EVENT
A ROCKIN’ GOOD TIME
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[ UPCOMING ]
March 8 City of Henderson’s 11th annual Bark in the Park (CityofHenderson.com) March 13 Viva Max benefit at Tacos & Tequila (Facebook.com/ChefsToTheMax)
PHOTOS BY DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE
March 6–12, 2014
The Keep Memory Alive Event Center at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health was filled with fine food, rocking music and much love for celebrity chef Kerry Simon (pictured right) during the Kerry Simon Says Fight MSA benefit on Feb. 27. Among the 450 guests who paid tribute to Simon—who is battling Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a rapidly progressing neurological disease for which there is no cure—was actor and childhood friend Bill Murray, who emceed the evening. Rock stars such as Alice Cooper, Slash, Sammy Hagar and Vince Neil provided the soundtrack for the evening, while chefs such as Kim Canteenwalla, Michael Mina and Rick Moonen served up the eats. Also, Mayor Carolyn Goodman and husband Oscar were on hand to declare Feb. 27 “Kerry Simon Day” in Las Vegas. In all, the benefit raised nearly $525,000 to expand Simon’s MSA program at the Ruvo Center.
Bill Engvall March 7
9 P M // T R E A S U R E I S L A N D T H E A T R E // T I C K E T S 8 9 4 . 7 7 2 2
THE LATEST
@edsbs I might let Bill Murray shoot me in the leg for free.
@RefriedBrean Just skipped two stories about the Ukrainian crisis to read a Yelp review of pizza Ellen ordered at the Oscars. Cold War over; pizza wins.
@SethMacFarlane Only in Los Angeles do I encounter people who say “Ugh, this rain” after a lengthy, severe, crippling drought.
@AndyRichter Old friends in high places: Bill Murray at the Kerry Simon benefit.
Big Bill, Big Money and Pawn’s Next Move
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No matter how many retweets it got, the high point of Oscar night March 2 wasn’t Ellen DeGeneres’ Selfe Heard ’Round the World. It was Bill Murray stone-cold hijacking the Best Cinematography award to shout out Harold Ramis. But before he was effortlessly gracious to one old friend, he did it for another February 27 at the Keep Memory Alive Event Center for the Kerry Simon Says Fight MSA beneft. This is because Bill Murray is the best. The event raised nearly $525,000 to help fght Multiple System Atrophy, the disease from which Simon is suffering. That sum included $152,000 from a live auction alone. The other roughly $375,000 worth of star power came from the slew of chefs and musicians who came out to pay tribute, with chefs such as Wylie DuFrense and Charlie Palmer leading the back-of-thehouse charge. Onstage, Alice Cooper, Slash, Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, Todd Rundgren and Lisa Loeb ran through “I Can’t Drive 55,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and
the big closer, “With a Little Help From My Friends” that saw all the rockers banging it out while Loeb and Murray shared a microphone to do backing vocals. Because if Murray isn’t going to do Ghostbusters 3, he can at least do 20 Feet From Stardom 2. Of course, amid all that, Murray was up there telling stories about working as a teenager with Simon at a Little Caesars, in what has to be the most talent-laden pizza shack in the history of the universe (unless, we don’t know, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were funding their painting habit by slinging pies in Florence). He also called Simon “Berry” to get a rise out of the crowd and announced at the end of the show that it was Simon’s birthday. Which isn’t until June. That didn’t stop the sing-along, though, because, as we might have mentioned, Bill Murray is the best. Speaking of the Oscars, that swag bag worth $85,000 that the losers took home? There was $9,000 worth of Vegas goodies in there, including among other things a stay at the Riviera; tickets to Terry Fator, Blue Man Group and George Wallace; dinners at Honey Salt and Buddy V’s; and a VIP tour of Gold and Silver Pawn. Leonardo
@JasonBracelin The only thing shorter than the dresses at a Miley Cyrus gig: the beer lines. The bartenders have the sad look of a stray at the pound.
@TheTweetOfGod DiCaprio can mull over Matthew McConaughey’s life advice about picking heroes while he’s hanging with Rick Harrison. Harrison & Co.’s comedy-bio-play, Pawn Shop Live!, is packing up from Downtown and heading to the Strip. The song-and-dance-and-puppets parody of the Pawn Stars crew from Theatre7/Atomic Liquors owner Derek Stonebarger and writer Troy Heard was originally slated for a six-month run at the Golden Nugget beginning in January. But it will slide into its new home at the Riviera’s Starlite Theatre on April 21 with daily 4:30 p.m. performances. Ticket prices haven’t yet been announced, but we’re pretty sure Sheldon Adelson will be able to afford seats. Unless the tickets are $38,000,000,001, in which case Adelson’s debit card might be declined. But Forbes put out its 28th annual list of the world’s billionaires (also known as the “high society jewel thief’s bible”), and Adelson came in at No. 8 with $38 billion in his pocket, behind the Koch brothers but ahead of all the individual members of the Walton clan. It at least kind of feels like a victory if you’ve recently spent a Saturday afternoon at Walmart.
Please retweet this tweet telling you not to retweet Ellen’s tweet.
