The 2014 Beer Issue | Vegas Seven Magazine | September 25-October 1, 2014 by Vegas Seven

#PJNUITBLANCHE TAO & TAO Beach at the Venetian See more photos from this gallery at UpAllNightLasVegas.com

14 | THE LATEST

“Major League Decision,” by Sean DeFrank. Downtown soccer stadium proposal has one big—and important—fan in Mayor Goodman. But will that be enough? Plus, two welcome additions to the Neon Museum, Three Questions with Oompoporama, Ask a Native, The Deal and Tweets of the Week.

16 | About Town

“Walk This Way,” by Camille Cannon. For pageant contestants, the runway to victory is a long (and, yes, difficult) one.

18 | Green Felt Journal

“How Much Is Too Much?” by David G. Schwartz. As casinos close (and open) up and down the Eastern seaboard, it’s reasonable to ask if gaming’s risks are starting to outweigh the rewards.

22 | THE 2014 BEER ISSUE

A refresher course on a how to drink a beer, a step-by-step look at the brewing process, seven beers from seven countries, a calendar of beer events and the Great Las Vegas Beer Map.

33 | NIGHTLIFE

“Marathon Man,” by David Morris. Long-haul spinner Erick Morrillo officially launches his new residency at Life Nightclub. Plus, Seven Nights and a Q&A with Havana Brown.

65 | DINING

Al Mancini tracks down three food trucks. Plus, Dishing With Grace, Ferran Adrià creates a new level of culinary education and Cocktail Culture.

71 | A&E

“Show Support,” by Jessi C. Acuña. Vegas PBS’ Cade Cridland creates a platform to showcase local talent. Plus, anticipating Renegades of Rhythm, The Hit List, Tour Buzz and a review of Chvrches in concert.

78 | Movies

The Maze Runner and our weekly movie capsules.

88 | Going for Broke

Eagles, 49ers struggle with consistency in the early weeks.

94 | Seven Questions

Ascending UFC featherweight Conor McGregor on why soccer’s not a man’s sport, how surfing helps him train for the octagon and lessons learned from a four-second knockout.

Beer is carbonated and clarified in Big Dog’s bright tanks, one of the last steps before it hits your taste buds.

ON THE COVER Freakin’ Frog beer fridge photo by Jon Estrada

| Dialogue | Seven Days | Gossip | Showstopper

September 25–October 1, 2014

11 15 20 77

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DIALOGUE

1ST PLACE General Excellence 1ST PLACE Best Overall Design 1ST PLACE Best Illustration, Jon Reinfurt, “Culture and Cash” 1ST PLACE Best Special Section (Editorial), Intriguing People 2014 1ST PLACE Best Multimedia Story, Nicole Ely, “The Reservists” 2ND PLACE Best Feature Story, David G. Schwartz, “The Book That Tried to End Las Vegas” 2ND PLACE Best Local Column, Green Felt Journal, David G. Schwartz 2ND PLACE Best Sports Feature, Sean DeFrank, Oral History of Jerry Tarkanian at UNLV 2ND PLACE Best Entertainment Writing, Xania Woodman 2ND PLACE Best Feature Photo, Anthony Mair, Freakling Out— The Victim Experience 2ND PLACE Best Website, VegasSeven.com 2ND PLACE Best Multimedia Story, Intriguing People 2014 2ND PLACE Best Online Writing, Geoff Carter, DTLV.com 3RD PLACE Best Multiple Photo Essay, Julian Kilker, The Mojave 3RD PLACE Best Portrait, Anthony Mair, Seven Questions with Mark Hall Patton 3RD PLACE Best Special Section, Best of the City 2013 3RD PLACE Advertising General Excellence 3RD PLACE Best Online Writing, Pj Perez, DTLV.com

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frst-place General Excellence honor for urban weekly publications (think of it as the Oscar for “Best Picture”). Not that we’re keeping track, but this year’s haul brings Vegas Seven’s total to 80 Nevada Press Association awards. Throw in 15 certifcates of excellence from the Western Publishing Association, and we’ve collected 95 state and regional honors in four years—not bad for the little city magazine that could! On this page, we recognize our 18 NPA award-winners for 2014. And on the pages that follow, we continue to pursue our goal of providing the kind of entertaining and thought-provoking content that, hopefully, wins over the judges who matter most. – Matt Jacob

➜ Funny thing about journalism awards: You’re always grateful when your peers recognize a job well done, but ultimately, the only critics who count are your readers. From the very frst issue of Vegas Seven more than 4½ years ago, this has been front of mind of every writer, editor, photographer, page designer, web producer and salesteam member who has contributed to this magazine. We strive, frst and foremost, to win your recognition. Having said that, we’re obviously in the reporting business. Thus it is our duty to disclose, ever so humbly, that Vegas Seven is the recipient of 18 individual and team awards from the Nevada Press Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest. This includes, for the frst time, a

VEGAS SEVEN 2014 NPA AWARDS

September 25–October 1, 2014

And the Winners Are …

“Even strip joints started rolling out the big screens in recent years, which might be good for Monday night booze sales, but they’re bad for the dancers’, uh, bottom lines.”

ASK A NATIVE {PAGE 16}

News, gaming, gossip and a behind-the-scenes peek at beauty queens in the making

Major League Decision Downtown soccer stadium proposal has one big—and important—fan in Mayor Goodman. But will that be enough?

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

SAY THIS ABOUT LAS VEGAS MAYOR

Carolyn Goodman: She’ll never be accused of being a waffing politician who can’t pick a side. We saw this frsthand during a September 18 town hall meeting at Rogich Middle School to discuss the viability of a $200 million, 24,000seat Downtown stadium proposal that would house a Major League Soccer expansion team. At one point during the meeting— one of six held around the Valley this month seeking public input on a partnership between the city and a pair of would-be stadium developers—Goodman went on a rambling 15-minute tirade. While comparing the importance of the soccer stadium to public safety and health care, she spotted a man in the audience shaking his head in disagreement. “It really ticks me off that you sit there with your sourpuss,” Goodman scolded him. “What did you do to build this community? What have you put into this community to make it a better place?” Goodman then proceeded to accuse the County Commission of trying to kill the project; told the audience “you have all been privy to documents you had no right to be privy to” in reference to proposal drafts; said the current proposal is the only viable option (“Whenever you’re told there’s another game, it’s a bunch of hookiepookie”); mentioned her and her husband’s “eight granddogs”; and even veered to ISIS’ activities in Australia. The mayor only stopped when city spokesman David Riggleman fnally cut her off. On October 1, the City Council will vote on a nonbinding stadium proposal between the City and the development team of the Cordish Cos. and Findlay Sports & Entertainment. The plan calls for Cordish/Findlay to contribute $44.25 million to construct

the $200 million stadium, with the City providing the remaining $155.75 million, including $115 million in city bonds. Cordish/Findlay is also committed to spending $102 million for the expansion team. Under the proposal, the City would own the stadium, and Cordish/Findlay would repay 59 percent of the stadium costs after 30 years through $3.5 million in annual rent payments. The City would pay its share of the project through bonds, tourism district money and hotel room charges. After Councilwoman Lois Tar-

kanian expressed her desire to get more feedback from her constituents on September 3, the City Council voted 4-3 to table its decision on the proposal to October 1. Council members Goodman, Steve Ross and Ricki Barlow have supported the tentative agreement and voted for the delay, while Councilmen Bob Beers, Bob Coffn and Stavros Anthony have stated they are against the deal, criticizing the amount of public money being used. Tarkanian said as recently as September 18 that she would reject the

proposed fnancing plan if the vote were held that day. Even if Tarkanian does change her mind by October 1, the odds of the plan reaching fruition appear slim, as the deal would go before the City Council for a fnal vote in December, when a supermajority of fve votes would be necessary for passage because of the city issuing bonds. Justin Findlay, managing partner of Findlay Sports, is attending all the town hall meetings in hopes that he can persuade the public to support the proposal. He sat quietly during Goodman’s rant, but praised the mayor afterward for her passion for the project. “I would hope that Las Vegas sees this as an investment,” Findlay says. “Yes, it’s a lot money, and it’s an important decision, and it can be spent in different areas. But it’s not going to be matched like this. This really could be a huge community asset.” MLS wants to expand to 24 teams by 2020, and Las Vegas is competing against at least fve other cities for the fnal spot. A study projects the average attendance for a Las Vegas MLS team at 18,000-20,000 per game, drawing largely from a demographic base of millennials, Latinos and international tourists. If the council denies the proposal, Findlay says there’s a chance that a revised plan can be drafted, although he isn’t looking past the October 1 vote. He is hopeful that the fnal town hall meeting, scheduled for September 25 in Tarkanian’s ward, will help him secure the swing vote he needs to move forward with the proposal. “[Tarkanian is] saying a lot of positive things,” Findlay says. “She just wants to hear from her constituents, and I wouldn’t expect anything to change until she hears from them. … Councilwoman Tarkanian has a very open mind, and that’s all we can hope for.”

ILLUSTRATION BY CIERRA PEDRO

By Sean DeFrank

can be kept in its natural little way just by adding a fun beat to it. For me, it’s about fnding a song with enough words that it can be fun to sing.

★

OKTOBERFEST

★

The German-American Social Club of Nevada—of course there’s such a thing!— stages its Oktoberfest at Centennial Plaza on October 4. There to lock down tuba duty will be Oompoporama, the polka-meets-pop side project from Beth Mullaney of local band Killian’s Angels. What makes for a good pop-polka song?

Nearly every song can work. Vita [Corimbi, or “McCleavage,” under the keyboardist’s nom de dirndl] has written a great medley of songs with “I Will Survive.” Also, for example, the old song “Feelings”; if you put a polka beat to it, all of a sudden a song you’re sick of, it’s a little silly. But “I Will Survive”

Were “Weird Al” Yankovic’s polka medleys an influence?

It’s a challenge to take great music and pull off something that is really fun without it sounding too silly. Weird Al did a great job because he has great musicians on his polkas. He’s sillier probably, because he’s “Weird Al.” His polka medleys are certainly an inspiration. If you look at the songs he chooses, they’re popular. And it just works with that beat—that fast, 4/4-type beat.

Who has better drinking music—the Germans or the Irish?

Wow. Well, the nature of Oktoberfest is almost entirely beer-drinking. Irish music is about death and life and marriage and love—it has all different types of [themes]. I’ll give Germans the love on this. – Jason Scavone

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26: If you dig things with an engine and wheels, check out the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, Thursday through Saturday at Mandalay Bay. Granted, most of the stuff crossing the stage is out of our price range, but tickets are reasonable. And drooling is free. Tickets: $17.75-$30; Barrett-Jackson.com. popping up all over town (including a little beer gathering your good friends at Vegas Seven are throwing today). Over at Springs Preserve, it’s the Asian Heritage Celebration, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Food, entertainment, crafts, stuff for the kids— it’s all there. Plus karaoke, which probably isn’t nearly as much fun in the afternoon as it is at 3 a.m., but give it a shot anyway. SpringsPreserve.org.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28: Can’t get enough

Two restored Vegas marquees brighten up Neon Museum By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

NEON SIGN PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEON MUSEUM

THURSDAY, SEPT. 25: You know fall is officially here when the Greek Food Festival arrives. Today through Sunday, enjoy food, music, food, clothing, dancing, food at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 5300 S. El Camino Rd. Did we mention the food? It’s excellent. Admission: $6; LasVegasGreekFestival.com.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 27: The nice weather means festivals are

Let There Be Light It takes time, money and skill to return a defunct neon sign to its original famboyant splendor. Which explains why, after nearly 20 years, the Neon Museum’s collection of restored illuminated signs numbered just 13. But earlier this month, in less than 48 hours, the museum welcomed two new family members: The signs for Jerry’s Nugget and the Liberace Museum— which had been sitting in the Boneyard dust, waiting for their moment to shine—have joined La Concha, the Silver Slipper and others as part of the proud, the few, the illuminated. The Jerry’s Nugget sign was the frst to arrive on September 11, as workers from YESCO put it on a truck around dawn and drove it down the Strip. The once-peeling red paint has been redone, and the neon letters and light bulbstudded giant gold nugget are back to pristine

By Bob Whitby

condition; in fact, the sign now looks just as it did when it glowed over the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard in 1964, the year the North Las Vegas casino opened. The following morning, Liberace arrived, looking stunning despite the early hour. Workers from Jones Sign used a crane to lift the enormous piece—which once adorned the Liberace Museum complex on Tropicana Avenue— and put it in place. “Liberace was a treasured entertainer and member of the Las Vegas community,” says Danielle Kelly, executive director of the Neon Museum. “We are thrilled to honor him and his memory through the restoration.” The Shulman Family Foundation sponsored the Liberace face-lift, which brought the blackframed, hot pink-neon swirling script and goldtrimmed silhouette of a candelabra-topped piano back to its too-much-of-a-good-thing glory. For Kelly, these two refurbished gems—as well as their 13 predecessors—are more than just symbols of old Vegas glory. “When a donor comes forward to support the restoration of the sign,” she says, “it signifes a shared commitment to the Neon Museum and its mission.” Vegas PBS is producing a documentary on the restoration of both signs, which is scheduled to air October 27. Although Kelly didn’t reveal the next neon icon scheduled to go under the knife, we’re crossing our fngers for the elaborately curlicued Yucca Motel. Or that giant yellow ducky from the Ugly Duckling Car Wash on Boulder Highway.

cars this week? Henderson’s amazing Super Run Classic Car Show is this weekend on historic Water Street. One of the biggest car shows in all of Southern Nevada features more than 1,000 rides on display, plus music, food, competitions, etc. The fun starts Thursday and runs through today. HendersonLive.com.

MONDAY, SEPT. 29: You have a discussion with an artist. He creates a piece of art to your specifications. Then someone whacks the crap out of it until it spills candy all over the floor. It’s called Piñatatopia, the latest installation at the Cosmopolitan’s ultra-hip P3 Studio. The artist, Justin Favela, is a Las Vegas native who is trying to create a utopian vision of Mexico based on shared visions. We just like piñatas. The show ends Oct. 5. CosmopolitanLasVegas.com. TUESDAY, SEPT. 30: Jerry Lewis. Anything else need to be said? Only that the Hollywood icon, comedic legend (and talented photographer, who knew?) will be onstage at 7:30 p.m. at The Smith Center, being Jerry Lewis. Tickets: $24$99; TheSmithCenter.com. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1: Have you been to the Burlesque Hall of Fame yet? The National Atomic Testing Museum? The Walker AfricanAmerican Museum? Well, now is your chance, because October is Museum Month, meaning you can get discounts on 16 local and regional museums. Check out the hidden gems. Visit LasVegas.com/event/ museum-month for more info.

THE LATEST

ABOUT TOWN

J A M E S P. R E Z A

IS IT POSSIBLE TO ESCAPE FOOTBALL WHEN DRINKING AND DINING IN LAS VEGAS?

