View From Vegas: Rock & Rolls

Author: "Lucky Chuck" Kapelke
May 2008

Columns

Summer Grooves
The hot months usually bring a new wave of musical acts to Vegas, and this year looks to be no exception. With shows suited to every taste and budget, tickets to a summer Vegas concert can be a perfect personalized incentive prize or an easy group activity (book early and ask for group discounts).

Some of the acts coming to Vegas this month include the Police, who will perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday on May 23, along with Elvis Costello & The Imposters (mgmgrand.com).

The Aquarius Casino Resort, in Laughlin, will feature Trace Adkins at the Aquarius Outdoor Amphitheater on May 10, while the Pointer Sisters will perform on Saturday, May 17 (theaquarius.com).

In June, popular band Panic at the Disco will be at the Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort, with comedian Eddie Izzard taking the Pearl stage in July (palms.com).

Cannery Casino and Hotel has a number of classic acts on its bill this summer, including WAR, Al Jarreau (with opening act Stanley Jordan), Herman’s Hermits and Davy Jones of the Monkees (cannerycasinos.com).

Also this summer, Red Rock Resort Spa Casino will host the likes of country music singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley; Crosby, Stills and Nash; Peter Frampton; and UB40 (stationcasinos.com).

And plenty of comedians will be coming to Vegas this summer, as well. Dane Cook will be at Caesars Palace this month; Billy Crystal will be at the MGM Grand; and David Spade will be bringing his stand-up routine to Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino for a series of dates throughout 2008 (planethollywoodresort.com).

With so many acts passing through town, summer is also a fine time to hire performers between acts to perform at mid-day shows during the course of a meeting or convention, or to shake hands and sign autographs at meet-and-greet receptions.

Sugarcane
Add to the list of Vegas clubs (and stunning event spaces) Sushisamba, a 14,000-square-foot restaurant at Palazzo Resort Casino Hotel with a sushi bar that melds South American and Japanese styles; images of Japan, Brazil and Peru are flashed along the walls. After scarfing sashimi, guests can wander from the restaurant through a dark tunnel to Sugarcane, a 6,000-square-foot lounge with a leather and bamboo theme. This funky spot has 174 seats and a 20-person VIP section, a stage, dance floor and DJ booth, and a cool “sugarcane” ceiling made of glass, acrylic, resin, paper and wood and metal tubes (sushisamba.com).

AGO
AGO, a popular Italian trattoria in L.A., is marking its 10th anniversary by opening a new restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. AGO is well suited for special dinners for small groups; it even has a “Cava” room, designed as an underground wine cave, where guests can chat over dishes like gnocchi with pesto, rigatoni with wild boar sauce and wild salmon with caper sauce (hardrockhotel.com).

Yellowtail Sushi
Yellowtail Sushi Restaurant & Bar is scheduled to open next month at Bellagio Resort & Casino, within easy reach of the chic pack that roams between Light Group’s Caramel Bar & Lounge, FIX Restaurant & Bar and The Bank, a slick, hip nightclub. Yellowtail has sushi “for both the sushi novice and connoisseur,” served up in a 180-seat dining room, with a 30-seat intimate lounge and a 30-seat private dining room (bellagio.com).

Seafood Buffet
Following a $10-million renovation, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino has opened the lavish new Village Seafood Buffet, the first all-seafood buffet in town, with interactive sushi stations, on-the-ready sommeliers to find a perfect pairing for the pile on your plate and, best of all, more than 13,000 sq. ft. and 200 tons of fresh seafood flown in daily from around the globe. Where else in the world but in Las Vegas—a landlocked, desert city—can a group gorge themselves on freshwater prawns from Indonesia, king crab from Alaska and slipper-tail lobster from Southeast Asia? (harrahs.com).

For the VIPs
SKYLOFTS at MGM Grand has a new 100-minute spa service called Departure, with an aromatic steam bath, full-body sugar scrub and a 50-minute customized massage, followed by hot tea (mgmmirage.com). The spa at JW Marriott Las Vegas, meanwhile, is offering some specialtreatments through the end of this month, including a bamboo garden wrap ($165) and a “Lemonade Indulgence” manicure and pedicure. (jwlasvegasresort.com).


News

• Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. has announced a change of name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation, pending regulatory approval. The Harrah’s name will remain as one of the corporation’s three major casino brands, in addition to Caesars and Horseshoe. (harrahs.com)

• The economic slowdown has caused the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to spend $11 million on a marketing campaign featuring the slogan “Vegas, Right Now,” which is intended to encourage early bookings for the summer travel season.

• Horizon Air has added a daily flight from Las Vegas to Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, in Santa Rosa, Calif. The trip from Wine City to Wine Country takes about two hours.

• The Atalon Group has acquired 100 percent of the ownership interests in Lake Las Vegas, the 3,592-acre resort community located 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.

• The Las Vegas County Commission has approved development plans for The Plaza, a seven-tower property that will include a convention complex. The Plaza is slated to begin construction in 2008.

Chuck Kapelke has written for a number of magazines, including Rolling Stone, San Francisco and Continental, as well as Let’s Go guidebooks.