A V I !VLA ÚS ICA! M
Alejandro Fernández
and fellow Latin artists arrive for a Mexican Independence Day weeke nd fiesta -
FREE September 14–20, 2017
W HA T TO DO
AF T ER DARK By JASON R. LATHAM
TASTE: Las Vegas legends Siegfried & Roy will
DANCE: The Venetian’s Tao Nightclub marks
its 12th anniversary (has it really been that long?) with headliners DJ Vice and Eric Dlux. 10:30 p.m., $14–$23, taolasvegas.com Meanwhile, Marshmello is back at Wynn Las Vegas’ Intrigue Nightclub. 10:30 p.m., $35–$45, intriguevegas.com
tap the keg at the 14th annual 2NWREHUIHVW .LFNRII at Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas. The event, which runs through October 31, includes stein-holding contests, bar games, prizes, Bavarian cosplay and the beer hall’s signature Oktoberfestbier. 7 p.m., 4510 Paradise Rd., hofbrauhauslasvegas.com EXPERIENCE: Bask in the shiny glow of finely
chiseled, oiled-up bodies at -RH :HLGHU·V 2O\PSLD )LWQHVV 3HUIRUPDQFH :HHNHQG at Orleans Arena. 7 p.m., tickets start at $68, at The Orleans Hotel & Casino, orleansarena.com
)5,'$< SPLASH: 3LWEXOO·V *OREDOL]DWLRQ 7DNHRYHU hits
LAUGH: Comedian and YouTube star Franco
Escamilla performs at The Joint inside Hard
Rock Hotel & Casino. 8 p.m., tickets start at $80, hardrockhotel.com
Drai’s Beachclub on the roof of The Cromwell, with sets by Big Syphe, DJ Danjazone and DJ Santarosa. 11 a.m., $20–$30, draisbeachclub.com
And Mad TV vet Aries Spears plays Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa. 8 p.m., tickets start at $30, aliantegaming.com
And Stratosphere hosts the 5RRIWRSRROORR]D weekend celebration at its Radius Pool, featuring $5 beers and $25 beer bucket specials, $12 margaritas, giveaways and music. Also, it’s a European-style pool, so there’s that too. 11 a.m., $14, stratospherehotel.com
HEAR: Some of the biggest Latin artists of all time are in Las Vegas for Mexican Independence Day weekend, including Grammy winner Ricardo Arjona at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan. 8 p.m., tickets start at $89, cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com
Kesha
The Henderson Pavilion celebrates its 15th anniversary with a performance by country outfit *UHHQVN\ %OXHJUDVV. Attendees get a commemorative cup! 7 p.m., $15–$26, 200 S. Green Valley Pkwy., cityofhenderson.com If you’re Downtown, you can join London metal act +DNHQ as their 10th-anniversary tour rolls through Fremont Street’s Backstage Bar & Billiards. Sithu Aye and Mammoth are also on the bill. 8 p.m., $20–$25, 601 Fremont St., backstagebarlv.com And down the street, it’s 7ULEXWH 1LJKW at Beauty Bar. See what happens when the Doors cover act the Burning Doors collides with the Smiths tribute band Nowhere Fast. 8 p.m., $10, 517 Fremont St., beautybarlv.com Or you can jam with one of the greatest acts of all time when %OXH g\VWHU &XOW takes over the Golden Nugget showroom. 8 p.m., $32–$162, inside The Golden Nugget Hotel, goldennugget.com
KESHA BY OLIVIA BEE
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Top: Burns; Bottom: Siegfried & Roy at Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas
SUNDAY 17 SPLASH: Pool season is winding down,
so put Claude 9RQ6WURNH·V debut at Drai’s Beachclub on your bucket list. 11 a.m., $20–$30, at The Cromwell, draisbeachclub.com
SATURDAY 16 SPLASH: Two stars of The Fast and the
Furious films are performing poolside this weekend, so you’ll have to choose between Tego Calderon at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s Rehab Beach Club (11 a.m., $20–$40, rehablv. com) and Ludacris at Mandalay Bay’s Daylight Beach Club (11 a.m., $24–$36, daylightvegas.com). Before you make your decision, ask yourself: What would Vin Diesel do? LAUGH: Before you see Bob Saget at
Brooklyn Bowl, watch his cameo in Half Baked. It’s on YouTube. 7 p.m., tickets start at $35, at The Linq Promenade, brooklynbowl.com
Or get to Rehab and catch a performance by Ginuwine and tunes from DJ Drama. 11 a.m., $20–$40, at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, rehablv.com EXPERIENCE: Texas Station hosts
the final night of its Mexico Lindo outdoor festival, with food, giveaways, live entertainment and free entry. Additionally, the property is adding a loteria game at the bingo room (5 p.m. and 10 p.m., $20–$25) and Hot Latin Nights (10 p.m.) with complimentary cover inside the South Padre lounge. 11 a.m.–1 a.m., stationcasinosevents.com
MONDAY 18
HEAR: Brush your teeth with a bottle
of Jack and see Kesha at M Resort. 8 p.m., $20, themresort.com CHEER: The Canelo Álvarez–Gennady