@MileyCyrus I wasn’t wiping off your kiss, pretty girl, just your dark lipstick that was all over my face. Thanks for coming to the show mystery babe x.
@MattMira I would pay 500 dollars to hear John Travolta pronounce Chiwetel Ejiofor.
@morgan_murphy Of course Jared Leto was great as a man trying to look like a woman. He looks like a woman trying to look like a man.
@mollyesque Harry Reid saying Republicans are “addicted to Koch” is much more entertaining if you don’t know how to pronounce it.
Share your Tweet! Add #V7.
PHOTO BY DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE
March 6–12, 2014
By Jason Scavone
I think even w/o their amazing content many reality shows would exist b/c Vegas industrial park parking lots are too cinematic to go unseen.
Join us to celebrate, recog ni ze, and toas t to the be s t in L as Vegas adver t isin g and marke t in g.
FREMONT CO U N TRY CLU B M A RCH 8 , 2 0 1 4 O pen B ar Cock ta il H our 6:30- 7 :30 Addy Aw ards S ho w B egins a t 7 :30
All at tendee s receive complimentar y admission to our O f f ic ial Af ter par t y at: s pe c ial thank s to all of our e vent s p onsor s:
March 6–12, 2014
The fighter: Clay Heximer in luchador finery, with wife, Denise, and dog, Dim Sum.
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And it doesn’t hurt that he’s loved the look of Paradise Palms’ mid-mod homes since he was a kid. “There was no such [label] as ‘midcentury modern’ back then, but I looked at the houses and I knew they were neat,” he says. “I just knew they were cool lookin’.” So the Heximers moved into their cool-lookin’ home … and discovered that their neighborhood had no neighborhood watch, or any other kind of organization to protect its interests. “We were familiar with the Flamingo Club,” says Heximer, referring to the architectural appreciation group and roving cocktail party that brings residents of the Huntridge and John S. Park neighborhoods together once a month. “I’d assumed that someone would be doing something there to preserve Paradise Palms’ historical value, but no one was.” Heximer soon founded an organization dedicated to protecting and boosting Paradise Palms. Four years on, the effects are readily evident: The Paradise Palms website recently received its 100,000th visitor, and Heximer regularly receives emails and calls from people interested in buying homes in the neighborhood—not to sit on, not to tear down and rebuild, but to have and to hold. Shortly after Heximer began cheerleading Paradise Palms’ way out of the recession, the residents of the neighborhood began calling him “The May-
or,” and calling Denise “The First Lady.” He’s accepted the title … but under protest. “Oh, it irks him to hear that nickname,” says Dan Stafford, a thirdgeneration Paradise Palms resident who lives in the home his family has owned since 1963. “He doesn’t want to be the face of this neighborhood. He just wants this thing to grow.”
T H E COM P O S IT IO N O F C LAY eximer isn’t much interested in talking about his childhood. He’ll tell you that he moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles when he was about 12 years old. He grew up with his great-grandmother; his mother “has a huge drug problem” and was prone to disappearing for long stretches. He tells the story haltingly then shrugs, sighs. “Basically, a mess brought me here.” He will, however, happily tell you where he is now. He’s in a wonderful marriage; scarcely a minute goes by where he doesn’t acknowledge how much he loves his wife. He’s an original member of Las Vegas’ punk scene; as the drummer for the Mapes, one of Las Vegas’ marquee punk bands, he’s helped to bring you such enduring classics as “Baby Ate My Dingo” and “Mouf.” Rob Ruckus,
the bassist for infamous local punk band The Vermin, co-star of A&E’s hit show Bad Ink and a matchless arbiter of musical tastes, says that the Mapes are the real deal: “I consider the Mapes to be the bastard lil’ brothers of The Vermin.” All that being said, when you speak to Heximer, you wouldn’t suspect he’s the guy in the luchador mask, playing drums for the potty-mouth band. His face is boyish, and his manner soft-spoken. He’s passionate for the aesthetic of Las Vegas’ golden age, enough to have spent two years volunteering at the Neon Museum and even more years photographing the motels and signage of vintage Vegas (long before the nonproft group Vegas Vernacular began documenting that Lost Vegas for posterity). Heximer has amassed a collection of gorgeous historical shots that he could publish as a book tomorrow if he felt like it. (You can see some of them on his Flickr account: Flickr.com/Photos/H-E-X.) There’s just something so Vegas about the guy, full stop. He’s a sharp dresser; he drives a beautiful 1960 Ford Thunderbird; and he works for a Vegas dynasty, waiting tables at Oscar’s Steakhouse at The Plaza. He’s also begun taking advantage of having the lush Las Vegas National Golf Club practically in his backyard: The Club, enamored of Heximer, has taken to hosting monthly socials for residents … and is giving him free golf lessons.
“I’m really horrible at golf, but it’s free, so why not?” Heximer says. “It’s a sport you do [while] drinking, so I’m not against it.”
