Here's Our Shot | Vegas Seven Magazine | January 15-21, 2015

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8 | THE LATEST

“Skin City,” by Lissa Townsend Rodgers.

For more than 30 years, the porn awards and Las Vegas have enjoyed a very fulfilling—and very monogamous—relationship.

Plus, Ask a Native, The Deal and Tweets of the Week.

10 | Politics

“Power Play,” by Michael Green.

How will a Republican-controlled Carson City operate? If a new voter ID law passes, we’ll have a pretty good idea.

14 | Breaking Stuf & Making Stuf

“Red Square, December 25,” by Greg Blake Miller.

A blizzard, a cathedral and peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

18 | COVER

“The Puck Drops Here,” by Jason Scavone.

The ownership group is in place. The arena is rising behind the Strip.

And a season-ticket drive is about to commence. It looks like there’s only one thing left for Las Vegas to do to land an NHL franchise: Prove it wants it.

25 | NIGHTLIFE

“Elements of Style,” by Felicia Mello.

Subtle design tricks that can take a club from flat to fabulous.

Plus, a Q&A with Baauer, and photos from the week’s hottest parties.

49 | DINING

Al Mancini on Yardbird. Plus, the growing appeal of communal tables, mason jars make a comeback and Dishing With Grace.

55 | A&E

“‘Glass’ Half Full,” by Cindi Moon Reed.

This American Life host Ira Glass brings his storytelling genius to the Vegas stage, but not in the way you’d think.

Plus, audio highlights from CES, The Hit List, Tour Buzz and a review of Re-Animator: The Musical.

62 | Movies

Inherent Vice and our weekly movie capsules.

68 | Going for Broke

The Seahawks and Patriots are both laying big points this weekend.

History suggests it’s justified.

70 | Seven Questions

Matt & Mattingly on improv comedy, nerds vs. jocks and gynecologists with penis hands.

ON THE COVER A rendering of the MGM/AEG Arena being built behind New York-New York.

Illustration by Robert Ullman

| January 15–21, 2015

7 | Dialogue 9 | Seven Days 12 | Gossip 16 | Style 30 | Seven Nights 61 | Showstopper

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DIALOGUE

OUR SITES TO SEE

DRIVE TO THE FUTURE

Robots and smart watches are cool, but the automobile technology showcased at CES this year was just short of a hovercraft. Nicole Ely rounds up some of the more notable cars at Vrated.com/CESCars.

CHOW DOWN(TOWN)

NATALIE YOUNG BY GEOFF CARTER

Downtown is about to get its first Chinese restaurant—well, Chinese combined with Southern comfort food.

DTLV.com dining writer Jessie O’Brien caught up with owner and chef Natalie Young about her inspiration for Chow, which is scheduled to open this summer.

DTLV.com/Chow.

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Instead of obsessively checking Bandcamp pages for new releases from local music artists, check out Hear Now, our online music column that does all the work for you. This week, Zoneil Maharaj reviews indie-pop group Love Hate Away, eclectic rockers Black Camaro and more. VegasSeven.com/ HearNow.

Thanks to slow housing sales and less competition, the pressure is off for buyers looking for a new place to call home. Is it possible for a buyer’s and seller’s market to coexist? Real estate columnist Pj Perez explains why that might be the case in Downtown neighborhoods at DTLV.com/UrbAppeal.

What if your cellphone recognized your face so you never had to remember a password for any mobile apps? Local techie Kevin Tussy presented this kind of facial recognition technology in front of a group of investors at CES’ Extreme Tech Challenge.

Learn more about his company at VegasSeven. com/FacialNetwork.

FACEBOOK: /VegasSeven TWITTER: /7Vegas INSTAGRAM: /VegasSeven

“You hear that, Ariana Grande? Just hang on a few more years and you’ll get your turn at the Diva Retirement Ranch.” GOSSIP {PAGE 12}

News, politics, style and a columnist’s eye-opening return to Red Square

Skin City For more than 30 years, the porn awards and Las Vegas have enjoyed a very fulflling—and very monogamous—relationship

By Lissa Townsend Rodgers

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

THERE’S A LONG LIST OF THINGS THAT COULD

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only happen in Las Vegas, and the AVN Awards show is near the top.

“The Oscars of Porn” has brought hundreds of stars and thousands of their fans to town for more than three decades, and during that time, the industry’s focus has moved from VHS to DVD to the Internet. Meanwhile, the rather chaste-looking statue of an angel given to award winners—unlike the foot-high naked dude they hand out at the Academy Awards—has evolved into something a bit more abstract and titillating.

However, two things are eternal: People will always watch porn, and Ron Jeremy will always be with us ...

1984: The frst AVN Awards are held over rosé and cheese cubes in a ballroom at the Aladdin. The big winner is Scoundrels, starring the ubiquitous Jeremy as a randy psychiatrist.

1986: Winners include Blue Voodoo, starring Samantha Fox—who topped the pop charts that year with “Touch Me”—and New Wave Hookers, about chicks who get turned on by asymmetrical haircuts and synth music.

1987: AVN moves to the Tropicana.

Blame It on Ginger wins multiple awards, with Ginger Lynn becoming perhaps the only porn star to ever thank her screenwriter.

1988: The fnal (and only legally watchable) flm by Traci Lords—Traci, I Love You—wins Top Selling Release and Top Renting Release.

1990: Standup comic and master of the rant Bill Hicks hosts, kicking off the tradition of comedians acting as emcees and working shades of blue that can’t even be seen on the color spectrum.

1992: AVN moves to Bally’s for the year of the butt: Buttman’s European Vacation, An American Buttman in London and Buttwoman all win awards.

1993: Shortly before the awards show begins, Metro arrests 11 porn actors for Infamous Crimes Against Nature while promoting a movie. The show goes on with slightly decreased star power—but a porn based on the bust becomes a best-seller.

1995: A newer, sexier statue is introduced, to be taken home by such winners as the mafa-porn fick Dog Walker and John Wayne Bobbit: Uncut.

1996: It’s a triumphant return for hometown girl Jenna Jameson, who wins Best New Starlet, Best Actress Video and Best Couples Sex Scene, all part of her master plan “to become the biggest star the industry has ever seen.” Talk about calling your shot.

1997: The awards briefy move to the Riviera, and attendance reaches a record 3,000.

1998: Another year, another new venue: a luxe ballroom at Caesars Palace. In attendance is writer David Foster Wallace, who says, “The industry’s not only vulgar, it’s predictably vulgar. All the clichés are true.” Update: We’re up to New Wave Hookers 5.

1999: Two indicators of future cultural directions, um, pop up: The GayVN Awards becomes a separate event, and Pam & Tommy Lee: Hardcore & Uncensored wins Top Renting Release, opening the crappy celebrity bootleg porn door for everyone from Paris Hilton to Screech from Saved by the Bell.

2000: The show moves to the Venetian—yes, Sheldon Adelson’s Venetian—where it will play to capacity crowds for the next seven years.

2002: Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle 1 wins Top Selling Release of the Year, solidifying the connection between porn and hip-hop, as such rappers

as 50 Cent and Too $hort lend their stamp of approval to adult videos.

2007: The awards begin a threeyear run at Mandalay Bay and are broadcast on Showtime. How to celebrate this momentous occasion?

Invite Chris Angel to perform! More than 6,000 people gather to applaud Angel, as well as the Best All Sex Release award, which goes to … Neu Wave Hookers.

2010: The Best Sex Parody category is introduced, an award that is shared by a naughty X-Files parody and a dirty version of (gulp) The Cosby Show.

2011: The awards relocate to the Palms for two years, and the inaugural Best 3-D Feature Award is given to This Ain’t Ghostbusters XXX 3-D. 2012: The Adult Entertainment Expo is separated from the CES convention, much to the chagrin of tech nerds. Unchagrined: Charlie Sheen (who locks himself in a suite at the Palms with a pair of nominees) and Jeremy (who, nearly three decades after his frst award, wins Crossover Star of the Year—clearly, this guy’s got staying power).

2013: AVN relocates both the expo and awards to The Joint at the Hard Rock and asks presidential loser Mitt Romney to co-host. He passes.

2014: AVA adopts the Academy Awards’ tradition of a montage honoring those in the porn industry who died in the last year. Ladies and gentlemen, a discreet round of respectful applause for Al Goldstein!

The ever-vacant Fontainebleau.

