There was no shortage of breezy melodies, smooth high harmonies + tight musicianship last night when The Wind Jammers docked at the Santa Fe Station Hotel. They’re a popular Vegas attraction—musicians with credits specializing in covers of ‘70s AM pop hits including songs that would become branded as “yacht rock.” The showroom was packed, the masks were off (the mandate ended yesterday), and the music of the Little River Band, Pablo Cruise, Kenny Loggins, Gino Vannelli + more (Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Hall and Oates) was duly celebrated—like punk, alt rock, nu metal, etc. never happened. It was a fun escape from a complicated world, anchored by sheer musicality spotlighting six alternating lead vocalists. The Wind Jammers set sail again February 24 at the Santa Fe Station Hotel.

The perfect place for a secret rendezvous? Try Sushi Takashi in Chinatown. Their spacious booths are like mini-caves where no one will find you anytime soon.  Once inside, you can’t go wrong with their wide-ranging menu which includes excellent fusion rolls + “Japanese tapas,” particularly with names like “Bites of Heaven,” “Death Note” + “Forgot Name.” Sushi Takashi is located in the Cathay Hills Plaza, where there’s another gem: Rincon de Buenos Aires, an Italian deli + Argentinian restaurant all in one.

You never know what you’re going to see if you look up. Which is what I did sitting in the Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino lobby, where there are so many paintings on the ceiling—and the effect was positively dizzying. They’re right near the entrance to the Delirious Comedy Club. Went there to see four comedians including Vegas-based Kathleen Dunbar who came onstage to a recording of “T.N.T.” by AC/DC and was explosive from the get-go. With her lethal mind + mouth, she blisteringly/lovably railed against everything including the unfortunate effects of aging.

I began the evening at the revered eatery Honey Salt in Summerlin, currently #1 on the Eater Vegas Essential Restaurants list. Started with the traffic-stopping Beets & Ricotta Salad with pumpkin seed brittle + pomegranate molasses. Moved onto the outstanding Scottish salmon, with beech mushrooms, beluga lentil ragout + carrot top pesto. And from their smart + substantial Vegan menu, we had the excellently flavored Vegetable Curry with basmati rice + chickpeas + papadums. Honey Salt definitely brings the magic.

1/24/22

With the real world really bumming people out more than ever, the virtual world is holding lots of interest these days. There’s so much chatter about the Metaverse, NFT’s, etc., for which video games + holograms have helped set the stage. So with that in mind, I decided to check out the “The Whitney Houston Hologram Concert” residency at Harrah’s.

Whitney did not disappoint. Her crystalline voice (with “original, never-before-released live vocal tracks woven throughout”) swooped + soared. She didn’t miss a note, didn’t forget a lyric, and got a loud standing ovation from the packed audience on a Thursday night. It was exactly this version of Whitney—moving + grooving + elegant, with no lines on her face—that everyone wants to remember.

She danced, bowed + changed costumes, with her centerstage hologram seamlessly appearing + disappearing throughout the show. And her in-between song patter (via show recordings from when she was on planet Earth) was warm + inviting, if surreal. Supported by a four-piece live band + six dancers, virtual Whitney opened with her 2019 posthumous collab with EDM artist Kygo, “Higher Love” (her original recording of it from 1990 had only been available in Japan as a B-side). From there, it was hit after hit, with the funky “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” How Will I Know” + “I’m Every Woman” eclipsing (for me) the ballads.

This was high-end “virtual entertainment,” and all of it, including the staging + lighting, was done really well. So what is the in-the-clouds Whitney thinking about all this? Probably that this was a hassle-free gig with no pre-show nerves or career anxiety about where her next hit is coming from.

###

Had a terrific old-school Vegas Sunday. Started out downtown at The Mob Museum, coming up on its 10th anniversary this February. Then we headed  to the east side for dinner at Casa Di Amore…”Vegas the way it used to be,” in its own words.