B EI N G THE MAYOR nce they moved to Paradise Palms, the Heximers fgured the frst step was setting up a neighborhood watch program. They asked a police offcer who lived in the neighborhood to help them acquire the signs and literature and to set up monthly meetings. It was the latter necessity that gave Heximer an idea: Could these monthly meetings be more like cocktail parties? To his surprise, the cop said yes. “He said that the point of neighborhood watch is to build your community and know your neighbors, because [if] you know your neighbor, you want to watch out for them,” Heximer says. “If you just park in your garage, close the garage door and walk into your house, you don’t know your neighbors, and you don’t really give a shit about them. I know 150 people in this neighborhood on a frst-name basis.” “Clay is the catalyst; he’s the glue,” Stafford says. “Neighbors know their neighbors now. If you go on vacation, fve people watch your house … and
NIGHTLIFE
The secrets to the DJ longevity of Warren Peace By Bree DeLano
March 6–12, 2014
Don’t Call It a Comeback
BY DAY, WARREN WHITE runs three businesses, is a proud husband of 16 years and father of three. But by night, as DJ Warren Peace, he shares the stage with the likes of Deadmau5, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Calvin Harris and Steve Aoki. Peace has been the driving force behind the “Vegas sound” since 1988, beginning with his awardwinning UNLV college radio show “Word Up.” A decade and a half later, in 2008, Peace created the music format for XS, one of the most successful nightclubs in the world. A self-proclaimed tech nerd, Peace beta-tested a once little-known program called Serato Scratch Live before he introduced DJs such as AM and Vice to the gamechanging software. ¶ Fresh off of his third DJ tour in Asia, Peace refects on his accomplishments, his passion for technology and still loving his job after all these years. (Just don’t mistake his confdence for arrogance—he’s earned every stripe.)
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PHOTOS BY JON ESTRADA
Your city after dark, behind the lens with a DJ photographer and Jeff Retro gets the party started right
And you did reinvent yourself to become one of the most revered house DJs in Las Vegas. How did you do it? Yeah, frst hip-hop, then mashups being part of a production crew called the The InHumanz, now house. But I love music—period. So I had to fgure out my next move. While at Poly Esther’s I was given the chance to create one of the frst house-music radio shows before electronic dance music hit Vegas. So I called Dave [Fogg], and we went to work. It was called “Vibrate” on KLUC. We started with cool electro remixes of pop songs as our anchor, and then would drift into playing sounds that I was discovering listening to a lot of BBC Radio. I had gone to Wet Republic, heard Bad Boy Bill’s DJ set and it really defned the aggressive sound that I liked. Mashups were dead, hiphop was changing and I was really into this sound we were programming for “Vibrate.” Dave got me an audition at Tryst, so I took a chance introducing this new sound and it worked. Which ultimately led to us creating the music format together for XS.
"MUSIC IS CHANGING AT A RAPID PACE; I’VE NEVER SEEN MUSIC MOVE THIS FAST." – Warren Peace Your DJ setup looks like the cockpit of a spaceship. You were one of the frst DJs I ever saw use technology when I was once your co-pilot. [Laughing.] My set up is crazy, I know, but I like to be at the forefront of technology. I was a beta-tester for Serato, the frst on the
West Coast to have it. I’ve always been passionate about using technology to further my craft. If you don’t take advantage of what’s out there you’re missing out on so much to add to your DJ sets. The sound that you created at XS is now called the “XS Format” in certain circles.
Where will you go from here? I call it “progressive openformat sound,” that big-room XS feel, with various genres mixed in throughout the night. Music is changing at a rapid pace; I’ve never seen music move this fast. Signature sounds are copied almost immediately, subgenres become fads
almost overnight, but I love the challenge. I love what I do. You have to stay with it at the speed of light. Relevancy is key. You gotta take chances, or you will undoubtedly have a lifespan as well. Give Warren Peace a chance March 15 with Avicii and March 17 with Tommy Trash at XS.
PHOTO BY DANNY MAHONEY
NIGHTLIFE March 6–12, 2014 VEGAS SEVEN
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Ra in Luxor was a groundbreaking nightclub in Las Vegas as well as your frst major gig. What contributed to your success there? I had access to records no one else did. We had Dave Fogg—who knew all of the obscure records and was heavy into rock and the mashup scene before anyone even knew what that was—and Mr. Bob [currently of KVEG 97.5FM] was a star and presence. I’d hook up Bob to his own mixer and monitor so he could see what I was playing and could cut the music out whenever he wanted to hype up the crowd. People loved it. Nobody was doing anything close to that. After Ra closed in 2005, the explosion of southern rap was taking over. Everyone was into it, image became the priority, other nightclubs were opening, and the reality was, no one wanted a black DJ playing hip-hop. I couldn’t catch a gig at all; aside from KLUC 98.5-FM, I was out of work for almost a year. I fnally took a job playing ’80s music at Poly Esther’s at the Stratosphere— humbling. I learned a lot. I knew I had to reinvent myself and prove to everyone that I wasn’t just a hip-hop DJ.
By
NIGHTLIFE
Camille Cannon
Legends of Summer tour, set the soundtrack. (At Encore, 11 a.m., EncoreBeachClub.com.) Adding to all of the new excitement on the Strip, Brooklyn Bowl welcomes the frst customers to its bar, bowling lanes and concert pit today. Doors open at noon, but the party really starts at 9 p.m., when funk trio Soulive inaugurates the stage. (At the Linq, Vegas. BrooklynBowl.com.)
