved to suburban Virginia to be close to his preteen son. George’s ex (Jessica Biel) is engaged to be remarried. But you never know! Maybe she’ll get back with the vaguely unsympathetic protagonist. The women in the film exist to prop up Butler’s fabulousness. Not a lot to like here.

Killing Them Softly (R) ★★★✩✩

This stimulating black comedy from Kiwi director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) is a good one. Brad Pitt stars as hit man Jackie Cogan. The story takes place in 2008, and much of the dialogue in the film concerns the financial difficulties experienced by contract killers. It begins with the robbery of a highstakes poker game, which sets off a flurry of violent events. While much of the story is familiar, it’s a taut, beautifully shot, pungent film that’s worth the time.

Life of Pi (PG) ★★★✩✩

Based on Yann Martel’s beautiful little book about a young man and the sea and a tiger, this film transforms into a big, imposing and often lovely 3-D experience. Ang Lee directs and while not all of it works, there is a lot to admire. Pi sets sail with his family on a freighter, accompanying a slew of zoo creatures. Terrible weather. The ship sinks. All die except for Pi, a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. The adventures and astonishments keep on coming.

Tolkien’s books made sense. But turning the relatively slim 1937 volume The Hobbit into a trilogy, peddling seven or eight hours of cine-mythology, suggests a better deal for the producers than for audiences. When, in Jackson’s film, someone describes a character’s “love of gold” as having become “too fierce,” you wonder if the warning might apply to The Hobbit in other ways. Part two arrives in a year. The Hobbit (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

[ by tribune media services ]

Red Dawn (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

In the not-too-distant future, North Korea has invaded American soil. Our only hope is a gaggle of high school kids who form a guerilla army calling itself the Wolverines, after the local football mascot. Chris Hemsworth takes on the old Patrick Swayze role, and there’s enough to like about him and the general reworkings of the 1984 cult-classic. There’s plenty of righteous kills, explosions, patriotic speeches and righteous kills. It’s not a disaster. Just drab.

movies

This is the worst animated movie to ever wear the DreamWorks logo. Based on a children’s book series, it’s about a team that includes Bunny (Easter variety, voiced by Hugh Jackman), North (a.k.a. Santa, Alec Baldwin), Tooth (Fairy, Isla Fisher) and the silent Sandman. They need the help of newcomer Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to defeat Pitch, short for Pitch Black, the night-terror voiced by Jude Law threatening to rid the children of the world of the belief in magical figures. It’s harmless enough, but not good.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (PG-13) ★✩✩✩✩

Anna Karenina (R) ★★★✩✩

This heavily theatrical take on the old Russian classic is only a half-success. Directed by Joe Wright, it’s mostly staged inside a lavishly constructed playhouse, except when it’s not. And we watch the drama unfold between Anna (Keira Knightley), her pill of a husband (Jude Law) and her cavalry officer lover (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Its well-written script leaps between high comedy and piercing drama, and the film has its moments, but it’s a bit too frantic at times.

Lincoln (PG-13) ★★★★✩

Please let this be the last. The final installment of the Twilight franchise, hopefully, is strictly for the fans. Newly vampired Bella (Kristen Stewart) is adjusting to her new powers, new life, new child and the uneasy truce with the werewolves led by Jacob (Taylor Lautner). There’s some Edward (Robert Pattinson) of course, and a bright-spot turn by Michael Sheen as Aro, head of the undead Volturi, but largely this comes off as a particularly smug fashion shoot.

Steven Spielberg returns with this impressive biopic about our 16th president, complete in almost every way. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, the film focuses tightly on the final four months of Lincoln’s life and his political maneuvering in support of the 13th Amendment’s abolition of slavery. It’s a fascinating backroom movie, hushed and intimate. Daniel Day-Lewis is magnificently human as Lincoln, and the supporting cast almost as impressive. It is a fascinating and careful examination of an incredible figure and time.

