Design of the Times | Vegas Seven Magazine | April 23-29, 2015 by Vegas Seven

amy schumer

craig ferguson

our big concert

billy currington

neon trees

brian wilson

brantley gilbert

willie nelson

father john misty

TI C KETS O N -SA L E F R IDAY, A P R IL 27 @ 1 0 A M

T IC KETS O N-SA LE FRIDAY, A P RIL 27 @ 10A M

AP RIL 24 @ T H E C H EL S E A

M AY 29 @ BOU LEVAR D P O O L

JULY 24 @ T H E C H ELS E A

HOT & G RUM PY TO UR: WAL KING T HE E ART H M AY 23 @ T HE C HE L SE A

J UNE 1 2 @ BO UL E VARD P O O L

J U LY 26 @ T HE C HE L SE A

FT. CAGE TH E ELEPH AN T & D I RTY H EADS M AY 28 @ B OULEVA RD P OOL

WIT H SPECIA L GUEST RO D RI GUEZ JULY 1 0 @ TH E CH ELS EA

O C TO BER 15 @ B OULEVA RD P OOL

A L L T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E T H R U C O S M O P O L I TA N L A S V E G A S .C O M

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EVENT

AFAN AIDS WALK

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| April 23–29, 2015

PHOTOS BY TEDDY FUJIMOTO

More than 6,000 walkers took big strides for a good cause April 19 at the 25th annual AIDS Walk. The event at Town Square, which raised more than $400,000 for Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN), was led by grand marshals Penn & Teller and included performances by Zodiac Dragon, Melody Sweets of Absinthe, Jabbawockeez and Le Rêve. Team members from such local companies as Wynn Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International and Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants participated, but Walgreens had the largest group with more than 400 walkers; they presented a check to AFAN for nearly $114,000.

UPCOMING EVENTS • April 30

Nevada SPCA’s Animals in Wonderland [NevadaSPCA.org] • May 2 Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation’s Kilp it for Kidz [NVCCF.org]

THE LATEST

Just Visiting ...

The differences in the primary purpose for Las Vegas visits in 2007 and 2014

Vacation

42 %

Visit Friends

Gamble

47 %

11 % 13 %

11 %

Percent who gambled at all

12 % 84 %

71 %

The amount of money spent on food and beverage (a number that also includes the Strip’s burgeoning nightclubs) grew 11 percent from 2007 to 2014, while the average shopping bill jumped by more than 30 percent. Visitors, it seems, are looking for experiences—that uniquely Vegas night on the town— and/or creature comforts to take home. Gambling, while it is still a draw for a substantial minority, is no longer the main attraction. Where does this shift in behavior leave Las Vegas? In better shape than before the recession, which might seem diffcult to believe when looking only at the gaming numbers. Earlier this year, the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Gaming Abstract revealed that, while gaming numbers have yet to reach their pre-recession highs, Nevada casinos made more money in 2014 from their combined gaming and nongaming offerings than ever before. Similarly, visitors to Las Vegas spent more per trip (excluding lodging) than they ever have—up 5 percent from 2007 (the previous high) and up more than three times that much from the bottom of the recession. Las Vegas often has a regrettable tendency toward patting itself on the back, but in this case, the congratulations are well-deserved. Five years ago, the city faced a crisis, adapted and not only survived but emerged stronger. And therein lies the best news of all: In proving it can take a devastating economic punch and still win the fght, Las Vegas fgures to be ready to deal with the next unexpected uppercut—which is probably coming sooner than we think.

I had a good one for ya this week: a Bloody Mary loaded with a filet and a lobster tail in the drink. It was priced well and free to gamblers. Unfortunately, the deal was pulled before I could tell you about it. Bad beat! The good thing about Vegas, though, is that when one deal disappears, another often shows up. In truth, “stacked” Bloody Marys are somewhat common around town. They come with all sorts of extras on a skewer or piled on top of (or in) the glass. They’re usually pricey, which is why I like the new build-your-own Bloody Mary deal at Ellis Island. Served from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from a station outside the casino's Café, it comes with lemon and lime, celery stick, an olive or two, a strip of bacon, chicken and waffle, and all sorts of hot mix-ins—all for just $7! That’s about half the cost of similar concoctions in other venues. The vodka is BJ Hooker’s out of Houston. Not exactly Grey Goose, but certainly good enough when you consider that the alcohol is secondary to the stacking in these drinks. The obvious “Are you serious?” component here is the chicken and waffle. It’s real. Someone came up with the idea to stick a mini waffle and a piece of breaded chicken on a skewer, and it works—even when dunked in the drink. Not only can you get a double portion for $1 more, but you can add a big shrimp for $2. There are three reasons to consider paying the extra deuce: First, it’s a legitimate $2 prawn. Second, it adds to the anything-goes spirit of the drink. And most important, it absolutely makes for a great picture to put on your Instagram. Assuming you add the shrimp (but don’t go for the double), you’re out the door for $10, including $1 for the server, who deserves at least a buck for building that baby. Now, I will say the system could use a little tweaking—the server has to constantly put on and take off a pair of rubber gloves to make the drinks and take payment—but having it made by a dedicated mixer, as opposed to a busy bartender, means you’ll get it your way (extra horseradish, please!). Entertainment and mini-buzz factors aside, you also won’t need to pay for breakfast (’cause you’re full), which makes the deal all the better. Go on Sunday, and you can parlay this deal with a 2-for-1 special at Ellis Island’s Metro Pizza. Time it right—Metro opens at 11—and you can come away with your stacked Bloody Mary breakfast and a couple of large pizzas for dinner for about 20 bucks. Ellis Island says it’s “continuing to add new items to keep it fresh and exciting.” That’s cool, but how do you beat chicken and waffle on a stick?

David G. Schwartz is the director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research.

Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.

From Surviving to Thriving Latest visitor statistics prove Las Vegas is back—and better than ever

April 23–29, 2015

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MENTIONING THAT LAS VEGAS VISITORS

in 2015 are spending less on gambling and more on other things is now about as obvious as saying the upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao fght will make a few bucks. But what other changes are we seeing in visitation? The 2014 Las Vegas Visitor Profle, issued recently by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, has some answers. In sum, we see a Las Vegas that is still in transition. Compared with 2007—the last hurrah before the Great Recession—the average 2014 Las Vegas tourist was wealthier, younger, considerably more likely to come from another country and more likely to be non-white. In particular, the percentage of visitors identifying as Asian or Asian-American has more than tripled, from 3 percent in 2007 to 10 percent last year. Increasing international visitation has long been a goal of the LVCVA, and the numerous investments the agency has made toward that end continue to bear fruit. In 2007, 12 percent of visitors came from abroad; in real numbers, this accounts for about 4.7 million people. Last year, that percentage jumped to 19 percent, which when factoring in increased visitation— we topped 40 million last year— translated into more than 7.8 million international visitors. That’s a two-thirds increase in seven years. Given that foreign travelers on average stay longer and spend more than domestic visitors, this statistic is a very good thing for Las Vegas. The challenge for 2015 will be ensuring that those who came last year return, and that our stronger dollar doesn’t diminish the value of a Vegas trip. To be clear: Tourists are still

hitting the casinos in Vegas—in fact, slightly more visitors claimed gambling as the primary reason for their trip in 2014 than in 2007. With the overall spike in visitation numbers, that means 800,000 more people came to Las Vegas chiefy to gamble last year than before the recession. Thing is, that number is obscured by the predominant nongaming trend. The reason why dedicated gamblers are overlooked is that, despite the increase in volume, fewer visitors overall are risking their money. In the seven-year span from 2007-14, the number of tourists who gambled dropped by about 2.3 million. Coupled that with the jump in visitation, and it speaks volumes about the wisdom of (and necessity for) casino operators’ shift to nongambling attractions. Those who gamble are spending more than they did at the depth of the recession, but still about 5 percent less than before the economic downturn. And it looks like their behavior has fundamentally changed; in 2007, the average gambler spent 3.4 hours in front of a slot machine or table game, but in 2014 that time had dropped to 2.6 hours. That’s 48 minutes, on average, per day—and the average visitor stayed more than four days—spent doing something else. Judging by the LVCVA's statistics, that “something else” is most likely tied to eating or shopping (or both).