SUN 9 There’s an obvious reason to love DJ Green Lantern: He’s named after the best DC Comics character, and thankfully, James D’Agostino has racked up plenty of cred to support the epic moniker. The New York native and radio personality produced tracks for the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack (a.k.a Now That’s What I Call Turn Up Music). The pulsing synth and rumbling drums on his recent remix of “Know About Me,” with producer Valentino Khan and rapper Iggy Azalea is just the kind of musical IV you need on a Sunday night at XS. Anytime, really—we’re playing it on repeat right now. (In Encore, 10:30 p.m., XSLasVegas.com.)
MON 10 Let’s pretend that you go to Crazy Horse III to look at something other than the ladies, mmkay? The gentleman’s club has recently introduced a sports bar with new seating and 12 TV screens. Now’s the time to claim your
March 6–12, 2014
Frank Rempe plays under the dome.
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THU 6
FRI 7
Is that the familiar sound of two dudes in bro tanks highfving one another? Yep, must be bikini season again! That’s good reason for all to visit Stoney’s Rockin Country on Ladies Night. In addition to co-ed dance lessons and $1 drinks for females, the regular Thursday promotion offers swimwear giveaways to the frst 10 cowgirls who sign up for a bikini bull ride—ftting, because the frst round of dayclubs opens this weekend. (In Town Square, 7:30 p.m., StoneysRockinCountry.com.)
Speaking of swimwear Marquee Dayclub debuts today. Its plastic "dome" protects against inclement weather that would otherwise threaten your right to get day-trashed outdoors during “winter.” Veteran DJ Frank Rempe christens the decks. (At the Cosmopolitan, 11 a.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.) Across the Strip, Double Barrel Roadhouse, our frst taste of Monte Carlo’s new sidewalk plaza, opens its doors. Mio Danilovic, vice president of nightlife operations for
DJ Green Lantern.
favorite viewing spot before March Madness begins next week. (3525 W. Russell Rd., CrazyHorse3.com.)
TUE 11 It’s a rather slow Tuesday, so we suggest you take the opportunity to visit the new Lavo, which transformed from nightclub to lounge earlier this year. The couches are comfy, the lighting is moody, and during our most recent visit we heard nothing but sexy jams coming through the speakers. (In the Venetian, 6 p.m., LavoLV.com.)
WED 12 From the owners of Elixir and Remedy’s in Henderson, Distill bar debuted in Summerlin late last month. Wednesday is the watering hole’s industry night, when the fash of an ID gets you 50 percent off all appetizers, $5 cocktails and $3 specials until 4 a.m. We heard that good deals taste best when enjoyed near the fre pits on the bar’s “backyard” patio. (10820 W. Charleston Blvd., 10 p.m., DistillBar.com.)
property partner SBE, says to expect “a true roadhouse experience” from the 12,000 square-foot restaurant and bar space. In other words, it’s gon’ get rowdy. (SBE.com/ DoubleBarrel.)
SAT 8 “Weather permitting,” we can add Encore Beach Club to our itinerary today—if only all the pools were covered by plastic, right? Our fngers are crossed for sunshine so that we can see Jus Ske, the DJ who accompanied Jay Z and Justin Timberlake on their 2013
Soulive breaks in the Brooklyn Bowl.
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
LAVO Palazzo
[ UPCOMING ]
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY TONY TRAN AND JOSH METZ
March 6–12, 2014
March 8 Party Brunch March 9 Proper Brunch
NIGHTLIFE
PARTIES
TRYST Wynn
[ UPCOMING ]
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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com
PHOTOS BY DANNY MAHONEY
March 6–12, 2014
March 6 DJ Obscene spins March 7 Alie Layus spins March 8 Gusto spins
By Al Mancini
PHOTO BY DAVID MOIR
➧ CHEF SHIRLEY CHUNG’S WORLD
travels tease Las Vegans, giving a little taste of what to expect from her next restaurant. And that’s something local foodies have been wondering about since she left the Cosmopolitan’s China Poblano to shoot Top Chef in New Orleans. “I met many friends through the Top Chef experience, which was really great,” Chung said when I spoke to her as she was getting ready to
board a fight for a two-anda-half week stint in Korea. “So they introduced me to some local Korean [culinary] industry friends.” On this particular journey, she planned to spend her first week in the suburbs of Seoul to learn to make traditional kimchi, then head to central Seoul to explore the country’s other culinary traditions. She said she was looking forward
to visiting the top local restaurants and the open fish market. The national exposure of Top Chef has opened up plenty of opportunities for Chung, who made it all the way to the fnals of the cooking competition. And she hasn’t quite decided on her next venture. “I have a few offers on the table,” she says excitedly. “My trip to Korea is defnitely part
March 6–12, 2014
Top Chef contestant’s travels ofer hint of next project
more than anything else.” The competition offered the ideal environment for fnding that voice. “I had such a great time,” she says. “It was like a chef’s summer camp. Throughout the month we were shooting, the only thing we needed to do was just concentrate and think about the dish, and cook. We didn’t have to worry about budgets. We didn’t have to worry about human resources. You don’t even have to worry about housework!” With all of the opportunities before her, does Las Vegas run the risk of losing Chung to another city? She’s not ruling out the idea of opening restaurants in other parts of the country, but insists, “Vegas is my home base. So I will defnitely in the future have a location in Las Vegas.” When we can expect that location to be revealed? “I’m hoping within a year. I’m crossing my fngers.”
