NO. 43 THE MUSIC ISSUE 2015
CONTENTS 12 HIGHLY/RATED This month in Las Vegas: Bacardi gets a new look; SJP and Zappos Couture pop-up in The Shops at Crystals; the Audi A7 looks great on the Strip; and ramen and whisky go Downtown.
FEATURES 28 I’M WITH THE KREW Sisters and DJ duo Krewella redefne “girl group.” 37 EPIC SET Nine musical moments you don’t want to miss. 46 WORK HARD, PLAY HARD The high-watt appeal of high-fashion sportswear.
THE INSIDER’S GUIDE
ON THE COVER KREWELLA: YASMINE AND JAHAN YOUSAF Photographer EASTON SCHIRRA Styling RAFAEL LINERAS
55 BUY Stock up on merch with a mission, embrace the mason jar in all its forms, and refresh your swimwear and sandals so you look cool at the pool. 61 DO Spend 24 hours in The M Resort, visit Brooklyn without ever leaving Las Vegas, check out some hotel art and brush up on the latest in cosmetic dentistry. 69 EAT Celebrate 10 years with Rick Moonen, get the scoop on soup, eat at the best new restaurant (if you can fnd it) and go on a cocktail crawl. 77 SEE There’s plenty to see here with names such as Alabama Shakes, OK Go, Amy Schumer, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley ... just to name a few. 88 THE END Remember the days when what happened in Vega$ was flmed in Vegas?
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FABERGÉ Revealed Jeweler to the Czars
November 14, 2014 – May 25, 2015
Tickets and information 702.693.7871 • bellagio.com/bgfa
Imperial Tsesarevich Easter Egg, 1912. Lapis lazuli, gold, diamonds. 4 7/8” H x 3 9/16” dia. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Bequest of Lillian Thomas Pratt. Photo: Katherine Wetzel ©Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
THE EDITOR’S AGENDA
THIS MONTH, IN MY LIFE 1 Meet the divine Sarah Jessica
Parker as she hosts a pop-up of her SJP shoe collection with Zappos Couture in The Shops at Crystals. From 10 a.m.-10 p.m. April 17-18.
2 Dine at Lago in Bellagio. I can’t wait to
experience the new restaurant from Julian Serrano. I am sure the view will be as legendary as the food. The items catching my eye include shrimpstuffed calamari, plant-based dishes such as sweet-and-sour eggplant and meaty ones such as baked cannelloni with short ribs.
3 Live it up at 1 OAK Rewind Tuesdays. Past performers
have included Salt-N-Pepa and Kid ’N Play on this night that is dedicated to cool sets from ’90s faves. In April, Sisqo and 112 keep the rotation going.
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Set sail on April 17 at Daylight with the Captains of Industry, as the DJs return to Las Vegas after a long hiatus. The bearded men of mystery also known as StoneRokk and Graham Funke will make you forget all about why Zayn left One Direction when they open up what is guaranteed to be a debaucherous pool season.
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Buy plastic shoes at Melissa. My favorite Brazilian footwear designer fnally opens up shop at Fashion Show. Then hit newcomers Alexis Bittar and Charlotte Olympia at The Forum Shops at Caesars. It’s a divine month for upping your accessories game.
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Check out Incognito by Cass Fuller at Sin City Gallery. This is the artist’s frst exhibition in decades and his work can be seen around town in various hospitality spaces. You may have seen his pieces, but now it’s time to get to know the artist in a whole new context.