Golovkin fight is sold out at T-Mobile Arena, but MGM Resorts is hosting Fight Night Viewing Parties at Mandalay Bay, Luxor, MGM Grand, The Mirage and New York-New York. 5 p.m., $75, mgmresorts.com DANCE: Charge your phone for some
postfight celebrity spotting at Hakkasan Nightclub. Tiësto is headlining, with DJ Shift in the Ling Ling Room. 10:30 p.m., $25–$40, inside MGM Grand, hakkasanlv.com
CHEER: There’s free pizza and a
sponsored open bar during the first half of the Monday Night Football Parties at Crazy Horse III gentlemen’s club. It’s Lions vs. Giants, and if you don’t like that matchup, at least you’re still in a big room with exotic dancers. Plus, it’s free entry for locals arriving in their own transportation. 3525 W. Russell Rd., 5:30 p.m., crazyhorse3.com DANCE: If you’ve still got some energy
left in you, burn it off with DJ Shift at Jewel Nightclub’s Flawless Mondays party. 10:30 p.m., $20–$30, inside Aria Resort & Casino, jewelnightclub.com
TUESDAY 19 DANCE: Glasgow’s Burns is back
in Las Vegas, spinning tonight at Omnia Nightclub inside Caesars Palace. Join him. 10:30 p.m., $20–$40, omnianightclub.com
WEDNESDAY 20 EXPERIENCE: Henderson’s Essence
Cannabis Dispensary is hosting a Vaping 101 course as part of its Wellness Wednesdays series. Don’t forget to RSVP for the free event. 5:30 p.m., 4300 E. Sunset Rd., Suite A3, essencevegas.com DANCE: Not everyone can enjoy
Nightswim with Ookay at Encore Beach Club. You can, and you should. 10:30 p.m., $25–$35, at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, encorebeachclub.com
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com
DJ DRAMA SUN, SEP 17
SUN, SEP 17
DEE JAY SILVER SEP 22
SEP 29 & 30
REHAB@HRHVEGAS.COM | 702.693.5505 | HARDROCKHOTEL.COM | REHABLV.COM /REHABLV #REHABLV
Breaking Barriers International icon Alejandro Fernández returns to Las Vegas on the heels of his debut album’s 25th anniversary
By JESSI C. ACUÑA
FIESTAS PATRIAS DELIVERS LATIN STARS FOR MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY By JASON R. LATHAM
LAST SUMMER, Mexican musician Alejandro Fernández notably shut down a whirlwind of gossip stemming from a photo of him standing topless between two men that was taken at a Las Vegas nightclub. After it went viral and his sexuality came into question, he addressed the photo in a Facebook post, saying it was silly how it became such a big deal. He continued on to address his poor judgment in taking an intimate photo when “phones and sites have sadly ended our privacy and intimacy.” The event ended up being a teachable moment for Fernández. “I try to keep in touch with my fans and feel close to them, but I remember: What happens in Vegas, stays in Google,” he tells Vegas Seven, in regard to how he decides what to share and what to keep private from his millions of followers. On September 15, the global superstar returns to Las Vegas to again perform during Mexican Independence Day weekend, taking the stage at T-Mobile Arena as a part of MGM Resorts International and Live Nation’s Fiestas Patrias weekend of concerts. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Fernández’s self-titled debut album—and since that premiere, the singer has sold more than 30 million albums, won multiple awards and was inducted into Billboard’s Latin Music Hall of Fame. Of Fernández’s induction, Jesús López, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Latin America & Iberian Peninsula, says, “Alejandro has earned the highest award any artist dreams of: the constant applause of millions of Latinos.” In honor of his quarter century in music, Fernández released his 16th studio album, Rompiendo Fronteras (Spanish for “breaking Barriers”), which blends the two sounds—traditional ranchera music and contemporary Latin pop—he’s bounced between since he came on the scene. With all of his success, Fernández acknowledges his supporters. “I love my fans and everything they do to follow me and support me,” he says. But the artist also recognizes what he’s missed. “In this career, there are many sacrifices,” he says. “There have been a lot of family events that I wish I could have been at.” The son of cultural icon Vicente Fernández, who is regarded as the king of the ranchera sound, Alejandro has also followed his father’s lead in speaking up for Mexican Americans in this challenging political climate. Vicente openly supported Hillary Clinton throughout the election. “All of the Mexicans who are working in the United States are not alone,” the younger Fernández says. “Mexico lives in the heart of all our people outside and in the United States.” 7