For pageant contestants, the runway to victory is long (and, yes, difcult) By Camille Cannon

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

“WALK LIKE YOUR BIGGEST CRUSH IS

waiting for you on the other side of the foor.” Upon receiving this advice, about a dozen hopefuls in the second annual Miss Asian Las Vegas pageant strut across a studio in City Athletic Club on West Sahara Avenue. Their coach, Joey Galon, is instructing the contestants how to execute a proper evening-gown walk. It’s a skill they’ll need to have mastered by showtime September 28, so Galon has just slipped on a pair of heels to demonstrate. “You’re wearing a milliondollar gown,” he tells them. “Feel the gown!” In reality, the contestants are in matching pink T-shirts. Some are fresh-faced. Some are fully made-up. All make me question if I’ve been doing this “walking” thing wrong my whole life. They’re just so … elegant. Initially, they remind me of the pageant queens I’ve seen on TV and movies. The ones in Miss Congeniality, Little Miss Sunshine and Toddlers & Tiaras, who seem to do and say everything perfectly onstage—then sabotage one another’s talent routines. Annie Chang, founder and executive director of the competition, says this is the frst pageant for many of the contestants, whose ages range from 15-52. All have spent the past few months courting sponsors, engaging in

MISS ASIAN LAS VEGAS PAGEANT

2 p.m. Sept. 28 in Palazzo Theatre. Tickets from $28, MissAsianLasVegas.com.

community service and learning pageant A-Z at workshops such as this one. Galon—whose consulting credits include Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Universe—says the key to success is, well, the cliché you probably imagined: “Grace under pressure.” He pulls a couple of scarves from his vest and tosses them to the girls in transit. “This is swimsuit now!” he says, cueing Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” on the speakers. After about an hour of walking, it’s time to rehearse the opening number to “Scream” by K-Pop group 2NE1. The women must cross the stage in a traditional outft from their country of heritage, then introduce themselves in multiple languages, then hit their marks—all while sticking to strict choreography. “I’m going to forget my name!” jokes one woman. On this Saturday, the Miss Asian Las Vegas pageant is all that’s on the contestants’ minds. But it’s hardly the only thing on their plates. “I try to squeeze practice times in between classes,” says

Karen Beltran, a biology student at UNLV. “Whenever there’s little hiding places on campus, I say, ‘OK, let me strut here.’” Since routines can be rehearsed, the majority of girls are most anxious about the spontaneous Q&A segment. In today’s mock session, subjects range from silly (Who is your favorite celebrity?) to serious (What’s been the most diffcult aspect of your pageant experience?). A contestant’s lip quivers as she explains that she hasn’t received any support from her family. Makeup runs down her face. Two “pageant sisters,” as they refer to one another, rub her arms as she fghts to fnish her answer. Suddenly, this feels nothing like what I expected, nothing like Toddlers & Tiaras. This is real for these women. “Of course it would be great to be queen,” contestant Christine Ko says. “Whether I get a title or not, I hope I keep in touch with all the girls I’ve participated with.” After spending three hours with these girls and not witnessing a single catfght, I’m inclined to believe Ko, who participates in a group hug at the end of the workshop, then exits with a group of fellow contestants, chatting and laughing in the parking lot. Watch Joey Galon coach the Miss Asian Las Vegas contestants at VegasSeven.com/MissAsianLasVegas.

WHY DOES VICE MAGAZINE HATE VEGAS SO MUCH? Easy: Vice hates everything! To that end, it loves to lend space to the kind of self-loathing navelgazing I admittedly scribbled in my 20s. To keep you from suffering through another link posted by a well-meaning friend, here’s a David Lettermanesque primer on why Vice and just about every other outside media outlet—not to mention every teenager living here—hates Sin City: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

We’ve got nothing but douchebags and hoes. It’s a cultural wasteland. Tony Hsieh, Guy Fieri and that dude who bought Beauty Bar. Hot! Expensive! Strippers! Gambling. Casinos. Smoking. There’s nothing to do here. UNLV sucks. Bottle service. Sex! Money! Sex! Booze! Sex! The high school dropout-turned-$100k-ayear valet parker … What an asshole! Questions? AskaNative@VegasSeven.com.

PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR

Walk This Way

You don’t like how your favorite dining haunts become de facto sports bars for five months a year? I feel your pain. While living in Summerlin, I quickly learned to avoid my go-to Italian joint on Monday nights in the fall, when the inescapable pallor of a flat screen would turn my otherwise dark, relaxing escape into a frat party. For a city with no pro sports team, those distracting TVs are seemingly everywhere, including places where they compromise atmosphere in hopes of capturing a few extra bucks. Even strip joints started rolling out the big screens in recent years, which, according to my wellplaced sources, might be good for Monday night booze sales, but they’re bad for the dancers’, uh, bottom lines. After all, what red-blooded American man wouldn’t look past a nearly naked hottie to see if Calvin Johnson caught that pass? Still, despite the dining and shopping and nightlife subcultures, Vegas remains a gambling town, and sportsbooks are a huge part of that—with football easily the king. Which is why asking a bar manager to switch just one of 20 screens showing the same three football games to the finals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament is never a good idea. Try it! Fear not, though, as there are still a few places in town that actually shun the screen. Some of my favorites: Herbs & Rye, Park on Fremont, Sambalatte, Echo & Rig, Velveteen Rabbit and Carson Kitchen. Know of some others? Drop back and pass them my way.

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As casinos close (and open) up and down the Eastern seaboard, it’s reasonable to ask if the industry is becoming oversaturated

TEAM BARS CAN’T BE BEAT

ONE-THIRD OF ATLANTIC CITY’S CASINOS

have closed this year. Simultaneously, new casinos are under construction or on the drawing board in surrounding states. So how many casinos are too many? More pressingly, has the industry reached the saturation point? Answer: By one standard, saturation is already here. Losing four casinos is a clear indicator that at least one major casino market is tapering. But it’s not the only one. In 2007, 20 states had commercial casinos; of those, 11 (including Nevada) have seen net gaming revenue declines since that year. Casinos, it seems, aren’t such a sure bet. Don’t say that in Baltimore, though. Caesars Entertainment, in partnership with Rock Gaming, opened a Horseshoe casino there last month. In six days, it brought in $5.7 million. If it sustains that pace, it will clear well over $300 million in gaming win in its frst year of operation, despite the already-thriving Maryland Live! Casino only 12 miles away. With another casino under development in the Old Line State—MGM Resorts’ $925 million resort at National Harbor—at least one other major player is betting that there is even more room for growth. New York apparently sees potential upside, too: In April, 22 developers paid $1 million each for a chance to win one of the state’s four new casino licenses that are up for grabs; the feld is now down to 16 and remains hotly contested. Why are would-be developers paying $1 million to get into the casino game when New York is surrounded by cautionary tales? In addition to the recent Atlantic City headlines, the tribal casinos of Connecticut are also in decline. Slot revenues there have fallen 33 percent since 2007 in the face of new competition, particularly from New York, where racetrack casinos have blossomed over the past decade into a $1.9 billion-ayear industry. That fgure is why industry insiders are optimistic in the face of declining markets. As a whole, the Northeast casino corridor, stretching from Maine to Maryland, has grown by 71 percent since 2001. Nevada, in the same period, has gained only 18 percent, and it still hasn’t surpassed its pre-Great Recession high. With billion-dollar resorts again being mooted here, investing a few hundred million for a share

of the still-expanding Northeast market actually makes sense. The next logical question, then, is this: Why are revenues burgeoning in New York and Maryland but slipping in nearby Atlantic City, Connecticut and Delaware? In one sense, the market for what those latter states have offered—not-soclose places to gamble for a few hours—is saturated. In the past decade, states with large urban areas have come to embrace casinos, meaning their citizens no longer have to drive an hour or three to play. With a new, full-service casino or two in their own metropolitan area, Americans don’t need to visit a distant racetrack or a riverboat to play. So while there may

be more casinos on the horizon and opportunities for the companies that build them, the market for the status quo—“convenience casinos” that are no longer quite so convenient—has played out. Americans have gambled for a very long time, and in all likelihood will continue to do so. There is no guarantee, though, that they’ll continue gambling the way their parents did. Which is why—for now, at least—there are too many quasiregional casinos and not enough urban or destination ones. What does this mean for Las Vegas? As the gaming giants based here extend their national reach, they will continue to promote the city as the ultimate casino and leisure destination, driving more visitation here. So more urban casinos won’t hurt the Strip the way they have the Boardwalk—rather, much like casinos in Macau, they will help. David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

I’ve spent a lot of time the past two weeks checking out football parties around town. There are still some good ones in the casinos, but there’s been a distinct drop-off in recent years with the action moving out of the ballrooms and back into the sportsbooks. Likewise in the non-casino bars: Football is still on all the TVs, but dedicated “parties” are less common, with a notable exception: the team bars. Several bars follow a specific NFL team. The extent to which they do varies—for example, some offer food-and-drink deals that include cuisine from back home—but they all attract crowds of former residents of, or current visitors from, their chosen team’s city. The combination of lots of people rooting for the same team and everyone emanating from the same place makes for a supercharged atmosphere in most cases. These are often the best venues for viewing on a Monday or Thursday night (when the bar’s team is playing), even if you aren’t from there. The list covers 20 of the 32 NFL teams (you can find them easily online, and key distinguishing information is included where necessary). It may not be 100 percent complete, but I’d put it up against any other list out there. The Bears lead the way with 10 bars; winning is always preferred, as the Super Bowl champion Seahawks have jumped from just two last year to five. 49ers—Calico Jack’s, Hi Score Bar & Arcade, Inn Zone (S. Nellis), Lucky’s Lounge (Jones), Timbers (W. Azure), Tommy Rocker’s; Bears— Aurelio’s Pizza, A Slice of Chicago, Brando’s, E-String, Inn Zone (St. Rose Pkwy.), La Piazza, Rosati’s (two: N. Rainbow, N. Durango), Shucks (N. Durango), Timbers (W. Cheyenne); Bills— Johnny Mac’s, Moon Doggies, Stake Out, TimeOut Sports, Office Bar; Broncos—Balboa Pizza, Black Mountain Grill, Four-Mile Bar, Jake’s Bar, Road Runner (two: Grand Canyon & N. Buffalo); Browns—Annie’s Gourmet Italian, Boulevard Bar & Grill, Giuseppe’s, Kopper Keg West, Tap House; Chargers—Shooters, Surf City, Timbers (N. Gibson); Chiefs—Blue Diamond Saloon, Joey’s; Cowboys—Mr. D’s, Red Label; Dolphins—Tropicana Lounge; Eagles—Madison Avenue; Giants—Dealers Choice, Johnny Fontane’s, Torrey Pines Pub; Lions—Crowbar (W. Flamingo); Packers—Big Dog’s Draft House, Champagne’s Café, Jackson’s, Rum Runner (three: Boulder Hwy., E. Tropicana, E. Desert Inn), Timbers (E. Lake Mead); Raiders—Crowbar (S. Rainbow), Legends, Lucy’s, Shifty’s; Ravens—Crab Corner (Maryland Pkwy.); Saints—7-11 Bar; Redskins—Crown & Anchor (Maryland Pkwy.); Seahawks—BJ’s West, Crown & Anchor (Spring Mtn.), Hookah Master’s Lounge, Scooter’s, Timbers (W. Horizon Ridge); Steelers—Bob Taylor’s, Noreen’s, Timbers (two: Novat and N. Durango); Vikings—Bailey’s, Blue Ox Central, Blue Ox Tavern. The following teams don’t have a home bar: Bengals, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Colts, Falcons, Jaguars, Jets, Panthers, Patriots, Rams, Texans and Titans.

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THE LATEST VegasSeven.com

| September 25–October 1, 2014

How Much Is Too Much?

THE LATEST

@EricStangel Roger Goodell still hasn’t explained how Draft Day was made on his watch.

@KyleKinane I pride myself on having humility, but if you waited in line overnight for an iPhone, I’m beyond confident I’m a superior person than you.

@Mickey_McCauley Back in the 1920s it must have been hard for boxers to seem tough when their only choice for intro music was big band swing jazz.

It’s a two-horse race for the Song of Summer—and, no, Macklemore, you’re not in the running ... again

September 25–October 1, 2014

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RIGHT NOW THE REST of the country

is settling into its pumpkin-spice lattes and Halloween candy and— we don’t know, rake-store sales? They have rake stores where they have to deal with fall, right? Pretty sure that’s a thing. Anyway, while the rest of the country gets it together for bootand-coat weather, here in our endless summer (and not in the cool, surfng-movie way), we just spent an entire week celebrating the very ethos of summertime. Not least of which came at the hands of the iHeartRadio Festival on September 19-20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. That selfcongratulatory radio spectacle featured the two grande dames of the Song of the Summer: The presumptive champion Iggy Azalea, and the late-charging challenger Ariana Grande. Which we suppose makes her a better contender for grande dame. Get it? Do you? Do you get what we did there? Oh, wordplay is so much fun. Both songstresses did extracurricular sets outside of the festival—Azalea at Drai’s on September 19, and Grande at 1 Oak on September 20. If Iggy could have waited one lousy day, she could have gone full-on “Problem,” as Grande performed with Big Sean that night. She might have one less problem without you,

but that still leaves “scheduling conficts” with the other 98. What’s a summer without showing a little skin? Or, in Jennifer Lawrence’s case, showing a lot of skin to a bunch of skeezy hackers, and by extension, the entire skeezy Internet. Lawrence, who’s inexplicably dating Chris Martin from Coldplay despite the fact that she could have literally any other guy out there, up to and including dead-and-gay Charles Nelson Reilly, was backstage September 19 during rehearsal. She stuck around in the wings during the actual performance. After breaking up with Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin could have started dating a well-groomed Lhasa apso and it would’ve seemed like a huge upgrade. But he gets to go right to Mystique? There’s a reason we always hated Coldplay. Also, nothing says summer like making impulsive decisions and romance that comes with an expiration date. Which we guess

could describe the Chris BrownRihanna relationship. Technically. Breezy was at XS on September 19 with Usher to celebrate Jermaine Dupri’s birthday. And also to celebrate the fact that Ray Rice knocked him down to only the world’s second-most recognizable beater of women. One Direction’s Niall Horan, Schoolboy Q and Tommy Lee all were there for Dupri’s 42nd birthday. The following night, Dupri, Brown and his off-again, doesn’tget-the-hint-again girlfriend Karrueche Tran took the party to Tryst. That wasn’t enough to get the One Direction contingent to leave XS, as Horan and Zayn Malik partied over there with Ed Sheeran and Macklemore in what had to be the whitest night at the club since its ill-fated Gluten Free U2 and Pleated Khakis Party. Macklemore even got up to do “Same Love” at the end of Lil Jon’s set. Which was, of course, supposed to be the Song of the Summer 2012, but was released before “Thrift Shop,” the Song of Early Fall 2012. Even though “Same Love” picked up steam slowly after its release, it wasn’t ready to unseat “Blurred Lines” for Song of the Summer 2013. It only got to be the Song of the Winter 2014 after the Grammys performance. Your timing is terrible, Macklemore.

Wondering if #FloodWallStreet isn’t just leftover from the iPhone 6 lines.

@MarcMaron You never know what someone else is thinking and that’s why I just make it up and make it awful.

@DennisDMZ What’ll eventually bring down Goodell is a workplace harassment suit brought against him by a draft pick who feels he takes the hug too far.

@andylassner Kris Jenner has filed for divorce from Bruce Jenner after 22 years of marriage. She is asking for publicity during this difficult time.

@TaranKillam Leaking naked pictures of Kim Kardashian makes you the laziest hacker in the world.

@JoaoMatthews_ I’ll pass on the Kim Kardashian nudes. I’ve seen the movie, I don’t need to read the book.

@BlaineCapatch Adrian Peterson should be allowed to play, but he shouldn’t be allowed to wear a helmet.

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Summer’s Stretch Run

@DLoesch

The brewmaster: Sam Merritt, a certified cicerone, takes stock of the massive beer fridge at Freakinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Frog.

The 2014

BEER ISSUE

HOW TO DRINK A

You’ve been doing it since you turned 21—and perhaps even a little before. Now’s the time for a refreshing beer refresher course. By X A N I A W O O D M A N

Are you allowed to have favorites?

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

I don’t permit myself to have favorites. I teach retailers, bartenders and servers that the opinion of the guest is really the key to guiding people, because everyone’s taste is different. Well, I love big, dark beers and the quirky, barnyard qualities of certain Belgian beers and saisons. I also know some ladies (and men!) who adore light, fruity, sweet beers. Does our gender have anything to do with how we experience flavors?