Skyfall (PG-13) ★★★★✩

Flight (R) ★★★★✩

Bond is back for his 23rd installment, and this is more like it. Daniel Craig returns as 007, charged with rescuing the world from a computer savvy adversary (Javier Bardem), perhaps the most memorable Bond villain in a decade. Sam Mendes directs stunning action sequences, and the return of Dame Judi Dench and various other recastings works well. While Quantum of Solace largely failed, this installment returns Bond to its rightful, highly entertaining place, while also exploring new territory.

Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is a pilot who, after a night of drinking and snorting cocaine, crash-lands a routine flight to Atlanta, rescuing most of his passengers and crew. An instant hero, Whitaker knows that other people know what was in his system, and the dynamic dance plays out from there. It’s sophisticated storytelling, with the audience unsure of how to feel about such a conflicted protagonist, but Washington is marvelous, as usual, and it’s a highly entertaining flight.

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

★✩✩✩✩

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Rise of the Guardians (PG)

Harman, Montoya, Fuchs, Hanley and Jacobs.

The Unreal hoUsewives of Clark CoUnTy

Sin City Rules is faker than fake, which might make it the purest form of ‘reality’ entertainment

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Una LaMarche

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IT was only a matter of time until Vegas got its own Housewives show—and just like the Eiffel Tower at the Paris, it’s a knockoff. TLC’s shameless new reality series Sin City Rules does nothing but perpetuate Las Vegas’ image as grotesque playground for tactless wannabes whose motives are faker than their breasts. But damn if it isn’t fun to watch. (Full disclosure: I say this as a native New Yorker who only knows Vegas by the aforementioned stereotype.) The tried-and-true vapid catfight recipe of Bravo’s esteemed franchise remains the same: A cast of five entitled women with lots of disposable income (and even more free time to meet for long, boozy lunches despite their much-discussed careers) is thrown together under the guise of friendship. They attend gaudy charity functions and throw parties for the sole purpose of ostracizing each other and/or wearing elaborate costumes. Much like on Survivor, alliances form and shift, until, ideally, everyone has been in a heated feud and/or physical altercation with everyone else. Rinse (preferably with a nice pinot gris) and repeat. Bravo has purportedly scouted Las Vegas multiple times for Real Housewives but couldn’t cast a show. But the TLC producers have found an amazing quintet of fickle freaks. The breakout star and most obvious sociopath is Lana Fuchs, who looks like Maya

Rudolph doing an SNL impersonation of some amalgam of Cher and Donatella Versace, and who is prone to declaring herself to be God. Lana runs Billionaire Mafia, a company that sells overpriced graffiti-adorned T-shirts, among other questionable enterprises. She owns 37 guns, eats raw bacon, employs a “Lantourage” of dwarves, and is generally Fuching crazy. Next craziest is probably Amy Hanley, the daughter of the late Mafia hitman Tom Hanley, who equates being offensively blunt with being “real” and who never met a bustier she didn’t like. Alicia Jacobs, a former KSNV Channel 3 entertainment reporter, who considers antiquing with Louie Anderson to constitute being “friends” with “celebrities,” is the outcast of the group, owing to whispered allegations that she enjoys affairs with married men. Rounding out the circus are the token sane people: Lori Montoya, the founder of Rain cosmetics, who has a sweet, Jennifer Coolidge-y vibe about her; and pro poker player Jennifer Harman, who barely fits in with the rest of the cast, mainly because the muscles in her face can still move. Bottom line: if you like watching Botoxed bitches brawl, you could not find a better show. But you’ll have to take a shower afterward. Sin City Rules on TLC at 10 p.m. Sundays.