ELLIS ISLAND SCORES WITH HAIL MARY

Perhaps more than any other city in the world, Las Vegas is defned by its visual image. Even those who have never been here know what it looks like, or think they do. “It means the lights of the Strip and over-the-top opulence,” says Heidi Swank, executive director of the Nevada Preservation Foundation. But our city also embraces a cycle of construction and destruction, architectural marvels and treasured memories reduced to nothing but a 10-second YouTube implosion. And a souvenir ashtray. ¶ But the infuence of such iconic properties as the Desert Inn, the Sahara and the Riviera can still be seen whenever we gawk at a fountain, eat in a themed restaurant or spend the night in a panoramic suite on the 45th foor overlooking the Strip. Indeed, Las Vegas casinos are built on those that came before—and not simply because parts of the Aladdin are still buried inside Planet Hollywood. Each era has left its imprint, not only in how modern casinos look, but in what they do and how they do it.

Opened in 1946, the Flamingo eschewed rusticity—i.e. split-rail fencing, fake-saddle barstools—for a pale green and pink neon exterior, and a mirrored and tufted interior with expanses of foor-to-ceiling windows in between. It had the look of a chic Hollywood nightclub or movie set—appropriately so, as the architect was George Vernon Russell, who designed Hollwood celebrity hangouts Ciro’s and the Trocadero. The Flamingo owed much of its style to

The 1950s was the decade that built the Strip—in more ways than one. Not just a period of rapid growth, it was the era that created the myth of Rat Pack Vegas. “I don’t know if there’s ever been another period of time that resonates as strongly in people’s memory of Las Vegas as that particular era,” says Brett Robillard, senior associate and design director of Gensler’s Las Vegas offce. The Sahara and Sands arrived in 1952. The former had camels out front and murals of minarets inside, but the effect was less Arabian Nights theme than mid-century gloss with Middle Eastern fair. “My family lived for a period in the penthouse of the small tower of the Sahara,” Thomas says. “It was a beautifully designed space, really sophisticated.” The Sands, meanwhile, will forever be enshrined as the site of the Rat Pack

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Hollywood Glamour

Mid-Century Rat Pack

PHOTOS COURTESY UNLV SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

In the 1930s, Las Vegas Boulevard—then plain old Highway 91—had a handful of motels and casinos, but the frst true resort was El Rancho, designed by Wayne McAllister, the creator of Tijuana’s Agua Caliente hotel-casino. A onetime luxurious gambling resort frequented by socialites and celebrities, Agua Caliente featured a Moorish-tiled spa, a decoRoman dining room and an enormous roadside tower that became the resort’s iconic symbol. McAllister also designed the Bob’s Big Boy hamburger chain—pair Big Boy’s neon kitsch with Agua’s thematic luxe and you get El Rancho (and a recipe for the Vegas aesthetic in general). Opened in 1941, El Rancho lured passing motorists with a 50-foot neon windmill and a roadside swimming pool. Inside: steaks and showgirls, in a cowhide and knotty-pine setting. El Rancho begat the Last Frontier, which had bullhorns in every room and a horse corral out back. Then came the Thunderbird and its Native American motif, right down to the portraits of chiefs over the bar. While that style didn’t endure, one feature the Thunderbird introduced did: the porte cochere, with its light bulb-studded canopies hanging above taxis and valets. The Thunderbird opened in 1948, the same year as what is now known as McCarran International Airport was dedicated, so it was no longer enough to attract motorists with a fashy sign. Driving guests to the door required an impressive entrance.

Billy Wilkerson, the Los Angeles nightlife player who initiated the project before Bugsy Siegel, um, took over. But Bugsy gets credit for one of the property’s characteristics that became a Vegas staple: the centrality of the casino. Elsewhere, restaurants and showrooms had their own entrances, but at the Flamingo, it was awfully diffcult to get where you were going without hearing the jingle of slots and rattle of dice. The Flamingo was also the frst to fy in celebrities to decorate grand openings (so feel free to blame Bugsy for our weekly Kardashian airlift). Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn aimed even higher up the cultural scale, owing more to Frank Lloyd Wright than Paramount Pictures, with Noël Coward headlining instead of Jimmy Durante. The resort’s white leather-upholstered bars and surrealistic wall sconces would be chic today. “One of the properties I liked the best was the Desert Inn—ironically since that’s the hotel we blew up to build Wynn and Encore,” says Roger Thomas, head of design for Wynn Resorts. “It had this wonderful kind of casualness.” The Flamingo showed that Vegas could do more than play cowboy, but the Desert Inn proved that the Strip could be elegant.

Elegant mid-century neon signage helps lure Las Vegas visitors off Las Vegas Boulevard and into expansive hotel-casinos such as the Flamingo (circa mid-1950s), Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn (1950s) and the Sands (1960s).

April 23–29, 2015

The Early Days

summit and the background of the fnal shot of Ocean’s 11, making it perhaps the coolest place in the entire timespace continuum. Spring 1955 brought us the Dunes, Riviera and Royal Nevada (fortunately, this was the year Las Vegas also began receiving water from Lake Mead, so those showers, dishwashers and dancing waters could fow). The Riviera was the frst “high-rise” on the Strip, at a whopping nine stories tall. Until then, resorts were modeled after motels, with wings or bungalows; from this point forward, the Strip would rise rather than sprawl. Hints of the era’s infuence can also be found in the wood veneers and boomerang-patterned carpets often used in contemporary properties, a sort of mid-century meh. But the real legacy of the ’50s is the swinging, anything-can-happenin-Vegas, where a kid from Hoboken could headline the big room with a drink in his hand and a movie star on his arm, or a divorcée from L.A. could have dalliances with the head of the Mafa and the president of the United States. “We are eternally banking on that idea of Vegas as this place where you can do things that are not quite acceptable elsewhere,” Swank says. “That’s where we started and what [has] sold Vegas as a brand since the 1950s.”

The Sands’ sophisticated Copa Room welcomes Dean Martin and the Rat Pack in 1957; Circus Circus’ big top adds a new design wrinkle in 1968; and the nine-story Riviera begins the Strip’s vertical trend in 1955.

Just when Vegas established a distinct design personality, the 1960s dawned and it decided to be someone else. Make that somewhere else: “It was that era when the United States was coming of age internationally,” Swank says. “There was the trip that the Kennedys took that brought the United States to Europe. International travel brought the idea of casinos that made you think you were in a different country.” Consider the Arabian theme of the Aladdin, the frst Castaways’ Polynesian paradise and, of course, Caesars Palace. “Caesars was the most elegant of the themed [hotels],” says Brian Paco Alvarez, art curator and historian for Zappos. “The blue facade and the pink porte cochere and the beautiful fountains.” Caesars’ eventual expansion only improved its style: “Rome was built without a plan,” Alvarez says, “so it looks kind of authentic, like multiple temples on a hill.” As Las Vegas developed more and bigger resorts, large-scale themes helped accommodate mass and provide an identity. If Caesars Palace was a Vegas pinnacle, Circus Circus went straight for the lowbrow. Today, it’s known more as a kid-friendly amusement park; but when it opened in 1968, Circus Circus was an adult playground. (Who’s more adult than Hunter S. Thompson and James Bond?) Cocktail waitresses dressed as sexy majorettes and served shots in paper cups as drunk gamblers whooped down a grown-up size slide. Over the years, themes have ranged from the medieval midway of Excali-

bur to the upscale Epcot of Paris and Venetian. And even though the concept waned in the past decade, it’s not gone: Resorts World, developed by the Malaysian-based Genting Group and slated for the former Stardust site, will nod to its Asian roots with red pagodas, a live panda habitat and a Great Wall replica. “I don’t think we’ve seen the end of theming altogether,” says Brad Schulz, FAIA, vice president at Bergman Walls architecture frm. “That’s still part of what makes Las Vegas what it is.”