Saturday night’s sold-out Canelo Álvarez–Gennady Golovkin fight isn’t the only game in town this weekend. MGM Resorts International teamed with Live Nation to bring the world’s biggest Latin artists to its arenas and theaters on the southern end of the Strip. Here’s the lineup for Fiestas Patrias 2017.
FRIDAY 15 Monte Carlo headliner Ricky Martin returns to the stage at Park Theater for a pair of weekend shows. 8 p.m., tickets start at $55, montecarlo.com Multi-Grammy-winning rock band Maná also plays the first of two per-
formances at MGM Grand Garden Arena. 9 p.m., $51–$450, inside MGM Grand Las Vegas, mgmresorts.com Just down the Strip, Billboard Latin Music Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Solis is on deck with opening act Jesse & Joy at Mandalay Bay Events Center. 8 p.m., $79–$277, mandalaybay.com And Alejandro Fernández, who frequently perfoms in Las Vegas during this holiday weekend, takes over T-Mobile Arena. 8 p.m., tickets start at $69, t-mobilearena.com
SATURDAY 16 If you’re not watching the fight, you can catch Ricky Martin (8 p.m., tickets start at $55, montecarlo.com) or Maná (10 p.m., tickets start at $85, mgmresorts.com) a second time, or you can hit up Mandalay Bay Events Center and see 0DUF $QWKRQ\·V Full Circle tour with opening act Christian Nodal. 10:30 p.m., tickets start at $80, inside Mandalay Bay, mandalaybay.com
From top: Maná, Marco Antonio Solis, Marc Anthony
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com
[ HEAR THIS ]
S
ometimes it’s easy to forget what Independence Day is really about. And Mexican Independence Day, celebrated on September 16, is no different. The territory now known as Mexico was once called “New Spain,” and Mexican Independence Day commemorates the decision of a group of landowners of mostly European descent to create an economy and identity independent of the Spanish Empire in 1810. But this decision did not necessarily produce the freedom Americans have come to associate with Independence Day. For Mexican natives and for those who had been enslaved in the Spanish territory, it spelled genocide and land theft even greater than what they had already experienced leading up to this cry for autonomy. “It’s easier to educate kids according to this romantic idea of the nation,” says Dr. Emmanuel Ortega, who recently received his Ph.D. in Ibero-America colonial art history from the University of New Mexico and currently teaches art history at UNLV. “We have to understand history as an interpretation of events, and that interpretation is very one-sided for the purpose of colonization,” Ortega says. Studying images of Franciscan martyrs and the role of native resistance in colonial Latin America (which Ortega did for his dissertation) is just one way to uncover and reclaim parts of history that are not necessarily taught (sometimes not even mentioned) in school. Ortega also works to bring that historical context to the foreground under the alias Babelito in the Latinos Who Lunch podcast. Since starting the podcast in May 2016 with local artist and best friend Justin “Favy Fav” Favela, Ortega has seen the digital media platform become a safe space to talk about things from food to politics to identity. This is especially true for the podcast’s many Chicanx and Latinx listeners, who prefer the “x” ending to avoid gender-binary descriptors “Chicano” or “Chicana.” And it’s based in Las Vegas. “When I see the Strip, I don’t see capitalism, I don’t see spectacle; I see my family more than anything else,” Ortega said in a promotional video for Latinos Who Lunch. The podcast aims to increase Latino visibility in a town where Trump Tower gets more attention than the communities who actually built it. Babelito wants his audience to understand how cultures represent themselves (think Latinx, Las Vegans, Americans and more) and how those representations affect people’s daily lives in ways we are sometimes not even aware of. “It’s not until you historically contextualize everything that you really understand how [systems of power] function,” explains Ortega. This applies to his academic career as well: “If I can do that through images, through pictures, it’s even better.” Studying and discussing art history connects us in new ways not only to our own history, but also to other cultures’ experience of colonialism. For example, Ortega cites how one of his shyest students gave a final presentation that blew him away—that connected Mexican art’s depiction of race to how race is understood in the Philippines. Rather