From my experience, women can taste more. They have more ability to pick out favors.

Should I evaluate a beer from a glass or bottle?

Putting it into the glass exposes the top of the beer to the air, and when the bubbles pop from the foam, they release aromatics. It has so much to do with the nose. So if you’re drinking out of the bottle or can, you’re not smelling the beer frst. How do I properly evaluate a beer once it’s in the glass?

It is very important that the glass be clean. If you pour beer into the glass and there are bubbles along the sides, that means there are points of nucleation on the side—particulates. That glass isn’t totally clean, and it’s funny because you even see this in advertisements. How does a beer’s appearance tell me what I’m about to drink?

The color of the beer—light or dark— tells us a lot about the grain malts that are used and therefore quite a bit about how it tastes. On the very light end we have golden beers, and that

The next thing I always want to do is “nose” the beer. Is there a right way?

People usually have a preferred side— one eye is better, one ear is usually better and so it goes. Take short breaths; one long draw is not as effective as a bunch of short sniffs. How does a beer’s smell indicate what the beer will taste like?

It’s really important to understand that the smell of something and the taste of something are the same. Ninety percent of favor perception is olfactory. Your tongue is responsible for the fve main favors—salty, sweet, bitter, sour and umami—but your nose is everything else. So if I pick up a saison and I smell some candied pineapple, that’s not a taste, that’s the nose talking. Scent is the preview of favor.

What do I never want to smell in a beer?

Cigarette butts. [Laughs.] As with wine, there are a number of funky things you might smell in a beer that would seem offensive on their own, but in the beer they seem to ft perfectly. So all the barnyard smells—the animals, manure, hay—those are natural to some beers, your more rustic Belgian styles. The Trappist beer Orval comes to mind, because it is bottle-conditioned with a somewhat wild yeast called Brettanomyces. So barnyard would be appropriate in there. But it would be inappropriate with any lager. You also don’t want to smell antiseptic, Band-Aids or plastic. It’s really all according to style. So in a German pilsner, I don’t want to get any fruity or very few spicy notes, but in a German hefeweizen, I had better get a whole bunch [of both]. So, now the best part: How do I taste the beer? Or should I just dive in and drink it?

Luckily, drinking comes with tasting. I advise to just drink a little bit, but no less than a half an ounce. You want to have enough to coat every surface of your mouth. Swish; I also do a little “chew.” Moving it all around will give the full effect, because there aren’t only taste buds on your tongue, but also inside your gums and on your cheeks. It’s also going to give you the sensational input that you need: the feeling of the beer, how viscous it is, and how effervescent. Does it have tiny bubbles? Or very smooth nitrogen bubbles like our nitrogenized stouts?

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People want credentials. If you walk into an attorney’s offce there is usually a diploma on the wall. So it puts people at ease to say, “OK, there’s someone with a qualifcation.” But I also think that it’s not necessarily a thing you need to get the job done.

Look for a ‘best before’ or ‘bottled on’ date on the label. You want a beer that is less than 90 days old. A month is really good. Seasonal items will usually be fresh. You can also ask the manager of a store’s beer section what’s moving really fast, turning over quickly. That’s always a good beer to get, because it hasn’t been on the shelf long.

usually indicates some light sweetness and a kind of fresh white bread, baked bread or rising bread note. A little darker, toward caramel, you’re going to fnd caramel notes, toffee or a more intense bready sweetness, whether it’s honey bread or wheat bread. And if it’s very dark, you can defnitely expect some smoke, and usually chocolate or coffee. What the color is not going to tell is us, however, is the strength. A pitch-black stout might look intimidating. It’s actually low in alcohol and balanced, but you sometimes have to prepare somebody for that. A lot of people are afraid to drink dark beer because they think it’s going to be strong.

How do cicerones help us drink better?

How can I tell if a bottle or can of beer is fresh?

September 25–October 1, 2014

sam merritt became new york state’s frst certifed cicerone in 2009. Today, as Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada’s director of beer education, he teaches consumers how to select, store, evaluate and truly enjoy beer. And with 150 varieties from 25 countries on offer this weekend at Vegas Seven’s third annual Desert Hops International Beer Festival, even the most battle-hardened beer drinkers are going to need a solid game plan for world beer domination. So we called on Merritt to lead the charge.

Is it really bright, or is it thick? Sometimes I wish I had more taste buds! What does my reaction to that first taste tell me about what kind of a beer drinker I might be?

Taste is aversion and attraction. It starts very young, in the womb for all we know. It is very important to trust your own taste, because you’re so different than everyone else. The palate is a fngerprint. There are three things about beer that are important to everyone: how strong it is or isn’t, how dark or light, and how bitter or sweet. With those three things, we can get a really good idea about where your palate is and where you want to go. Just don’t pigeonhole yourself. There is so much out there. We’re going to be presented with a lot of beer this weekend at the festival. How should I devise my plan of attack?

If you’re going to taste a few different types of beer, go from low intensity to

high. Just as the appetizer is usually less complicated than the entrée, so is the order of beer tasting. It just takes a little bit of knowledge to fnd out where they fall. Start with your eyes: “Those look like some light beers, but I don’t know the alcohol content. That one looks cloudy; it’s probably wheat, so I’m gonna go there frst.” Then I’m going to go to my medium browns. I’m going to save my darker browns. You can be certain that with Mexico—if you try the Pacifco, Victoria, Corona—those are going to be delicate enough to start with. Then I might end with Belgium; they’re the strongest of the beers that we carry, and a lot of the time the most intense. Another ending note might be some of the strong American IPAs. Are beer festivals only for the very knowledgeable?

They’re for everyone. I would much rather have people who don’t know anything about beer showing up to

festivals, because I think it’s much more about discovery. So I’m on the gluten-free wagon right now. Should I just give my ticket away, or will there be something here for me to enjoy?

There will be a beautiful Spanish beer, Estrella Daura, which is really well made and very well-balanced. It tastes like a beer, which is very diffcult to do with gluten-free. We also have quite a few beautiful ciders: Samuel Smith organic cider from England and Rekorderlig cider from Sweden, as well as Ace from California and Strongbow from England. You could just drink cider and get a really good favor experience. How can I use this festival to broaden my beer horizons?

There will be representatives from the importers there, and also most of the people working the tables are Southern Wine & Spirits people whom I’ve trained. So just ask and you should

be showered with information, or at the very least pointed in the right direction. I will also be there, so come fnd me and I will defnitely take you through some beers! Finally, they say beer is the most democratic of all adult beverages. Agree?

Absolutely, and I’m really trying hard to keep it so. Beer elitism should be squashed at every turn. Unfortunately, when there is a product that sometimes needs a little bit of knowledge to be enjoyed, people take advantage and use that knowledge to make themselves feel better and make other people feel not so good about themselves. There is really no such thing as a bad beer, and no such thing as a good beer—the best beer is the beer you like. No one should be judging anyone. If someone wants to drink beer out of their shoe, let them. Of course, if they want a beautiful imported beer glass, they should be able to have that, too.

Seven Beers From Seven Countries Seek, smell and sip Sam Merritt’s international brew recommendations during Desert Hops at the Cosmopolitan

COOPERS PALE ALE

Australia

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

$13, 6 pack, Lee’s Discount Liquors

When most people think of Australian beer, they think Foster’s. But Foster’s is really not the beer of Australia. Coopers is a bottle-conditioned beer, so it’s got that natural carbonation just like Champagne, and it has a really super dry edge to it and it’s highly effervescent. So a uniquetasting beer, very flavorful, but something you might not see every day. Really, really fun to drink.

RODENBACH CLASSIC FLANDERS SOUR RED ALE

Belgium $11, 4 pack, Lee’s Discount Liquors

The benchmark of Flanders red. It’s the originator and most well-known of that style: basically, a blend of two-thirds new beer and one-third older beer. It has a very tart and dry finish, almost no residual sugar, but there’s also a lot of nuance to the flavors, such as chocolate and malt. People are talking about the next thing in beer being sour ales, and this is one of the granddaddies of sour ale.

WELLS BANANA BREAD

England $9, 4 pack, Lee’s Discount Liquors

Very much a crowdpleaser, this one. It’s a fun beer, not complicated. You can think about beer as a food and, really, beer is liquid bread. In this case, banana bread. There will be a beer next to it, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, and if you so choose, you can mix the two, and then you have bananas and chocolate— pretty nice.

SCHNEIDER AVENTINUS DOUBLE BOCK WHEAT BEER

Germany $5, 16.9 ounces, Total Wine & More

If you’ve heard of German hefeweizens, this is a very strong version of it. It uses more roasted malts, but a lot more sugar, a lot more fermentation, and I think it’s about 7.9 percent alcohol. It throws huge dark fruit as well as banana and clove, but a lot of flavor. Really fun with Asian food.

AMA BIONDA FARMHOUSE ALE

Italy

INNIS & GUNN TOASTED OAK IPA

Scotland

DOGFISH HEAD SIXTY-ONE

USA

$10, 6 pack, Lee’s Discount Liquors

$10, 4 pack, Lee’s Discount Liquors

Interesting story: It turns out the guys who own New York’s Brooklyn Brewery, their mother is from Italy, they have a house there, and they’ve gotten to know the brewers in Italy. This beer was designed by the brewmaster in Brooklyn, but it’s made at Amarcord Brewery in Apecchio. It’s made with Sicilian orangeblossom honey, and it has this beautiful floral tone. But it’s light in body and super effervescent. It just does wonders with food.

It’s fairly new for them. Everything at Innis & Gunn is aged in oak; they actually put the number of days it’s been in oak on all the bottles, which I find interesting. Most IPAs nowadays are going to be American or West Coast, very floral, a lot of pine and citrus and tropical fruit. But this one has been treated in the oak, so really a lot of that bright stuff goes away, and then it just kind of gets deep and interesting and dry.

Dogfish Head has a range of IPAs: 6o Minute, 90 Minute and 120 Minute, indicating their bitterness level and strength. The 60 Minute IPA is a real nice, robust American IPA—lots of citrus, pine and such, but then they add grape must, which is basically unfermented wine or juice. So the hop notes take a little bit of a back seat to a nice, dry grapey-ness.

Mashing in with a Brewmaster

Brewing beer: If you think it’s so easy, why not do it yourself? Actually, making beer is easy, and you absolutely can do it yourself. But making good beer is a different matter entirely. By X A N I A W O O D M A N • Photographs by J O N E S T R A D A

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 26 >

VegasSeven.com

Big Dog’s brewmaster Dave Otto.

BEER ISSUE

big dog’s brewing co. master brewer Dave Otto says he has brewed more than 1,000 batches for the city’s oldest brewing company since April 1997, when he was hired as assistant brewmaster at Holy Cow Brewing Co., which once occupied the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. Not two years later, Otto was made brewmaster. In 2003, the company moved operations out to North Rancho Boulevard, and changed its name to Big Dog’s Brewing Co. to honor its late founder, Tom “Big Dog” Weisner. Otto is proudest of two World Beer Cup gold awards in 2006 and 2010 for his Red Hydrant English Brown Ale. But before he went pro, Otto was an avid homebrewer, converted by a good bottle of Anchor Steam and an eye-opening early brewing attempt. “Brewing’s a process, a six- to eight-hour process. It’s easy if you know what you’re doing and have all the tools available to you. But if you don’t, it can be very daunting—it’s not going to turn out well.” Otto recommends aspiring brewers start their knowledge quest at a homebrew shop (see Page 29) and attend the monthly meetings of the Southern Nevada Ale Fermenters Union at Aces & Ales (3740 S. Nellis Blvd.). And then? Just brew it. There’s a frst time for everything. For Otto, his frst homebrewed batch was the hook “when I could see the fermentation. I was fascinated by it. I’m still fascinated.” Fall is a busy time for Big Dog’s, which just released its Ol’ Jack Pumpkin Ale and is gearing up for Dogtoberfest on October 11. Otto also has plans for a Sled Dog Imperial Stout batch that will spend 100 days in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. That won’t be released until winter. In the meantime the day-to-day brewery operations and year-round portfolio must also be maintained. Otto recently invited Vegas Seven to stop by the Big Dog’s brewery to capture the makings of a batch of Dirty Dog IPA, one of the brand’s biggest sellers and a two-time fnalist in Brewing News’ National IPA Championship.

September 25–October 1, 2014

The 2014

< C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 25

The two-row pale malt that forms the base of most Big Dog’s brews comes from the silo in front of the Draft House building. Character malts, such as chocolate and Munich, add layers of roastiness, biscuit and caramel notes. Otto brings those in on a forklift in 55-pound bags. 1

BEER ISSUE

2 Vienna malt gives Dirty Dog its light toastiness and delicate orange hue. 3

Caramel malt imparts a reddish amber color, as well as caramel notes on both the nose and palate. “For an IPA, you just want a little hint of caramel malt,” Otto says. “So we only use a little bit, about 5 percent of the grist.” 3

4 All grains have to be milled to crack their outer shells and expose the starchy material inside. 5 During mash in, Otto combines malt with hot water to convert the starches into fermentable sugars, and stirs it by hand to prevent seizing.

1 4

6 Temperature is vital. For his IPA, Otto wants to reach exactly 148 degrees within a certain window of about 15-30 minutes. “You only really have one chance to hit it. If you miss it, by the time you have everything combined, it’s too late.” In other words, you’ve made oatmeal. “It’s totally by feel.” 7 After mashing, the wort (hot water with the grain sugars) is drained from the mash tun into the grant, then transferred to the 15-barrel kettle in a process called lautering.

8 The kettle boils for 75 minutes to sterilize the wort, coagulate the proteins (trub) and extract hop oils and resins. The kettle boils off any undesirable aromas that come from the wort.

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

9 For Dirty Dog IPA, Otto chooses Columbus hop pellets for their heady floral aroma, as well as Summit, Cascade and Centennial. Hops are added during the boil in six stages. After the boil, Otto cuts the fire, whirlpools the wort in the kettle, cools it to 70 degrees and moves it to the fermenters.

10 Next he pitches in the yeast slurry that will feed on the sugary wort and produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. His choice of yeast strain varies by the style of beer being made, but California ale yeast is the most typical. The Dirty Dog IPA stays in the fermenter for about three weeks and then gets one more dose of hops (a blend of dried Columbus, Summit and Cascade for a fresh, dry-hop aroma). 11 After four days, the beer is transferred to 15-barrel bright tanks, where it is carbonated and clarified, then drawn off into kegs for the best part of all: drinking.

SEPTEMBER 25 ★ Gordon Biersch presents Beers & Brats in the Bier Garden: $10 gets you a cold 21-ounce brew and a brat. Can’t beat that! 5-7 p.m., 3987 Paradise Rd., 702-312-5247, GordonBiersch.com.

SEPTEMBER 25-26 ★ Catch the last days of Twin Peaks’ Oktoberfest in September with biergarten fraüleins, beerpoached Knotty Bratwursts topped with spicy brown mustard and tangy sauerkraut, and Samuel Adams Oktoberfest beer, poured at a frosty 29 degrees. 3717 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 285, 702795-8946, and 9510 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 100, 702-564-1280, TwinPeaksRestaurant.com.

SEPTEMBER 26 ★ Hofbräuhaus gets in on its 11th annual Oktoberfest with a keg tapping by Eddie Griffin at 7:30 p.m. Rick Harrison has the honor Oct. 4, Anthony Cools on Oct. 10 and Holly Madison on Oct. 17; check the online events calendar for the complete celebrity guest-tapper lineup. While you’re there, test your strength during the stein-holding competition or receive a sound Jägermeister spanking—your move. 4510 Paradise Rd., 702-853-2337, HofbrauhausLasVegas.com. ★ Freakin’ Frog gets frisky with an Italian Beer Weekend, Sept. 26-28, showcasing 50 Italian beers (most starting at $3) and offering special menu items for the pairing. The Frog does it again Oct. 3-5 for a Belgian Beer Weekend. Oct. 10, beers are paired with Japanese whisky ($88), while on Oct. 18, it’s Beer Versus Whiskey, with more than 100 beers and 100 whiskies pitted against one another in a winner-takes-all-competition ($25). Finally, on Oct. 25 a U.K.inspired beer-pairing dinner takes over ($50). All events start at 7 p.m., 4700 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 8, 702-217-6794, FreakinFrog.com.