The ‘Big-inning’ In 1970, Hilton Hotels purchased Flamingo and the International, coming the frst New York Stock change-traded company to enter

the beExthe

gaming industry—with more to follow. And as casinos went corporate, so did their exterior aesthetic, with mirrored towers—the kind often associated with captains of industry—sprouting toward the heavens. During this time, “largest showroom,” “largest pool,” “largest sportsbook,” and “most hotel rooms” became marketing buzzwords. Enormity began to epitomize Vegas almost as much as neon. “You have these big spectacles, and the idea is to attract attention with the grandeur to get you into the casino,” says Robillard, noting that inside was often a vast, lowceilinged maze of slot machines and craps tables without clocks or natural light. “I don’t know if it’s on purpose to make you lost or disoriented.” By 1978, a new competitor entered the picture: Atlantic City’s frst legal casino opened, and with cards and

dice available elsewhere, Las Vegas needed a new, more spectacular way to lure tourists.

First Family, Then Fancy As the 20th century wound down, the Strip steadily grew, bouncing on the successive bubbles of Reaganomics, dot-com and real estate. But an innovation in substance, rather than size, came from The Mirage in 1989. Steve Wynn’s masterpiece suited prevailing fashions by being both giant (more than 3,000 rooms) and themed (tropics and tigers), while also simultaneously pointing toward the trends of the future. The dolphin habitat and fake volcano appealed to families; the swank bars and exotic pool satisfed a

PHOTOS COURTESY UNLV SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

April 23–29, 2015

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Anywhere But Here

Boutique to the Future When casino construction lurched back to life post-recession, it was on a smaller scale. CityCenter slipped under the wire of the overblown era, but

also reached toward the next wave with its subdivision into three hotels, a highend shopping mall and a residential tower. Over the past few years, there’s been a defnitive move toward boutique hotels, which offer an intimate setting and a vibe more geared toward a specifc clientele. “Some of the bigger properties are trying to do that, when they carve out a Delano or carve out the Nobu Hotel in Caesars,” says Joe Faust, who worked on SLS as president of Dakota Development. “They’re trying to create that boutique, smaller atmosphere inside the mega projects.” The Strip’s most recent arrivals—the Cromwell and SLS—are smaller than the average Strip properties and are also remodels of existing hotels, which is another new twist. “This shift toward more small-scale developments and remodels,” Nowak says, “probably al-

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At the turn of the century, thousands of $400-a-night hotel rooms and a squadron of six-fgure condo towers were planned. “There’s the tendency for some to look back at the good-old days, even a decade ago when construction was booming and the city was taking off like crazy,” says Glenn Nowak, assistant professor at the UNLV School of Architecture. “But those can be signs that things are happening way too fast.” Indeed they were—then came 2008, and the roll stopped.

more sophisticated crowd. “The Mirage changed the perception of what Las Vegas is,” Schulz says. “Everything wasn’t just centered on bringing people to the casino itself. … People come here now because it’s an attraction; it’s not just a place to [gamble].” By the early ’90s, family-friendly was the trend, epitomized by Excalibur, Treasure Island and The Wizard of Ozthemed MGM Grand. But while it drew the strollers-at-10 p.m. crowd, it also brought the disdain of those who loved Vegas for its distinctly adult pleasures— and, as in most battles, the big kids won. Slowly, casinos shifted focus to highend restaurants, bombastic nightclubs and bikini-clad blackjack dealers. Eventually, the MGM tore down its amusement park to put up Skylofts, and Treasure Island’s kid-friendly pirate battle gave way to sexy sirens.

April 23–29, 2015

MIRAGE COURTESY L AS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU; RESORTS WORLD COURTESY GENTING GROUP; CROMWELL BY KOBBY DAGAN

The evolution continues: The Mirage opens as a game changer in 1989; the long-gone Stardust will soon become Resorts World; and the Barbary Coast-turned-Cromwell ushers in the boutique era.

lows the stakeholders involved to be more precise with what they are doing, to take smarter risks, to pay attention to the more ephemeral details.” The massive Resorts World aside, this move away from gargantuan properties to more comfortably scaled ones looks likely to continue—much to the delight of designers such as Wynn’s Thomas. “I’m hoping that the scale of hotels has seen the mega-hotel limit,” he says, noting the boutique movement offers “more specifcity to the kind of experience you’re having. It’s not as vast, and it feels more intimate.” You could argue that the “boutiquing” of the Strip fts today’s ultra-personalization/instant gratifcation culture, but it also harks back to the era of smaller casinos. And evoking vintage Vegas is increasingly part of modern Sin City’s appeal: The Cosmopolitan’s Chandelier bar may not be a conscious echo of Caesars’ still-stunning crystaldraped casino, but both make you feel like Tiffany Case with a pocketful of diamonds. Similarly, the Wynn’s Country Club restaurant is barely a decade old, but it has that golf-course view, and owner-and-headliner-at-the-next-table relaxed glamour that was a fxture of the Desert Inn. Then there’s SLS, which deliberately incorporated the Sahara’s history into its design. “We bought it from the family, and we told them, ‘We’re not going to blow it up; we’re not going to turn our back on the history,’” Faust says. “We said we would fnd a way to integrate some of that history into the property, which I did through some of the photography in the carpets. … The old ‘S’ door handles were made into chandeliers.” Today’s resorts are also recognizing the power of pedestrians, as a number of properties have remodeled their facades into an array of shops and restaurants that allow passersby to gradually be lured into the casino with many small temptations rather than one giant neon display. “Now you get a much more permeable interior environment that’s connected with the exterior,” UNLV’s Nowak says. But the multifaceted, something-foreveryone approach is also a more accurate depiction of what all Strip properties are becoming, as gaming revenues drop and spending on other attractions rises. For proof, take a stroll through a casino and note the design changes. “We’re seeing less banks of slots, more open areas, more lounge areas, a friendlier environment,” Schulz says. Still, no matter how eye-popping Las Vegas’ architecture has been through the years, it’s always been a backdrop for the game—be it blackjack, poker or other ways of trying your luck. Faust remembers discussing such a point with SLS designer Philippe Starck. “We described to him what a casino is, and he said, ‘Ah, it’s a big movie set.’ So he said, ‘Design a movie set, and let them play in the middle of it.’ He looked at it as people are playing a game, they want to be seen, they want to have fun. They want to be out there.”

NIGHTLIFE Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and go behind the scenes with Hakkasan’s sexy dancers

From cool-minimalistic to cumulus, electrifying cloud lighting is hovering over Las Vegas By Marisa Finetti

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Send in the Clouds

AT THE INTERSECTION OF FORM AND function, the latest trend in mood lighting is taking Las Vegas clubs and bars by storm. Each of these original, technology-driven masterpieces is a star attraction, lighting up spaces and enhancing the vibe.

April 23–29, 2015

PHOTO BY RYAN FORBES/AVABLU

The LED Cloud lights up your life at SLS’ Center Bar.

NIGHTLIFE

From the top: Vanity’s Cyclone, 3535’s Baby Vortex and the Cloud at BLVD Cocktail Co.