MELINDA SHECKELLS Editor-in-Chief @melindasvegas
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CONTRIBUTORS N . 43 THE ENTERTAINMENT ISSUE O
MICHAEL SKENANDORE Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chief
CHRISTY CORDA MELINDA SHECKELLS
Creative Director
BEN WARD
Managing Editor
GENEVIE DURANO
Copy Chief Editorial Interns Contributing Editors
PAUL SZYDELKO JAMES CALE, ARIC LAIRMORE GRACE BASCOS (DINING) GEOFF CARTER (CULTURE) XANIA WOODMAN (BEVERAGE)
Contributing Writers
DANNY AXELROD, CASEY BRENNAN, CHRISTOPHER CALICOTT,
JON ESTRADA
PHOTOGRAPHER Born in Guatemala but raised in Las Vegas, Estrada considers himself a native. Having the opportunity to live and work in such a diverse city has been a dream come true. Currently restoring a Downtown Las Vegas home from the ’40s, Estrada has a love affair with architecture, so when the opportunity came to shoot The M Resort (“24 Hours at The M,” page 61), he jumped at the chance. “The architecture there is so inspiring. It’s great to have a resort in town like that. And don’t even get me started about how much natural light there is!”
IAN CARAMANZANA, JEN CHASE, GENESIS GONZALEZ, MIKE GRIMALA, JESSIE O’BRIEN, LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS, JASON SCAVONE, LIZ SEWELL, ROBERT SPUHLER, DONNA STEFFY Senior Graphic Designer Contributing Graphic Designers Senior Contributing Photographer Contributing Photographers
JESSE J SUTHERLAND LISA CHEUNG, JAVON ISAAC ANTHONY MAIR JON ESTRADA, CARLOS LARIOS, EASTON SCHIRRA
Interactive Developer Director of Digital Media Assistant Web Producer Engagement Editor Digital Sales Manager Account Manager Director of Production/Distribution Advertising Manager Distribution Coordinator
HERB AKINYELE NICOLE ELY AMBER SAMPSON ZONEIL MAHARAJ NICOLE SCHERER BRITTANY QUINTANA MARC BARRINGTON JAMES BEARSE JASEN ONO
RYAN T. DOHERTY | JUSTIN WENIGER President Editor
MICHAEL SKENANDORE MATT JACOB
Creative Director
SHERWIN YUMUL
Vice President, Marketing & Events
KYLE MARKMAN
Marketing Manager
MAUREEN HANK
Director of Strategic Partnerships
MICHAEL URIARTE
Vice President, Finance
REY ALBERTO
Assistant Controller
DONNA NOLLS
Senior Accountant Human Resources Coordinator
LINDA NASH KARA DENNIS
ROBERT SPUHLER
WRITER Spuhler likes seeing a tremendous variety of bands all in one place, but dislikes Coachella’s massive sandstorms and roving packs of 17-year-olds. What to do? Thankfully, Las Vegas is throwing its own season long music festival (see page 83), with world-traveling headliners and acts looking to become the next big thing. “In one weekend, a music geek can see classic rockers, indie guitar goddesses and EDM superstars,” he says, “and all while drinking way better cocktails than those made on a polo feld in Indio.” See his blurry, awful camera-phone photos of lead singers on Twitter @RMSpuhler.
GEOFF CARTER
WRITER Carter used to review live concerts for the Las Vegas Sun, several nights a week, for nearly four years. He ate dinner en route to auditoriums and arenas; he listened carefully to every band and performing artist, including the shitty opening bands; and he stayed until the last note of music died away. His tinnitus is so bad that explosions sound like burping kittens to him. And yet, the DTLV.com editor and Vegas Seven senior writer continues to write about music for Vegas/Rated, because once you get this stuff in your blood, it never goes away. See his top picks this spring (“Epic Set,” page 37).
CASEY BRENNAN 3070 WEST POST ROAD, LAS VEGAS, NV 89118 702.798.7000 WENDOHMEDIA.COM SALES@VRATED.COM
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WRITER The frst time Brennan saw Krewella perform at Light nightclub in 2013, she was instantly hooked. “Their energy was insane, and they were so in tune with the crowd all night,” says the former nightlife publicist, now a New York-based writer, about the sister-DJ duo, Yasmine and Jahan Yousaf (“I’m With the Krew,” page 28.) “They played for hours and never slowed down. It was one of the best nights I’ve ever had in Vegas—totally unforgettable!”