SEPTEMBER 27

OCTOBER 7

★ Vegas Seven presents the third annual Desert Hops International Beer Experience, 8-11 p.m. at the Cosmopolitan (VIP ticket holders get in at 7 p.m.), offering unlimited tastings of 150 beers from 25 countries. Drink your way around the world, then tuck into beerfriendly cuisine (see Page 66) by property restaurants. $45-$65 VIP, VegasSeven.com/ BeerFestival.

★ San Diego’s Green Flash Brewing Co. and Wirtz Beverage Nevada team up for Treasure Chest at Velveteen Rabbit, raising money for breast cancer research with every pint sold of the pink-hued barrelaged saison with plum. 6:30-9 p.m., 1218 S. Main St., 702-685-9645, Facebook.com/VelveteenRabbitLV.

★ Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits celebrates its 10th anniversary with a specially commissioned barrel-aged Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Joseph James, which will be tapped (and heavily discounted) from 5-10 p.m. Other rare beers and some specialty wines (think Caymus and Prisoner) will be opened throughout the party, which will be fed by the Dragon Grille food truck and punctuated by raffles and prize giveaways. 9915 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 110, 702-4359463, KhourysFineWine.com.

★ Golden Nugget’s fifth annual Fall Beer Fest pairs American craft beers with Oktoberfest for a two-day, around-the-world affair. Friday’s All-American Craft Beer Tasting offers more than 125 beers from 30 breweries, plus appetizers and live music ($55, 7-10 p.m.). Saturday, head out to the shark tanks for a free-to-enter poolside Oktoberfest (1-7 p.m.) with more than 150 beers and food available for purchase. 129 Fremont St., 702-386-8221, GoldenNugget.com.

OCTOBER 4 ★ Sample fine wine, beer and food from some of the city’s best restaurants—while helping to raise money for a good cause—at the Springs Preserve’s fifth annual Grapes & Hops Festival. $40 per person, $70 for two, $100 VIP includes early admission, private bar, specialty foods; 5-9 p.m., 333 S. Valley View Blvd., 702-822-7700, SpringsPreserve.org. ★ Oktoberfest is free at Centennial Plaza from 2-9 p.m., presented by the City of Las Vegas in partnership with the German-American Social Club of Nevada. The sixth annual event features German food, beers, music and dance with refreshments available for sale. Entertainment includes all-female “oom-pop” party band Oompoporama, and the Las Vegas Bavarian Dancers; a children’s activity area will feature caricature artists, face painting, balloon artists, games and activities. 401 S. Fourth St., 702229-3515, ArtsLasVegas.org.

OCTOBER 10-11

★ Rock ‘N Roll Wine’s ninth annual Wine Amplified festival rolls in the barrels, adding a craft-beer garden (25-plus craft-beer selections) to the two-day event. Bands performing Friday include Train, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Of Verona and Auyon Jones & The Way; Saturday’s lineup includes Blink-182, Violent Femmes, Magic!, the Mystic Roots Band and the Mowgli’s. $69$299, 4 p.m.-midnight, MGM Resorts Village, WineAmplified.com.

OCTOBER 11 ★ Always a crowd-pleaser: Big Dog’s Brewing Co.’s Dogtober Fest returns with a true Wisconsin-style brat party at the Draft House with 40-plus seasonal brews, huge hot pretzels, raffles and live music, all benefiting the Animal Foundation. Free admission, 3-9 p.m., 4543 N. Rancho Dr., 702-645-1404, DogtoberBeerFest.com. ★ Sip into something tasty at the eighth annual Taste of Spirit in the Grand Ballroom at the South Point,

★ McMullan’s Irish Pub presents a four-course beer-pairing dinner. Menu highlights include avocado shrimp ceviche, spicy beef potato pasties, apple-glazed pork chops and banoffee cream pie paired with beers from Henderson’s Joseph James Brewing Co: Fox Tail Gluten-Free Ale, Citra Rye Pale Ale, American Lager, Weize Guy Hefeweizen, Red Fox Imperial Stout and a “nightcap” of Rum-BarrelAged Pumpkin Beer. (Joseph James also hits Culinary Dropout on Oct. 16, Henderson’s Gold Mine Tavern on Oct. 24 and Imperial Tacos & Beer on Nov. 6.) $60, 7 p.m., 4650 W. Tropicana Ave., Suite 110, 702247-7000, McMullansIrishPub.com.

OCTOBER 18 ★ The Rock Star Beer Festival rolls into the Hard Rock Hotel with more than 30 breweries, such as Stone, Lost Abbey, Victory and Smog City, plus a frozen beer station (oh, hello, frozen Heretic Chocolate Hazelnut Porter!), sounds by DJ ParaDice and live music poolside at Rehab. Bands include Play for Keeps, All Night Pressure and Dantes Boneyard. Proceeds benefit the UNLV Beverage Management Club’s scholarship program. $35 in advance, $40 at the door, 7-10 p.m., Vegas-BeerFestival.com.

OCTOBER 19 ★ Local west-side watering hole

Distill presents OctoberFeast, a four-course Oktoberfest-inspired beer-pairing dinner featuring sausage and sauerkraut fritters (served with a pilsner), beer bacon and quark cheese soup (doppelbock), pork loin medallions schnitzel or beer-battered dorsch (lager), and fried apple pie with graham cracker ice cream (with a Märzen). $55, 6 p.m. 10820 W. Charleston Blvd., 702-534-1400, DistillBar.com.

OCTOBER 22 ★ The October installment of the monthly Gus’ Beer & Bites beerpairing dinner series at the Monte Carlo Pub welcomes the beers of Oregon’s Deschutes Brewing Co., which will be served alongside five courses of beer-loving cuisine. (On

★ Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits celebrates Halloween with an evening of specialty one-off beers from Las Vegas’ local breweries served from giant beer-filled pumpkin kegs. Food trucks bring the eats; you bring your costumed and thirsty self. $25, 6-10 p.m., 9915 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 110, 702-4359463, KhourysFineWine.com.

NOVEMBER 8 ★ Enjoy live music and stroll cobble-

stone walkways with a frosty one in-hand when the Brew’s Best Fall Beer Festival takes over the Village at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, offering 80 local and regional beers from 20 booths. $25 in advance, $30 at the door, 2-6 p.m.; $40 VIP ticket gets you in at 1 p.m., BrewsBestLV.com.

NOVEMBER 14 ★ Anheuser-Busch flocks to Lagasse’s Stadium for the Goose Island Brewing Co. beer dinner, featuring Goose Island IPA, 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Sofie, Honkers Ale and—who could forget—Matilda. Pairings include bacon-crusted swordfish on apple; grilled salmon on sweet corn; herb-roasted turkey breast on focaccia stuffing; and apple crisp with caramel sauce. Matilda will no doubt be stuffed. 6 p.m., $55, in the Palazzo, 702607-2665, EmerilsRestaurants.com/ Lagasses-Stadium.

NOVEMBER 17 ★ Chopped alumnus, chef Rick Giffen of the Stratosphere hosts a four-course craft-beer dinner featuring the portfolio of Nevada Beverage Company as part of UNLV’s fall 2014 Chef Artist Management Class. $100, 6 p.m., in the Stan Fulton Building, 801 E. Flamingo Rd., 702-525-2127 for reservations, which are required.

NOVEMBER 20 ★ Hi Scores has been hoarding kegs of Joseph James’ 2013 Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout and Fifth Anniversary Wee Heavy—and tonight, they’re both being tapped. Here’s the scoop: These beers get better with age, and these kegs are among the last available. 6-9 p.m., 65 S. Stephanie St., Henderson, 702522-7766, HIScoresLV.com.

VegasSeven.com

OCTOBER 17

OCTOBER 25

Don’t miss a drop of these beer events! By X A N I A W O O D M A N

Nov. 19, the series features Shock Top beers, produced by AnheuserBusch Brewing Co.) $65, 6:30 p.m., in the Monte Carlo, MonteCarlo.com/ BeerSeries.

September 25–October 1, 2014

The Beer Lover’s Fall Calendar

benefiting Spirit Therapies, which has been providing physical therapy on horseback for more than 10 years. Enjoy dinner, wine and beer tasting, live entertainment, live and silent auctions and a raffle; hosted by KLAS-TV anchorwoman Paula Francis. $75, 5-9:30 p.m., in the South Point, 702219-1728, SpiritTherapies.org.

Flour & Barley The extensive 22-ounce bottle list ranges from ciders to double IPAs and porters. Order a Ballast Point Sculpin IPA on draft, an award-winning citrus brew with bite. FlourAndBarley.com.

Franklin at Delano Try a Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace saison, named for the rare Japanese hops that impart a unique lemon and dill aroma. DelanoLasVegas.com.

Steiner’s A mainstay in the community, this Nevada-style pub has all types of suds for all types of people. SteinersPub.com.

Tacos & Beer Don’t let the modest name mislead you: The B in T&B means business. The everchanging drafts are listed on a chalkboard at the end of the bar, and the bottle selection includes anything from Bruery’s Smoking Wood to Franziskaner. TacosAndBeerLV.com.

43 Flamingo Rd.

3 F re

Sahara Ave.

32 46 7

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Desert Inn Rd.

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Tropicana Ave.

Burger Bar Beer without buyer’s remorse: All pints are about $7. Good luck finding that anywhere else on the Strip. Burger-Bar.com. 3930 Las Vegas Blvd. S.

215

. wy

28 Stephanie St.

Warm Springs Rd.

Crown & Anchor.

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse All BJ’s pour 10 handcrafted brews. Get your growler filled at the Henderson location. BJsRestaurants.com.

215

Sunset Rd.

515

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47 23 13 10 37 6 42 39 19 18 9 11 5 17

36 31 41 Gibson Rd.

Green Valley Pkwy.

Pecos Rd.

Eastern Ave.

Sierra Gold Las Vegas/ PT’s Pub With 39 locations throughout the Valley, PT’s is synonymous with Las Vegas. The four Sierra Gold locations offer fancier fare, but don’t worry: You can still buy a bucket of wings there, too. Half-Off Happy Hour is from 5-7 p.m. and midnight-2 a.m. daily. GoldenTavernGroup.com/ Sierra-Gold.

Cheyenne Ave.

Maryland Pkwy.

38 Charleston Blvd.

Fiamma Former general manager and modern-day Cercio, Anthony Esparza mastered brewski philosophy as he spent 10 months creating Fiamma’s award-winning Italian craftbeer menu. MGMGrand.com.

Shakespeare’s Grille and Pub “I would give all my fame for a pot of ale.” So would we, Shakespeare. So would we. Shakespeares-Pub.com.

Craig Rd.

September 25–October 1, 2014

The Pub at Monte Carlo If you can’t make up your mind between the 300-plus beers, try a sampler for $12 to $15. The Gus’ Beer & Bites pairing dinner series is a huge draw. MonteCarlo.com.

Todd English P.U.B. Celebrity chef Todd English’s P.U.B. has more than 50 beers from which to choose, and if you can finish one within seven seconds for the Beat the Glass challenge, it’s free! ToddEnglishPUB.com.

ise R

Atomic Liquor Choose from 20 microbrew selections on tap, which usually include at least two sours at this classic Las Vegas waterin’ hole while admiring Babs’ old seat. AtomicLasVegas.com.

Crown & Anchor British Pub Fish and chips, pints and darts. All Crown & Anchor is missing is the Queen herself. CrownAndAnchorLV.com.

Rí Rá An authentic Irish pub where the Guinness flows like wine. RiRa.com.

Parad

VegasSeven.com

Aces & Ales For serious beer aficionados as well as willing acolytes. Aces & Ales only serves craft beer, with more than 150 bottles to choose from or take home. AcesAndAles.com.

McMullan’s Irish Pub Out off all the Irish pubs in Nevada, venerable McMullan’s is one of the most beloved. Drink all you want, but keep your shillelagh in your pants. McMullansIrishPub.com.

Las Vegas Blvd.

32 Degrees Draft Bar Have a true cold one: All 96 draft beers are served at exactly 32 degrees Fahrenheit. TheMResort.com.

Holsteins Certified cicerone Toshi Saito will guide you through the threepage beer menu as well as the unlisted beers in his private reserve. HolsteinsLV.com.

Public House One of few places in town with a true direct-draw cask program (see Freakin’ Frog and Todd English P.U.B.). Have a real ale served at 55 degrees without added CO2. PublicHouseLV.com.

Decatur Blvd.

Commonwealth Among other great Downtown beer spots—the Griffin and Park on Fremont—Commonwealth offers a mixed bag of everything from Montana’s Moose Drool to New Zealand’s Moa Breakfast beer. Yes, that’s a thing. CommonwealthLV.com.

Jones Blvd.

Comme Ça Expand your worldview with the Tour de Bière menu, which features 13 hardto-find craft beers from France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Denmark. CommeCaRestaurant.com.

Rainbow Blvd.

Money Plays Drink without the judgment at this locals favorite, which has 24 unexpected craft beers on tap. MoneyPlaysLV.com.

Buffalo Dr.

32 Degrees Draft Bar.

Rd .

By J E S S I E O ’ B R I E N and X A N I A W O O D M A N

ch e

Every place you need to hop right now!

The Pub at Monte Carlo.

Freakin’ Frog UNLV professor and recently knighted Adam Carmer presides over the largest selection of beer in Las Vegas with more than 1,100 bottles— some only found here—in the coolers. This is beer Mecca. FreakinFrog.com.

Apa

Fo r t

The Great Las Vegas Beer Map

BEER ISSUE

CROWN & ANCHOR BY JON ESTRADA; 32 DEGREES COURTESY M RESORT; THE PUB AT MONTE CARLO COURTESY MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL

The 2014

Lee’s Discount Liquor The Sunset location is the largest in the Valley, officially making it the best place to be during the apocalypse. LeesLiquorLV.com.

Total Wine This liquor chain offers the widest selection of beers in town, with more than 155 specialty beers and 241 keg options. The Henderson location can fill your growler, too. TotalWine.com.

Yard House Now three Valley locations to get you going. You may want to take a class in statistical analysis before you peruse the beer list. YardHouse.com. Khoury’s Fine Wine & Spirits Specializing in hard-to-find brews with 11 kegs rotating almost every day in the beer lounge. Pick up a sixer, or fill a growler with fresh, locally made beer. KhourysFineWine.com.

U Bottle It Choose from more than 60 hops and 50 beer kits—just try not to blow up your garage. UBottleIt.com. Vegas Homebrew & Winemaking Everything you need to get started with your first homebrew or your 100th batch. VegasHomeBrew.com.

Banger Brewing Known for its jalapeño-infused hefeweizen, El Heffe, Banger typically has between 8-10 beers on tap and 2-for-1 growler fills on Tuesday. BangerBrewing.com.

Big Dog’s Las Vegas’ original microbrewery. The self-proclaimed hop heads’ brews include Dirty Dog IPA, Double Down Under 2 IPA and Imperial IPA Wardog. BigDogsBrews.com.

Boulder Dam Brewing Co. Just a few miles from Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, BDBC puts out everything from pilsners to stouts like the Chilly Jilly’z Espresso Stout, made with 500 shots of fresh-brewed espresso. Live music every Friday and Saturday. Boulder DamBrewing.com.