J A M E S P. R E Z A

By Bob Whitby

ARE THERE ANY ADULT ENTERTAINMENT STARS HAILING FROM LAS VEGAS? Are you kidding? There could be more adult entertainment players orbiting around Las Vegas than anywhere outside of California’s San Fernando Valley—and I’m not just talking about this week, when the Adult Entertainment Expo and AVN Awards roll into town. And that number figures to grow, as we will likely see a slow migration of the California porn business to Nevada. Credit not just the restrictive porn laws recently enacted in California, but Las Vegas’ reputation as Sin City for influencing the phenomenon. Among other influences: the proximity of decriminalized prostitution just an hour or so north in Nye County, and our Valley’s plethora of strip clubs, which can serve as a launching point for those wishing to explore adult entertainment.

Case in point: Jenna Jameson— the city’s most famous native-born adult star, and perhaps the most recognizable name in all of porndom—began her career by topless dancing in Las Vegas before reaching what was then the legal age of 18 (it is currently 21 for clubs that serve alcohol). Jameson won numerous AVN Awards for her film performances, went on to

THURSDAY, JAN. 15: If it’s January, it must

form her own company and subsequently shared her story via her 2004 autobiography How to Make Love Like A Porn Star, which details the challenges Jameson faced during her life.

Also of note is Corinna Harney, who was born in Germany but raised in Las Vegas. In 1992, at age 20, she was named Playboy’s Playmate of the Year, the magazine’s then-youngest to date.

After appearing in numerous Playboy videos, Harney later had roles in various television shows and film, including National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation.

Here’s something to fire up your conspiracy theories: Both Harney and Jameson were young ballet dancers before entering the adult industry. Both graduated from Bonanza High School.

And both had fathers who worked in law enforcement.

WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE FONTAINEBLEAU? This has been the city’s $64,000— make that $3 billion—question since 2009, when construction on the massive Strip resort abruptly hit a recession-induced wall. While things can change quickly and often in Vegas, given current economics on the Strip, it’s unlikely the resort will ever be finished. (As it is, the Fontainebleau long ago sold off all of its furnishings to the Plaza during the latter’s remodel.)

While some wish local government would “do something” about the property, no legal solutions exist so long as billionaire owner Carl Icahn maintains the building and its 24 acres. Thus, don’t expect anything to happen until Icahn senses that the moment to cash in is at hand.

Questions? AskaNative@ VegasSeven.com.

[COMMUNITY]

A WARMING FEELING As most of the nation braves freezing temperatures this month, Southern Nevadans are generally comfortable; as most of the nation eagerly embraces outdoor activities in the summer, we’re huddled inside, clinging to any cooling element imaginable. That’s why we may overlook the necessity of warming stations for the homeless and poor during our few bouts with dangerously cold weather.

The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition’s Inclement Weather Shelter Program provides daytime and overnight shelter from November until late March at Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada (1511 Las Vegas Blvd. North, for men only); the Salvation Army (33 W. Owens Ave., North Las Vegas, for men and women) and the Shade Tree (1 W. Owens Ave., North Las Vegas, for women and children).

Each night from December 27-30—when low temps dipped well below freezing—more than 600 men used the Catholic Charities facility, which is funded for 340. “They try to accommodate as best as they can, and many times there are men sleeping on the floor, just so they don’t have to spend the night in the frigid temperatures,” says Leslie Carmine, a spokeswoman for the agency. “We see a mixture of everybody—those who use the shelter regularly, new people and those who are service-resistant will come in for help.”

Weather warnings trigger the opening of additional municipal locations for daytime respite. “We’re able to do it with existing staff and existing resources,” Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin says. “Generally, it’s designating a room inside a community center as a location for anyone who needs to come in.”

To find the nearest warming station, call 211 or visit HelpHopeHome.org. – Paul Szydelko

be time for the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival, a 15-day event offering insight into Jewish culture, history and identity. Tonight’s offering is pretty special: Night Will Fall, a documentary about a post-World War II propaganda film shot by the Allies and meant to shame Germans for their complicity in the Holocaust. Deemed inflammatory, the film was shelved and lost for decades. 7 p.m. at the Cinemark Theatre in South Point; LVJFF.org.

FRIDAY, JAN. 16: You don’t have to travel to visit Hawaii’s ninth island; you’re already there. Lucky you, because it’s Hawaii Appreciation Week at The D, and they’re hosting a festival to celebrate. Hawaii Fest, from 4-8 p.m. today and continuing tomorrow, features the music, food, crafts and good times indigenous to Hawaii.

At the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center; TheD.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 17: For WWE fans, it’s been more than

two long, lonely years since the wrestling show WWELive has body-slammed its way into the Mandalay Bay Events Center. But the drought ends at 7:30 with an event featuring Kane, Dean Ambrose, the WWE Divas and more. MandalayBay. com.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18: Kids getting a little

bored? Here’s a unique, and free, way to entertain them for a bit: a paper airplane battle at 4 p.m. at the Spring Valley Library. They’ll learn how to build them and, more importantly, how to dominate the skies (of the library). Victory! LVCCLD. org.

MONDAY, JAN. 19: Sometimes it seems like Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of an America free of racism and open to equal opportunity and justice for all is as unlikely as it was on April 4, 1968. Keep King’s spirit alive and head Downtown for the 33rd annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade. The lineup starts at 8 a.m., while the parade begins at 10 a.m. Visit KingWeekLasVegas.com for details on this and other King Week events that kick off Jan. 16.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20: It’s still Mob Month over at the Clark County Library, and they’ve assembled a panel of journalists, politicians, historians and other smart types to tackle an interesting question: Is the mob still in Las Vegas? 7 p.m., 1401 E. Flamingo Rd., LVCCLD.org.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21: Want a safe

bet for an entertaining hump day? The monthly Composer’s Showcase of Las Vegas packs a punch of local music talent in The Smith Center’s Cabaret Jazz room. You just might catch the next Strip sensation. 10:30 p.m., $20-25, TheSmithCenter.com.

Have an event you want considered for Seven Days?

Email VegasSevenDays@Gmail.com.

How will a Republican-controlled Carson City operate?

If a new voter ID law passes, we’ll have a pretty good idea.

CLIP AND SAVE: THE ART OF VEGAS COUPONING

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

IF YOU HAVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST INTEREST

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in Nevada politics, you’ve undoubtedly followed the embarrassment known as the Assembly’s Republican caucus, featuring Ira Hansen’s demotion all the way from speaker to assistant leader for writing racist articles; Michele Fiore’s insistence that she’s majority leader even when she isn’t; Fiore’s surprise that new speaker-designate John Hambrick doesn’t follow orders she has no authority to give; and the rise into leadership of Jim Wheeler, who said he would vote for slavery, if that’s what his constituents wanted.

But let’s forget about all that nonsense for a moment. What really matters is what Republicans will do now that they have the power to choose these kinds of leaders.

New GOP Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s support for voter ID laws suggests an answer. (Cegavske insists she’s concerned about voter fraud, which has so marred Nevada elections that an Internet search revealed two cases of it in six years— both involving Republicans.)

Will Cegavske be successful in getting the Legislature to pass a new voter ID law? If fellow Nevada Republicans believe in it, it would take only a simple majority vote in both houses. If it were to pass, would Brian Sandoval sign it?

Well, the national Republican Party supposedly views our governor as one of the leading lights on Hispanic outreach—except that Hispanics would certainly get caught in the crosshairs of any legislation that makes it tougher to vote.

So there’s a good chance Sandoval knows it’s a terrible idea, even though he told Jon Ralston in 2012, “I support a voter ID law in Nevada.” Still, would he have the guts to veto a measure backed by an overwhelming majority of Republicans? Yes, under two circumstances.

One, if he defnitely isn’t running against U.S. Senator Harry Reid in 2016—and he almost certainly isn’t—and he’s instead setting his sights on a federal judgeship, or Cabinet or sub-Cabinet position, which would enable him to do as he wishes; otherwise, why would he openly go against his party’s wishes?

The other way in which Sandoval might reach for his veto stamp is if he paused and considered the facts.

For instance, the League of Women Voters—which Steve Scalise, the House Republican whip who plays footsie with white supremacists, calls a liberal group even though it isn’t—and the American Civil Liberties Union have insisted any bill on the subject of voter IDs must be fscally supported. That’s because the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution bans poll taxes.

In other words, someone would have to pay for voter IDs and for the personnel needed to check them.