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The People, Places and Things We Can’t Stop Talking About BY JEN CHASE
Simply SJP Sarah Jessica Parker will make an appearance at a Zappos Couture Pop-Up inside The Shops at Crystals April 17-18. The actress and fne-footwear diva will be pumping The Strip Collection, part of the SJP shoe line. If you’re booked those days, you’ll miss catching SJP in the fesh; but Zappos’ couture site featuring Oscar de la Renta, Band of Outsiders and Proenza Schouler will be kicking around for a while. Just in time to ask the Mr. Big in your life for a new closet.
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Sales Center Open Tuesday through Saturday This is not an offer to sell, but is intended for information only. The developer reserves the right to make modifications in materials, specifications, pricing, plans, designs, scheduling and delivery of the homes without prior notice. Exclusively represented by The Mark Company Nevada, LLC.
All-Star Look
What’s the point of clubbing 450-foot home runs, stealing bases, crashing into outfeld walls and being the biggest badass on a perennial contender if you can’t look good doing it? That’s why Washington Nationals star and Las Vegas native Bryce Harper never leaves the stadium in anything less than a threepiece. Sin City’s favorite son comes back to the desert every off-season to restock his wardrobe, and the stylish slugger is doing his hometown proud as one of baseball’s best dressed. MIKE GRIMALA PHOTOGRAPHY ANTHONY MAIR STYLING RONALD SMITH/STITCHED LIFESTYLE GROOMING NATASHA CHAMBERLIN USING MAC COSMETICS SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE HAMMARGREN HOME OF NEVADA HISTORY
Wardrobe provided by STITCHED in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas; 702.698.7630; stitchedlifestyle.com. For a full list of the looks shown here, visit vrated.com/ bryceharper.
Discover the exceptional taste of Grey Goose Cherry Noir. GREYGOOSE.COM Like Us at Facebook.com/GreyGoose SIP RESPONSIBLY
©2013 GREY GOOSE, THE GREY GOOSE BOTTLE DESIGNS AND THE GEESE DEVICES ARE TRADEMARKS AND/OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS. IMPORTED BY GREY GOOSE IMPORTING COMPANY, CORAL GABLES, FL. VODKA 40% ALC. BY VOL.: FLAVORED VODKAS EACH 40% ALC. BY VOL. -DISTILLED FROM GRAIN.
Down Came the Whisky and Washed the Ramen Out Ramen and whisky are not strangers passing through palates in the night. In fact, they have really been partners in crime since Japan started producing the spirit in the early 20th century. The recent boom of brown liquor stateside has elevated the profle of both, and now that trend comes to Las Vegas. Indulge in briny, porky, smoky, fruity delights at Downtown’s new noodle shop Itsy Bitsy Ramen & Whisky inside The Ogden. PHOTOGRAPHY ANTHONY MAIR
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tanding in the DJ booth of the newly opened Omnia Nightclub at Caesars Palace, dance music duo Krewella— comprised of sisters Yasmine and Jahan Yousaf—surveys the scene. After a stint at Light in Mandalay Bay, Krewella joins the roster of Hakkasan Group’s new 75,000-square-foot club in the former Pure space, alongside Afrojack and Calvin Harris. It’s their frst night of a monthly residency, and the girls are taking in the design, geeking out over the sound and lighting systems, and getting ready to drop new songs, including their latest single, “Somewhere to Run.” But what has them most excited is Omnia’s chandelier, a 22,000-pound kinetic light fxture with eight concentric rings of LED lights. It seemingly has a mind of its own, changing colors and shapes throughout the night as the mood of the crowd evolves. “The frst night at a new venue is always nerve-racking, but Omnia is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Yasmine says. “And the chandelier—it’s the most insane lighting fxture in any club, ever.”