Chicago Brewing Co. With six fixed taps and rotating seasonal beers, CBC’s Old Town Brown is a favorite. The colder fermentation temperatures and long cellaring makes for a super smooth brew.

CraftHaus All thanks to owners Dave and Wyndee Forrest for helping Nevada craft breweries by getting the state to separate brew-pub licensing from gaming. Cheers! CrafthausBrewery.com.

Ellis Island At $2 per 16-ounce pour, you can drink microbrews made on site till you’re ready to jump up on the karaoke stage and sing “Don’t Stop Believin’.” VillagePubCasino.com.

Gordon Biersch Makers of five German brews, all crafted to the exacting standards of the Bavarian Purity Law of 1487, or Reinheitsgebot. Try the new Golden Export Lager, created in honor of the company’s 25th anniversary. GordonBiersch.com. Hofbräuhaus Drink a beer bigger than your

Hop Nuts Brewery Set to open in the fall, Hop Nuts brews will emphasize—you guessed it—hops! Facebook.com/ HopNutsBrewing. Joseph James Brewing Co. Specializes in barrel-aged beers, from bourbon to wine barrels, but dependable for unique one-off brews such as Baby J’s German Chocolate Cake, you know, just to keep things interesting. Monthly tours fill up fast. JJBrewing.com.

Tenaya Creek Tenaya Creek’s Old Jackalope Barleywine received a 97/100 rating in Draft Magazine. At 10.4 percent ABV, this beer will embalm your insides, and you will live forever. TenayaCreek.com.

Triple 7 Brewpub Try the rotating brewmasters special. On tap now is Monique, a Belgian dubbel that balances spice, pear and caramel with a hint of roast. MainStreetCasino.com.

Las Vegas Brewing Co. This one-man operation brews

SoCal-inspired beers, and it’s the third brewery in the newly minted Booze District by Las Vegas Distillery. Set to open soon, so stalk the Facebook page for updates. Facebook. com/VegasBrewingCo. 43

“accentuate the indulgent nature” of Sin City. Beers include Weisse Is Nice, Never Pass Up a Blonde, Say Hello to Amber and The Dark Side of Sin. SinCityBeer.com.

Old School Brewing Co. Opening on the west side in fall, Old School will focus on world brews with 10 rotating kegs that will include house-brewed sodas for the young guests.

Vegas Seven ’s Third Annual Desert Hops International Beer Festival Bier, cerveza, pivo—it’s delicious in all languages! On Sept. 27, enjoy unlimited tastings of 150 beers from 25 countries.

VegasSeven.com/

Sin City Brewing Co. Choose from four varieties that

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Beer-pairing dinners

Bar games

Cask ale

Growler fills

100+ selections

Retail store

Brewery

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Velveteen Rabbit Although this cottontail may be known for its cocktails, it also provides a serious collection of dynamic beers, too! Look to the hand-chalked board for guidance. Facebook.com/ VelveteenRabbitLV.

head at this replica of the German drinking hall in Munich. HofbrauhausLasVegas.com.

Bad Beat Brewing Co. Improve your poker face after downing a few Bluffing Isn’t Weisse Hefeweizens or Ante Up Ambers. Nothing is more difficult to read than a drunk lazy eye. BadBeat Brewing.com.

Tours

Festival

September 25–October 1, 2014

BIG DOG’S BOTTLES BY JON ESTRADA; DESERT HOPS BY TEDDY FUJIMOTO

NIGHTLIFE

Long-haul spinner Erick Morillo ofcially launches his residency at Life Nightclub By David Morris

AFTER A SOJOURN OF NEARLY A YEAR, electronic-dance-music pioneer and Ibiza icon Erick Morillo has returned to Las Vegas. While he may have helped open SLS Las Vegas last month, he tells Vegas Seven, “That was an amazing party, but that was their celebration; September 27 marks the start of my residency.” And as one of Life Nightclub’s most notable residents, Morillo has garnered buzz. In advance of this weekend’s performance and his next one October 18, we caught up with Morillo to chat about his residency and all that he’s been up to.

September 25–October 1, 2014

Marathon Man

VegasSeven.com

Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and one awesome Aussie, Havana Brown

NIGHTLIFE 34

It’s been awhile since you’ve been in Las Vegas. What have you been up to? I have a couple of records coming out. One is a collaboration with Harry Romero called “Devotion,” and another with Carnage called “Let the Freak Out,” which is coming out next month. This winter I will have something a bit more underground called “Techno Bitches,” and I’ll be re-launching [my label] Subliminal in the spring. People will see something that delves deeper than what’s out there. I like to play with vocals and use sexy vocalists. I’ll also be showcasing artists who are not necessarily in the club world. Which vocalists are on your wish list? Pharrell and Lenny Kravitz. Will your residency at SLS mirror one of your Ibiza Subliminal Sessions sets?

“I WALK A FINE LINE AND EXPERIMENT WITH MANY DIFFERENT SOUNDS, BUT I CAN’T START THE NIGHT BY GOING OFF THE DEEP END.” DJing is always about creating a good energy and vibe, and in that sense, Vegas will be no different than Ibiza. Sure, I’ll make people put their hands up in air, but as far as the sound is concerned, I think I’ve matured and moved away from [mainstream] EDM. My sound has become deeper and more tribal, but the energy is the same with this new sound I’m championing at the moment. With this residency, I want to

incorporate lots of imaging and production. The party will defnitely go late, and as people know I am not one to shy away from long sets. It’s really about building a chemistry in the room. You once told us that, “Vegas is the Ibiza of the U.S.” What did you mean? Ibiza is the center of the world [for dance music]. Any given day in the

summer, people from all over the world come to Ibiza, and they have really built a global following and stage for our community to have a voice and to reach a lot of people. Vegas is now doing this as well. Even with the mainstreaming of house music in America, is Las Vegas ready for a more intellectual, Ibiza sound? You can’t educate people on that in just one night. I walk a fne line and experiment with many different sounds, but I can’t start the night by going off the deep end. I try to bring people in nice and slow, and create an energy so that [the crowd] can follow the music. If you start off too deep or dark, you can lose the crowd. So I read the room and take the audience on a journey. My goal is to make girls happy, because the guys follow along. This is my secret, but it really is no secret.

PHOTO BY TONY TRAN

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

Morillo plays the grand opening of Life at SLS.

closing party where liquor fows freely until the last drop. DJs Que, Karma, Greg Lopez and Kid Konrad split time on the turntables. (At Aria, 11 a.m., LiquidPoolLV.com.) You can also bid a seasonal adieu to Rehab as Brody Jenner and William Lifestyle rock the pool’s decks. (At Hard Rock, 10 a.m., HardRockHotel. com.) If you prefer your fetes with more intellectual fair, bring your friends Downtown for Velveteen Rabbit’s new trivia night. Best team name wins a round of shots, and the highest-scoring team earns a $50 bar tab. (1218 S. Main St., 7 p.m., Facebook.com/ VelveteenRabbitLV.)

Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer.

MON 29 Do you dare wear white to a steakhouse? Monochrome getups are encouraged at STK’s second annual Hamptons-style White Party. DJ M!ke Attack spins and the late Vegas Nocturne’s Butterscotch hosts. RSVP to STKVegas@TOGRP.com to attend. (In the Cosmopolitan, 9:30 p.m., STKHouse.com.) Upstairs, rising Dutch duo Firebeatz blazes Marquee. (In the Cosmopolitan, 10 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

TUE 30 Imagine Bill Murray getting down when DJ Snake commands Encore Beach Club's nighttime fnale. Earlier this month, video surfaced of the actor dancing to the Lil Jon collaboration “Turn Down for What” at a birthday dinner. Given Murray’s recent string of party crashing, we’ll just keep our fngers crossed and phones at the ready. (At Encore, 10:30 p.m., EncoreBeachClub.com.)

Justinkey, Zack the Ripper, J Diesel and White Rabbit lead the musical journey. (1501 W. Sahara Ave., 10 p.m., ArtisanHotel.com.) Come as you are to Drai’s Nightclub for Laidback Luke’s protégé Quintino. Chances are he’ll drop “Slammer,” his collaboration with FTampa to be released on Sept. 29. (In the Cromwell, 10 p.m., DraisNightlife.com.)

SAT 27

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

THU 25

FRI 26 Now’s a good time to beta test your Halloween costume. If it’s mythical, magical or kinda creepy, it’ll play well at Artisan’s Wonderland costume party. Best ensemble wins a bottle of Skyy vodka. DJs

Elixir lounge rings in its one-year anniversary with a ’50s-themed bash. Poodle skirts are highly recommended. (2920 N. Green Valley Pkwy., Henderson, 7 p.m., ElixirLounge.net.) Then join Vegas Seven at the Boulevard Pool for our third annual Desert Hops International Beer Festival!

Admission includes unlimited samplings of 150 brews from 25 countries … not that we’re suggesting you try them all. (At the Cosmopolitan, 8 p.m., VegasSeven.com/BeerFest.) In conjunction with UFC 178, octagon girls Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer host The Bank with sounds by DJ Five and G-Squared. (In Bellagio, 10:30 p.m., TheBankLasVegas. com.) Having played during SLS’ opening weekend last month, Erick Morillo returns to Life for his offcial residency launch. Read more about what to expect from his set in our interview on Page 33. (In SLS, 10:30 p.m., SLSLasVegas.com.)

SUN 28 It’s time to soak up what’s left of pool season. Locals score complimentary admission to the Drink Liquid Dry

Leave it to the minds behind Nickel F---n Beer Night to deliver unto us a Tinder Prom. Arrive solo at Beauty Bar for an “Enchanted Under the Sea” theme and use the proximity-

DJ Snake.

based dating app to fnd a match. One lucky new couple will be crowned prom king and queen, lavished with a hotel stay and bottle of Cook’s. Ah, kids these days. (517 Fremont St., 9:30 p.m., TheBeautyBar.com.) Wet Republic opens after dark for the industry closing party edition of Wet at Night with Calvin Harris. We expect to see future installments in 2015. (At MGM Grand, 10:30 p.m., WetRepublic.com.)

WED 1 Local alternative champion Jenn O. Cide will soon depart for a three-year trip around the globe. That means this Punk Rock Bingo at Double Down Saloon will be the last. Expect Rex Dart on the wheels of steel, cocktails sponsored by Jameson Black and all sorts of ways to let your freak fag fy. (4460 Paradise Rd., 10 p.m., DoubleDownSaloon.com.)

M!ke Attack.

M!KE ATTACK BY BOBBY JAMEIDAR

NIGHTLIFE

Camille Cannon

NIGHTLIFE

We know that you’re a DJ and a singer, but do you also produce your own music, or do you collaborate with other artists for the production aspect? I produce as well, but I really enjoy working with other people and getting inspired by other producers [and] writers. In the studio, I’m very hands-on, but I like to work with all different people. Most of the tracks that I’ve released, I have been very heavily involved with the writing as well. Of the three, do you tend to gravitate more toward DJing, singing or production? They all go hand in hand. Obviously, I DJ a lot—I’m out every weekend DJing—but during the week I’m working on music, whether it be at home or in the studio. There’s always something to do. You can always be creative. There’s never really a time off for me—I’m constantly on. What keeps you coming back to Las Vegas? It’s one of my favorite cities. As soon as you arrive at your hotel, the vibe is just electric. I feel like everyone is there to party. No one is there going, “Aw, I’m on a business trip.” They’re there to have fun and let loose, and it almost feels like you could be as crazy as you want and no one is going to judge you. I think everyone knows that, so everyone lets loose. When you’re playing to a crowd that’s all about just having fun, it’s the best feeling. You can feel that energy.

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

You also did a bit of acting back in the day. Do you ever think about getting into that again or into any other entertainment-based work? Absolutely, yeah. I love changing things up. That’s why I like to produce and I like to write. I like getting to record or perform or DJ. When it comes to acting: Defnitely, I’d like to do it more. But is it something I’m going to do a complete career change for? Defnitely not. As a hobby, I love being onstage. I just like to perform, that’s what it is.

She Runs the Night

Talented Australian sensation Havana Brown has it all—and now we have her By Kat Boehrer

HAVANA BROWN TOURED AS A DJ with Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears before making her debut as the lead artist on “We Run the Night,” featuring Pitbull. This track led the wave of electronically inspired pop songs to make it to the radio in 2011. Brown continues to release singles in her home country of Australia as well as in the U.S., and makes frequent tour stops in Las Vegas at venues such as Tao and Marquee, where you can catch her at Marquee Dayclub on September 28.

Who are your favorite artists to see live? It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to a concert. I wanted to go to the Jay-Z and Beyoncé concert. Beyoncé is probably the best live performer that I’ve ever seen. She’s incredible. She’s so engaging. She’s got so much movement and choreography, and [she’s] so entertaining. You watch her and it’s like, “How are you so perfect? How are you doing this?” When you see her in real life, not just on TV, you really realize how great of a performer she is. From where do you pull inspiration for the costumes you wear in your music videos? [In videos] you can wear outfts that you dream of wearing but you couldn’t wear down the street. I’m inspired by all sorts of things. When I see catwalk fashion shows, I’m very inspired. I appreciate very structured outfts: very bold, structured straight lines, very Balmain. I adore Balmain. It’s sexy and masculine at the same time. I’m lucky enough to be an artist who can explore that and have fun with it.

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

Encore [ UPCOMING ]

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com

PHOTOS BY DANNY MAHONEY

September 25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

Sept. 26 David Guetta spins Sept. 27 Zedd spins Sept. 28 Cazzette spin

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

MARQUEE DAYCLUB The Cosmopolitan [ UPCOMING ]

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com

PHOTOS BY TOBY ACUNA AND JOSH METZ

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

Sept. 26 Kalendr spins Sept. 27 Vice spins Sept. 28 Havana Brown spins

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

HAKKASAN MGM Grand

[ UPCOMING ]

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONVegas.com

PHOTOS BY TOBY ACUNA, BOBBY JAMEIDAR AND TONY TRAN

September 25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

Sept. 26 Steve Aoki and Michael Woods spin Sept. 27 Calvin Harris and Burns spin Sept. 28 Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano spin

DINING

“It’s not a restaurant. It’s a place you go to eat. There’s a big difference.” {PAGE 68}

Restaurant reviews, news and all the brats worth eating during the Desert Hops International Beer Festival

Food Trucks Still Truckin’ Kicking the tires on a few of the town’s latest meals-on-wheels outfts

PHOTOS BY BIG TOM PHOTOGRAPHY

Truck-U BBQ’s chef Mike Minor, and a pork butt torta.

liken. Nonetheless, I knew he wouldn’t miss First Friday, and I wasn’t disappointed. The rockabilly-theme truck (decorated in part by tattoo artist and musician Dirk Vermin) was there, with Minor and his wife personally waiting on customers. My wife and I let Mike pick the menu, and he offered us a pair of delicious tacos. The slow-smoked short-rib variety was coated in a wonderful habanero barbecue sauce and topped with guacamole, salsa fresca and chipotle aioli. I was also very pleasantly surprised with the crispy cornfake fried chicken tacos, which came with charred corn relish and a delicious chipotle coleslaw. Unfortunately, after trying them on numerous occasions, I still can’t wrap my taste buds around the french fries topped with short ribs, blue cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, chipotle aioli and Oaxacan barbecue sauce. They’re a bit of a disaster, piling on far too much salt and then trying to compensate with a sweet sauce. Next time I’ll stick to an old favorite: the barbecue brisket burrito. A few trucks away, we found my second target, StripChezze (StripChezze. com), a truck dedicated to all things cheesy. Most offerings come grilled, but there are also more interesting options such as

September 25–October 1, 2014

FOOD TRUCKS ARE A LOT HARDER

to track down these days than they once were. Rather than cruising the streets daily and using social media to attract their customers, many now confne their service to larger events. So when I decided I wanted to check out the offerings of three relatively new trucks, I had to hit a couple of major gatherings to fnd them. My frst stop: First Friday. Truck-U BBQ (TruckUBBQ.com) has gotten its fair share of media attention this year, thanks to an innovative concept (barbecue meets Mexican) and a popular local chef (Mike Minor). I was lucky enough to eat one of the frst plates that came off the truck when it opened to the public, and I’ve snacked on a handful of dishes since then. But for the past month or so, Minor has been in L.A. lending a hand to his former Border Grill bosses Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Mil-

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By Al Mancini

DINING

Customers outside the StripChezze truck.

a mac ’n’ cheese-stuffed eggroll with kimchi sauce, and cheesecoated bulgogi. The Hangover is a delicious take on sliders made on pretzel buns with pepperjack, beer cheese, onions and sausage. And the bacon jam on the Jam on It was a great addition to the Muenster and tomato, all on a Parmesan sourdough roll. Even the relatively simple three-cheese sandwich was yummy. Unfortunately, service was atrociously slow, despite relatively few customers. I didn’t fnd the third truck I was seeking, a health food eatery

called 50 Shades of Green (Twitter.com/50Shades_Green) at First Friday. But the next week I noticed on its Facebook page that it would be serving at the San Gennaro Feast. So I braved the crowds just to give it a try. If there’s one thing that does not put me in the mood for health food, it’s the scent of cheesesteaks, grilled sausage and funnel cakes. But I exercised some restraint and refrained from the junk food as I sought out the truck. When I tracked it down, a large cup of the mildly spiced chili made with organic beef was almost good

enough to distract me from the smell of grease in the air. And I absolutely loved the turkey panini: toasted, sweet whole-grain bread with a thin slice of sharp Havarti and a delicious light pesto sauce. Unfortunately, I found the quinoa salad utterly boring and devoid of favor—the very thing carnivores dread when they hear the word “vegan.” While my food truck experiences were generally positive, I think I’m through with meals on wheels for a while. I’m now looking forward to a week filled with waiters and tablecloths.