Pushing her agenda, Cegavske told MSNBC: “We do have a fund in our DMV that provides for the homeless, which is I think very helpful. And there

are organizations that help seniors out. So I don’t think we’d be a state that would struggle.”

Actually, the DMV requires a declaration of homelessness, and not every organization helps seniors get ID cards. But what if you aren’t homeless, you don’t need an ID card except to vote, or you’re on a fxed income? If you’re a Republican and believe charitable organizations such as churches should tend to social welfare, why would you add this burden to them?

Perhaps everyone would be wise to remember the argument by Richard Posner, the widely respected federal judge appointed by noted lefty Ronald Reagan. Dissenting from the 7th Circuit’s refusal to hear a further challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law, Posner eviscerated every imaginable pro-voter ID argument, from stopping fraud to protecting absentee ballots. Posner called voter ID laws what they are: “a mere fg leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters” (You can and should hit up Google and read Posner’s entire opinion).

So, if Nevada Republicans think the only way to keep power is to disenfranchise voters, they are merely asking to be compared with Scalise’s friends. They’re also being silly: As the turnout in November’s election demonstrated, Republicans don’t need to disenfranchise voters; Nevadans and their fellow Americans are perfectly willing to disenfranchise themselves.

Michael Green is an associate professor of history at UNLV.

When you join a casino players club, you “get in the system” of a casino and into a position to benefit from marketing efforts.

Casinos also market externally with deals offered through third-party sources. Working with casinos in this capacity is a primary component of my program at LasVegasAdvisor.com, so I spend a lot of effort tracking who’s doing what and where. In this issue of Vegas Seven, you’ll find an ad promoting the Las Vegas Advisor’s Member Rewards Book, which I can honestly (if immodestly) say is the best source anywhere for these types of discounts—but it’s by no means the only source. Anyone who’s looking for casino deals should be monitoring select programs.

The two leading online discounters in all areas are Groupon and Living Social, and both are active in the casino space. The deals are mostly dining- and show/attraction-related, but there are some good ones and the saving is always in the 50 percent range. Both also deal with non-casino restaurants, with recent offers coming from the likes of India Palace, Due Forni and Envy Steakhouse. Pay attention, though: These offers don’t always constitute the absolute least-expensive way to go.

A good example is a just-released Groupon offer for the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace. This is an amazing buffet, and it’s the first time I’ve seen a public discount for it. But look at the fine print: The offer is for breakfast only, with a price of $65 for two.

The retail price of the Bacchanal breakfast buffet is $30.99, which drops to $29.99 when you show a Total Rewards card. So just buying the buffet retail (with a card) costs $59.98—or $5 less than if purchased through Groupon. The upside is the Groupon deal includes two upgrades: a line pass and unlimited mimosas. Ordinarily, a line pass costs $20, and mimosas are a separate purchase.

A lesser-known online source for discounts is Travelzoo.com. Its Las Vegas deals are strong and tend to be for a more diverse selection of activities. For example, recent TZ deals included a round of golf at Siena, a spa day at SLS and lunch for two at Capo’s for $19.

All of the aforementioned sources do a lot of business in entertainment, but the biggest selection of deals for shows is available at Goldstar.com, or the Tix4Tonight booths located around town. Monitoring them all means you’ll never have to pay retail for a show, with the exception of the most exclusive productions.

Finally, take a second to flip through the Valpak and Money Mailer coupons that land in your mailbox. In addition to solicitations for dentists and home improvements, gaming bars also advertise there, making them an excellent source of video poker bonuses.

Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com.

ILLUSTRATION BY CIERRA PEDRO

THE LATEST

Power Play

THE LATEST

@FunnyOrDie Want to get your hands on the latest cellphone prototypes at CES Las Vegas? Check the strip clubs’ lost & found. @EDSBS [wide receiver catches ball] [lives another 80 years holding ball] [dies, drops ball] [ref appears] “NOT A CATCH, 2ND DOWN” @BillBurr Dez Bryant catching the football is not admissible under the NFL rules of catching a football.

Recapping a week in which love afairs fzzle—from a celebrity couple to an NFL player and his cash

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

SURE, THERE WERE CHRISTMAS

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decorations in the stores two weeks before Halloween. And sure, there were Valentine’s decorations in the stores the day after Christmas. So it’s easy to see how people can get confused by the seasons.

But karma has a way of settling those accounts, because it’s not so much love that’s in the air as it’s been a Shakespearian week of unrequited, unfulflled romance.

Like, for example, between Katy Perry and Diplo. The future Super Bowl halftime singer/living Strawberry Shortcake character was supposed to be in a smoldering, publicly unacknowledged romance with the DJ for months now. But rumors have Perry back together with guy-with-the-guitar-in-thequad-somehow-convincing-sophomores-he’s-sensitive John Mayer.

Diplo will have to console himself with the legions of girls throwing themselves at him on Instagram at any given minute.

Celine Dion’s stormy affair with the Colosseum is still on hold. TMZ says Dion won’t return to Caesars until the end of the year, but that she hasn’t yet given a date. Which frees up a lot of dates for Mariah Carey and/or Jennifer Lopez to fll. Carey has already had her run through residency rumors

recently; now J-Lo is in the replacement Celine seat, after reportedly pulling in more than $400,000 for her New Year’s Eve show. Apparently, the Colosseum just plans to turn over its stage to any lady who had a way-more-popular singing career 10 to 20 years ago. You hear that, Ariana Grande? Just hang on a few more years and you’ll get your turn at the Diva Retirement Ranch.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones’ long, loving relationship with his $12.4 million is drawing to a close, too.

Jones had been ordered in 2012 to pay damages to Tommy Urbanski and Aaron Cudworth for his role in the 2007 shooting at the Minxx strip club that left Urbanski in a wheelchair. Jones was accused of inciting the melee that ended with Arvin Edwards opening fre. He appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, but the appeal was nixed January 9, and Jones will have to fork over the dough—dough his

lawyer says Jones can’t afford to pay. Well sure, not after making it rain at Minxx like that.

MMA fghter Jon “Bones” Jones’ steamy fing with cocaine is coming to a quick close. Jones tested positive on December 4, long before his January 3 fght with Daniel Cormier at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Three days after beating Cormier, Jones announced he was checking into rehab. He’ll get to keep his UFC light heavyweight title, as well as his “Most Terrifying Person to Fight if He Actually Was All Coked Up in the Octagon” title.

Some loves, though, are meant to be. Like Mark Cuban and the sound of his own voice. The Dallas Mavericks owner gave a pep talk to the Marquee staff before their shift started January 5. He was in town for CES, because with his tech background, he was scouring the foor for innovative ways to harangue NBA referees. Even more profound, though? Paris Hilton’s love for ridiculous dogs. She spent $25,000 on a teacup Pomeranian for her mother.

Page Six goes so far to suggest she’s thinking about getting the dog its own nanny, because you can’t put a price on making a string of increasingly absurd decisions. She’s the Samuel Beckett of the wealthy.

@JenKirkman Appointing Ted Cruz to oversee NASA is as bad as Ted Cruz being appointed to oversee NASA. @Johnny_Detroit In honor of Ohio State winning it all, I think all Michigan graduates should give their OSU employees the day off tomorrow. @HeyZeus666 Woody Allen to create, write and direct new series for Amazon… How I Adopted Your Mother @Marcissist I’ve long dreamed of a future in which I could get my monthly diaper supply and a new Woody Allen series from the same place. @ScottAndresen $12.4M to make it rain?

Maybe Pacman Jones should have made it light mist instead—or just get out of the weather making business entirely? @SirPearce How to drive in Las Vegas when it rains: Go super slow and smash into everything.

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ILLUSTRATION BY JON ESTRADA

Goodbye to Romance

@RodneyAnon AC/DC are playing Coachella because their drummer has something he needs to bury in the desert.

THE LATEST

St. Basil’s Cathedral stands tall amid a Moscow blizzard.

Red Square, December 25

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STEPPING OUT OF THE METRO, we are greeted by a white wind. My glasses are instantly caked in snow; I sweep a glove across them and look toward the Historical Museum through beads of crushed snowfake. The museum, just 50 meters away, is a gray rumor in the storm, a thing that may or may not actually be there. We pass through the Resurrection Gates, my wife and my son and I. At the far end of the square—the jagged, dreamy vastness of St. Basil’s, drained of its riotous color, a silvery shadow. Another gust and it disappears altogether.