The Omnia contract is the latest big win for Yasmine, 23, and Jahan, 25, who formed Krewella in 2007. They hit stardom with the 2012 release of their EP, Play Hard, and the single “Alive.” The sisters, whose writing style, they say, “pulls from rock and pop”—now put out self-produced electro house and dubstep tracks while dabbling in hardstyle, techno and drum and bass. “We were raised listening to everything: ’80s new wave, classic rock, Bollywood tunes, indie pop and metal,” Jahan says. “In our teens we discovered Daft Punk, Chromeo, The Faint and Justice, and were just in awe of the power of electronic music and its power to make people move.” Another major infuence is Linkin Park. “They were a huge inspiration for us in our early teens and helped shape the music we write today,” Yasmine says. “As halfPakistani girls raised in a post-modern world, it’s inherent that we fuse different worlds.” The sisters are the frst to admit they would be nowhere without the Internet and social media. “If we were trying to have the same career that we have today even 10 years ago, it’d be nearly impossible,” Yasmine says. “So much of how we’ve grown is through blogs, word of mouth and our fans sharing our music on social media. We never want people to think that we’re unreachable or untouchable, so we’re always on Twitter talking to our ‘Krew.’” Now the girls, with their trademark long, dark locks and edgy style, play shows all around the world, from their hometown of Chicago to Sweden, India and South America. But it’s music festivals and the Vegas residency that will be keeping them busy throughout spring and summer. While in Vegas—often for just 12 hours—they enjoy dinner at “all-time favorite” Cleo, stay up all night ordering room service or “eating everything in sight” at Nobu and Searsucker. And while music is their life, the girls have recently been busy with another important project: raising a one-and-half-year old brindle Pitbull and Cattle mix shelter dog named Scarlett— Scar for short—at the apartment they share in Chicago. “She makes me so happy,” Yasmine says. “She’s changed our lives for the better.” But don’t expect canine parenthood to have an effect on the spectacular shows Krewella plan for their fans. “Despite whatever state of exhaustion we might be in, the second we hit the stage and start DJing our favorite tunes, we wake the fuck up,” Jahan says. “Our shows in Vegas are a hub for people celebrating life, and we strive to make it their best night ever.” Check out Krewella at Omnia April 21 and May 17; omnianightclub.com
Photographer EASTON SCHIRRA eastonschirra.com for 7artistmgmt.com Styling RAFAEL LINERAS onerepresents.com Beauty JEFFERSON TANGRADI @getyohairdid & ALANNA PEARL @alannapearl for THE WELL thewell.la Location Special thanks to THE WELL Los Angeles thewell.la Assistants: MONYSSA REGALADO & DANICA CEREKOVIC
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Working together has been “an absolute blessing,” Jahan says. “We both have pretty bold personalities and are very similar, so we are bound to have minor moments where we disagree. But we always find ourselves saying, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’” Jokes Yasmine, “Jahan will be married and I’ll still be living in her basement!”
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EPIC SET
IT’S SPRING, AND MUSIC IS IN THE AIR. HERE ARE nine harmonious MOMENTS YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS
BY GEOFF CARTER
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Why do we love Lykke Li? Well, there’s the Swedish singer-songwriter’s name, itself a mellifuous thing. There’s her gorgeous singing voice, as crisp and cool as a snowfake and as tart as a
LYKKE LI cut lemon. And there’s her best-known songs, each one a tiny masterwork: the wistful “No Rest for the Wicked,” the soaring “I Follow Rivers,” the strident “Get Some.” She’s restlessly inventive, almost remaking herself from one song to the next—no two of her singles sound exactly alike—and has a stare that one could easily imagine melting fesh and bone down to a puddle. In other words, loving Lykke Li is kind of an inevitable thing, and we’re doing it. April 14. Tickets start at $20. Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan, 702.698.7000; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