THE LED CLOUD

This large rectangular structure measures 18 feet wide by 32 feet long, and is suspended above the Center Bar near the main entrance of SLS. Displaying a loop of artistic motion and 3-D graphics on all exposed sides, a custom control system allows for complex styles of mood-enhancing content. At any given time, the system can cycle through such modes as “Joyful,” “Colorful” and “Playful.” Occasionally, the curiously entrancing 3-D face, which appears to move in and out of the stratus-style cloud, is a dramatic and amusing attention-getter. Built with 910 LED (light-emitting diodes) modules covering more than 990 square feet and more than 2.1 million pixels, offering highquality, vibrant images, the Center Bar’s LED cloud gives new meaning to “cloud computing.” Center Bar in SLS, SLSLasVegas.com. THE CYCLONE

Open exclusively for special events, Vanity nightclub boasts a custom-designed Cyclone chandelier hovering above its sunken dance foor. The undulating ceiling element spans 1,200 square feet above guests’ heads, and is covered in shimmering crystal discs and more than 10,000 individually controllable iColor Flex SL full-color LED nodes. Brilliantly, it comes alive with an array of complex light shows, controlled by an e:cue lighting system, while large-scale video displays are easily controlled by the DJ. Originally, the trunk of the Cyclone emerged from the dance foor, but it was recently, well, truncated to accommodate space for a control booth. The Cyclone is estimated to have cost $700,000 at the time it was fabricated for the club’s opening in 2009. Vanity Nightclub in Hard Rock Hotel, HardRockHotel.com.

April 23–29, 2015

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THE CLOUD

Hovering directly above BLVD Cocktail Co.’s swanky piano bar is the Cloud, a custom art installation by artist Gabriel Culp. It resembles a cumulus cloud, comprised of a massive cluster of white spheres, made primarily of Sylvania light bulbs. With 14,000 bulbs, of all sizes and opacities, the Cloud, which is estimated to have cost $30,000, is held together by a free-form chicken wire frame. However, it is deep within the low-looming formation where the light source is housed. Energy-saving LED lights periodically showcase eye-catching visual effects that simulate thunderstorm activity—without the rain. But after looking closely, the ceiling-mounted fre sprinkler around which the cloud is fabricated could create a real-life storm if activated. BLVD Cocktail Company at the Linq, BLVDCocktail.com.

BLVD COCKTAIL COMPANY BY ANTHONY MAIR, VANITY BY ERIK K ABIK

THE BABY VORTEX

Despite its name, the creation of this illuminating mesocyclone at 3535 Bar in the Linq was a larger-than-life engineering feat. Coming in at an estimated $450,000, Baby Vortex is made from a special formulation of fre-rated translucent polyurethane resin. The manipulation of the materials to piece this vortex together was tricky as crews worked 24 hours straight for more than one month to lay down each layer of the resin in precise 1/64th of an inch thickness every hour. The surface’s gray tiled matrix pattern is composed of 55,000 one-inch black squares, which adds a modern, digital feel to this cloud. Mushrooming high and wide above patrons’ heads, its expanse and color-changing intensity defnitely checks in at an F-5 on the tornado scale. 3535 Bar in the Linq, Caesars.com/Linq.

NIGHTLIFE

By Ian Caramanzana

See Walter White Jr. mix music after the second day of the Wizard World Comic Convention in Chateau. (In Paris, 10:30 p.m., ChateauNights.com.)

Naomi Campbell.

Feenixpawl.

SUN 26

THU 23

April 23–29, 2015

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Reality TV star Brody Jenner made the switch from television to turntables last year, and rumor has it that DVBBS is doing the opposite. The Canadian duo tweeted in March that it met with Netfix offcials to discuss plans for a possible show. Joking or not, judging by the “Tsunami” hitmakers’ Instagram feed, we’ll probably be glued to our screens. See them team up at Hakkasan. (In MGM Grand, 10:30 p.m., HakkasanLV.com.)

FRI 24 Enjoying the warmer weather? It’s only a matter of time until we’re struck with the blistering Las Vegas heat we know all too well. Thankfully, the rise in temperature means it’s time to bring out the swimsuits for SpyONVegas’ Hot 100 Launch Party. This year, more than $150,000 in cash and prizes

is up for grabs, and the fnal fve contestants get a shot at $1 million. DJ Irie provides the soundtrack when the madness begins poolside at Wet Republic. (At MGM Grand, 11 a.m., WetRepublic. com.) Speaking of pools, Foxtail Pool Club kicks off its grand opening weekend with Swedish starlets Rebecca & Fiona. The pair hit Miami, Panama and Los Angeles in March, and now they're bringing the electro sounds to Las Vegas. (At SLS, 10:30 a.m., FoxtailLasVegas. com.) Move the party indoors for another grand opening celebration at Omnia. Legendary supermodel Naomi Campbell works the ones and twos in the exclusive Heart of Omnia, and if you feel inferior, Calvin Harris provides the tunes in the main club. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check out the megaclub, now is the perfect time. (In Caesars Palace, 10 p.m., OmniaNightclub.com.)

SAT 25 Is it cool if we create a new Twitter hashtag? Let’s call today #StarStuddedSaturday, because a handful of celebs are making club appearances. Beverly Hills celebutante and television personality Paris Hilton kick-starts Rehab Saturdays with a DJ set. She won French radio station NRJ’s award for Best Female DJ in 2014, so she must be doing something right, right? (At Hard Rock Hotel, 11 a.m., RehabLV.com.) Nick Jonas shed his clothes for a sex scene in the recently released flm, Careful What You Wish For. We’re not saying the ex-Disney Channel actor will take it all off in the club, but you can sure as hell ask him when he hosts Hyde’s three-year anniversary party. (In Bellagio, 10:30 p.m., HydeBellagio.com.) Are you caught up on Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul? RJ Mitte, who played Flynn on BB, admitted to liking the spinoff more than the original series.

65’s “Only War” and the weird trap sounds of Astronautalis’ “Bird Peterson” in one location. Not a bad deal, if you ask us. (124 S. 11th St., 8 p.m., BunkhouseDowntown.com.)

TUE 28 First, see Chicago rock quartet OK Go tear up Brooklyn Bowl. OK, now go to Beauty Bar for the offcial after-party where two of them will spin and indulge in nickel beers. What? Did you forget that it’s Nickel F—n Beer Night?! Shame on you! (517 Fremont St., 9:30 p.m., TheBeautyBar.com.)

MON 27

WED 29

Hit up Bunkhouse for your weekly quota of hip-hop, and then some, with alternative hip-hop artists Buck 65 and Astronautalis. Both have roots as rappers, but their music blurs borders between genres such as indie rock, electro, blues and even country. You can season your musical palate with the orchestral arrangements in Buck

Henrix’s moniker is one letter short of “Hendrix,” but his progressive house music is a far cry from the legendary guitarist’s. The DJ just dropped “Alright,” his collaborative single with Bream and Zashanell. We’re sure his set will be more than all right when he runs the wheels of steel at Light. (In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.)

OK Go.

OK GO BY ZEN SEKIZAWA

Australian DJs/producers Feenixpawl recently teamed up with Wind-up Records to launch their own EDM label, Eclypse. The duo promises to release the best in new house music—teasing fans of what’s to come by releasing the track “Ghosts,” which features fellow Aussie Melissa Ramsay. The duo is sure to drop it at Drai’s Beach Club. (In the Cromwell, 10:30 p.m., DraisNightlife.com.) “Clarity” hitmaker Zedd has yet to confrm a relationship with pop star Selena Gomez. Over the past few months, the two exchanged firtatious messages and pictures of each other through social media, but they have yet to set the record straight. We’re not sure what’s going on, but we do know that Zedd will appear at XS for the Sunday Nightswim Preview Party. (In Encore, 10 p.m., XSLasVegas.com.)

NIGHTLIFE

When the Beat Drops … ➜ Up to 12 performers work at Hakkasan Nightclub each night. ➜ Rehearsal time averages about three hours every week— except when new choreography is added ... and then it could take up to 20 hours to prepare. ➜ Time to make one costume: At least 100 hours.

Beauty in Motion The story behind Hakkasan’s dance-foor magic By Jen Chase

PULSING BASS AND BUILDING BEATS USED TO BE ALL IT TOOK TO

satisfy clubbers to their dancing core. But with a growing need to see as much as we hear, the set of a headlining DJ has evolved into a chance to showcase their music against a backdrop of high-tech theatrics. At Hakkasan, hundreds of staff work behind the scenes Thursday through Sunday to stage shows replete with

confetti and CO2, lighting and liquid nitrogen, video and other high-tech tricks seen elsewhere on the Strip. But what other venues can’t claim is the artistic team of Gen Cleary and Andrea Fey, whose talents have collided since April 2013 to create Hakkasan’s multisensory vignettes that are as energized, electric and at times unexpected as the DJs spinning onstage.