We’ve come here to ice skate.

It is Christmas morning. In the evenings, Moscow is lit up like the center of the Milky Way, a festival around every corner—a Gnome City, complete with a Gnome Embassy; an igloo flled with columns of light that respond to the touch of a hand. But that is the night; this is the morning, the sleepy northern morning, when the gnomes are silent and a softer light reigns.

We are, it seems, almost alone on Red Square. At the cashier next to the skating rink, we see the sign: “Closed for technical reasons.” That means that, technically, the rink is under a half-meter of snow. We walk along its perimeter. Laughter—not ours, though we do fnd the morning

funny. A young man and ones who entered the storm woman in red parkas are this fne morning and shoveling snow over the came to the square: edge of the rink, hootThere are the singers, ing at the futility of the snow-shovelers, their work. They bethe Chinese tourists, gin to toss the snow the stalwart guide, at each other. and us. In English Mad musings on the creative life I know this place, diction last heard diGREG BLAKE I have friends in this rect from the mouth of MILLER city, I have been here Jane Austen, the guide many times. But today it tells the Chinese tourists is new to me, and I am at the that each of the cathedral’s mercy of its beauty. St. Basil’s 10 cupolas is unique, with its has inspired me since I frst saw its imown design both inside and out. We are age projected onto the snowy screen tagging along. A Chinese man turns to of Mrs. Schneider’s third-grade classus: “This is a private tour,” he says. We room at Las Vegas’ Lewis E. Rowe Elwalk away, through a low, dark pasementary School. Who puts that much sage. In a room to our right: a gold-leaf color on a building? Was this what icon of Madonna and Child. We walk the world looked like before buildings toward the singing. The music rises, turned into boxes and the centuries dances upon the masonry, plays in each resigned themselves to being merely mortared crevice, undresses the soul useful? For thirty-something years I and sends it up into the wind. When thought the color of St. Basil’s was esthe singing ends, we approach the trio’s sential to its daydream majesty. Now, leader. Somehow, I wind up telling him nearly blizzard-blind, I see that it’s even that I am from the States. better in black and white. The familiar “What do you think of Moscow?” becomes unfamiliar; the land is new; I he asks. walk like a novice toward the frontier.

“I love Moscow.”

A three-man choir is singing inside. A “I wish all of you over there felt few Chinese tourists are taking a guided that way.” tour. We are a brave brotherhood, the The sentence strikes like a deep

Breaking Stuff & Making Stuff

D-minor in the middle of the “Ode to Joy.” Which is to say, painful and discordant but endlessly interesting. I want to say that, outside the precincts of the congenitally angry, there is virtually no ill will in our country toward Russia. Concern, yes. Angst about the intentions of Vladimir Putin, certainly.

But no ill will toward the people, the culture, the nation. I say none of this.

Even in this holiest of places, you cannot argue with what has been said on Channel One, and on Channel One it has been said that we Americans are bent on destroying Russia. The myth of our ill will makes it easier to uphold the countermyth that the strong hand of Putin’s state must grow ever stronger in order to ensure the nation’s survival.

None of this analysis will mean anything to the singer, who wants only to sing, to know that his culture and his people are safe from my culture and my people, and to hope that there are others out there who, like me, love Moscow. I thank him for his music.

“Put in a good word for us over there,” he says.

For him, I will.

Greg Blake Miller, Ph.D., is the director of Olympian Creative Education.

OlympianCreative.com.

PHOTO BY GREG BL AKE MILLER

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

A blizzard, a cathedral, peace on earth and goodwill toward men

THE LATEST

STYLE

Kristen Schaefer

Brand ambassador

What’s your fashion statement piece? I wear

a lot of copper bangles, copper-colored rings and copper necklaces.

When we launched Absolut Elyx about two years ago, we used a lot of copper elements in our décor, and I started to see it would be great to actually wear.

Where do you buy your copper jewelry?

I have a jeweler, Allison Lundahl (SilverStringsStrands. com). She makes all of my copper pieces.

I found her at First Friday. She does all sorts of items—tie clips for men, bangles, earrings. I call her and tell her what I need, and she fgures it out.

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portunities for food and beverage are endless. I started off as a hostess when I was 16, and I worked my way up the ladder. I’ve been in Vegas for eight years now—I moved here from upstate New York. I wanted to expand my horizons.

– Jessi C. Acuña

Current/Elliott dress from BungalowClothing.com. Vintage boots. Allison Lundahl necklace. Hair and makeup by Platinum Entourage.

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

What brought you to Las Vegas? The op-

THE

PUCK

DROPS

HERE

The ownership group is in place. The arena is rising behind the Strip. And a season-ticket drive is about to commence. It looks

like there’s just one thing left for Las Vegas to do to land an NHL franchise: Prove that it wants it. B Y J A S O N S C AV O N E

ILLUSTR ATION BY RYAN OLBRYSH

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

illiam foley’s father was in the Air Force, up in Ottawa for three years in the early 1950s when Foley was just starting elementary school. Under those circumstances, pond hockey isn’t so much something you take up as it is part of the atmosphere. You put on a hat because it’s cold, you go to school because you have to and you play pond hockey because it’s January in Canada. ¶ Foley, the 69-year-old chairman of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Financial who made Forbes’ “Billionaire Up and Comers” list in 2013, drifted away from the game in his subsequent years. When he talks about his favorite hockey teams today, he sounds like a presidential hopeful stumping across primary states. (“I like the Blackhawks. I live in Northern Cal part of the year, so I follow the Sharks. I’ve got to say the Blackhawks and Sharks are kind of my teams.”) ¶ Perhaps not for much longer. That’s because Foley is the head of a group (which includes the Maloof family) that’s trying to put an NHL team in the under-construction MGM/AEG arena by the start of the 2016-17 season. And he’s not shy about his ambitions for what would be this city’s frst major professional sports team: “Our feeling is we want to have a really fast team. We don’t want to be the big guys who get into fghts. We want to be highly skilled. The frst couple of years are going to be diffcult. But we’re going to invest in the team, and my goal is to bring a Stanley Cup to Las Vegas within eight years. It may take eight years, but we can do it if we make the right investment in the team. The Islanders did it.”

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And that’s true. The Islanders did come into the league for the 1972 season, and by 1980 they won the frst of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. But expansion doesn’t always go that smooth. Neither Columbus nor Minnesota, the NHL’s last two expansion teams in 2000, have even reached a Cup fnals. Hell, the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres, who both entered the league two years before the Islanders, have combined for fve appearances in the fnals and zero Cups.

The bigger hitch, such as it is, is that the NHL hasn’t formally committed to any kind of expansion or relocation.

And even though the potential Vegas franchise is regularly touted as expansion, and is viewed by this ownership group as expansion, Foley says the ultimate decision on whether to expand or relocate would be the league’s.

So if all this sounds like it’s putting the cart before the horse-with-a-nastyslap-shot, it might be. But, to quote the famed socio-political futurist Magie Huiteball: All signs point to yes.

“I heard [NHL expansion rumors] the whole 11 years I was there,” says

Billy Johnson, the former president and chief operating offcer of the Las Vegas Wranglers, the East Coast Hockey League team that played at the Orleans Arena from 2003 to 2013. “There was always that possibility. This one’s got legs.”

What Foley and the Maloofs have— that no other dreamer who wanted to be the frst to bring the big leagues to Las Vegas has ever had—is the blessing of a league to conduct a season-ticket drive. More importantly, they have a viable building in which to house a franchise. When MGM Resorts International and AEG announced their intentions in spring 2013 to put an arena behind New York-New York, it offcially put the city on the NHL’s radar. Without the arena, Foley says, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman never would have considered the rest of the proposal.

So how did we even get to this point?

Joe and Gavin Maloof, while in the process of selling off the NBA’s Sacramento Kings in 2013, went to see Foley in Jacksonville while they were there on business. The three of them started talking about buying a football team.

The consensus was it would be too ex-

pensive—besides, the NFL didn’t have much available. They parted ways, but a couple of months later, the Maloofs called Foley with a simple question: “What about hockey?” Thus the Las Vegas Black Knights (the name Foley, a West Point grad, favors)—or whatever they’ll be called after a name-the-team contest—was conceived.