The four floors of the Mob Museum, on the site of the first U.S. Courthouse and Post Office in Vegas, expertly tell the history of the Mob, Prohibition bootleggers and organized crime’s hand in creating Vegas. Our visit to the museum was well-timed—America took its last drink 102 years ago yesterday (1/16/1920) before Prohibition took effect the following day.

Next up: drinks + dinner at Casa di Amore, which instantly stole our hearts. It’s a beautifully lit dining room/bar with tufted banquettes and a vocalist/pianist + drummer conjuring a Rat Pack aura, plus slide show images throughout of classic Vegas. And the food delivered old school thrills. We had Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread, Baked Clams Oreganata, Stuffed Bell Peppers, Chicken Piccata—and finished it off with an excellent cannoli. Love this place!

If I didn’t already live in Las Vegas, I’d move here for The Golden Tiki alone. Arguably the best bar on planet Earth, it’s a dazzling multi-colored tropical kitsch paradise shot through with owner Branden Powers’ punk rock sensibility, right down to its priceless display of shrunken heads of geniuses like Charles Bukowski, John Waters, Divine + more. And then you have the smart + fun DJ Professor Rex Dart who masterfully hopscotches across multiple genres + eras while giving you a valuable musical lesson. Rana Bendixen and I got to experience all this last night with visiting New York journalist Darren Paltrowitz, whom I met for the very first time after many years of working with him, and his beautiful wife Melissa Paltrowitz. We slid into the Tiki (in Chinatown) for three hours of tropical drinks + laughs after dinner down the street at Xiao Long Dumplings, whose melt-in-your-mouth soup dumplings are a beautiful thing.  A perfect night out in Vegas!

Checked into the “Blue Hotel” last night with Chris Isaak for the first of his two weekend shows at the Wynn’s Encore Theatre as part of his Holiday 2021 Tour. The “San Francisco Days” singer + songwriter remains suave + romantically tortured, not unlike Bryan Ferry, and can still reel you in with his rich, deep voice, and haunting  “Wicked Game” and “Somebody’s Crying” falsetto.  An adoring audience cheered Isaak’s gems + smart holiday-themed covers like Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” and Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper.” A masterful performer with his longtime dexterous band, Isaak kept the fun going with excellent covers of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” and James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy,” plus his priceless comedic stage patter. And couldn’t take my eyes off his sparkling + embroidered black suit that he designed. ?

Still buzzed from this week’s volcanic Trail of Dead/Death Valley Girls show at Backstage Bar & Billiards, the terrific venue in downtown Vegas which is connected to the larger Fremont Country Club. Been following the psych rock of So Cal’s Death Valley Girls ever since hearing their 2018 Stooges-inspired song “Disaster (Is What We’re After),” the video for which stars Iggy Pop. Fronted by charismatic vocalist and guitarist/keyboardist Bonnie Bloomgarden, DVG are three gals + one guy—they’re both menacing + playful onstage, a combo that definitely works. Also really dug the long-running …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead from Austin, with their transfixing wall-of-sound three guitar army like a modern Lynyrd Skynyrd. Long live inspired noise!

Above: Death Valley Girls

Above: Trail of Dead

The new Superfrico—at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas—definitely makes good on its “Italian American  Psychedelic” branding. It’s an imaginative + creative fun house—an excellent Italian restaurant-bar-meets-art gallery meets-performance art space, with theatrical stage lighting throughout, roving surrealist performers and a DJ (Kat Matutina, aka DJ Pickpocket) spinning lots of throwback dance music like Evelyn “Champagne” King and the SOS Band. Everything was a home run—the Chicken Parm, the Sicilian Salad, the Branzino Piccata—including the let’s-live-now desserts. We went all-in for the Tiramisu (coffee, mascarpone, lemon, espresso crumble) + Banana Walnut Tartufo (miso caramel, torched meringue).  It was an elevated experience—one of our best nights in Vegas.