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Pack Your Knives and Go
of the puzzle.” When pressed for more details, Chung describes the style she wants to pursue as “cooking with no borders, or global Asian—that sort of feel.” And she insists this time, “it will defnitely be my culinary vision.” That’s a theme that viewers of the show saw develop over the course of the season. Before her TV experience, Chung was already considered a star of the culinary world. She had worked under world-renowned chefs such as Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy, Mario Batali and José Andrés. But she was always interpreting someone else’s ideas. “I’m really grateful for all the experiences I’ve had,” Chung says. “But at the same time, I cannot keep executing other people’s visions. And being on Top Chef defnitely helped me sort out and organize my thoughts, ultimately fnding my voice
So after all that has gone down, how does it feel to be planning a performance with Krieger again? I was the one after Ray passed [in May] who called Robby and said, ‘Hey, let’s honor him.” We did a screening of a documentary, Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Story of L.A. Woman, at the L.A. County Art Museum several months ago. [Robby and I] played unannounced for about 10 minutes. It was a lot of fun. I said, “We’re known for our drumming and guitar playing, but we’re going to try to sing. Will you help us?” It was so sweet. The whole audience—about 1,000 people— sang “People Are Strange.” How did that feel? It felt great, healing. These songs we’ve played 10,000 times or more. So if you have a gap of 10, 20, years it doesn’t matter. After a few bars they’re back, because they’re in your blood already.
March 6–12, 2014
How would your career be different if you’d been allowed to play the clarinet in school? I’d have crooked teeth, I guess. It was the orthodontist who said we’re trying to push them in and [the clarinet] will push them out. I don’t think I would’ve been as good as Benny Goodman. Thank God I chose drums.
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You don’t think the Doors needed a clarinet player? It would have been the Klezmer Doors. Do you have any memories of playing in Las Vegas as the Doors? I think we were playing at an ice skating rink, and they put wood over the ice and it was real cold. I hope that’s [not] an image of another city. That’s all I remember. Alice Cooper was in town and came over or something. Where did we stay? Brain
cashed in. That’s another speculation. Back in the ’60s, the Doors were on the cutting edge of pop culture, with a focus on rock shamanism. Has your view of all the hippie-rocker accoutrements changed with today’s perspective? Yes and no. The word “shaman,” Jim had it in one of his poems way back. I hadn’t even heard of the term. It wasn’t in vernacular population. He was reading about shamans in so-called primitive cultures, and I guess he became one, really. … I’m writing this script, and it’s about the ’60s, and I’m thinking about how corny bell bottoms look now. But when we were in it, we thought we were really cool. How is your personal perspective different from that time? Being old? In a blog I wrote for the Huff Post about a month ago I said, I’m almost 70; I’m allowed to be as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. ... I am sad that more of the lessons of Vietnam weren’t learned.
Densmore describes performing as a more “kinetic experience,” while book-signing is a more personal one.
“I’M NOT AN ALL-NIGHT, 3 A.M.-ON-THE-FLOOR KIND OF GUY. JIM MORRISON WAS AN EXAMPLE OF GOING TOO FAR, SO IT MADE ME CAREFUL.” – John Densmore
cells. We were the psychedelic Rat Rack. No memories of hitting the casino foor or partying? No. I like blackjack, but I’m a moderate. I’m not an allnight, 3 a.m.-on-the-foor kind of guy. Jim [Morrison] was always an example of going too far, so it made me careful. I certainly dabbled and still do. Maybe that’s why I still can. What are you dabbling in now? Is pot legal in Nevada? You have the water [conservation] thing down [in Nevada], but the pot thing? I have a little wine, a little herb.
Are you working on any A few, OK? My girlfriend and new writing projects? I have been together eight I have a bunch years, and we’re of books in my very happy. head. I am foolJOHN DENSMORE ing around with If Jim were still BOOK SIGNING the Huffington alive, is there Post, sent an any chance he 7 p.m. March 6 op-ed to the Los might have at Zia Records at Angeles Times yeschanged his 4503 W. Sahara Ave. terday, knocking mind about Purchase of on wood. selling songs to The Doors advertisers? Unhinged required In your recent That’s a for signing, 233-4942. Reddit AMA $10,000 ques(Ask Me Anytion. I can only thing), you go on what he mentioned boob signing did and thought when he twice. How many boobs was alive. Although I suphave you signed over the pose, I mean, you read that course of your career? book; Ray was saying that That’s not a nice question! Jim was smart, he would’ve
Now that you’ve had both an estrangement and reunion with your bandmates, do you feel the lawsuit was worth it? I didn’t like the estrangement. Suing my musical brothers was torture for fve years, but I don’t regret it. The undercurrent of this whole book was the greed gene, money. I’ve been writing about disparity of wealth since 2002. I’ve been saying this gap is so huge, and it’s not healthy. Has Ray’s death changed your feeling about The Doors: Unhinged book? No, but it’s changed my listening to Doors songs. God, was Ray gifted. He was splitting his brain into two people. His left hand was the bass players and drummers. The other half was the keys. He wasn’t the fastest player, just as I wasn’t the fastest drummer. Guitars are always in the front line of rock ’n’ roll, and he brought the keyboard up to the front line. What a gift. What’s your favorite dumb drummer joke? You want to know if the stage is level, look at which side of his mouth the drummer is drooling.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZIA RECORDS
A&E
What’s the latest on your planned tribute concert with Robby Krieger for Ray Manzarek? I wish there were more news, but there isn’t. We sent out letters to famous musicians. Getting all of them together in one city in one night is daunting, but we’re inspired. If we get giant fsh we will be at Madison Square Garden or, if we get little fsh we will be at the Whisky [a Go Go in Los Angeles]. Either way we’re going to honor Ray.