[ A SMALL BITE ]

ENJOY BEER-FRIENDLY CUISINE DURING DESERT HOPS

In the 17th century, Paulaner monks from Munich would survive only on beer when they were fasting. Unless you have built up a monk-like tolerance, you are

September 25–October 1, 2014

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going to need something to eat during Vegas Seven’s third annual Desert Hops

International Beer Festival, September 27 at the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Pool. Property restaurants, including Jaleo, Comme Ça and Scarpetta, will be represented at the festival, each with its own concession booth, providing global cuisine to complement the international beer options. ¶ The Cosmopolitan will also trot out a grill just for the event, serving bratwurst made with Old High German pork, beef and veal sausage, as well as currywurst, made with your choice of sausage, curry ketchup and onion straws. Each is served on a pretzel roll with smoked ham-hock sauerkraut, caramelized onions and choice of mustard for $7. Snack options include a warm, soft jumbo salt-and-cheddar pretzel with Schlenkerla smoked-beer cheese dip and spicy brown mustard for $4, or landjäger (a.k.a. a semi-dried meat stick) to gnaw on for $5. ¶ So get your money’s worth of beer at the festival, but remember to eat, too—just as long as you’re not breaking any sacred vows. – Jessie O’Brien

Get the latest on local restaurant openings and closings, interviews with top chefs, cocktail recipes, menu previews and more in our weekly “Sips and Bites” newsletter. Subscribe at VegasSeven.com/SipsAndBites.

The sterile, glossy black and metal touches of THEhotel have disappeared, making way for more natural, warm and elemental décor, as if the Delano wanted to blend in with its surroundings, starting from the giant boulder sourced from the Mojave desert and dropped in the renovated hotel’s entry. As such, the Delano’s dining offerings seem less like they’re intended to be flashy to lure in Las Vegas visitors, but more like where you would hang out if you were home. With friendly baristas, comfy seating and people on laptops soaking up the Wi-Fi, 3940 Coffee + Tea is pretty much your favorite neighborhood coffee spot—if your neighborhood was the Strip. Although some may love it more for its fancy, filter-drip coffees imported from South America, I’m all about the killer iced mocha. To eat, there’s an eclectic selection of pastries, such as macarons, cinnamon rolls and scones, but the sandwich game is on point as well. The perfect grab-and-go bite for me was the porchetta panini: a toasty and crusty thin, slow-roasted pork sandwich dressed with Fontina cheese and arugula. While we’re discussing sammys, the humble toasted cheese sandwich was apparently one of FDR’s favorites (the other— no lie—was hot dogs), so the dish features prominently on all Delano menus (I sampled it while at Della’s Kitchen), and it’s a people pleaser, made with melted cheddar on soft white bread that was golden brown on the outside. As toasted cheese’s BFF, tomato soup accompanies it, and while it was robust with herbs and well-seasoned, the thickness reminded me more of a marinara sauce—all the better to dip the sandwich in, of course. Della’s Kitchen had touted itself as an “urban kitchen,” and after eating here, it finally dawned on me what that truly means. Much like 3940 Coffee + Tea, Della’s is what you’d want out of a brunch spot in your ‘hood: It’s cool, comfortable and familiar, and doesn’t feel jam-packed, even when it is. It’s a spot that makes an effort to present honest and locally sourced ingredients for well-executed dishes such as carne asada huevos rancheros (more rib-eye steak than Mexican-influenced, but I’m not complaining), and comforting sides such as Portuguese sausage. When you’re ready to move from daytime meals to dinner, take the elevator to Mix. The restaurant by Alain Ducasse remains one of the most stunning dining rooms on the Strip: stark white and modern, with its signature glass bauble installation that makes you feel like you’re in a glass of Champagne. Ducasse will retain his prime real estate on the 64th floor of the tower, along with its sweeping views of the city, when Mix transforms into Rivea next summer. French haute cuisine will make way for more earthy, Mediterranean-inspired fare, but with the same flair for elegance and simplicity. It seems like Las Vegas is always looking for the next great neighborhood dining experience. Who knew we’d find it on the Strip?

PHOTO BY JAVON ISA AC

DINE ROUND THE DELANO

DINING

Adrià’s Academia

Spanish chef Ferran Adrià visits Vegas to support Estrella Damm beer, unfolds global culinary education agenda

September 25–October 1, 2014

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LISTENING TO FERRAN ADRIÀ SPEAK

to a packed house at Bazaar Meat in SLS Las Vegas on September 11, I felt as though I should be taking notes. The legendary Spanish chef was delivering a lecture entitled Creativity in the Art of Food at his frst public Las Vegas appearance, presented by Spanish beer company Estrella Damm. But Adrià, who recently signed on as a spokesman for the brand, clearly wasn’t in Las Vegas to shill beer. Speaking through an interpreter for close to two hours, he seemed intent on re-defning the way in which we as a society think of food, tackling such diverse topics as the vocabulary we use to describe food to the way major developments in human history have affected what we eat. It was pretty heady stuff, the kind of lecture I imagine he delivers when addressing students at Harvard University, which he’ll be doing again next month. But it’s just the beginning of what Adrià hopes to contribute to the study of cuisine Adrià revolutionized the culinary world with his work at Spain’s legendary El Bulli restaurant. There he developed many of the avant-garde scientifc cooking techniques that came to be known as the molecular gastronomy movement. (The chef is quick to remind me, however, that “in Spain, no one calls it that.”) There, he mentored chefs like José Andrés, who now has fve Las Vegas restaurants of his own and who hosted Adrià at Bazaar Meat. El Bulli, which was only open six months a year so the chef could spend the other six developing new techniques, was named the best in the world a record fve times. Then in 2011, he stopped service at El Bulli altogether. Adrià says he was frustrated that his staff of 75 was only able to serve 50 customers a night. He wanted to reach a

wider audience, millions of people over several generations. So El Bulli the restaurant has become El Bulli Foundation, possibly the most ambitious culinary educational project ever undertaken. “The food world has not reached college [level],” Adrià says of the need for such a foundation. “The frst time that it happened was with the [recent series of] classes at Harvard.” So for the past three years, he and his team have been visiting colleges to collect and sort through scholarly materials on food and cooking. He’s lectured at Harvard, and helped create museum exhibitions around the world. In the meantime, the foundation is creating a permanent cooking exhibition at El Bulli called 1846, after the number of dishes served in the restaurant’s history. That site will also serve as a creativity center for industry professionals. And fnally, the foundation is preparing to launch BulliPedia, an online repository of culinary knowledge, from recipes to the history of various cuisines. “It’s about sharing,” Adrià says of the combined efforts to connect the entire culinary world. “Then it’s out of our hands. In 10 years time we will see [the results].” Unfortunately, Adrià has no plans to return to the world of haute cuisine. He will be feeding people, however, at 1846. But, he insists of the planned dining facility there, “It’s not a restaurant. It’s a place you go to eat. There’s a big difference.” Las Vegans can still get a taste of Adrià’s classic cuisine at Jaleo in the Cosmopolitan and Bazaar Meat, where his mentee Andrés still offers his old boss’ famed liquid olives.

Tres amigos: José Andrés, Larry Ruvo and Ferran Adrià.

PORTRAIT BY OSO MEDIA/AL AMY

By Al Mancini

DRINKING [ THE BEER NUT ]

CICERONE SAM MERRITT PICKS PERFECT BEERS FOR AUTUMN AND BEYOND Southern Wine & Spirits director of beer education Sam Merritt already weighed in on what to drink at Vegas Seven’s third annual Desert Hops International Beer Festival (See Page 24). But we asked him to put his certified cicerone hat back on and recommend the perfect beers for this season and the next. Las Vegas is right at the intersection of summer and fall: It’s still warm during the day, but the evenings are just so blissfully cool you can actually sit on your patio. Prescribe the ideal end-of-summer beer—I’m just not ready for pumpkin yet! A German hefeweizen or a Belgian saison farmhouse ale—really nice for that transition. Still quenching and tart, but also giving you a bit of spice. They’re vivacious beers, those saisons. It’s a vivacious time of year.

Hargrove has celiac disease, which prevented her from tasting during the creative process. “I rely mostly on my sense of smell and the information about the beer that I have that I’ve researched,” she says. “Although I can’t drink it, I should at least be able to speak to guests about it.” And then there are the volunteers, lucky friends, regulars and coworkers who road test Hargrove’s recipes. “Or, if I see a guest order two or three of the same stout, I ask if he’s willing to give me his opinion.” And really, who wouldn’t? Get the recipe at VegasSeven.com/CocktailCulture.

Few things are so well matched as football season and beer. Except perhaps rum and cigars. All four can be enjoyed at Rhumbar in The Mirage. There, mixologist Lillian Hargrove created a gridiron-inspired specialty beertail just for football season, with Sailor Jerry spiced rum, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice and vanilla syrup, topped with Blue Moon Belgian-style wheat ale and a vanilla and orange blossom-infused rum foam. The drink’s rather unsubtle name, Liquid Pig Skin ($12), may have you running for the exit, but its story is worth telling.

September 25–October 1, 2014

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

A Rum and Beer Tale

OK, one more season forward. After the winter holidays comes New Year’s Eve. Is there a Champagne-esque style of beer that would work for popping at midnight? Absolutely, the strong golden ales from Belgium—so elegant. I’m thinking of brands like Duvel, Delirium Tremens; we have a really good strong golden called Fin Du Monde from Quebec, which is appropriate because it means “the end of the world.” North Coast Brewing Co. out of Fort Bragg, California, has one called Pranqster, which is really nice. They’re all bottle-conditioned, and all very effervescent, so they act a lot like Champagne on the palate. And they’re strong—9 percent or so. Not as strong as Champagne, but certainly bubbly. – X.W.

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Now, fast-forward another month or two. It’s cooler, boot and jean weather. We’re in the Halloween spirit and starting to think about the holidays. What beer can I bring to a Thanksgiving feast and not be given a dirty look? When it starts to get cool, I go toward brown ales. When the weather starts to change, people think about campfires and being outdoors. That gets people into that mood: “OK, we’re cold enough where we can burn some wood.” That kicks it off. One thing I always do in the fall is I get a whole bunch of different brown ales and a whole bunch of different pumpkin ales and I just combine them and make brownpumpkin ales. I call it a Drunken Pumpkin.

A&E

“Stand-up comic Matt Kazam is an apple-shaped cuddle-bear with a nonthreatening manner that makes it all go down easily and entertainingly.” SHOWSTOPPER {PAGE 77}

Vegas PBS’ Cade Cridland creates a new platform to showcase local talent By Jessi C. Acuña

Backyard Sessions is a place for, Cridland says, “highlighting artists, performers, singers and songwriters.” The series, which includes eight 12- to 15-minute episodes to be released once a week starting October 1, showcases one local act per show. He emphasizes that it’s a niche to help musicians come into their own. The bands—American Cream, HaleAmanO, Jill and Julia, Jordan Mitchell, the Perks, Play for Keeps, Sabriel and the Solid Suns—have

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it’s local musicians reaping the reward of a show he’s crafted from scratch.

Show Support

CADE CRIDLAND ASSUMES THE ROLE OF protective big brother to those who come on the set of Vegas PBS’ new web series Backyard Sessions. He’s engaging the talent by walking them through the process, making sure they are comfortable and know what to expect. He’s sharply dressed but approachable. You can ask him questions, and he’s got the right advice. This isn’t part of his job description, but rather a refection of a man who’s willing to create a platform just so others can rise to the occasion. And in this case,

September 25–October 1, 2014

PHOTO BY JESSE J SUTHERL AND

Movies, music, stage and a not-so-bohemian rhapsody

A&E

“I REMEMBER LOOKING OUT OVER THE BACKYARD RIGHT AS THE SUN WAS STARTING TO SET. IT DAWNED ON ME THAT THIS WOULD BE A REALLY INTERESTING CONCEPT FOR A SHOW.”

Vegas’ own backyard jam: Jordan Mitchell (top) performs and DJ Etchane interviews songstress Sabriel.

September 25–October 1, 2014

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– Cade Cridland

already inspired local followings in their own right, but Backyard Sessions offers them a noteworthy outlet that didn’t previously exist. Each episode includes three live recordings of the artist’s original music, anchored with an interview led by local poet and DJ Etchane. Creating this show was a natural step for the Rancho Cucamonga, California, native and UNLV graduate, who has merged his personal love of music with his passion for TV production. Cridland spends much of his week as an editor and videographer for various Vegas PBS projects and on-air shows such as the Clark County School Districtproduced Inside Education and the upcoming documentary series Makers: Women in Nevada History. But it was at the unlikeliest of places—his wedding—that inspiration struck for Backyard Sessions. After a private

ceremony in Coronado, California, Cridland and his wife opted for a party at his in-laws’ Henderson Anthem Country Club home in place of a traditional reception. “We put up big wood pillars and bulb lights and strung them all the way across the backyard,” Cridland says. “We had a live blues rock band and a local barbecue place cater. I remember looking out over the backyard [that faces the Strip] right as the sun was starting to set, and everybody was enjoying [themselves]. It dawned on me that this would be a really interesting concept for a show, because it’s something that everyone relates to.” This all-American assemblage ultimately became the vision for the set of Backyard Sessions, which includes a grill, lounge chairs, mason jars, a Radio Flyer from Cridland’s in-laws and a mountain

Besides a push for Web content from PBS national to build more audience outreach, Cridland knew the roots of the show needed to be planted online “to reach digital natives or millennials, a generation used to second-screen viewing. They might be watching Nova on the air, but at the same time they’re updating social media or they’re watching something on YouTube.” He understands programming on the Web generates traffc through mobile devices, making it simple to share videos. And for the aforementioned eight bands that are hoping to fnd a future in the music industry, Cridland, an avid concertgoer, will be right there supporting them along the way. “What’s going to determine if we continue are a couple of different things,” Cridland says, noting that “community support is a big aspect of it.” This sunset outline from Red isn’t just about bolstering Rock. Now all he needed musicians, either. BACKYARD was the equipment to Cridland’s flm crew is SESSIONS make it happen. made up of student staff Watch episodes at Cridland had to include and interns. Not only VegasPBS.org/ a sizzle reel in a grant because “students really backyardsessions. submission for PBS’ Digital support the local music Entrepreneurs photography scene … so they get to be a equipment. With help from little bit more creative with Sabriel, American Cream and the Solid their camera movements,” Cridland Suns, he produced a three-minute clip says, but because he, too, got his start to send in for consideration. And it at Vegas PBS during his college years worked. He was awarded the camera before taking time off to travel after kit, a necessity for creating high-quality graduation. It’s a system that continues Web content, which includes a turnkey today: “I’m around a lot of really great Canon 6D that, according to Cridland, employees who helped facilitate my “takes the show’s production to growth as a person here,” he says. another level.” Even more importantly, And like a good big brother, he the show will be considered for its own knows that once you’ve found your channel under the PBS Digital Studio footing, it’s time to pass the torch. Just YouTube umbrella through the grant, like those before him, he’s imparting giving these bands an opportunity valuable life lessons to the younger set “to be showcased on a national level while letting them discover a tune all through a trusted brand.” their own.