than forcing one interpretation of events, Ortega focuses on sparking dialogue and an interest to keep learning. “Being woke is very hard, but staying woke is even harder,” Ortega says of uncovering and coming to terms with history. “We tend to look at social media and feel like we know and understand how systems of power work today.” Which is why Ortega teaches his students to be critical of visual culture, and why Babelito speaks his mind when he talks about being Mexican in Las Vegas—to better understand how we got here, who we think we are, where we are going and what this means for real communities who make their homes here and in the United States. Cues like fireworks and margaritas prompt us to celebrate national identity, which has been interpreted and reinterpreted for more than 200 years in Mexico. So, does Ortega have a woke way to celebrate on September 16? “No, I don’t engage in any symbols of patriotism,” he says. “I don’t believe in the project of the nation, but nations are very real and they create borders and they separate people.” 7
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com
By SHANNON MILLER
Photography KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
Stay Woke
with Babelito
Dr. Emmanuel Ortega uses different forms of media to spark dialogue and increase Latinx visibility in Las Vegas
Latinos Who Lunch latinoswholunch.com @latinoswholunch
[BEHIND THE BAR ]
RATTLING THE CAGE S Station Casinos’ new beverage team is in place and ready to revolutionize off-Strip casino bars By XANIA V. WOODMAN Photography KRYSTAL RAMIREZ
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com
ometimes you have to physically step away from your desk to better grasp what is most important when you’re back at it. So it makes sense that it would be over an artery-clogging hangover breakfast of eggs, grits and other Southern delicacies during July’s Tales of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans that Station Casinos’ new corporate director of beverage, Dan D’Agostino, would casually lay his manifesto out on the table: “Essentially, we want to create a craft culture.” In a bunch of off-Strip casinos? Sounds like a Herculean task. “On the Strip, it’s a new face every three days. We’re a locals casino. We’re speaking to the same consumer over and over and over again. We have to be better,” he says. “We have to be more dynamic.” The former director of nightlife for Light Group and former VP of operations for The ONE Group has spent the last two years jet-setting and hustling as a senior brand ambassador for ultra-luxury tequila brand Casa Noble. He’s experienced it all, bar-wise: the good, the bad and the incredibly inspiring. In D’Agostino’s opinion, “the problem with many of these big organizations is that there isn’t someone at the top who knows what works.” Station’s corporate VP of hospitality James LaFlamme, he says, is the exception. The pair traveled together extensively so that LaFlamme could see what cocktail culture really entails. LaFlamme also saw that D’Agostino was the perfect fit for a highly specialized position he was trying to fill. Now in place since late March, D’Agostino has been tasked with championing, updating and personalizing the guest experience at bars within the company’s 20 Southern Nevada properties, including Palms Casino Resort, Red Rock Resort and Green Valley Ranch Resort, as well as all Station, Fiesta and Wildfire locations. And D’Agostino seems way more excited than intimidated. “The ability to come in and do something new, set a new bar, set a new standard—that’s good work!” he says. “I just know we can be a lot better, and that’s all I really focus on: providing a better experience for [our] guests.” In his first act as beverage chieftain, D’Agostino lured Wynn’s property mixologist Damian Cross away from the resorts where he had been overseeing the beverage program for more than two years. Critical to Cross’ role as Station’s new corporate mixologist is establishing the infrastructure and ethos of the beverage department for each property and supporting the bartenders and apprentices the company employs. Cross will also help lead a planned in-house beverage academy to educate those employees. “Wynn has a culture; it’s there, it’s established. It was there before [Cross] and it’s going to be there after him. This is an opportunity for Damian, James and I to create a culture,” D’Agostino says. “It’s the depth and breadth of what we’re doing, from the top to the bottom, that vastly exceeds anything anybody else is doing.”