Once MGM/AEG committed to the arena, the pieces started to fall into place. While the arena got Bettman’s attention, what can seal the deal is the season-ticket drive. That the NHL is allowing the proposed owners of a team that doesn’t exist to hawk tickets to games that might never happen is in itself signifcant. When Winnipeg was trying to bring the Atlanta Thrashers north in 2011, it used a ticket drive to prove its viability. Fans purchased 13,000 season tickets. It was enough: As was the case with the Flames, Atlanta lost yet another NHL franchise to Canada.

“We’re interested now in proving the viability of the team by being able to sell at least 10,000 season tickets, [though] I’d like to see us at 12,500,” Foley says. “The suites will all go. In fact,

Like most everything else in this Valley, Johnson says the success of an NHL franchise here will hinge on marketing. “It depends on if they’re able to make it an activity. If they make the experience as important as winning, there will be a high tolerance level [for losing].”

VegasSeven.com

| January 15–21, 2015

MALOOFS BY HECTOR AMEZCUA/SACRAMENTO BEE; GLENDALE PHOTO BY TIM ROBERTS

For finance mogul William Foley (opposite page) and the Maloof brothers—George, Gavin and Joe— bringing an NHL team to Las Vegas would complete Step 1. Step 2 would be to learn from the mistakes that have plagued the NHL’s other desert franchise: the Arizona Coyotes, based in Glendale (below).

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January 15â&#x20AC;&#x201C;21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

alties, McCall sees that as a strength.

“Whether it’s the [Los Angeles] Kings or Boston or Philadelphia—when those teams play in Las Vegas there will be 3,000 to 4,000 fans [of those teams] who live in Las Vegas, and they’re going to come to the games,” McCall says.

“It really creates a great atmosphere. If you’ve got 17,000 people in the building and 4,000 of them are for the other team, it gets the dander up of the local people. That’s how you start developing rivalries.”

McCall also says it will be crucial that the NHL be the only game in town.

Which doesn’t necessarily mesh with the arena plans of MGM/AEG, whose ambitions seem to be landing an NHL team, followed by an NBA franchise, thus creating a Strip-side Staples Center or Madison Square Garden: two teams, one building, gift-wrapped for sports-betting-agnostic Adam Silver.

VegasSeven.com

“We want to have a really fast, highly skilled team,” Foley says. “The first couple of years are going to be difficult. But we’re going to invest in the team, and my goal is to bring a Stanley Cup to Las Vegas within eight years.”

“The arena is ready for an NBA expansion [team]. It’s been vetted by that league as well,” says MGM’s Prows. “Our partnership with AEG has been one that gives us a lot of ability to carry on detailed conversations [with] the NBA. The league has made it very clear to AEG and to us that they’re not ready to expand or to bring a team to Vegas. They told us that’s probably not going to happen for a few years.”

So even if the NHL falls through, MGM/AEG can hedge with basketball.

Certainly, though, one existing franchise tends to prove the viability of the market for other teams sniffng around for expansion or relocation destinations. If that sounds like a lot of dominoes that hinge on the Foley/Maloof group’s ticket drive, well, that’s because there’s a lot riding on the Foley/Maloof group’s ticket drive.

Foley says he plans to launch it right after the Super Bowl and hopes to have a good understanding of the public’s response by St. Patrick’s Day. Hit that 10,000 goal and it opens the door to some very ambitious plans beyond just the team. Foley wants to build a major practice facility in the Valley with four or fve rinks that would be open to the public, help develop youth hockey and possibly work in conjunction with a hospital group to develop a sports medicine program. For Foley, it would mean him relocating from Jacksonville to Las Vegas and phasing out his day-to-day responsibilities with Fidelity National. For the Maloofs—who declined interview requests for this story—it would mean redemption after a less-than-glamorous exit from Sacramento. And who knows, maybe it could end up with the family’s third crack at NBA ownership; multipleteam ownership by the same person or group in a single city isn’t uncommon.

It could even mean a return of the Wranglers—who lost their home when The Orleans declined to renew the team’s lease in 2014—to serve as the feeder team for our NHL franchise, similar to what the Dallas Stars did when they brought the Texas Stars to Austin from Iowa. Johnson says when he left the team this year, there were two proposals on the table to resuscitate the franchise. Being a minor-league affliate of the local NHL team could present a third option. He also hopes a Las Vegas NHL team would revive one of the Wranglers’ most successful promotions: midnight hockey. “I think that would be an awesome legacy for our team. I hope they rip off that idea.”

Marketing plans? Even by the standard of getting ahead of one’s self, that seems like a stretch, doesn’t it? In a word: Nah. Foley has the demographic research to prove it, and he has a city that by all accounts is starved for and ready to embrace its frst pro team. He also has a league that has the rare opportunity to be the most forward-thinking unit in pro sports—and wouldn’t that be something new for the NHL? All Foley has to do now is convince at least 10,000 people in a region of 2 million to come along for the ride.

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able and you turn yourself into a joke.”

So how do you go about selling a disparate market of hockey fans who have deep allegiances to, say, the Blackhawks or Rangers or Maple Leafs? You start by putting the arena in the right spot, says former Dallas Stars chief marketing offcer Mike McCall, who was with the International Hockey League when the Thunder set up shop here from 199399. For instance, the Arizona Coyotes’ ongoing struggles, he says, have much to do with the Gila River Arena being placed in outlying Glendale instead of the more-hopping Scottsdale. (Hopping, we’ve got covered.)

After that, you have to be inclusive of the luxury, corporate, family and individual fan segments—something, it’s safe to say, our city already has a frm grasp on. As for the notion that coldweather natives and local hockey fans who already have existing team loy-

January 15–21, 2015

BEFORE AND AFTER:

Construction continues on the MGM/AEG Arena behind New York-New York. The venue would be ready to house an NHL team by the 2016-17 season.

most of the [42] suites are already gone.

The loge suites and the bunker suites [located at ice level] are already gone.

“We’re creating a group called the Las Vegas Founding 50. [We want] to get at least 50 local businesspeople and personalities, to commit to selling 60 tickets each. That would be 3,000 season tickets that would not be casino-based or corporate-based.

That last part is signifcant for a couple of reasons. First, as Johnson points out, attendance is nice and all, but what matters most is covering your nut. To that end, average transaction is key.

And nothing raises your average transaction like sold-out luxury suites. The other important element is that, as confgured for hockey, the capacity of the MGM/AEG arena would be about 17,500, says Mark Prows, MGM Resorts senior vice president for arenas. That means 10,000 season tickets would put Las Vegas at 57 percent capacity as a jump-off, before factoring in single-game ticket sales (which average $62.18 in the NHL) or additional season packages.

Though it trails the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball in terms of TV popularity, the NHL’s franchises routinely fll the house on game nights; 27 of the 30 teams run at 85 percent capacity or more. In fact, six squads top 100 percent, with standing-room-only tickets pushing the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks to 112.2 percent and 109.7 percent, respectively. What about the three teams averaging less than 85 percent? Those would be Arizona (76.0), Carolina (66.5) and Florida (63.7)—three warm-weather franchises in nontraditional markets that have played poorly, or can expect to play poorly, for several years.

Just like a potential Las Vegas team.

“One of the things they’re going to have to defne is whether this is a sports market, a sports-gaming market or an events market,” says the Wranglers’ Johnson. “I found that it’s an events market and a sports-gambling market, not necessarily a sports market. We avoided for years Sunday afternoon games because in-season there was so much money riding on the NFL, people weren’t paying attention [to the Wranglers]. It’s a very hard market for hockey.”

Like most everything else in this Valley, Johnson says the success of an NHL franchise here will hinge on marketing.

“It depends on if they’re able to make it an activity. If they make the experience as important as winning, there will be a high tolerance level [for losing]. When we frst moved here, they had the Las Vegas Gladiators of the [Arena Football League]. I remember our ad campaign was fun and irreverent and sarcastic—we didn’t talk about winning. We didn’t talk about hockey that much. But the Gladiators at the time were promoting ‘Armed and Dangerous.’ They created this expectation and this brand that we’re going to win eight home games this year.

What happens when you lose your frst four? Economically, you just blew a hole through your entire marketing effort.

You put out a message that’s unobtain-

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NIGHTLIFE

Subtle design tricks can take a club from fat to fabulous

By Felicia Mello

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Elements of Style

NEIL KULL IS THE KIND OF GUY who creates virtual models of nightclubs on his laptop for fun. Who, upon arriving at a venue, will walk around the dance foor until he fnds the sweet spot where the sound comes together just right, and will stand there, just listening. So when the former Light Group lighting director starts talking nightclub design, we pay attention. ¶ Much of how partygoers respond to a space happens at a subconscious level, Kull says. The right ambient color “temperature”—heavy on warm tones, light on green—can make people look more attractive, boosting the chances of a hookup. Curtain lights in cross-cutting patterns add a feeling of coziness. And unusually shaped rooms can heighten our sense that something unexpected is about to happen.