MUSIC
Honey Cocaine sweetens LVCS on March 7.
CAMBODIAN-CANADIAN RAP, OKLAHOMA PUNK, ISRAELI PIANIST WHAT A SONICALLY diverse week! It’s enough to make me think Las Vegas is on the cultural upswing. If I sound too giddy about my city’s underground offerings, just remind me of Britney Spears’ lip-synch residency. Honey Cocaine (real name: Sochitta Sal) is a 21-year-old Cambodian-born thugette from Toronto, who weighs probably 80 pounds with her braces. She’s only released a few mixtapes but has already made a big Internet splash (her YouTube videos garner a million-plus views). Khmer is her frst language, but she’s a deft, dirty-mouthed street poet, as evidenced by the electro-pulsing “Chichi Get the Yayo.” If you enjoy raw, visceral rapping from an unexpectedly cross-cultural MC, Honey Cocaine will administer a strong fx. She injects sweetly addictive rhymes into LVCS at 9 p.m. March 7 with Jazz Lazer, Kevy Los, BRI Fame and Nate Quest. Is gutter-born punk what you prefer? Then you dare not miss Stillwater, Oklahoma, powerviolence duo Black Cop, who perform dark and dismal expressions of alienation. The songs rarely extend beyond the minute mark, often pummeling the listener with sudden jabs of spiritual agony. Few bands terrify me enough to loosen my bowels, but Black Cop makes me want to pick up some adult diapers en route to the show—8 p.m. March 7, Artistic Armory (5087 S. Arville St., Suite E 89118). Also on the bill: Loose Change, Stale Phish, Pieces of Polices, Rumble with the Socs and
Rotten Scaliwag & the Lowlifes. This week, jazz-funk-soul trio Soulive smashes the proverbial Champagne bottle against brandnew Strip-centered live music venue Brooklyn Bowl with two shows, 9 p.m. March 8-9. These guys sound, to my ears, like a jam band update on Booker T. and the MGs. You can always depend on Soulive to deliver an upbeat vibe of sheer musicality— and to cover (and totally reinvigorate) a Beatles song or three. (They completely and beautifully upend “Eleanor Rigby,” for instance.) If there’s a dark thought in your troubled head, this group will neutralize it in seconds with struttin’, horn-punching songs such as “Up Right.” Wear your dancing shoes to this one. Here’s a cool classical concert: 29-year-old Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich will perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 backed by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. March 13 at UNLV’s Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. The show is part of the orchestra’s frst U.S. jaunt, comprising 26 cities. Rabinovich’s celebrated debut album, Ballets Russes (for which he also provided linernote drawings), arrived last year, but it’s his Rachmaninov forays that dazzle global audiences. Known for his prodigious technique and mature lyricism, this young musician will impress the most jaded concertgoer. Your Las Vegas band having a concert or releasing an album soon? Email Jarret_Keene@yahoo.com.
A&E
CONCERT
March 6–12, 2014
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT Let’s just agree that Brian Wilson is a musical genius and get on with it. As the primary musical architect of the Beach Boys, he moved the band beyond their early hits about surfing and California girls and—in a drug-fueled musical competition with the Beatles—gave us “Good Vibrations” and the magnificent Pet Sounds. The band’s 50th anniversary reunion tour ended in 2012, so when the Beach Boys play Star of the Desert Arena on March 8 ($10.95-$54.95), you’re getting a touring band consisting of original member (and longtime vocalist) Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, who joined the group in 1965. Personally, I wish Wilson would get around more.
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NOW ON SALE Ellie Goulding brings her splendid mix of breathy vocals and folky synthpop to the Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan on April 12 ($35), which means—you guessed it—“anything can happen.” Still, I think it’s safe to assume she’ll probably just sing and play music.