Cleary is founder and creative director of Belluscious Productions, and her company handles Hakkasan’s performers—their dynamic dance, aerial numbers and their sophisticated, ultramodern costumes. Together with Fey—Hakkasan’s show director and project manager whose production expertise ensures Cleary’s vision can be executed in the club—the two women have created performances unique to the visions of artists such as Steve Aoki, Hardwell and Tiësto. “Every night we ensure our shows are extravagant, the costumes are elaborate and the décor is incredible,” Fey says. “And every show varies depending on the artist spinning, special event or big holiday weekends. We strive to translate the [headlining] artist’s vision into the production throughout the club. We work very closely with our artists.” Storytelling is at the heart of Belluscious’ art. The company frst hit Vegas in 2008 when it was hired to create the show Perfecto featuring Paul Oakenfold. Today it continues its mission of developing performances that people have never seen. Case in point: former Hakkasan resident Calvin Harris’ show. “We [made] TV heads that the dancers wear while performing a choreographed routine,” Cleary explains. “These props are synced up to the main LED screens and project the same images to add to the visual experience of the guests.” Cleary and Fey may be the brains behind Hakkasan’s dance-foor beauty, but they give credit where it’s due: to the performers. Calling her deft dancers’ moves “challenging” (can we go back to the whole balancing a television on your head with enough poise and sex appeal to woo a wild-eyed clubber’s stare?), dancers were selected after numerous auditions. They have an ability to seamlessly morph their moves into their attire, becoming one with their costumes through dance. “And,” Cleary says, “all of them have been with us since the beginning. That right there says it all.”

PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR

April 23–29, 2015

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➜ Each dancer has eight looks on any given night.

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

Encore [ UPCOMING ]

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

PHOTOS BY DANNY MAHONEY

April 23â&#x20AC;&#x201C;29, 2015

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April 24 Kaskade spins April 25 David Guetta spins April 26 Sunday Nightswim preview party with Zedd

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

DRAI’S BEACH CLUB The Cromwell [ UPCOMING ]

See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

PHOTOS BY TEDDY FUJIMOTO

April 23–29, 2015

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April 24 Warren Peace spins April 25 Borgeous spins April 26 Feenixpawl spins

DINING

“Given the lack of artifcial ingredients and the lower sugar content, high-end dark chocolate is considered by many to be good for you.” {PAGE 52}

Restaurant reviews, news and putting those cold-pressed juices to far better use

Not Your Mama’s Seafood This Morimoto veteran’s west-side hot spot is an overnight success By Al Mancini

Decadent oyster foie Rockefeller at Other Mama.

VegasSeven.com

| April 23–29, 2015

PHOTO BY ANTHONY MAIR

IT’S AMAZING HOW QUICKLY WORD ABOUT A HOT

new restaurant can travel in this town— even for a small independent place without a corporate publicity machine behind it. Case in point: Other Mama, a new west-side seafood restaurant. I’ve been there twice for dinner, and on both nights the place was populated by some of Las Vegas’ top chefs, restaurant managers, sommeliers and food writers. It had been open less than three weeks at the time. Much of the buzz is the result of the executive chef/owner’s pedigree. Dan Krohmer served as a sous chef and sushi chef in Masaharu Morimoto’s eponymous Philadelphia restaurant. He’s also served as a touring chef for Taylor Swift, Metallica, Jay Z and the Warped tour, among others. And since moving to Las Vegas to open his own place, he’s done time in the kitchen at the venerable Sen of Japan and served as sous chef at one of last year’s hottest new restaurants, Japanese Cuisine by Omae. While Krohmer’s Japanese cooking experience is extensive, Other Mama has a much broader theme. The menu relies heavily on fresh, seasonal, sustainable seafood prepared in styles from around the world (and be prepared—the prices refect this). Oysters are a centerpiece, with a rotating selection offered on the half shell with your choice of fve dipping sauces. You can also get them panko-fried, or as delicious oysters foie gras Rockefeller, $15 for four large oysters, which would be high for a raw bar, but seems fair given the preparation. I was a bit skeptical about the latter, but the chef doesn’t overpower them with a large piece of foie. Instead, he seasons the breadcrumbs ever so lightly with duck liver before they join the oysters for a well-balanced mixture of earth and

DINING April 23–29, 2015

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THE LAST TIME I SPENT SIGNIFICANT TIME

with chef Matt Silverman, we were discussing the homemade cheeses he was making at Vintner Grill with milk from his own goats. The guy was clearly passionate about the artistry involved in creating quality products from scratch using the best available ingredients. So I wasn’t surprised to see that same passion on display in the kitchen at the new Hexx Kitchen, Chocolate and Bar in Paris Las Vegas, where he and executive chef Matt Piekarski are creating high-quality chocolates with the same attention to detail. The results are some of the finest chocolates available, and an interesting education on the nature of the product. Hexx offers fve varieties of chocolate. Each features beans from a different country: Peru, Tanzania, Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar. They contain between 70 and 74 percent cacao, the dried beans of the cocoa tree. (By way of comparison, commercial milk chocolate can contain as little as 15 percent cacao, while commercial dark chocolate will generally range from 45 to 60 percent.) As a result, Hexx’s chocolates aren’t as sweet as a commercial candy

They’ll Put a Spell on You Chefs Matt Silverman and Matt Piekarski are raising the chocolate bar at Hexx By Al Mancini bar. But tasting them side-by-side is as palate-wowing as sampling a selection of fne wines. One may contain hints of plums, peaches, vanilla and caramel, while the next offers up almonds, sweet marzipan and forals. And the texture of each is slightly different. It’s easy to be skeptical before you’ve tried them, and you may not get every favor the chefs fnd, but the difference from one to another is nothing short of astounding. “We’ve sampled [our chocolates] for thousands of people so far,” Silverman says. “And I haven’t found one person who’s said they all taste the same. Ev-

eryone fnds one where they say, ‘I like that one better than the rest.’” Piekarski and Silverman oversee the process of creating these chocolates practically from start to fnish. They fy to Third World countries to personally select the suppliers who grow, ferment and dry their beans. After importing those to Las Vegas via container ships, they and their staff sort them by hand before roasting them. The roasted seeds are then cracked to separate the shells from the nibs, which are pulverized in a grinder for three days. For sweetness, coconut palm sugar is added. The mixture is

then poured into blocks, aged for three weeks, tempered to provide shine and texture, and fnally molded into the restaurant’s signature hexagon form. All of this takes place in a show kitchen so customers can observe the entire process. (They even keep raw cocoa pods on hand so you can see where the seeds come from.) “It’s a way to bring a craft-food movement to the Strip with an item that everybody in the world can relate to,” Piekarski says of the program. “Everybody understands what chocolate is. Chocolate is universal!” But Hexx’s offerings aren’t just educational and delicious. Given the lack of artifcial ingredients and the lower sugar content, high-end dark chocolate is considered by many to be good for you—if enjoyed in moderation, of course. “Anything that’s 70 percent or more of cacao in a bar is considered a health food by the FDA,” Silverman says. “Because it has stuff in there that’s heart-friendly and good for the brain.” “And,” his partner quickly chimes in, “lots of natural amino acids.” So if you’re a chocolate lover, a visit to Hexx is a perfect excuse to indulge that sweet tooth. Just be careful: As I can personally attest, it’s easy to go overboard.

PHOTOS BY JON ESTRADA

Piekarski and Silverman (in glasses) sort, roast and grind the cacao beans by hand before tempering and molding the final product.

DRINKING 1

BEE GRATEFUL + PIPERHEIDSIECK CHAMPAGNE

Combine at a ratio of 1 ounce of juice to 2 ounces of brut Champagne for something in the realm of a Bellini. It’s naturally sweet, with carrot, pineapple and apple, and just a bit tangy thanks to the addition of ginger and lemon.