VegasSeven.com

Drai’s Nightclub, and Neil Kull.

January 15–21, 2015

CLUB PHOTO COURTESY OF DRAI’S; KULL PHOTO COURTESY OF NEIL KULL

Your city after dark, photos from the week’s hottest parties and meet the DJ who wanders the world in search of sound

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NIGHTLIFE

Drai’s Beach, and a balcony inside the nightclub.

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

Subtly integrated video panels. Nightclub

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builders have been experimenting in the last two years with weaving video into a space’s design. (See Mandalay Bay’s Light for another example.) “I like this [setup], because it’s not so in my face,” Kull says. “It blinks and chases around, but it doesn’t dominate. Video adds a lot of weird color, which can dominate the room and wash out the light show. It’s hard to pull it back and make it sexy. But here, it’s balanced. There’s a lot of negative space, a lot of darkness.”

Curved lines add visual interest. “One of

my favorite things about Victor [Drai] is that he uses curves,” Kull says. “If you do it wrong you take a up a lot of real estate where you could have put more customers. [Drai’s] was able to design the curve of the space without losing any

square footage. We don’t often go into curved rooms. In our lives everything’s a square, a rectangle, a box. When you go into a room that’s an unusual shape, you automatically get that sense that you’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Each level’s decor complements the others’. Like a sparkly, jewel-toned layer

cake, Drai’s contains several levels, each with its own favor, but not so dissimilar that they clash when viewed all at once.

“Nothing stands out too much,” Kull says. “It all works together.”

The sound system grabs your attention, without overwhelming. “Notice when you

walk in how the sound shifts,” says Kull, waving his slender fngers through the air like a conductor. “It’s like a soft shell.

If I’m not on the dance foor I should be able to hear the music well, but it’s not so loud that I can’t have a conversation at this distance,” he says, indicating about two feet. Even right next to the stage, the bass feels heavy but not punishing.

Color schemes convey warmth and sophistication. “At most clubs, it’s all about

the in-your-face spectacle,” Kull says.

“Here, it’s all woven together, and they use a lot of warm-tone colors—red, amber. The darker colors on the walls close in the space.” The effect is an environment that’s both stimulating and relaxing. “Nightclubs are not traditionally known for being positive places,” he says. “If you build a room that

reaches out and grabs you comfortably, it tends to reduce a lot of problems.”

Symmetry allows for flexible programming.

Lights are arranged in symmetrical arcs around the venue’s ginormous central disco ball, defning the—also symmetrical—space. Symmetry is kind of an obsession of Kull’s. “If I just put lights and speakers intermittently, I’d have a light show, but it wouldn’t have a shape; it wouldn’t say anything,” he says. “With a symmetrical layout, you can have movements that look like marching soldiers or lightning bolts, or you can break off into chaos and still have the shape of the room intact. You can take it anywhere, which is great for a programmer.”

The room’s balanced proportions also allow for the placement and lighting of additional mini-stages, aerial performers or live musicians, without it feeling forced. Kull contrasts that to other Vegas clubs, where designers

have tried to cram an off-center stage into a room that wasn’t built for it, with awkward results. “We notice weird,” he says. “It’s like when you meet someone with a little gap in their teeth like David Letterman, you notice it.”

Clear sightlines make every table a good one. Drai’s biggest asset? That

breathtaking view over the pool to the lights of Las Vegas Boulevard. And thanks to the venue’s circular shape, it’s not just the ballers at the owner’s table who get to enjoy it. From the glam elevators to the sinuous walls of the upper walkway, each step past the velvet ropes helps prepare visitors psychologically for the big reveal: that moment when they walk around a corner, reach the balcony and see the entire club spread out before them.

“No matter where you go, you’ve got a great view,” says Kull. “There’s not a bad table in this place.”

PHOTOS BY ERIK K ABIK/ERIKK ABIK.COM

Get it just right, and you’ll provoke in club patrons that feeling industry veteran Kull experienced when he frst walked into Drai’s, nightlife impresario Victor Drai’s $100-million party palace on the roof of the Cromwell.

“I got that just-turned-21 look on my face,” he says. “It was the frst club I’d seen in a while where I was like, ‘Fuck yeah, Vegas! You’re going somewhere.’”

We convinced Kull—who was not involved in the design of Drai’s—to take us on a walk-through of the club and point out the fner points of building a party from the sound up.

By

NIGHTLIFE

Camille Cannon

Matthew Koma.

Jaizus, Paloom, Boogie Snacks, DJ Zo and Namelss will take turns on the turntables. (1675 Industrial Rd., 10 p.m.,Facebook. com/BeyondCityLights.)

SUN 18 You’re not tired from last night, are you? You’ve got dayclubbing to do! Get to the Marquee Dayclub Dome for a performance by hip-hop phenom Jeremih. DJs M!ke Attack and Lisa Pittman keep you moving all afternoon. (At the Cosmopolitan, 1 p.m., MarqueeLasVegas.com.)

Ready for Round 2? Get down to the sounds of BYNON at Life. You may recognize him better as Richard Beynon (that stage name is fairly new). The classically trained musician has a background producing classical and jazz albums, and a fgurative Ph.D. in rocking club crowds. (In SLS, 10:30 p.m., SLSLasVegas.com.)

MON 19 Do you long for the golden era of yore? When drinking was illegal and liquor was produced on the sly?

Relive those days during Moonshine Monday at BLVD Cocktail Company.

Local ’20s-inspired outft the Moonshiners provide the tunes, and Stillhouse Moonshine offers the hooch for $10 specialty cocktails. Cheers! (At the Linq, 8 p.m., Facebook.com/ BLVDCocktail.)

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

THU 15

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Have you ever been mid-show at Brooklyn Bowl and imagined what it would be like to be onstage? You can fnd out during Rockstar Karaoke.

Get backed by a live band and choose from more than 200 songs. This could be your moment! (At the Linq, 8 p.m., Vegas.

BrooklynBowl.com.) DJ Mustard—born Dijon MacFarlane— is the man behind some of the biggest club bangers of 2014.

(You can tell when a song is his, because they all start with the line “Mustard on the beat, ho!”) Last year, Mustard conquered Hard Rock Live, Surrender and Life Is Beautiful.

This year, he’s starting fresh with a residency at Light, as

part of The Beat concert series.

(In Mandalay Bay, 10:30 p.m., TheLightVegas.com.)

FRI 16 Australian duo What So Not specializes in “sweaty beats.”

When they bring the heat to Surrender, the pair—a mash-up of solo artists Emoh Instead and Harley Streten (a.k.a. Flume)—will be joined by singer Matthew Koma. His golden vocal chords can be heard on Zedd’s “Spectrum” and Tiësto’s “Wasted.” Our guess is this tag team is a test run for Coachella, as both acts are booked for April 11 and 18, and “surprise” collaborations are half the fun at this festival.

(In Encore, 10:30 p.m., SurrenderNightclub.com.)

SAT 17 Did somebody say Tiësto?

The Dutch titan celebrates his 45th birthday in the booth at Hakkasan. And that’s not all he’s celebrating: The megaclub recently announced it has signed Tiësto to a multiyear residency extension. We’re already looking forward to ringing in his big 5-0 with a table and bottle service. (In MGM Grand, 10:30 p.m., HakkasanLV. com.) Would you rather keep it chill? Join local collective Beyond City Lights at Hard Hat Lounge for a no-cover night of breezy beats. Dskovr,

M!ke Attack.

Lisa Pittman.

TUE 20 There are two things you can (almost) always count on come Tuesday. The frst is Lost Angels Industry Night at Hyde; this evening, DJ Spider is on deck. (In Bellagio, 10 p.m.

HydeBellagio.com.) The second is Turbulent Tuesdays at 1 Oak, so named in honor of music maestro DJ Turbulence, not any sort of in-air commotion. (In The Mirage, 10:30 p.m., 1OakLasVegas.com.)

WED 21 Ladies: RSVP at EventBrite. com for complimentary sweets, cocktails, a fashion show and raffes at the new boutique, Apricot Lane.