Miley Cyrus, MGM Grand Garden Arena, March 1 Miley Cyrus is an evil genius. In addition to showcasing her singing talent (yes, she can sing), the 21-year-old pop icon spared no opportunity to incite buzz-worthy moments during her Bangerz tour stop. Is it responsible for her to dry hump the hood of a gold coupe, dressed in a weed-patterned onesie while the car’s exhaust pipe spews bills of “Miley Money” into the faces of her young fans? Certainly not. But this sort of provocative recklessness is the lifeblood of social media, and right now, social media “shares” are the essence of cultural relevance. The two-hour performance was a string of moments such as this one, designed to inspire a young audience to switch their smartphones out of selfie mode and snap 15 seconds of soon-to-be viral video. (#shesjustbeingmiley!) As ridiculous as her stage show appeared on the surface (Cats! Lasers! A video of CGI Cyrus riding a Jet Ski!), Miley knew exactly what she was doing. She embraced and encouraged the idea that it’s hip to be shared. During “Adore You,” she asked fans to make out with one another so their snog session could be broadcast on the big screen behind her. “Your parents can’t get pissed,” she said, “because I told you to do it.” Regardless of whether that’s true, (though I did hear one mother yell, “She’s my hero!” after Cyrus confessed that she was “performing while super hungover,”) they did it. She was the master of her own non-sensical (but intentional) social circus, the Miley Cyrus show. And in her own words, “You can never have too much tongue at a Miley Cyrus show.” ★★★★✩ – Camille Cannon
[ POP CULTURE ]
Many Monocultures How do you discover the shape of today’s new pop culture fefdoms? By standing outside True Detective’s walls. By Jason Scavone By Sunday, March 9, True Detective may have already broken the Internet. Game of Thrones deluged Twitter after the Red Wedding, and Sharknado knocked it to its knees. But because of sheer timing—not much else happening in the prestige TV sphere, an Oscars bump for Matthew McConaughey and the show's rapidly developed, wide-eyed fandom—it’s possible that when True Detective’s serial killer The
Yellow King is fnally revealed, you’ll never be able to place another drunken 4 a.m. order for The Munsters box set on Amazon again. Please stock up on batteries and water for the coming Internetnarok. It’s a cool-kids’-club show, the kind your friends who were way into The Wire always push. I dig that club, but this one doesn’t quite connect. Rust Cohle’s (McConaughey) glass-eyed
nihilism is just a little too overwritten, the cinematography is just a little too washed out, and the essential structure of a diffcult murder that introduces the possibility of supernatural doings feels just a little too updatedTwin Peaks for me. Everyone raves that it’s a great character show, but I’m only in it for that sweet Yellow King payoff. Which is fne—no show is going to be everything to everyone, as Everclear so adroitly noted. (Also, I apologize for putting that in your ear.) (Also, also: Someone shoot me in the head for referencing Everclear.) So it's frustrating when you can't see what you're not getting. When the critics are all over it, when your friends are in love with it, how do you handle that nagging doubt that you're not picking up what they’re all putting down? The show is good enough that it doesn’t even leave you a window to play the contrarian card. (I wouldn’t normally advocate going full-contrarian, but it is
MILEY CYRUS PHOTO BY WAYNE POSNER
GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY You may know the Neighbourhood as that American band (they’re from California) who spell their name with a little English flavour, but you should really know them for catchy singles “Sweater Weather” (One love, two mouths/One love, one house) and “Afraid” (“When I wake up, I’m afraid/Somebody else might take my place). Lead singer Jesse Rutherford has a strong vision for the band, which extends beyond the hip-hop beats he sings and raps over. It’s why the band’s videos and photos are all moody, black-and-white affairs. Fans who see the Neighbourhood play House of Blues on March 8 ($22.50) aren’t just paying to hear music; they get the added bonus of seeing the band in full colour.
STAGE
ACTION JACKSONS Famed brothers send Planet Hollywood Showroom into orbit
PHOTO BY ERIK K ABIK
THREE TRUTHS ARE as simple as A-B-C:
A) Comparing Planet Hollywood residencies, this one puts the Baby, LipSync For Me One More Time act to shame. B) No Motown-ies are more fabled than this foursome. C) As much joy as these four generate, the sadness of the missing ffth still haunts them. And us. That makes RockTellz & CockTails Presents the Jacksons a bittersweet, can’t-miss-even-though-we-stillmiss-Michael show. Sharing the PH Showroom with Meat Loaf through late April and building on their 2012 Unity Tour stop at the Cannery, the Brothers Jax—Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Marlon—take a supply of signature songs (“Can You Feel It,” “Show You the Way to Go”) and a cache of classics (“The Love You Save,” “I Want You Back”) and synthesize them into a two-hour block that’s surprisingly fresh, not just nostalgic. Though it’s ridiculous to suggest anyone could approach Michael magic—and each brother gets his individual shining moment—it’s seemingly battery-powered Marlon who keeps us jonesing for the Jacksons by the fnale that’s got the crowd up and gyrating for nearly 30 minutes. Hindered only by an oversaturated sound system that occasionally overwhelms them, the Jacksons materialize out of a dramatic haze of shadow and smoke onto a rather unadorned stage that, wisely, doesn’t visually compete with the silver-and-black-jacketed brothers. Backed by a propulsive seven-piece band, they launch into a string of way-back-when pearls, also including “Blame It on the Boogie,” “Rock with You,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “I’ll Be There,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” and “Don’t Stop Till You
Get Enough.” Though it could easily tip over into treacle, Jermaine takes the thrust stage to deliver a delicate “Gone Too Soon” tribute to Michael. Woven into the repertoire are video career highlights, including interviews with Motown guru Berry Gordy Jr. and matriarch Katherine Jackson (Papa Joe is notably absent from interviews in the gauzy, glazed-over family history). As dazzling as the music is, the genuine charms of the evening are the brothers’ live reminiscences— their back and forth so easygoing, playful and sentimental that it sends waves of warmth over the crowd. By the time sweat-drenched Marlon takes the lead in the extended, exhilarating climactic medley—including striking some headback, arms-outstretched stances eerily evocative of Michael’s Christlike images—something resembling a pop possession grips the house. Ironically, the Jacksons are the most complete, yet incomplete Motown nostalgia act. Nearly every other group has seen severe turnover, some no longer sporting even one original member. On this stage, there are no substitutions—just Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon in their well-toned, AARP fesh. Yet none of those others have to overcome The Big Empty the way the Jacksons do, especially in a Michael-memorializing town rife with impersonators and an entire Cirque spectacle celebrating him. Want a phantasmagorical Michaelpalooza? See Cirque’s Michael Jackson One. Want to feel the real-deal dynamism born of the era when he was one of fve? See the Jackson Brothers Four. Got an entertainment tip? Email Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.