1 2

BEE LEGENDARY + SAILOR JERRY SPICED RUM

White rum tasted raw with this nut milk made from cashew, Brazil nut, walnut and local honey. But spiced rum (or any aged rum; 1-2 ounces) mingles deliciously with the drink’s spice blend: turmeric, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, Himalayan salt, clove and black pepper.

BEE PURE + DON JULIO 70 AÑEJO CLARO TEQUILA

Lemon, apple and dandelion need just one thing to achieve brilliance: tequila! Vodka proved pretty, but soulless. Instead, use a clarified añejo (1 to 2 ounces) to keep the color bright and summery while getting all the depth of flavor from the aged spirit.

BEE WHEALTHY + TANQUERAY 10 GIN

Add 1½ to 2 ounces gin, then shake, strain over fresh ice and serve with a slice of lemon to make the flavors pop! This one has cucumber, celery, romaine, kale, apple, dandelion, parsley, lemon, ginger and turmeric.

BEE ROYAL + HENNESSY VS COGNAC

Juice Standard wants in on your nighttime activities, as well as your well-intentioned daytime ones By Xania Woodman

| April 23–29, 2015

Detox & Retox

➜ The publicist dropped off an ice-cold sixer of … fresh, cold-pressed juice. Dammit! My fantasy of whiling away the evening tasting beers evaporated with the frost. But she did say that Juice Standard’s juice blends and drinks ($9-$13, JuiceStandard.com) seem to go well with booze—would I be willing to give it a try? So later that night, I raided the liquor cabinet and threw everything I had at these juices—spirits, sparklers, bitters. Certain combinations worked better than others, some with the juices performing better than commercially available mixers! If booze is the stuff of poor decisions, and freshly pressed juice the stuff of good ones, then what is spiked juice but fun in disguise? I suggest you start with these combinations.

VegasSeven.com

Winner, winner! With the addition of 1½ ounces of Cognac and a few dashes of Angostura Aromatic Bitters, this drink instantly embodies the very definition of a cocktail. Over quality ice, Bee Royal’s fresh apple, lemon and extra ginger just sing— here’s to your health!

Duck, a la Rio

with serious sway over public attitudes? Even his Dynastic relatives don’t pretend he is, instead blessing a musical (even participating in it, electronically) that good-naturedly elbows them in the ribs as much as it tries to play up their heart. It’s song-and-dance rednecks. Nothing more. And—in terms of socio-political signifcance—a whole lot less, with one notable caveat: Addressing Phil’s comments on homosexuality made to a GQ reporter, plus the resulting uproar and family’s irritation with him, the musical doesn’t repeat them, but doesn’t repent over them, either. Instead, the Phil character says, “I’m gonna say what I think but love everyone, no matter what.” Such a have-it-bothways cop-out is also weirdly admirable and honest in a country where celebrities say and do ugly things, then utter apologies they don’t mean and no one believes. As for the Vegas publicity coup from all this palaver, it's given rise to hopes—likely to be dashed—that we can correct what we previously botched: exporting a show to Broadway. Previous attempts—the Beach Boys-themed misfre, Surf the Musical and, via some delusional comments by a few participants, the excruciatingly awful Pawn Shop Live!—died within our city limits. Though no declarations of a planned Broadway leap have been made, the show’s pedigree—a Broadway-level cast, director, creative team and producers (the ones behind Jersey Boys)—and even the characters wondering aloud if they’re bound for the Great Yankee Way, suggest just such aspirations. Also, it’s a potential opportunity for Vegas to embarrass the snots and snobs. Or, in the case of theater columnist Jeremy Gerard, a snot-andsnob in one, considering that he wrote in November, when the project was announced, that the musical “is set to join the ranks of brainless entertainment at the Rio that includes Chippen-

dales and Penn & Teller.” (Note to Penn Jillette: Should you wish to share your thoughts, you can reach him at Deadline.com, where he’s executive editor.) Moving on to sweeping Vegas-bashing, Gerard wields a quote by Michael David of the musical’s producing company, Dodger Theatricals, to club us: “ When [David] says, ‘The show will end up challenging the views and assumptions of people across the political spectrum, more than most theater does,’ he’s talking trash. You’ve been to Las Vegas. Me, too—I reviewed Vegas shows for Variety. Vegas shows don’t even challenge the assumptions of Flat Earth Society members.” Now we’ve gotten to my outrage. While I’d love for us to deliver a swift kick to Gerard’s journalistic gonads, dreams of successfully transferring from Vegas to Broadway are … well, let’s just say Duck isn’t likely to waddle through John F. Kennedy International Airport and grab a cab to a midtown rehearsal loft. Fret not. We’ll always have our outrage—fraudulent, overblown or even actually legitimate—to keep us entertained.

DUCK COMMANDER MUSICAL

7 p.m. Thu-Tue, 10 p.m. Thu and Sat, in the Crown Theater at the Rio, $53.30 and up, 702-252-7777, DuckCommanderMusical.com.

both embrace religious faith. Coincidentally, that also equates the tale of a duck-call-concocting clan earning truckloads of cash and national fame, with the story of oppressed, impoverished Jews feeing their Russian village in 1905 ahead of a looming massacre of their population. Not a peep? Well, it’s not as simple a gut punch as homosexuality vs. bestiality, apparently. Blunt homophobia is easier to grasp than the casual ignorance or dismissal of Jewish history as rendered onstage—especially to people with little or no theater background. Still the analogy—particularly by theatrical professionals who should know better—was truly boneheaded. And thoroughly overlooked. Also odd as a sidelight has been commentary that if red-state-style Duck Commander Musical arrived in blue-state New York with its Bible Belt following, it would be out of step with Broadway’s liberal storytelling. Conveniently, that ignores history. Numerous shows—including boxoffce successes—have been Biblically based without being anti-Christian, albeit with artistic license taken with scripture. Among them: Godspell, Leap of Faith, Sister Act, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. (Irony-loving wiseasses might toss in The Book of Mormon, which eviscerates and disembowels the tenets of Mormonism.) Let’s circle back to the old TV controversy and the new worry that infers that the stage show can act as some kind of social compass—that if it’s a hit, it somehow legitimizes Phil Robertson’s opinions. Worse yet, that it might prop up the family’s popculture fortunes when ratings for the TV series have been slipping. Really? Does anyone consider the papa bear of the Duck Family Robertson to be a statesman, academic, philosopher or—even more important in contemporary America—a celebrity

April 23–29, 2015

PHOTOS BY DENISE TRUSCELLO

'Blind' Ambition: The men of Duck Commander Musical, and the real Willie and Korie Robertson on opening night.

why not? Duck Commander Musical is a Vegas-size production camouflaging itself—thanks to creative stagecraft and helpful media speculation—as a potential understudy for a Broadway spot someday. It isn’t. One of its stated goals is to inspire us with its “rags to riches” tale of the Duck Dynasty Robertson clan’s rise to business/pop-cultural fame. Despite its fowl mood, it instead inspires a question from an old TV commercial: Where’s the beef? Excepting the homosexualitybestiality controversy, the family’s climb to national fascination is pretty much a straight upward shot with scant dramatic heft or intriguing narrative arc. Fleeting, mild tension after Papa Phil gets irritated with their media immersion, and some family griping about loss of privacy, are the only other minor hurdles. Impressive as their duck-call-business accomplishments are, plus their unlikely stardom, it’s not exactly the triumph-over-adversity stuff of gripping storytelling. That leaves highlights elsewhere: • Spirited, often funny performances come courtesy of actors such as Tad Wilson (Phil) and Mimi Bessette (Miss Kay). Particularly effective are the teddy-bearish, flag-bandanawearing Ben Thompson as son Willie, the family's entrepreneurial driving force, and Ginna Claire Mason as his sweetly likable wife, Korie. Comic gold is spun by Jesse Lenat as flamboyant Uncle Si, his best bit being a wacky, Travolta-esque dance number in shiny disco pants. Otherwise, the rest of the family functions mostly as a redneck Greek chorus. • A generic but finger-snappy, occasionally rousing gospel-rockcountry score, though no individual tunes will likely stay with you beyond a post-show beer. • Deftly deployed multimedia elements: Large, rolling-screen panels and monitors imaginatively display animation and video clips, particularly to illustrate YouTube, blog and assorted Internet reaction to the Robertsons. Especially entertaining are the real, hammy family members, in taped routines, watching and commenting on the action, showing hearty good humor. • A slam-bang, Chorus Line-style finale, featuring Wilson’s Phil—you know, the pray-away-the-gay guy—in an absolutely faaaabulous plumage of corn husks and camouflage feathers. Duck Commander Musical is a Vegas-appropriate, reasonably fun, slickly executed goof. Not a Broadway musical-in-waiting. – SB