Katharine Day of KatharineOnTrend.com will be on hand for styling advice. The frst 50 RSVPs receive a $25 gift card. (In Fashion Show Mall, 6 p.m., ApricotLaneBoutique.com.)

SAT I

01 I 17 I 15 I DOORS AT 10:30pm

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01 I 15 I 15 I

SOUNDS BY

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fri I

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NIGHTLIFE

Baauer (left) with Nick Hook, recording the sounds of a camel.

Baauer roams the world looking for sounds and talent to amp up his performances

By Kat Boehrer

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

THE “HARLEM SHAKE” MEME IS OVER, BUT IT

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will always be known as Harry Bauer Rodrigues’ foray into the spotlight in 2013. Nearly two years after that YouTube phenomenon broke the Internet, Rodrigues—best known to the EDM crowd as Baauer—has moved on to headlining sets at major nightclubs and festival appearances worldwide.

Baauer recently released a documentary through Red Bull Music Academy, Searching for Sound, which costars his musical companion, Nick Hook, and depicts their travels across the United Arab Emirates and Japan. Along the way the pair met indigenous musicians and recorded their unique instruments and sounds. You can parse the fner points of playing the shō versus the goat bagpipes with Baauer on January 21 when his monthly residency, Studio B, returns to Light nightclub in Mandalay Bay.

Do you plan to do something like the Searching for Sound documentary again, or was that a once-in-a-lifetime deal?

We were just in India, but unfortunately didn’t have much time [for recording]. I really hope I can go back and have time to dedicate to just recording sounds. And same with Brazil; I’d love to go there and do the same thing.

How did you and Hook initially meet?

We actually met a long time ago. He worked at this sake bar in Manhattan called Satsko, and I found out through Twitter that all these DJs that I really liked were hanging out there. So I went, and we just met that way—before I’d even started the project as “Baauer.”

A couple of years later, we linked up.

I asked him to help me work on new music and be my homie in the studio. And that just sort of turned into Searching for Sound.

Is he an adviser or are you two collaborators? What is his role in your work relationship?

He’s like a spiritual adviser. [Laughs.]

He’s like a yogi. A musical yogi.

What’s the response been to the Searching for Sound sample pack you released? Have any producers sent you music they’ve made with your sounds?

Yeah! I’ve gotten a whole bunch, and they’ve all been incredible. It’s so cool to hear what people have done. If you [search for] “#SearchingForSound” on Twitter, you can see a bunch. People just put them on Soundcloud, and they’re all dope.

On your recent Reddit “Ask Me Anything” appearance, you gave a vague answer regarding a possible upcoming album. So, can we expect a full-length album soon?

It’s well in the works. I plan to fnish it

How do you pronounce the title of your latest EP, ß?

That’s kind of interpretive. Like, I just wanted it to be that symbol. You could say “Beta” or you could say “B,” or in German, it’s [an eszett], the sound of two Ss. And what’s with the rocks and the helmet on your cover art?

We linked up with this Australian artist. We just kind of let him go and let him do his thing, and it was cool.

There’s not really anything particular behind it. [We were] just trying to create something that looks really weird and interesting.

I noticed the Dragon Ball Z reference in the track “One Touch,” when Slim Jimmy from Rae Sremmurd raps, “I just popped a senzu bean.” Did Jimmy write that? Are they into that Japanese children’s cartoon?

Yeah, defnitely. That was another favorite Studio B moment. That was right before we got to [Light]. We were at a studio in Vegas, and they were just free-styling. I didn’t even know what that meant at the time; I had to look it up. I don’t know much about Dragon Ball Z, but I love that they used that reference.

PHOTO BY BAL AZS GARDI/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

The Search Continues

very soon, and hopefully get it released by summertime.

NIGHTLIFE

PARTIES

NIGHTCLUB TALENT MAKES BIG MOVES IN 2015

GHOSTBAR The Palms

[ UPCOMING ]

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See more photos from this gallery at SPYONvegas.com

PHOTOS BY JOE FURY

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

Jan. 21 DJ Exodus spins Jan. 24 GBDC Toga Party with Farrah Abraham Jan. 31 GBDC Magical Unicorn Bowl

Las Vegas nightlife never ceases to innovate—and renovate. The New Year has just begun and already the clubs have begun trying to out-party each other. Hakkasan has announced its 2015 lineup, which features many returning headliners including Steve Aoki, Above & Beyond and the Chainsmokers, as well as some fresh faces, such as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, DVBBS, Ummet Ozcan, Don Diablo and Tchami. Tiësto has also re-confirmed his allegiance to Hakkasan Group with an exclusive multiyear contract, securing the “Club Life” Hakkasan residency and “Republic of Tiësto” Wet Republic residency for at least a few more years.

Meanwhile, XS unveiled an approximately $10 million surprise renovation over New Year’s Eve weekend. The revamp includes a pyrotechnic system that shoots fire above the roof of the pool deck, a larger DJ booth surrounded by 14,000 LED lights and a host of lasers and lights galore to steal the show.

In other Wynn-related news, resident Dillon Francis is filming a pilot for MTV. Although the basis of the show is still unknown, no one who knows the DJ/producer is surprised that Francis would end up on TV. And with filming beginning in January, does that mean MTV cameras will accompany him for his January 21 and 24 dates at Surrender?

Speaking of Las Vegas regulars getting even more recognition, Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2015 features four of the Strip’s favorites in the music category. Afrojack, Martin Garrix, DJ Mustard and Porter Robinson all grace the list as some of the most influential young trendsetters in the game.

How’s that for a strong start to a New Year? - Kat Boehrer

| Goorin Bros. hats

Best tacos at Chayo The hub of social activity and unexpected experiences lives at the heart of the Strip.

Find the Vegas you’ve been looking for at TheLINQ.com.

Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2014, Caesars License Company, LLC.

DINING

“Communal dining is a concept that’s probably gone in and out of vogue since the beginning of restaurants.” {PAGE 52}

Restaurant reviews, news and luxury Cognac falls to the mighty Las Vegas yard glass

Bird in Hand Miami import Yardbird brings Southern comfort food to the Venetian

By Al Mancini

A platter of Yardbird’s signature Chicken ’n’ Watermelon ‘n’ Waffles.

VegasSeven.com

| January 15–21, 2015

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY—THE WORDS JUST GO HAND

in hand. So why is Southern cooking (other than Louisiana-style offerings) so underrepresented in this hospitality-focused city? The South is a lot larger than Louisiana, and its food a lot broader than Cajun and Creole. That’s probably one reason those in the food and beverage community are so excited about the January 2 opening of Yardbird Southern Table & Bar in the Venetian space that formerly housed Pinot Brasserie.

Of course, there are other reasons to be excited about Yardbird. The original location is a Miami Beach favorite. Two extremely respected local chefs are heading the kitchen: executive chef Todd Harrington (former executive chef of Central by Michael Richard and Downtown Grand) and chef de cuisine John Courtney (former sous chef at DB Brasserie, Pinot Brasserie, Marche Bacchus and RM Seafood). The menu is packed with Southern classics, including shrimp and grits, pan-fried trout and fried frog legs. And the cocktail program is a bourbon-lover’s dream.

Yardbird’s bar and spacious lounge area front a chunk of the promenade between the Venetian and the Palazzo. The large dining area sits behind them with a private dining room to one side and a communal Chef’s Table directly in front of the open kitchen. While the overall vibe is casual and fun, there are still some cozier spots tucked into one side of the room.

The centerpiece of the menu here is the fried chicken, which they brine for at least 27 hours to get a favor that goes well past the crispy skin and all the way down to the bone. I’ll put it up against the best in town. You can order it alone, served with spicy Tabasco honey, or sandwiched between two biscuits with pepper jelly and house pickles. But I suggest it alongside the cheddar and scallion waffes, and fresh watermelon cubes tossed with hot sauce and lightly sprinkled with salt. The dish comes with maple syrup and hot honey sauce, as well as chow chow (vegetable relish) for the waffes. But to me, using them just masks the subtly complex favors of the main ingredients.

As great as the fried chicken is, don’t over-

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DINING

Al’s

Deviled eggs, and executive chef Todd Harrington at the pass.

Menu Picks Fried green tomato BLT ($14), smoked and roasted bone marrow ($17), Chicken ‘n’ Watermelon ‘n’ Waffles ($36) and smoked backyard barbecue chicken ($28).

look the deep, smoky barbecue version served with a tangy sauce, mashed potatoes and okra. The boys in the kitchen borrowed this from Yardbird’s sister barbecue restaurant, Swine, in Miami, and it is some rock-solid smoking.