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INTERPOL
Interpol has been through it. Over the years, the Joy Divisionesque post-punk New York band has lost and replaced key members, enjoyed soaring hits and middling successes (arguably, the band has never produced an outright fop), and even came close to splitting up (the ever-popular euphemistic “hiatus”). And when they went back to work last winter, touring behind the excellent album El Pintor, the world rewarded them with a snowstorm that trapped their tour bus for nearly 50 hours. That’s a lot to heap on the guys who gave us “Slow Hands” and “Obstacle 1.” Let’s show them they’re appreciated, with a nice huge crowd and an evening that’s a bit on the warm side. April 15. Tickets start at $25. Boulevard Pool at The Cosmopolitan, 702.698.7000; cosmopolitanlasvegas.com PHOTOGRAPHY ELIOT LEE HAZEL
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Work Hard PHOTOGRAPHY CARLOS LARIOS STYLING KRIS KASS
Don’t drop the ball when it comes to embracing
ALEXANDER WANG jacket and 3.1 PHILLIP LIM backpack Neiman Marcus Fashion Show
Play Hard sport-inspired high fashion this summer
GIVENCHY bomber jacket Neiman Marcus TOPMAN T-shirt Topman Fashion Show TOPSHOP swimwear Topshop Fashion Show
DAYTRIPPING
One DAY IN
THE STRIP Shake Shack in New York-New York, 725.222.6730; shakeshack.com. Di Fara in Caesars Palace, 702.731.7110; caesars.com. Brooklyn Bowl, 702.862.2695; vegas.brooklynbowl.com Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard that Brooklyn is the hottest borough in the country. (What’s a borough, you say? Eh, doesn’t really matter outside of New York City.) But what’s hot only becomes cool when it’s made its way to Las Vegas, and Brooklyn has defnitely laid down its, er, roots here. You can easily spend a day in Brooklyn without ever leaving the Strip. The most obvious place to start is the Brooklyn Bridge at New York-New York. Sure, you have to suspend your disbelief while strolling through this replica of the frst steel-wiresuspension bridge ever constructed, but you’ll get the idea. For an added thrill, ride the roller coaster and pretend it’s the rickety Cyclone at Coney Island. Even more thrilling? You didn’t have to ride the F train for an hour to get here. Walk a few steps off the bridge and take a bite of a Big Apple original. Shake Shack is a veritable New York institution—albeit a modern one—with two outposts in Brooklyn alone. The taste is all there—the hinged bun (genius!), crinkle-cut fries, concretes—minus the hourlong wait at the original Shack at Madison Square Park in Manhattan. “Other than that location, Vegas is the only other one with a walkup window,” founder Danny Meyer says. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise—we’re all about authenticity in Sin City. Speaking of the real deal, there’s one place in Brooklyn that people trek to, like pilgrims looking for the divine on a slice. Ask any New Yorker worth his salt and they’ll rank Di Fara right up there as one of the best pizzas in the city. Since opening in 1964, Domenico DeMarco has made every single pizza himself, by hand, using ingredients imported from Italy. Now the food court at Caesars Palace can claim the only other Di Fara in the world. And lest you think this one is a pale imitation—consider that all the ingredients are sourced from the same place, and that hallowed New York City water (credited as the secret ingredient for the legendary bagels and pizza dough) is brought to the desert. And then there’s the nexus of Brooklyn cool, smack dab in the middle of the Strip, natch: Brooklyn Bowl in The Linq, home of Blue Ribbon fried chicken, Brooklyn Brewery beer, The Roots when they’re not in Brooklyn, and skinny-jean-wearing hipsters of the local and visitor variety. It’s a cleaner, sparklier version of the Williamsburg original, replete with Knock Down Punks and bowling balls and oh, yeah, awesome music. Vegas is happy to take the spoils of Brooklyn, sans the astronomical cost of living. Next on the wish list? Doughnuts from Dough. They can share Di Fara’s water.