PARADISE LOCATION Across from the Hard Rock 702-736-6166

Late night breakfast menu served Midnight to 10am

CONCERTS

Charles Bradley reminds us that soul is all we need Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, September 19

A&E

“Do you want to go back to the old time?” the 65-year-old soul singer asked the audience. “Well, let me take you there.” With that, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires escorted fans on a journey that touched on the high notes of R&B and soul. Armed with his signature raspy voice, an undeniable stage presence and three flashy suits, Bradley paraded through singles “The World (Is Going Up in Flames)” and “How Long” with poise and tenacity. Bradley’s powerful voice resonated well amid the Extraordinaires’ tight performance. Taking cues from James Brown and Otis Redding, he screamed between lyrics and used the microphone stand as a prop. Passionate with his lover in “Lovin’ You, Baby,” Bradley collapsed onstage, microphone and all, in ecstasy. The singer ended his 15-song set with a heartwarming speech—reminding fans that “soul and kindness are the keys to a better world.” ★★★★✩ – Ian Caramanzana

Scotland’s Chvrches played an electrifying (and bagpipe-free) set Brooklyn Bowl, September 21

Although they’ve performed some amazing covers of Lorde and Arctic Monkeys, this electronic pop band stuck to their 2013 album The Bones of What You Believe during their Las Vegas debut. Highlights included “Recover,” “Lies” and “The Mother We Share.” Lead singer Lauren Mayberry, whose voice is sometimes reminiscent of up with her mousy (in a good way) vocals as band members Iain Cook and Martin Doherty switched between synthesizers, with an impressive light show, made a good bookend for anyone who passed on the iHeartRadio Festival. ★★★★✩ – Nicole Ely

September 25–October 1, 2014

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samplers and guitar. Their talent, paired

HEAR HER ROAR Pop superstar Katy Perry brings her eye-popping Prismatic World Tour to MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 26 ($29.50-$153.50), which means your eyes and ears will be on total sensory overload from the opening bars of “Roar” to the last note of “Firework.”

BIG GRIN Nils Lofgren was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, but he’s had a remarkable 45-year career playing with artists such as Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Ringo Starr and Grin. Lofgren plays Vinyl on Sept. 26 and 28 ($25-$35).

ON SALE NOW British synthpop duo Erasure (Vince Clarke and Andy Bell) have a new studio album, The Violet Flame, and their tour features dance remixes of old hits “Chains of Love” and “A Little Respect.” Erasure will play a special Halloween show at the Pearl on Oct. 31 ($39-$79).

CHARLES BRADLEY BY AL POWERS; CHVRCHES BY ERIK K ABIK/ERIKK ABIK.COM

a female Michael Stipe, riled the audience

ALBUM REVIEWS

The

HIT LIST

By Pj Perez

TARGETING THIS WEEK'S MOST-WANTED EVENTS

By Camille Cannon

ALT-ROCK

INDIE POP

American Hi-Fi

The Kooks

After four years, this Boston-via-L.A. quartet is back with an album that deviates from the sneering, pop-punk sound the band perfected on “Flavor of the Weak” and “The Art of Losing.” From the start (opener “Armageddon Days” offers cheery lyrics, Save yourself/if you can/exhausted in your faith/there is no us/there never was/just fear that medicates), Blood & Lemonade is a more serious affair, with the band affecting a dynamic, guitar-rock sound owing much to Foo Fighters—almost slavishly on the single “Allison.” But, hey, if you’re going to model your sound after another band, there are far worse choices than the Foos. ★★★✩✩

The Kooks appeared on the scene during the mid-2000s British indierock explosion with catchy but innocuous, Mod-influenced songs such as “Ooh La” and “Naive,” and right through 2011’s Junk of the Heart, they maintained that low-key, indie-pop sound. But on Listen, the Kooks have crafted a funky, soulful album full of dance floor-ready tracks. Lead singer and songwriter Luke Pritchard tapped unknown (though not for long) hip-hop producer Inflo to help charge up the Kooks’ innate pop savvy with disco beats, R&B grooves and radioready melodies. ★★★★✩

Blood & Lemonade, (Rude Records)

Listen, (Astralwerks)

AMERICANA

Immigrant Union

Anyway, (MuseBox/Fontana North) On its second album, Australian outfit Immigrant Union—led by the Dandy Warhols drummer (and American expat) Brent DeBoer— expands the scope of its sound beyond the twangy, retro-country style of its 2012 debut, producing a much richer collection that explores psychedelia, folk and mellow pop-rock. Single “Alison” sounds like Southern-fried R.E.M., while “I Can’t Return” takes a 1960s trip. And when the band does get down into its roots, it does so on cinematic tracks such as the haunting “In Time” and driving “Lake Mokoan.” ★★★✩✩

SWEATER WEATHER Bill Cosby returns to Treasure Island on Sept. 26. At 77, he’s still one of the most entertaining and endearing figures in comedy. Admit it: You can’t hear the word “pudding” without repeating it in his iconic intonation. TreasureIsland.com.

FREE IS BEAUTIFUL Itchin’ for tickets to Life Is Beautiful? Every Thursday through Oct. 23, you’ll have an opportunity to win two threeday passes during listening sessions at Commonwealth. Stop by 6-7 p.m. to hear a playlist of featured festival acts and you could be seeing ’em live Oct. 24-26. CommonwealthLV.com.

BUT IS THERE CANDY INSIDE?

In Piñatatopia at

the Cosmopolitan's P3Studio, Las Vegas native and UNLV grad Justin Favela (pictured, right) plays with utopian visions of Mexico. At his interactive show (6-11 p.m. Wed-Sun through Oct. 5), Favela builds piñatas based on guests' perceptions of our neighbor nation. – Cindi Moon Reed

THOSE WHO TEACH, DO The CSN Art & Art History faculty are more than experts in their fields, they’re actively contributing to them. Through Sept. 26, you can see their talents on display at the Fine Arts and Artspace Galleries at the Cheyenne campus. CSN.edu.

Ian McEwan’s latest, The Children Act (Nan A. Talese, $25), is the story of Fiona Maye, a distinguished family court judge. After 30 years of marriage, her husband, Jack, is interested in straying. At the same time, Fiona must preside over the case of a teenage Jehovah’s Witness who is refusing blood transfusions to treat his leukemia. It’s the perfect opportunity for McEwan to reflect on the emotional struggles associated with aging and death. – M. Scott Krause

September 25–October 1, 2014

P3STUDIO PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COSMOPOLITAN

[ I WANT THAT BOOK! ]

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FOR FANS OF FICTION With the new school year comes a fresh batch of MFA and Ph.D. students to UNLV. Six of them will share their writing at Neon Lit on Sept. 26 at Trifecta Gallery. Think of it as hearing an audio book before it’s published. NeonLit.org.

A&E

MUSIC

Vinyl virtuosos: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist.

Dig This Record Collection Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow spin Afrika Baambaataa’s treasure trove By Lissa Townsend Rodgers NO ONE PERSON INVENTED HIP-HOP, but Afrika Bambaataa may have left the most fngerprints on it. In the ’70s, he quit the Black Spades street gang and founded the Zulu Nation, a collective of MCs, DJs and b-boys/girls that supplied the soundtrack to the South Bronx and helped give birth to a genre. Aside from working the turntables, Bambaataa made a number of his own records, the biggest hit being 1982s “Planet Rock,”

and he also collaborated with everyone from James Brown to Johnny Rotten. Bambaataa is mostly retired now— he’s currently a visiting scholar at Cornell University—but his beats are banging once more as DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist come together to dig in the great one’s crates. The duo is touring with a selection of the 42,000 discs that earned Bambaataa the title of “Master of Records,” a collection that ranges

from dub to Dixieland and Dionne Warwick to Depeche Mode. Shadow and Cut Chemist will pay homage by using them to rock an old-school party, albeit with some new twists. They’ll play both “Planet Rock” and the Kraftwerk track it sampled, using equipment from the ’70s and ’80s as a nod to Bambaataa’s golden era. At the end of the tour, the records will be returned to Cornell’s HipHop Collection, where the process of digitally archiving all 42,000 of them is under way. We imagine it’ll take a while.

RENEGADES OF RHYTHM

DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist play Afrika Bambaataa, 8 p.m. (doors at 7) Sept. 29, at Brooklyn Bowl, $22, 702-862-2695, Vegas.BrooklynBowl.com.

September 25–October 1, 2014

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[ VIDEOGRAPHY ]

PANIC! AT THE DISCO’S NOT QUITE AS QUEENLY COVER OF ‘BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY’ There are three things wrong with Panic! at the Disco’s live cover and video of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” In order: 1.) Brendon Urie isn’t Freddie Mercury. Fair enough, no shame there. 2.) No gong after “any way the wind blows.” What kind of ghetto version of a king-hell, sturm-und-drang ’70s arena power-rock epic are you trying to do if you can’t even be assed to roll out a gong in your live sets? 3.) The video is just a basic live performance. Also fair enough, we suppose, but boring compared to Queen’s version. Where are the singing, disembodied heads? Where are the crappy ’70s special effects?

Where’s the frilly satin shirt? Urie isn’t even wearing a shirt. You can’t go into full-on rock-god mode without a frilly shirt. That’s just conventional wisdom passed down from Robert Plant to Paul Stanley to whoever the lead singer of Enuff Z’Nuff was. – Jason Scavone

One of my fall musical highlights (see my September 11 column) is already here: Las Vegas singer Kristen Hertzenberg and her band return to Cabaret Jazz in The Smith Center at 5 and 8 p.m. September 27 to unveil Spellbound, a collection of torch songs ranging from a bluesy take on Patsy Cline standard “Walkin’ After Midnight” to a flamenco-kissed version of Rufus Wainwright’s cellphone-grinding ballad “Vibrate.” “My last [Cabaret Jazz] show was all about me spreading my wings, showing a different side of the soprano girl from Phantom,” Hertzenberg says via email. “Having done that, I wanted to introduce new material and challenge myself in a new way.” In Spellbound, Hertzenberg presents a through-line in the music in an effort to make her show feel “like a piece of theater.” It’s not as heavily reliant on her personal stories and experiences. “The song choices are still very much a reflection of me and what moves me, but this is a story that could be about anyone.” Spellbound, judging by its set list and marketing, also seems to offer songs of unrequited love—and more sex appeal. “In this land of scantily clad girls singing and dancing, sex appeal isn’t something I’m shooting for,” Hertzenberg says. “But if there was ever a song about unrequited love, it’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me.’ We’re going there. It’ll be torchy.” ... Everything hellbilly rocker Hank III does is a big F-you to the Grand Ole Opry and its hallowed traditions. But the outlaw grandson of Hank Williams has rarely sounded meaner or angrier than he does on last year’s A Fiendish Threat album. It’s a disc full of personal statements (“Different From the Rest”) and psychedelic, Black Sabbath-aping doom-fiddling (“Your Floor”). Which basically means Hank III promises to be a good show that will clear your sinuses. The hootenanny starts at 8 p.m. September 26 at LVCS, and there’s no opening act, so arrive promptly. Your band releasing new music? Email Jarret_Keene@Yahoo.com.

DJ SHADOW AND CUT CHEMIST BY DERICK DAILY

CARRYING A TORCH (SONG)

STAGE

THE CURMUDGEON CHRONICLES Comic takes generational jabs in 40 Is Not the New 20

PHOTO BY MICHAEL WAY JR.

INDIGNITIES MOUNT ONCE YOU PASS 40.

One is that you increasingly feel like you’ve entered the Age of Flatulence. Suddenly your aging insides make themselves known more to those on the outside. Another is when someone signifcantly younger—who doesn’t even qualify for the AARP coffee discount at Denny’s—kvetches about how old he is. Which is why I wanted to shout out to stand-up comic Matt Kazam: “Hey junior—don’t get your diaper in a twist.” Which isn’t to say that I wasn’t amused, by and large, by Kazam’s new generation-gap act, called 40 Is Not the New 20, at the Riviera Comedy Club. Beyond deserving the subtitle “No Shit, Sherlock,” this “show” is a triumph of branding. Lending it a title suggests a theater piece. In fact, it doesn’t even offer the nominal theatricality of stand-upcentric Defending the Caveman, which at least incorporates video elements, a modest set and a consistent narrative thread into the mix, elevating it to Stand-up-Plus. And Kazam was beaten to this things-ain’t-what-they-used-to-be observational shtick locally by Tom Green, whose periodic Hard Rock stand-up mines similar themes—sans the packaging. Yet Kazam is a funny, likable 45-year-old with whom to spend 75 minutes of gripe-and-grin comedy. “Start taking notes, twenty-somethings,” he tells the young-’uns in the crowd. You’ve heard most of it: Kids are spoiled (his childhood diversion of cheap-o View-Masters and Etch A Sketch vs. the home-entertainment-stocked minivans that “look like the Playboy Mansion”); gloriously cheesy TV (The Dukes of Hazzard and Fantasy Island) vs. cringe-worthy cheesy TV (the Kardashians); kids’ micro-

managed “play dates” and moms who walk their kids on a leash at the mall; Internet dating (“women lie online—there are Muslim women on J-Date”); the silliness of political correctness; and the effectiveness of physical discipline (a sensitive topic, given headlines coming out of the NFL, prompting this disclaimer: “Not sayin’ it’s right. Just sayin’ it happened”). Proving that this is thematic in only the loosest sense, Kazam often goes amusingly off-topic, as when he riffs on having sweaty sex and his own Jewish/Iranian background (“I have to throw rocks at myself”). And yes—much time and comic complaining is spent on the downhill slide of the post-40 human body and the humiliations thereof. (C’mon— you didn’t really think you’d get out of this show without touching on that most intimate of doctor/male patient encounters—the prostate exam.) Joke-punch-line setups are clever, even if the material is well-trod, and while some comedians base their delivery on aggressiveness and even challenging the audience, Kazam is an apple-shaped cuddle-bear with a nonthreatening manner that makes it all go down easily and entertainingly. As if to validate the generational divide as the theme, during a bit on his mother’s feminine hygiene habits at a recent show, Kazam was interrupted by a young lady who requested to know what he meant by “the Pouch.” Delicately—to avoid embarrassing her—he explained, passing up the opportunity to descend into ridicule-comedy. Which confrms that this dude is not a douchebag. Got an entertainment tip? Email Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.

A LITTLE SINISTER. A LOT DELICIOUS.

