Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
too far into the future where to find some of the following. In those cases I've
made sure to list their website.
House of Blues
(in Mandalay Bay;
%
877/632
-
7800 or 702/632
-
7600; www.hob.
com)
brings in free entertainment to the Courtyard and Crossroads areas of the club
Fridays and Saturdays, and hosts events throughout the week including:
u
Rockstar Karaoke
5
(Courtyard inside HOB; Mon-Tues 10pm)
allows ama-
teurs to sing karaoke while backed up by a live band.
u
Flashback Fridays
55
(Music Hall inside HOB; cover
$
15 men,
$
10 women,
local ladies free; Fri 11pm)
transform the hall into a dance club from decades
past, as The Spazmatics play hits from the '70s, '80s and '90s.
u
The Boogie Knights
5
(Courtyard inside HOB; cover
$
15 men,
$
10 women,
local ladies free; Sat 11pm)
are stayin' alive with their '70s disco and rock.
u
Purple Reign
5
(Courtyard inside HOB; cover
$
10 for tourists, locals free;
Sun 9pm)
will show you what it sounds like when doves cry.
Cook E. Jarr
55
(at Carnaval Court, outside of Harrah's;
%
800/392
-
9002 or
702/369
-
5000; www.harrahs.com; Fri-Sat 6-8pm)
is a Vegas legend, with his
unnaturally tan skin and '70s coif. His pseudo suave lounge style and hairy chest
land him somewhere between a nightmare and a bizarre fantasy.
Zowie Bowie
(at the Rocks Lounge, in Red Rock Resort;
%
866/767
-
7773 or
702/792
-
7777; www.zowiebowie.com; Thurs 9pm-midnight, Fri 11pm-2am, Sat
8:30pm-1:30am)
is neither Zowie, nor Bowie, but this glam band draws the
masses onto the dance floor with their top-of-the-chart covers.
CONCERTS, BOXING MATCHES & OTHER BIG
TICKET ITEMS
Las Vegas is now the most expensive stop on concert tours in the United States.
Call it an unofficial sucker tax aimed at free-spending tourists.
Daren Libonati, who runs UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center, explained the
price policies this way to the
Las Vegas Sun
newspaper: “They're [the band] plan-
ning 50 dates. And then they take Vegas and say, 'Let's pretend Little Rock, Ark.,
fails miserably.' If you're a promoter or an agent and you lose money on that date,
you want to be able to use Vegas as a makeup.” When the Rolling Stones tour
rolled through town, for example, Vegas tickets started at $200 more per person
(a whopping $570) than anywhere else in the nation.
The other problem with live music in Vegas is there's no middle ground here.
Common venues are the 16,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena or the 1,900
capacity House of Blues. Beyond that, there are no smaller concert spaces; no
Webster Hall like in New York, and no Trocadero like in Philly, where bands
appear that aren't famous enough to fill a place with thousands of fans. Without
those intimate spots, the next step down is basically smoky bars bringing in local
or outdated acts, with few exceptions.
But heck, you're on vacation. If I haven't steered you away from the concert
scene, here's a rundown of the venues:
u
The
MGM Grand Garden Arena
5
(in the MGM Grand;
%
800/929
-
1111 or
702/891
-
7777; www.mgmgrand.com),
a 16,000-seat stadium, brings in the
biggies from Madonna to Britney Spears. The arena was patterned after