VegasSeven.com

➜ Broadway? Nah. Vegas? Sure,

A&E

CONCERT

Stromae’s Masterful, Weird Performance Was Mostly Lost on Las Vegans

Boulevard Pool at the Cosmopolitan, April 16 In a slightly altered universe, Stromae would be a Las Vegas star. The Belgian singersongwriter-rapper is a showman in the old tradition, but one who incorporates the sounds and topics of today. His performance was as much theatrical as it was musical, with multiple costume changes and highly expressive dancing. Stromae used his tall, skinny build to its full effect, which often led to him resembling a preppy Jack Skellington. He didn’t just sing and dance, he became the characters in his songs. In “Formidable,” he was a love-lorn wretch, staggering around the stage until he collapsed and a bandmate dragged him away. In “Papaoutai,” he was a mannequin (a la his music video) that was carried onstage and placed in front of the microphone. His voice was rich and deep, and his audience interaction was charismatic. This was a world-class act, and it’s no surprise that Stromae is a superstar in Europe. Unfortunately, his stardom was lost on Las Vegas audiences (the majority of concertgoers were French-speakers). Despite the fact that so much of his performance had universal appeal, something was lost in translation. Here’s hoping that by his next U.S. tour, we can find a way to connect with this

April 23–29, 2015

VegasSeven.com

A Day of Awesome Bands

Las Vegans often lament the lack of touring acts stopping in our town. However, on April 30, there is a plethora of gigs. Canadian crew A Tribe Called Red plays the Bunkhouse. Bear Witness, Dee Jay NDN and DJ Shub create a unique blend of hip-hop, electronics, tribal drums and traditional Native American vocals. The trio will work the decks, collaging dub

beats and war chants, as a video mashup of media images of Native Americans provides counterpoint to the sounds. A Tribe Called Red’s next gig will be at the opening of the new Whitney Museum of Art in New York City. At Backstage Bar & Billiards, Helmet will play their 1994 album, Betty, in its entirety. Many consider it the best example of the band’s grinding guitar, driving bass and pummelling drums. Lead singer/ guitarist Page Hamilton will be the only guy who actually played on

Betty, but if it’s been a while since you pumped your first to “Milquetoast,” here’s your big chance. British “punk poet” John Cooper Clarke will perform at Vinyl in the Hard Rock. Clarke’s satirical, rapid-fire incantations have shared bills with the Sex Pistols and Elvis Costello, as well as being used in The Sopranos. Clarke is still influencing artists: He appeared in the Joy Division movie, Control, and his poem “I Wanna Be Yours” was adapted into a song by the Arctic Monkeys. – Lissa Townsend Rodgers

CHECK IT AND SEE Mick Jones has kept Foreigner going strong for nearly 40 years. Of course, it doesn’t hurt having monster hits such as “Cold as Ice,” “Hot Blooded” and “Feels Like the First Time.” Foreigner plays Star of the Desert Arena on April 25 ($11-$66).

A Tribe Called Red.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Frank Zappa died in 1993, but his son Dweezil has kept the music alive since 2006. Zappa Plays Zappa hits Brooklyn Bowl on April 25 ($38.50-$71.50), playing the final Mothers of Invention album One Size Fits All in its entirety, along with other Zappa classics.

ON SALE NOW Cage the Elephant is still basking in the success of its Grammynominated album, Melophobia and the band will headline “Our Big Concert” at the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Pool on May 28 ($40) with Dirty Heads, New Politics, Big Data and Joywave.

STROMAE BY ERIK K ABIK/ERIKK ABIK.COM; A TRIBE CALLED RED BY FALLING TREE PHOTOGRAPHY

great performer. ★★★✩✩ – Cindi Moon Reed

A&E

MOVIES

TEXTING TERROR Unfriended is an innovative horror story for the screen generation By Rick Bentley Tribune Media Services

NOT SINCE THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT IN 1999

has a horror flm taken such a creative approach to conjure scares as Unfriended. It’s a cautionary tale of friends who become the target of an unseen cyber entity starving for revenge. What makes this flm so different is that it’s shot looking at a computer screen. The actors interact through Skype, with backstory elements handled through online searches. Even the soundtrack is created using the tunes stored on one of the computers. The approach, much as the “found footage” construction of The Blair Witch Project, is jarring at the start. The main image of the computer screen remains static while a furry of action takes place in all the video screens. There are also text messages popping up, along with videos, which pull focus at frst. Eventually the approach becomes familiar enough that it’s easier to concentrate on the story. Taking a different tactic with the presentation is necessary because writer/producer Nelson Greaves has turned to a familiar horror movie theme. Whoever—or whatever—is

All the action takes place online in this new storytelling format.

stalking the teens is looking to avenge the death of a young woman so embarrassed by a video placed on YouTube that she committed suicide. It’s a familiar story that comes across as fresh because of the fascinating way the movie was shot. Layers of information that would normally slow the scarefactor pacing can be added through the on-screen images. The viewer can either concentrate on the actors or try to take in the whirl of action taking place in every corner of the screen. Because the cameras are always pointed at all of the actors, director

Levan Gabriadze had to make sure that he was getting seamless performances from the cast. This unknown group of players managed to turn in solid performances. A traditional flm has actors interacting or reacting to something in the scene. All of these performances are done directly into the camera, and all of the players manage to convey the fear their characters are experiencing. Unfriended is the frst horror flm for the electronic device generation. The entity element drives this story. But behind the horror, the movie strongly suggests that our lives have become

April 23–29, 2015

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SHORT REVIEWS

Beyond The Reach (R) ★★✩✩✩

Ben (Jeremy Irvine), a tracker, is summoned to take rich businessman Madec (Michael Douglas) into the wastelands, beyond “The Reach” (a geographic feature) in search of a trophy bighorn sheep. Irvine makes a convincing Ben, a wary kid a little slow on the uptake, but a man with skills and the physique to stay alive as Gordon Gekkowith-guns tracks him. Douglas makes a good villain out of a cardboard construction. But French director trips over himself trying to invent fresh wrinkles in this Man vs. Man vs. The Elements tale.

Child 44 (R) ★★✩✩✩

Part serial-killer thriller, part old-school anti-Soviet propaganda, Child 44 centers on an obedient MGB (secret police) agent played by Tom Hardy. Set in 1953, the film, inspired by the Tom Rob Smith novel, presents an image of the Soviet Union in which ordinary citizens live in fear. How to explain the body of a young boy found in Moscow? Senior MGB officer Kuzmin (Vincent Cassel), enlists investigator Leo (Hardy) to deliver the official report. In his next assignment, he is asked to investigate and potentially denounce his own wife, Raisa (Noomi Rapace).