MOVIES

A&E

A-MAZE-ING RACE The latest in the ‘dyslit’ trend escapes the clichés By Michael Phillips Tribune Media Services

FOREVER INDEBTED TO H.G. WELLS, William Golding and other cranky visionaries, the hardy, cockroach-like Hunger Games/Divergent genre has a nickname: “dyslit,” after the dystopian best-sellers in which young adult protagonists must prove their physical and mental prowess and lead the revolution to save what’s left of their crummy old world. The frst Hunger Games movie came out in 2012. (Has it only been two years?) Because that flm was so successful, the green lights lit up Hollywood, and suddenly everybody was charging ahead with related material, full of trials by fre, ridiculous life-or-death challenges and weirdly coiffed authority fgures murmuring about the necessity of totalitarian control. And just when you think you’ve enough, along comes an exciting, unpretentious flm version of yet another dyslit franchise. First-time feature director Wes Ball’s version of The Maze Runner makes the clichés smell daisy-fresh. The movie comes from the frst in James Dashner’s trilogy, published in 2009. Its story components are spare. There is a boy, Thomas (played by Dylan O’Brien). At the outset he’s sent up in an elevator, his memory wiped nearly clean. He is the latest arrival to the Glade, which is like an open-air Montessori school walled off by immense concrete slabs.

Every morning the doors to the Maze open and the maze runners scramble to learn the route to freedom while avoiding giant, deadly robot spiders known as Grievers. And that concludes the paragraph known as Plot. Ball was hired for The Maze Runner largely on the strength of his impressive seven-minute short flm Ruin, widely available online. The world he creates in his feature debut resembles places we’ve visited in The Giver, The Hunger Games and Divergent. But the story, and Ball’s visualization of it, has a disarming simplicity and directness, and when Thomas’ fractured memory fashes images of his previous existence—a lab, some experiments, some semblance of the world as Thomas knew it—it’s sharp and vivid. Unseen forces, eventually seen, have created the Glade for super secret reasons. When a young woman (Kaya Scodelario), allegedly the last of her kind, arrives to the previously all-male enclave, it’s like a thunderclap. The heart of The Maze Runner is the action, and Ball seamlessly blends computer-generated mecha-spiders with the actors, with everyone and everything moving very quickly. Aml Ameen plays Alby, the leader of the Glade; Will Poulter, he of the perma-raised eyebrows and recently seen in We’re the Millers, is by-the-book Gally, who becomes Thomas’ nemesis.

Can these kids win the dystopian future rat race?

Patricia Clarkson, purring vaguely sinister orders by way of computer screens, portrays the adult, so you know she can’t be fully trusted. What we’re seeing in The Maze Runner works; the movie may be about confnement, but it moves, and Ball has a genuine career ahead of him. The script by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers and T.S. Nowlin may be about 10 minutes longer than needed, but it’s treated well by the designers and the director, who create a plau-

September 25–October 1, 2014

VegasSeven.com

SHORT REVIEWS

The Guest (R) ★★★✩✩

A crafty genre pastiche until it stalls, director Adam Wingard’s The Guest introduces its title character after he knocks on the door of a New Mexico family that lost their older son in the Iraq War. The Guest plays an interesting guessing game with the audience. David (Stevens) is a steely dreamboat, and everyone in the grieving family uses him for different reasons. Wingard’s facility with violent action is uneven. But he certainly knows his recent film history, as proved by the film’s retro synth-y musical score by Stephen Moore.

Tusk (R) ★★✩✩✩

Civilians and critics loved Tusk in Toronto, where it played a sidebar of the international film festival. And it’s fun to have writerdirector Kevin Smith, of Clerks and Dogma, whose filmmaking star has fallen while his podcasting prowess has risen, once again at the center of a debate. Opposite Haley Joel Osment, Justin Long plays the co-host of a successful L.A. podcast who travels to Winnipeg to prank-interview an Internet star, only to arrive in time for his funeral. I didn’t draw much enjoyment from Tusk, though Johnny Depp’s turn has its charms.

This Is Where I Leave You (R) ★★★✩✩

Discovering his wife (Abigail Spencer) in bed with his radio shock-jock boss (Dax Shepard), Jason Bateman’s Judd goes into an tailspin, just in time for another crisis. Dad dies. Mom (Jane Fonda) has asked all the siblings to sit shiva for a week. Adam Driver plays the younger gadabout brother who brings his older, wiser girlfriend (Connie Britton) home with him. Nothing special in terms of material, but the actors sit back, relax and enjoy the interaction. The movie’s OK. But with this cast, OK is disappointing.

sible, textured atmosphere of dread. O’Brien, Scodelario and company should help extend the Henley undershirt’s popularity well into the next post-apocalyptic millennium. Are audiences weary of dyslit screen adaptations? The Maze Runner, already a success in many overseas markets, suggests otherwise. I’m not dreading Part 2. The Maze Runner (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

By Tribune Media Services

The Drop (R) ★★★✩✩

Even a terrible actor could win friends and influence moviegoers in the role of Bob, a sweetie-pie Brooklyn bartender who saves a puppy from a garbage can in the opening of The Drop, expanded by screenwriter Dennis Lehane from his own short story. For the record, Tom Hardy is an excellent actor. In The Drop, Hardy, brandishing an outer-borough dialect and mumble, is surrounded by terrific support in Belgian director Michael R. Roskam’s uneven but pungent English-language debut. The clichés in The Drop have a fighting chance of holding your attention.

Dolphin Tale 2 (PG) ★★✩✩✩

The Last of Robin Hood (R) ★★✩✩✩

The Skeleton Twins (R) ★★★✩✩

Life After Beth (R) ★★✩✩✩

You might have thought Dolphin Tale was an uplifting story that didn’t need a second act. You were right. It was the fictionalized account of Winter, an injured dolphin who was rescued by a Florida aquarium, and how a prosthetic tail was fabricated for her, allowing her to survive and inspire humans. Dolphin Tale 2 feels like little more than Winter’s Greatest Hits. Still, seeing what Winter can mean to a disabled child, the educational side of the story and the adorable animals make this every bit as child-friendly as the original.

The Last of Robin Hood is the latest film starring the dashing Kevin Kline. In it, he plays the roguish Hollywood legend Errol Flynn, who had an affair during the final two years of his life (Flynn died in 1959 at age 50) with a would-be starlet, Beverly Aadland. Dakota Fanning handles Beverly uncertainly. The script by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, who co-directed, never makes up its mind about tone, style and approach. It all feels a bit off and a little underpowered, in ways unrelated to its budget.

Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader play Maggie and Milo, twins who haven’t seen each other in 10 years. In the opening shots, a phone call interrupts Maggie’s suicide attempt. It informs her that her twin, a struggling actor, has just survived his own suicide attempt. After this crisply diagrammatic beginning, the script brings Milo to recover and to reconnect with Maggie. It’s packed with incident, this movie. And it’s too bad The Skeleton Twins settles for tidy, slightly hollow narrative developments. The performers are ready to rip. For many they’ll be enough.

The modest, occasionally amusing Life After Beth, now in limited release, has been kicking around on DirecTV since mid-July. Writer-director Jeff Baena has made what is essentially a pre-zombie-apocalypse origin story. At the start Beth (Aubrey Plaza) has been dead 10 days, a victim of snakebite. Her sullen, vaguely off-putting boyfriend Zach, played monotonously by Dane DeHaan, is surprised to see her alive-ish, well and living in her folks’ house. Baena co-wrote I Heart Huckabees and while he has a sense of humor, the jokes here tend to be meager.

Love Is Strange (R) ★★★★✩

The November Man (R) ★★★✩✩

In this film’s final minutes, a humble examination of a marriage opens up emotionally, thanks in large part to co-writer and director Ira Sachs’ use of a lullaby. This film’s outline is simple. It begins with Ben and George, readying themselves in their Manhattan apartment for the day ahead. They are tying the knot because after nearly 40 years together, they can. Then life intervenes. Do not expect dynamic filmmaking. This is about other things, and John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are splendid, their eyes full of wisdom and experience.

Pierce Brosnan plays Devereaux, an ex-agent who was once nicknamed “The November Man” because of his lethal nature. Here’s a humorless, muddled, bloody and generally unpleasant thriller about a man sucked back into The Business because somebody needs his help. Or somebody knows something. That’s one of the problems with this Roger No Way Out Donaldson film. It leaves us with no clear sense of who or what to root for. That makes November Man another sad refugee of August, the dumping ground of mediocre movies.

Marketplace

BETTING

HIT AND MISS Looking at some early-season trends in college, pro football

DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THE

football season, you’d have thought my NFL picks were co-sponsored by the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars: I hit just three of my frst eight selections, going 0-for-2 with my Best Bets. However, on the college gridiron, it looked like Nick Saban and the ghost of Bear Bryant had coached me up, as I went 5-1. Given those results, I logically decided last week to tip the scales by going to the college game for four of my seven recommendations. What happened? I went 1-3 in college and 3-0 in the NFL. In other words, after Roger Goodell, I’m probably the last guy who should be giving any lessons on consistency right now. Then again, everything I know about arrogance I learned from the embattled NFL commish. So as we close the book on the frst month of the season, here are a handful of consistencies (and inconsistencies) in both college and the NFL that you should chew on before taking your next stroll up to the betting window: � Either Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly is the greatest halftime speaker in coaching history, or his training staff is lacing the Gatorade bottles with jet fuel … or both. How else to explain the fact the Eagles have been outscored 54-27 in the frst half, but have turned the tables to the tune of 74-24 in the fnal two quarters (leading to a 3-0 start)? On the fip side, the San Francisco 49ers have thrashed their opponents 59-16 in the frst half, only to get trucked 52-3 after halftime (leading to a 1-2 start). And lookie here: The Eagles and 49ers square off this week in San Francisco. Perhaps a wager on the Niners in the frst half and against the Niners in the second half would be a wise investment? � The San Diego Chargers are two points away from being 3-0. The Jaguars are … hold on, let me do the math here … 78 points away from being 3-0, with losses by 17, 31 and 27 points. Now is a good time to mention that A) Jacksonville this week travels to San Diego; B) the Chargers are 3-0 against the spread, while the Jags are 0-3 ATS; C) San Diego has won the last three meetings (two of which were in Florida) by a combined score of 100-33; and D) Jags rookie QB Blake Bortles is getting his frst career start, against a defense that’s allowed just fve more points (49) than Jacksonville has scored (44). Lay the big number.

MATT JACOB

LUCKY SEVEN

Arkansas +9½ at Texas A&M (Best Bet) Maryland +4 vs. Indiana San Diego State -16½ vs. UNLV 49ers -2½ (first half) vs. Eagles Ravens -3 vs. Panthers Lions -1½ at Jets Chargers -13.5 vs. Jaguars

� The Detroit Lions, who made Aaron Rodgers look like Mr. Rogers in Week 3, own one of the top defenses (yes, defenses) in the league, allowing just 15 points and 244.3 yards per game. This week, the Lions travel to face the Jets and Geno Smith, he of the four interceptions (tied for most in the NFL) and 77.0 QB rating (which ranks 27th). Detroit is barely favored. � Pac-12 brothers Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Arizona and Arizona State are a combined 18-0 on the feld … yet 5-13 vs. the number. � The SEC East is 11-13 ATS. The SEC West is 18-8 ATS (with Alabama responsible for three of those non-covers). � Georgia Southern (yes, that’s a school; yes, the Eagles play Division I-A football, as of this season) is 4-0 ATS, having covered twice as a double-digit underdog, once as a 1-point favorite and once as a 39½-point chalk. � UNLV, which has been outscored by an average of 41.2-18.5 (and that includes a 13-12 victory), is 0-4 ATS. This week, the Rebels are 16½-point underdogs at San Diego State … a team that scored a single touchdown last week … a team the Rebels crushed 45-19 just 10 months ago … a team that hasn’t won a Division I-A regular-season game by more than 14 points since November 2012. Somebody pour UNLV coach Bobby Hauck a drink. Make it a double. Last Week: 4-3 (3-0 NFL; 1-3 college; 1-0 Best Bet). Season Record: 12-9 (6-5 NFL; 6-4 college; 1-2 Best Bets). Matt Jacob appears at 10 a.m. Fridays on “First Preview” on ESPN Radio 1100-AM and 98.9-FM.

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Conor McGregor The ascending UFC featherweight on why soccer’s not a man’s sport, how surfng helps him train for the octagon and lessons learned from a four-second knockout

September 25–October 1, 2014

By Paul Szydelko

Why did you choose MMA over, say, football, in Ireland? As a young boy, there were just two things that were really important: Can you play football and can you fght? In the early days I used to play football, and I

was obsessed. I’d kick the ball and run off and celebrate, visualizing I was scoring a goal in a stadium. As I ventured outside my [Dublin neighborhood], I started meeting more people and as a young boy you get into fghts, and I realized

it’s really important to be able to defend yourself. Self-defense is why I got started, and then, of course, it becomes an obsession. You realize, hang on a minute, running around and kicking a ball into a goal—that’s not a man’s

You were a plumber for a time. What was that like? Instead of going to college, most kids would get a trade—a plumber, carpenter, electrician. I got an apprenticeship and worked in a freezing cold building. Basically I was a slave, up and down the site, getting this, getting that, getting bossed around. I’d be looking around at the fully qualifed guys, the older men who were on the building site. Just looking at their life and their bodies, I thought this was not for me. I packed it in and decided to pursue [fghting]. It was hell when I quit the job. My dad wasn’t happy. We’d have full-on fghts over it: He wanted me to work. He didn’t know what I was going to do. “What? You’re going in the cage. … No, that’s not happening.” Instead of fghting in a cage, I fought with him. Over time, with hard work, true discipline, true dedication, [my parents] supported me bit by bit. And now I’m chilling in a presidential suite in Las Vegas, sending them pictures, saying, “I hate to say it, but I told you so.” When was the last time you got your ass kicked? I get my ass kicked every day in the gym. Every martial artist knows this:

UFC 178

Dustin Poirier (16-3) vs. Conor McGregor (15-2) on the main card, $78-$803, Sept. 27, MGM Grand Garden Arena, UFC.com.

To get to a higher level, you must get your ass kicked. You get beaten a lot, you lose many times— and I’m no different. I’ve lost so many times in the gym, but ultimately that makes me better, that sets me on the path to victory. How does surfng at an aquatics center help you train? Any style of exercise is good—variety is the spice of life. Surfng defnitely helps with balance, and [developing] balance is one of the most underrated exercise methods. When you are born, the frst thing you learn to do is to stand, and then you’re learning your balance and then you’re learning to walk. You’re evolving and if you keep evolving, not only will you get a better understanding of your own body and your own movements, you’ll get a better understanding of other people’s movements and their situations. What did you learn from the time you knocked out an opponent in less than four seconds? I learned to be grateful I never have to go into the octagon and face myself. You’ve attended a UFC card in Vegas, but have never fought here. What do you expect? I was here for Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks [UFC 167, Nov. 16]. It was phenomenal. It was a dream come true to be in the arena to take it all in. It will be a different kind of atmosphere, an atmosphere UFC has not felt before, because the Irish let ourselves be known. I know the Irish people who will be coming over here to support me, and I know the American people will support Dustin [Poirier]. And it will be a mix of energy that’s going to blow the roof off the place.

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

SEVEN QUESTIONS

So there was no one specifc bully when you were growing up? No, where I came from, these things happen. You could be playing football with a group of friends against another group, and all of a sudden a fght breaks out. Where maybe these things would happen and other kids would just completely forget about it, I went off and sat and thought, “Mmh, maybe I should have moved this way or maybe I should have reacted that way and it would have been better,” and eventually I realized that this was all I could think about.

VegasSeven.com

sport. Fighting, pure combat, is true sport to me. That is a true test of will and mental strength, and that took over my life.