GENEVIE DURANO
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SHAKE SHACK, DI FARA: JESSE J SUTHERLAND
BROOKLYN
DESTINATION
A Vodka To Fly For
FREY RANCH FALLON, NV 1045 Dodge Lane, 775.423.4000; freyranch.com If drinking locally made spirits, wine and beer is how you like to show your state pride, your mission is about to get a whole lot easier. Last fall, Nevada’s frst commercial estate distillery opened its doors to the public. But it’s fne if you can’t get out to rural Fallon to see Frey Ranch’s beautiful tasting room and gleaming still—Frey Ranch vodka is coming to Las Vegas this spring! The sprawling farm has been in the Frey family for generations, producing corn, wheat, barley, rye, alfalfa, oats and hay as feed for a nearby dairy farm (just take a whiff!). The dairy farm feeds the grains to its cows, who happily give back manure for the 2,500-acre farm as well as the vineyard, which was planted in 2001 in an effort to consume less water. (Grapes use 10 percent of what it takes to grow alfalfa.) Colby Frey, a rare ffth-generation Nevadan, bought the farm from his father in ’07, a year after the family had been granted an experimental distilling license to make brandy from wine they were already producing. While the Freys might have been legally distilling brandy frst, what they couldn’t do was sell their booze; Las Vegas Distillery’s George Racz was the frst in the state to do that. Hence, Frey happily takes its place as the state’s frst “estate” distillery, meaning that all the
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raw materials from their distillery were grown on their property. “Then we’ll all succeed,” Colby says. Located on the site of an old horse corral, the new 4,000-square-foot distillery building features a 500-gallon Vendome copper and brass still. It’s a hybrid of a pot still, column and a continuous still, which allows the Freys—Colby runs the biz with his wife, Ashley, and his dad, Charlie—to add vodka and whiskey to their lineup under the label Frey Ranch. Additionally, there are four 5,000-gallon fermenters, one 5,000-gallon mash cooker and one 5,000-gallon beer well, making Frey Ranch capable of producing 10,000 cases of spirits a month. Since we can’t all fy to Reno every time we have a thirst for vodka with some favor and character, Southern Wine & Spirits will have to do the heavy lifting, bringing Frey Ranch vodka—and eventually gin and bourbon—to Las Vegas, where bartenders will no doubt have a feld day with their new homestate product. And the vodka does have character. Retailing right now for $25 in the tasting room, it’s creamy on the nose, like fresh half and half; mid-weight on the palate; not stripped of its grainy origins; but still it comes across clean. Whiskey laid down for less than a month had all the same assertive graininess, and hinted toward a bold fnal product— perhaps sooner than later! XANIA WOODMAN
SWEET TREATS
GOOD CHEMISTRY
346 PATISSERIE SOUTHEAST 90 S. Stephanie St., Suite 150; 346patisserie.com If molecular gastronomy sounds more about highminded chemistry and less about eating something yummy, fear not. Arthur Haynes, pastry chef and owner of 346 Patisserie, has taken all the mystery out of this esoteric culinary technique. His new dessert shop in Henderson, named for the freezing point of liquid nitrogen, specializes in desserts getting a liberal dose of the stuff. The results? Unexpected delights such as frozen spheres of raspberry chocolate and toasted marshmallows. This is spaceage dessert artistry, and Haynes is a mad scientist who just happens to have a sweet tooth. Lucky us. Haynes is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York and was most recently part of the pastry team at Bellagio. “I want to bring something fun to dessert,” says Haynes, a native Las Vegan who is happy to have a playground on which to unleash his creativity. And you can see it from his boundless enthusiasm for his craft. His mind doesn’t ever seem to stop coming up with favor combinations, such as citrus and cilantro, raspberry balsamic vinegar or ghost pepper caramel chocolate macarons. If you need to take baby steps in venturing out into the brave new world of chemistry-based dessert, there are also more approachable treats such as sorbets, tarts and cookies.