Monkey Kingdom (G) ★★★✩✩

Tina Fey narrates this nature documentary, which focuses on the Castle Rock ruins. Here, 1,000 or so monkeys reinforce a brutal social hierarchy day after day. Maya, “low-born” according to the narration, spends her days scrounging for food and putting up with harsh treatment from the higher-ranking members of her family. Even though the film shows very little of the rough stuff, it’s still fairly traumatizing. By the end you may feel like seeing a documentary about a more fair-minded treatment of a society’s citizens.

open e-books because of the Internet. Secrets can’t be fully protected, and the potential of this kind of exposure is enough to send a chill up the spine. There’s a scary world only a couple of text messages away. It will be interesting after Unfriended ends its theatrical run and it can be viewed on a home computer. That will create the unsettling situation where the viewer is almost a new participant in this online game of supernatural cyberstalking. Unfriended (R) ★★★✩✩

By Tribune Media Services

Clouds of Sils Maria (R) ★★★✩✩

This film concerns the fractious relationship between a film star, Maria (Juliette Binoche) and her personal assistant, Val (Kristen Stewart). Maria is being pressured to commit to a London revival of the play that made her famous, this time playing the prey of a snakelike younger woman. A hot mess of a Hollywood star (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) is to be her co-star. By design, the dialogue from the play comments on the shifting power relationship in the film, sometimes elegantly, sometimes a little awkwardly.

Broken Horses (R) ★★✩✩✩

Desert Dancer (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

Broken Horses is a loose English-language remake of the Mumbai-set 1989 crime saga Parinda. Anton Yelchin and Chris Marquette play long-separated brothers, Jake and Buddy. In the prologue, their sheriff father (Thomas Jane) is shot and killed, and we see Buddy taken under the wing of the local crime boss named Julius Hench (Vincent D’Onofrio). In Parinda, one of the brothers speaks of “rotting away in America.” The remake suggests a movie made by the Parinda character while he was stuck out West without much to do.

This “true story” of a dancer longing to express himself in a fascist theocracy finds its surest footing in vivid scenes of interpretive dance. It’s only when Afshin (Reece Ritchie) attends university in Tehran, Iran, that he runs into like-minded artists and friends. Elaheh (Freida Pinto) crashes into Afshin’s life, making him want to attempt a public performance. The backdrop here is Iran’s abortive “Green Revolution,” the youthquake that threatened the theocratic regime. It’s the performers and their arresting “message” dances that make Desert Dancer worth its sand.

The Longest Ride (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

Furious 7 (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

In this Nicholas Sparks romance, Scott Eastwood (son of Clint) plays a rodeo star, Luke, who gets bucked off a bull. At the rodeo, is Sophia (Britt Robertson). Their first date ends when they help a car-accident victim Ira Levinson (Alan Alda). As he’s pulled from the wreck, Ira mutters something about “the box,’ which in a Sparks movie means: a stash of correspondence the heroine will soon be reading aloud, when the elder character isn’t doing the reading in voice-over. We have two love stories singing to each other across the decades.

Avenging his brother’s death as depicted in the previous Furious, Jason Statham’s character is a Special Ops assassin out for blood. Kurt Russell joins the ensemble as a Mr. Big man who assembles the street racers (Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) for the heist of the surveillance device known as “God’s Eye.” Walker died in a car accident in late 2013, mid-filming. His scenes were completed using doubles And the undertow of the farewell, of friends parting, can be felt throughout the film.

Woman in Gold (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

The Salt of the Earth (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

Helen Mirren is the best reason to see this disappointingly shallow chronicle of Maria Altmann, the Jewish World War II exile who waged a lengthy legal battle to regain rightful ownership of Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” along with other Klimt paintings. Seized by the Nazis, along with the wealthy Altmann family’s other effects, the painting ended up in Vienna’s Belvedere Palace gallery on display after the war, according to the portrait subject’s wishes. But was the Klimt really the subject’s to bequeath?

This compelling new documentary about photographer Sebastiao Salgado is a moving account of one man’s global exploration, and how ecological awareness and a desire to go home again repaired his soul after seeing and processing so much inhumanity. Codirectors Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado (the photographer’s son) linger on certain canvases of catastrophe or human suffering while darting off others. Is what we see grief porn or an epic, career-long study in the best and worst we can find on Earth?

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SEVEN QUESTIONS

WIZARD WORLD

Neal Adams will appear at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 2426, WizardWorld.com.

a big-time jerk.… The Hulk is clearly a monster, he just smashes everything. Ant Man was a jealous husband who beat his wife. Spider-Man was such a jerk that he got his Uncle Ben killed. You’re talking about real jerky assholes, as opposed to DC Comics, where everybody’s teeth gleamed. You helped revive Batman in the 1970s. How did that happen?

The legendary comic book artist on the DC-Marvel rivalry, rebooting Batman and his all-time favorite story By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

April 23–29, 2015

VegasSeven.com

You began working in comics right out of high school in 1959. How did you manage that?

I was lucky enough to go to an art high school, [so] I was able to get out of high school as a skilled professional. Unfortunately, I tried to earn a living doing comic books. Everybody who was doing comic books at the time told me that they were going to be out of business in a year. They suggested that I do something else with my life. But I didn’t listen. You worked for both DC and Marvel. How were they different?

They are very much alike now, but early on there was just Stan Lee at Marvel. At DC, they had, say, fve editors and writers, and the writers wrote scripts. … Marvel had the smallest offce you could ever imag-

ine. Stan had a corner room that was as small as you could be in and still move your legs. He had a production room that was nothing, a place where they kept supplies and there was Flo Steinberg sitting up front saying, “You can’t go and see Stan, I’m sorry, he’s very busy.” And that was Marvel. DC Comics had regular offces with rooms and shit and the president of the company and a big production room and it was a real offcial place. They were totally different. What were the comics themselves like?

DC Comics was looking at Superman and saying, “You guys who are doing the cowboy stuff and the Flash Gordon stuff—go do superheroes.” And so all the superheroes they were creating were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and they had shiny teeth. They [had]

intended to be heroes all their lives— they’re like grown-up cops. And Marvel?

When [comic book artist] Jack Kirby came to Stan Lee in 1961 or whenever the hell that was, he suggested the idea: “Why don’t we take your horror stories or your monster stories and turn them into hero comics?” Take the four [characters] that go up into space and they get affected by gamma rays, and they come down and they turn into monsters. Why don’t we make the monsters into heroes? Which was the opposite of what DC Comics was doing. These are fawed, practically monstrous heroes. Almost every hero at Marvel comics at the beginning was an asshole, if you’ll excuse the expression. Iron Man was a guy who had a bad heart and he was

What do you think of current controversial character reboots such as female Thor or gay Green Lantern?

They’re experiments, and experiments, as anybody in science will tell you, are worthy. It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the way it’s going to go—it’s simply a concept. … Remember, we’re in a fantasy form, we can do whatever we want. The only question would be: Why don’t we? Of course we should do it, there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you know what your base is and go back to it anytime you want to. What is your favorite comic that you’ve done?

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali that I did in the late ’70s only to be [surpassed] by Batman Odyssey, my latest and greatest. It’s a book, 325 pages and eight pages before the end of it you see Batman with a gun seemingly blowing the chest out of the Sensei and, as you know and I know, that can’t happen. So something must have happened in those 300 pages, and Neal must have done something with those last six pages to get us out of that.

PHOTO BY GABE GINSBERG/FILMMAGIC

Neal Adams

We had that TV show, which everybody loved—God knows it was a wonderful show—but it wasn’t Batman. It was satire. When the satire ended, for the comic book company to keep any of that aspect was—what’s the word?— stupid. Because Batman wasn’t a satire; Batman was a reality-based comic book superhero. So I went into my editor, Julius “Julie” Schwartz, and I said, “I’d like to do Batman.” He said, “Get the hell out my offce.” “But, Julie, I just want to do a Batman story like Murray Boltonoff!” He was editing a book called The Brave and the Bold, and Batman would show up with other characters: Batman and Deadman or Batman and Aquaman—it was called a teen book, so I volunteered to do this teen book. Murray said, “Do you want to change the scripts?” and I said, “No, so long as I can have the stuff happen at night and not in the daytime, and as long as Batman doesn’t come through the door and say, ‘Hi! I’m here!’ but he comes through a window, or comes out of a closet or comes out of the darkness. So long as I can do that, I’ll be fne.”