In our current era of digital entertainment and electronic dance music, bowling and live rock ’n’ roll seem like retro-niche pastimes rather than huge moneymakers, don’t you think? We’re not driven by money and never have been. We want to offer experiences dissimilar from anything else out there. Most live-music venues are, what, a stage and a bar? That’s what we do, sure, but we also give people something different. I’m a frm believer in the rule that, if you do really good shit, the fnancial stuff takes care of itself. It’s important not to be driven by money, because what inevitably happens is that decisions are made that take away from the customer experience. The focus should be on delivering something cool to the customer. Think about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Skrillex playing a bowling alley. They don’t play the Bowl to make the most money; they do it to deliver and have a great experience.
March 6–12, 2014
Peter Shapiro
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The New York concert promoter on bringing Brooklyn Bowl here, his life-changing moment at a Grateful Dead concert and why money isn’t his most important object By Jarret Keene Harvard professor Robert Putnam wrote a book in 2001, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which says our waning interest in social organizations—like bowling leagues—threatens
our democracy. Any chance Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas will boast league nights in addition to live music? Listen, we’re going to offer league bowling, but it’ll be our own democratic, industrynight version of it. I envision
teams of clubs and restaurants—Spearmint Rhino vs. Tao, for example. Social media drives so much of our lives, but only in a virtual way. Nothing on the Internet can ever replace the awesome feeling of highfving friends after a strike.
What else sets apart Brooklyn Bowl from other Vegas venues? There are great music halls in Vegas, but there’s no question that a 2,000-capacity venue in its own building in the dead center of the Strip is going to positively impact live music. The other venues aren’t center-Strip. We’re also a multi-night room for bands that aren’t ready for a Celine Dion-level residency. I’m a music fan, so we put fans frst. The Roots, for example, are playing Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas three nights [March 14, and with Elvis Costello on March 1516], making it easier for the band’s fan base to catch a fight and see the band over the entire weekend.
I haven’t visited the original Brooklyn Bowl, but when I belly up to a bar or see a rock show in New York, the service is lacking. How do you ensure that won’t be an issue in Las Vegas, which is so serviceoriented? The best service-industry people in the country are in Vegas, because they’re here to do this, and they can make good money doing it. In [a lot of] big cities, everyone’s really trying to be an actor, writer, whatever. We’re so impressed with the people we’re meeting in Vegas. All we want to do is to bring our vibe and continue what we started at Brooklyn Bowl: to be as customer-sensitive and fan-friendly as possible. Our security staff wears jackets that say WELCOME. It’s cool, because in Las Vegas we’re a standalone [business], which means people are rooting for us. We’re the underdog. Was there a single moment when you said to yourself, “I want to own a live music venue!”? Somehow during a Grateful Dead show in Chicago, I ended up in a drum circle. I lost my friends in a parking lot, and there was so much overload and so many opportunities for escape that I decided to go for a multisensory approach, which is what our brains need. Which is what Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas strives for with music, the lanes, the fried chicken. It’s like Disney or Chuck E. Cheese for adults. But isn’t Las Vegas already tagged as a grown-up Disneyland? Absolutely, and many places do it well, with DJs and table service. But again, we bring something to Vegas that’s different, unique, timeless. Our entire freestanding structure is 80,000 square feet, making us and Hakkasan the largest clubs in Vegas. Opening Brooklyn Bowl is good for rock ’n’ roll, and for the guy who’s maybe pushing 40, who doesn’t necessarily want to hear EDM and instead take in some New Orleansstyle music. Located in the Linq, Brooklyn Bowl debuts March 8-9 with sets by jazz-funk trio Soulive. For an updated list of artists and dates and to buy tickets, visit Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL JURICK
SEVEN QUESTIONS
How will Brooklyn Bowl stack up against other Strip entertainment? There are no alleys on the Strip, and we want to bring a singular approach with our 2,000-capacity venue, with 32 bowling lanes and the Blue Ribbon restaurant serving comfort food. Vegas will always need experiences you can only do in Vegas. Have you been to Light? That doesn’t exist in other people’s hometowns; it doesn’t exist anywhere else. We want to pay tribute to and add ourselves to that larger equation.