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LSU Heads List of Bowl-Season Moneymakers

Unlike Nevada, look for Tigers to ßnish the job against Clemson in Chick-ßl-A Bowl

VEGAS SEVEN

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A thousand thanks to you and your Nevada football team for that epic collapse against Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl, giving up two touchdowns with less than a minute to play to turn a 48-35 lead into a stunning 49-48 loss. Thanks not because it got me paid (I had the Wolf Pack plus-9, a never-in-doubt winner from the word “go”). And not because I get a kick out of seeing UNR and its smug fans suffer (although I most certainly do). No, Coach Ault, by captaining a team that kicked off the bowl season by blowing leads of 21-0 and 45-28—a team that lost despite amassing 659 yards of total offense (including 403 rushing yards)—you ensured that I won’t go down as the biggest choke artist of this bowl season. At least I sure as hell hope so. In fact, fresh off a profitable college football regular season, I enter the postseason with so much confidence that I’ve entered William Hill’s 20/20 College Bowl Challenge, in which contestants pick any 20 of the 35 bowl games against the spread. The prize pool is $10,000, with a perfect 20-for20 netting a $50,000 bonus. You can track my journey to $60,000—as well as that of several other Vegas Seven staffers—at VegasSeven.com/BowlContest. Now on to my best bets for bowl games through Jan. 2 (all odds are as of Dec. 17) … $550 on LSU -4 vs. Clemson (Dec. 31): Quality of regularseason competition, conference affiliation, momentum, coaching defections, crowd support, travel, mascots—there are plenty of intangibles to consider when it comes to handicapping bowl games. To me, though, the most important has always been motivation. And of the 70 teams that qualified for this year’s postseason—by the way, that’s more than half the schools in Division I-A; somewhere, Bear Bryant just rolled over in

his grave—none will be more motivated than Clemson. Why? Because the Tigers were on the wrong end of the most humiliating defeat of last bowl season, jumping out to a 7-0 lead against West Virginia en route to a 70-33 loss. Unfortunately for Clemson, motivation is the only edge it has against LSU in the Chickfil-A Bowl. Oh, sure, both teams are 10-2, but LSU played an SEC schedule, with its only losses being by a combined 12 points against Florida and Alabama (ranked second and third, respectively, in the BCS standings). As usual, LSU’s defense led the way, giving up 22 points or fewer 11 times, with six opponents scoring 14 or less. And while Clemson put up points in bunches, its three lowest-scoring games were against its three toughest opponents (26 against dreadful Auburn, 37 at Florida State and 17 vs. South Carolina—the latter two being double-digit losses). By the way, Clemson’s defense allowed at least 27 points in half of its games. By the way, Part 2: In the schools’ last seven bowls, Clemson is 1-6 ATS, while LSU is 5-2 ATS. $330 on Duke +7½ vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 27): If this was a college basketball matchup, playing Duke as a big underdog would be a no-brainer. In college football, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. After all, the Blue Devils enter the Belk Bowl—that’s right, I said the Belk Bowl—on a four-game straight-up and ATS losing skid (outscored by a combined 102 points), while Cincinnati has won four of five, covered in five of six and held its last four foes to 10, 10, 10 and 17 points. Ah, but here’s where that motivation angle comes into play. Duke this year ended a string of 17 consecutive losing seasons, reached its first bowl since 1994 and gave coach David Cutcliffe a contract extension through 2018. Conversely, Cincinnati

LSU’s stingy defense is led by end Barkevious Mingo.

head coach Butch Jones just bolted for Tennessee and took five of his assistant coaches with him. One of those assistants, defensive line coach Steve Stripling, will stay behind and guide the Bearcats against the Blue Devils. Another reason to grab the generous points: Duke’s offense is led by third-year starting QB Sean Renfree, who had a career-high 18 TD passes and a career-low eight interceptions. Translation: The backdoor will be wide open for a cover (although I doubt I’ll need it). $220 on Purdue-Oklahoma State OVER 70 (Jan. 1): In recent decades, the phrase “offensively explosive” has been used to describe Big Ten football about as often as “hysterically funny” has been used to describe a Steven Spielberg film. And yet Purdue made its Big Ten opponents look like Oregon, giving up 29 points or more in six of eight conference games. In fact, the Boilermakers’ first three opponents—Eastern Kentucky, Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan, all offensively inept—combined for just 42 points, while their last nine averaged 34 points per game. Now, in something called the Heart of Dallas Bowl, Purdue runs up against Oklahoma State, which only averages 44.7 points and nearly 550 yards per game. The problem with the Cowboys? They don’t play much defense, especially away from home, where they surrender nearly 42 points and more

bankroll: $1,939 Last week: 5-5 (-$25) NFL seasoN: 45-41-1 (-$2,945) CoLLege FootbaLL seasoN: 48-35 (+$1,118) In February 2010, we gave Matt “$7,000” to wager. When he loses it all, we’re going to replace him with a monkey.