“It’s the depth and breadth of what we’re doing, from the top to the bottom, that vastly exceeds anything anybody else is doing.” —Dan D’Agostino
Left to right: Kinson Lau, Dan D’Agostino, Damian Cross, Adam O’Donnell Fusing their influence, connections and a shared vision, D’Agostino and Cross have cherry-picked an A-team of top talent from all over the Valley. On the management side, there’s Adam O’Donnell, formerly the bar manager at Herbs & Rye, who will oversee Green Valley Ranch as property mixologist. Kinson Lau, a barman also from Herbs & Rye and the Sand Dollar Lounge as well as a Maison Ferrand portfolio rep, will oversee Santa Fe Station as property mixologist. Chris Leavitt departs Downtown’s Carson Kitchen to helm T-Bones Chophouse in Red Rock Resort as lead mixologist. Hired from within—a critical part of D’Agostino’s plans—Nadine Medina steps up as a lead mixologist at Onyx Bar in Red Rock along with colead Terry Clark, who slides over from the lead position at Oak & Ivy in Downtown Container Park. More property and venue positions will be named as change sweeps through the company. “We have [14,000] employees at Station Casinos, and dozens and dozens and dozens of bars,” D’Agostino points out, playing devil’s advocate against himself. “You can’t just hire someone and say, ‘Oh, I’m going to assimilate you into the culture and you’re going to be successful.’ It doesn’t happen [like that]. It has to be purposefully built that way.” To that end, he has compiled a pantheon of industry luminaries for a beverage academy that doesn’t play favorites with any brands or supplier house. The yearlong program will provide training in practical technique, in-depth spirits knowledge and history, female empowerment and more, transforming existing apprentices into bartenders, bartenders into mixologists, mixologists into bar leads and so on to create consistent upward mobility within the company. “When they’re done, they can test into the lead roles,” D’Agostino says. “Kinson and Adam are two of the most talented individuals in this industry anywhere, especially in Las Vegas, but I don’t expect that they’re going to be with us forever. I hope that this launches their careers.” And movement begets movement. Even as the starting lineup was settling in, the work had already begun. At Palms, which Station Casinos acquired in October 2016, the newly formed beverage team has already introduced itself with the opening of the Lucky Penny Café and Social Table, a pop-up in the former Hooters space created to keep the staff of the shuttered buffet working during that makeover. Those openings are a mere prelude to a complete entertainment and F&B overhaul that also involves the return of Jon Gray to the property as its GM and vice president, and the addition of brothers Cy and Jesse Waits as chief experience officers and senior VPs of Station’s newest division, the Social Experience Group. At Red Rock, the Onyx Bar and T-Bones teams are poised to spring into action, and O’Donnell is transforming the lobby bar in Green Valley Ranch. Outside of the luxury tier, Sonoma Cellar Steakhouse is once again open following a revamp in Sunset Station, and Lau is already at work freshening up the offerings at Santa Fe Station’s Charcoal Room. “This is a couple-years-long process,” D’Agostino says, signaling for the check and getting ready to meet up for a drink with his former boss from Casa Noble Tequila. After all, he’s still in the relationship business. The fact that all of Station’s properties remain in operation during the upgrades adds a layer of complexity that hasn’t escaped him: “It’s tough, it makes it a lot harder. We’re trying to jump on a train that’s already going 90 miles [per] hour—and has been for 40 years—and change course.” Still, D’Agostino seems confident in his decision to climb aboard and in whom he’s chosen to come along for the ride. “I don’t believe in following trends—I want to set them.” 7
September 1 4–20, 2017 vegasseven.com