GELATO: JESSE J SUTHERLAND; ARTHUR HAYNES: ANTHONY MAIR
GENEVIE DURANO
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Vegas POP CULTURE
IN VIDEO Look, we all know you’ve said it. Everyone says it at some point. So don’t try to deny that the words “MTV doesn’t even play videos anymore” ever crossed your lips. We’re all trite in our darkest hours. Lucky for you, we’ve pulled together a list of our favorite Vegasin-videos moments, with the following caveats in mind: No hometown heroes.Nothing with “Vegas” in the title. No club music. And we’re ranking these for their music-to-video-to-Vegasness ratios on a scale of one-to-fve Luxors. JASON SCAVONE
IGGY AZALEA, “CHANGE YOUR LIFE” Everybody’s favoriteish lady Aussie rapper checks in with a fairly typical strippers-inVegas entry. T.I. is your pimp/club owner du jour who introduces Iggy to the life. Things take a turn, she torches his car and a briefcase full of cash, and gets Clockwise from top: arrested at the Plaza. Iggy Azalea, The Flaming Lips, There are some exterior Avenged Sevenfold shots of Cheetah’s—but what in the hell is the Stardust doing there? doctor’s chemically aided Nevada-bound The song only dates to freakouts. Still, in between stock shots of 2013, fve years after the ’Dust hit the a hooker-fueled room party, there’s some dirt. It’s a strange joint to digitally insert good stuff here at the Neon Museum into the video. Unless … is she a time and on Fremont Street, particularly traveler? She might be a time traveler. around the Girls of Glitter Gulch. Bonus One Luxor. points for an oddly placed Rodney Dangerfeld lookalike. AVENGED SEVENFOLD, Two-and-a-half Luxors. “BAT COUNTRY” OK, fne. We’ll cop to kind of liking this song despite the fact that it’s a collection of Old Testament riffs and freshman-level philosophizing. Hunter S. Thompson fetishization is going to play a big role in any song called “Bat Country,” but the video leans heavily on a literal interpretation of the good 80
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THE FLAMING LIPS, “DO YOU REALIZE” If you want to see Fremont Street high weirdness done right, The Flaming Lips are the Wes Anderson answer to Avenged Sevenfold’s Jerry Bruckheimer. Lead singer Wayne Coyne wanders
as the Nicky Santoro stand-in heavy. You get some brief glimpses of the Strip in its mid-’90s glory, including a long pan over a relatively new Treasure Island. Four Luxors
under the canopy, fanked by four Vestal virgins-byway-of-the-’60s and two dudes in rabbit suits. It is legitimately sad when Coyne sings, “Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?” as an elephant fops over in front of the Pioneer. But mostly because you’re worried that the elephant might have a hard time standing back up. Poor elephant. They should’ve had a monkey riding it. That would’ve cheered us up. Three Luxors. NAS, “STREET DREAMS” Nas went all out in this jam, tapping video master Hype Williams to loosely ape the plot of Casino—down to the Saul Bass opening credits. For extra Scorsese-ness, Frank Vincent checks in
BEASTIE BOYS, “SURE SHOT” Question: Does your video have Ad-Rock doing karate in a tuxedo in front of the Las Vegas Hilton? No? Then you do not have the greatest Vegas video. End of story. Another video auteur, Spike Jonze, checks in here. It’s not his strongest effort, but the subset of Beasties videos where they’re just messing around with the camera are wildly underrated fun. (See also: “Shake Your Rump.”) This vid might not capture the ambition of “Street Dreams,” but there’s a secretmission vibe to the boys’ scenes in the Hilton that hints at plenty underneath the surface. Are their characters from the “Sabotage” video undercover in Vegas? Can you prove they’re not? Plus, the song is one of the stone-cold jams to end all stone-cold jams, and this is a thing that cannot be ignored. Five Luxors.
WHEN WHAT HAPPENED IN
VEGA$
WAS ACTUALLY FILMED IN VEGAS Oh, Dan Tanna, you hunk. Hunting 1970s no-gooders when a surf-and-turf was $6.95? Wielding your revolver, blowing shit up and cruising your smooth detective self in that Thunderbird, from the Riviera to the Stardust and beyond? Vega$ was allegedly the frst television show produced entirely in Sin City, and thanks to the miracle of YouTube we can watch Robert Urich portray Dan Tanna in full episodes, and relive the glory of Old Vegas. JEN CHASE
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