than 520 yards per contest. $110 on Northwestern +2½ vs. Mississippi State (Jan. 1): How can I take less than a field goal with a Big Ten team against an SEC opponent? Especially when that Big Ten team enters the Gator Bowl having lost nine straight bowl games (last postseason victory: 1948)? Because Northwestern is simply the superior squad (even on the offensive and defensive lines). Because I couldn’t be less impressed by Mississippi State (the Bulldogs lost four of their last five SU and ATS, and their “signature” wins were at home against Tennessee and Arkansas, neither of which qualified for a bowl). And because all Northwestern did this year was cover point spreads (11-1 ATS). On the motivation front, do you think the Wildcats—and in

particular coach Pat Fitzgerald, a former star linebacker at Northwestern—might be a bit inspired to end a 64-year bowl drought? $110 on Vanderbilt -6½ vs. North Carolina State (Dec. 31): I admit that Vanderbilt’s seasonending six-game winning streak was about as sexy as Betty White in a wet T-shirt contest (just one victory against a bowl-eligible team, 27-26 at Ole Miss). I also realize that was the Commodores’ only win against a bowl opponent (losing to Florida, Georgia, Northwestern and South Carolina, covering just once). But Vandy is on a 5-0 ATS roll, going 4-0 as a favorite (winning those four by 42, 40, 23 and 34 points). As for N.C. State, its 7-5 record was so fraudulent that coach Tom O’Brien has been canned. The Commodores have the talent edge across the board, and they get to play in their backyard, as the Music City Bowl is in Nashville, Tenn. BEST OF THE REST: Dec. 22: Washington-Boise State UNDER 46 ($66); Washington +5 vs. Boise State ($55). Dec. 24: Fresno State -12½ vs. SMU ($44). Dec. 27: Baylor-UCLA OVER 79½ ($55). Dec. 28: Virginia Tech -2½ vs. Rutgers ($33). Dec. 29: Syracuse +4 vs. West Virginia ($55); Texas +2 vs. Oregon State ($44); Navy +14½ vs. Arizona State ($33). Dec. 31: Georgia Tech +10 vs. USC ($44). Jan. 1: Nebraska +10 vs. Georgia ($77); Wisconsin-Stanford UNDER 47½ ($66). Jan. 2: Florida -14 vs. Louisville ($55).

Photo courtesy of LSU Sports Information

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

Dear Chris ault,

7 questions

several years of agony down the road. I’d say to him right out of the gate, “I understand why you didn’t want to tell the whole story. But now that it’s been obvious that you’ve been caught, just come clean now, and four or five years from now, people will forgive you. Why wait?”

J.T. the Brick

The sports-talk host on life as a stockbroker, his exasperation with the BCS and why Lance Armstrong should come clean now

Dec. 20, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013

By Matt Jacob

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➧ It’s fIve mInutes into his drive-time “Power Hour” show on KBAD 920-AM, and already J.T. the Brick is sparring with his co-host about the topic du jour: Should San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Alex Smith have lost his job to second-year backup Colin Kaepernick? First J.T. raises his voice in defense of Smith. Then he rises out of his chair and becomes even more animated, as if listeners driving around town can actually see him. It’s this kind of energy and passion that helped the New York native morph from John Tournour, the full-time Merrill Lynch stockbroker and part-time radio caller, to J.T. the Brick, the popular local and national radio host (his weeknight Fox Sports Radio show can also be heard on KBAD from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.). The career shift occurred shortly after Tournour, 47, won a call-in contest on Jim Rome’s radio show in 1995, and by Memorial Day 1996, he had his first full-time gig with the Las Vegas-based (and now-defunct) Sports Fan Radio Network. “I got into this business kind of being lucky,” Tournour says. “And I’ve completely enjoyed the ride!” What possessed you to call into a sports-radio show? It was all aggravation—I was always calling when I was pissed off or venting. And that’s kind of the way I run my radio show now. I think a good sports-talk show has an element of sports fans who are upset and angry—they don’t like the owner, they don’t like

the general manager, they don’t like the quarterback. So it was calling out of frustration and wanting to get something off my chest. Are there any parallels between your old job and your current one? Yeah, the phone. My whole life has been based on the

phone. Taking phone calls now—on the national show I do at night, I take a lot of calls—and back then [as a broker] it was all about how many calls you could make. And being fearless on the phone. That’s why I had an advantage as a caller when I started off, because I wasn’t afraid of the phone. Did you enjoy being a stockbroker? I did. It was an adrenaline rush. I treated it like a numbers game. It was just about, “Make 300 cold calls a day, every day, for five days, and try to qualify those prospects and open 20 new accounts a month.” It was such a ruthless business that if you didn’t really go balls-out hard, and if you weren’t comfortable on the phone, you had no chance to make it. I don’t know how anybody would do it today, unless you have a rich family or someone who’s going to start you off by giving you accounts. Is there one issue in sports right now that’s got you particularly fired up? Yeah, the BCS. The system that they currently have in college football is terrible. It’s a popularity contest. I’ve been talking about a six-team playoff for a decade, where the No. 1 and 2 seeds would have a bye, while No. 3 would play No. 6 and No. 4 would play No. 5, then

you shuffle the deck again. That system would work the best, because the only team that gets screwed in a six-team playoff is [the team ranked] No. 7, whereas [this year] you could debate that there are three or four one-loss teams that might be the best. The other thing is performance-enhancing drugs. That’s the biggest change that’s come into the business since I started in 1996, that now you have to expect that everybody is cheating. … Not only are players trying to cheat to gain an advantage to win, but they’re doing it to make more money—the difference between a $20 million contract and a $100 million contract is life-altering. And it frustrates me because fans want us to [stop talking] about that, but it’s never been more important. It’s not fair to go to a professional game not knowing who has an advantage because of PEDs. Who’s at the top of your mustinterview list, and what’s the very first question you’d ask? Right now, it would be Lance Armstrong. And I’d ask him why he doesn’t tell the truth and come clean and start the forgiveness train and save

You recently signed a book deal, and it’s due out next summer. What’s it about? It’s an inspirational memoir titled The Handoff about my relationship with my [former] boss, my mentor, who worked at Fox [Sports Radio]. The guy was guiding me in my career the whole way, and we got to a point in our working relationship where we had a falling out, then he got diagnosed with cancer, and he came back to me and said, “I need your help.” Along the way, we never talked about our problem—and that’s the book, in a nutshell. The book is, if you haven’t talked to your cousin in 10 years, but he calls you and says, “I have terminal cancer,” you’re not going to say, “OK, let’s first talk about what happened.” The book is about forgiveness, faith, help, mentorship—it’s a very bold, Tuesdays With Morrie type of book, with a sports [angle]. But it’s not a sports-talk radio book. I’ve been in the process of writing it for the last three or four months with a co-author, and it’s probably going to be the most important project I’ve ever embarked on.

What’s J.T. the Brick’s prediction for the Notre DameAlabama national championship game? Find out at VegasSeven.com/JTTheBrick.

Photo by Anthony Mair

What’s the best stock to buy right now? I’ve been on that Apple train for a while, and I’ve definitely had to pull back. I buy conservative, blue-chip stocks when they get hit 20 percent or lower. I like to go in and buy stable stocks when there’s a pullback in the market. And over the next four years, with this fiscal cliff … I think the market’s going to be very volatile, and if you’re going to come in and buy speculative stocks, you might get your head lopped off. In Vegas, it’s a great time to buy good real estate that’s depressed, and with low interest rates, there are great opportunities there. But on the stock front, I’d be very cautious.