Another can’t-miss dish is the fried green tomato BLT. I don’t generally like tomatoes. But these thick, crispy disks piled high with salty pork belly, greens, tomato jam and house-made pimentos (there’s no bread on this BLT) are absolute perfection.

There are plenty of other hits on the menu, such as a smoked marrow bone served with country jam, and a

side of faro made with pork sausage and chicken liver mousse (a true down-and-dirty Southern treat).

As good as most everything is, I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you about the lesser dishes I’ve encountered.

An order of mac and cheese was much too dry for my taste, something Courtney agreed with when he visited my table. Similarly, I prefer my grits a bit creamier than what they’re offering (although the shrimp and grits is still a very good dish). And does Vegas really need another take on deviled eggs? When Harrington topped them with white anchovies at Central three years ago, I was wowed.

A few dozen presentations later, even topping Yardbird’s with smoked trout roe induces a yawn.

Having dined at the original Yardbird over the recent holidays, I can tell you nothing seems to have gotten lost on the journey from

Miami to Las Vegas, although some recipes have been tweaked slightly.

What’s really important, of course, isn’t how our Yardbird compares with the original, but how it compares with other restaurants in the Valley. From that standpoint, I’m very impressed so far, and I can’t wait to go back to sample the brunch menu and some real Southern desserts.

YARDBIRD SOUTHERN TABLE & BAR

The Venetian, 702-297-6541.

Open for dinner 4:30 p.m.– midnight Sun; 4 p.m.–midnight Mon–Thu; 4:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Fri–Sat. Open for brunch 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Fri–Sun. Dinner for two, $50–$135..

[ JUST A SIP ]

LIQUID LUXURY ... BY THE YARD???

(Trigger warning: This piece describes the irreverent consumption of ultra-luxury Cognac in a frozen, slushy drink by the yard.)

The last taboo has been tested. Grab-and-go bar Evening Call has committed an act of spirit abuse so egregious it’s laughable. Late last year, the chain’s Mandalay Bay location started adding shots of Rémy Martin’s Louis XIII Cognac to its frozen, slushy yard drinks for a cool $100—probably not what the maître de chai of Rémy Martin has in mind for her prestigious juice. Now, before you rend your

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

garments, realize this blasphemy is by design. The offer was actually suggested by a wily liquor rep who was inspired by a story

50

about Pappy Van Winkle Jell-O shots. Like Pappy, Louis XIII enjoys a reverential mystique, which Evening Call owner Tommy Lynn thinks has gotten out of hand. “Most places are charging over $350 per ounce, which is really silly when you think about it,” he says.

And anyway, most spirits professionals—deferring to their fiscal bottom line—will ultimately tell you that the “right” way to enjoy any beverage is the way you like it. So do it: Put ice cubes in your fine wine; drink a Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA with your crème brûlée (it’s delicious!); pair Krug Champagne with a Double-Double from In-N-Out Burger like the chefs do. Lynn suggests adding a shot of Louis XIII to his Vegas Crush (fruit punch and vodka) or Fireball apple cider. Pinkies up, now, just to spite. – Xania Woodman

Get the latest on local restaurant openings and closings, interviews with top chefs, cocktail recipes, menu previews and more in our weekly “Sips and Bites” newsletter. Subscribe at VegasSeven.com/SipsAndBites.

“Learn to cook” is glaring at you from its spot on your resolution list, isn’t it? If you’re ready to move beyond boiling water to hands-on cooking tips from some of the best chefs on the Strip, Bellagio’s An Executive Chef’s Culinary Classroom (866-906-7171, Bellagio.com) is the ticket to your new gastronomic education. Once a month in the Tuscany Kitchen, small groups led by hotel executive chef Edmund Wong will be able to learn step by step how to prepare various three-course meals aligned with a holiday or seasonal dish. The first, on February 12, introduces students to contemporary Italian cuisine from antipasti to pasta, inspired by Julian Serrano’s new Bellagio restaurant Lago, which is set to open in March. If you’ve wanted to unlock the secrets of Chinese dim sum, the March 19 class will teach you the time-honored techniques of noodles and dumplings. Tickets are $135 per person, and of course, you get to eat your creations, paired with wine. Learning to cook is so much better with booze.

If you’re still good with others preparing your food, head to the north Strip. Westgate continues its quiet transformation from the LVH (nee Hilton) with a new 24-hour dining option.

Sid’s Café (800-732-7117, WestgateLasVegasResort.com) is named for owner David Siegel’s father who used to frequent Las Vegas, David says, because of the level of customer service he received, where everyone knew not only Sid’s name, but catered to his every need. That sentiment is echoed in the café’s slogan: “We treat everyone like a high-roller.” That treatment comes with the Americana-style menu, featuring such fun items as the New York Reuben Burger and a deep-fried peanut butter, jelly and banana dessert known as the Elvis Sandwich.

Now that MTO has settled into its new digs at Downtown Summerlin, chef Johnny Church will resurrect his Sunday Night Supper Series at the Downtown location ($65, 500 S. Main St., 702-380-8229, MTOCafe.com). “A Farmers Table” on January 18 benefits local farmers devastated by flooding in Moapa. Chefs from around the region will come together to cook the five-course feast from the first crop of produce since the flood, gathered by Kerry Clasby of Intuitive Foraging and 3rd Street Farmers Market. Joining Church are Jeff and Emily Brubaker of Five50 and Sage at Aria, respectively, and Chris Bulen of Andre’s in Monte Carlo, along with Jay Melton of Seattle’s Corfini Gourmet, James Trees of West Hollywood’s Hutchinson Cocktails & Grill and Sonia El-Nawal of Las Vegas’ Rooster Boy Granola. This definitely fulfills your resolution to “eat more locally.” – Grace Bascos Grace Bascos eats, sleeps, raves and repeats.

Read more from Grace at VegasSeven.com/ DishingWithGrace, as well as on her diningand-music blog, FoodPlusTechno.com.

PHOTOS BY JON ESTRADA

AN EXECUTIVE CHEF’S KITCHEN, A FATHER’S CAFÉ AND A FARMER’S TABLE

DINING

Join the Commune Dining with strangers is making a comeback

By Al Mancini

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

AS I SIT AT THE NEW SKINNYFATS ON WARM

52

Springs Road, waiting for my order from the “Healthy” menu to arrive, I can’t help noticing the quartet of strangers seated across the table from me. The two hipster chicks seem a little out of place with a slightly rougher looking couple. (The guy’s T-shirt reads: “Alcohol, tobacco and frearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency!”) And they’re really not making a lot of conversation. I soon stop sizing them up, and instead check out their food.

They’ve all clearly ordered from the “Happy” menu, making me question my order of grilled chicken and a Mr. Green cold-pressed juice. In the meantime, I overhear the conversation of my other tablemates, who are discussing the evening’s UFC event. Our group of fve quickly grows into eight—prompting me to slide down a few spots to accommodate them. Sadly, I have nothing to add to either conversation, so I pull

out my phone and answer some emails.

In many restaurants, sizing up your neighbors, eavesdropping on their conversations, ogling their food or ignoring tablemates in favor of your phone would be considered downright rude. It seems a bit more acceptable, however, when you're sharing a table with strangers.

Communal dining is a concept that’s probably gone in and out of vogue since the beginning of restaurants.

Over the past year, however, communal tables have exploded in popularity in Las Vegas. The night after my visit to SkinnyFats, my wife and I sat at a massive table in Downtown Summerlin’s Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill made out of wood salvaged from an Arizona bowling alley. You’ll fnd similar tables at recently opened hot spots including Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar, Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, Bazaar Meat and the new Border Grill.

Group tables often don’t accept reservations, but they do serve many pur-

poses. They accommodate last-minute diners in restaurants that are otherwise booked. They offer single diners who want some social interaction a chance to meet new people. And they allow the size of your party to fuctuate over the course of the evening. In other words, you get all of the convenience of eating at the bar, but in a more comfortable and formal setting.

When Wolfgang Puck experimented with the concept at his MGM restaurant, that single table was tucked into the back of the dining area. Managing partner Tom Kaplan says it was a big gamble to bring two of them (the bowling alley table and a high-top that’s practically inside the open kitchen) to Downtown Summerlin.

“We kind of suspected it might be uncomfortable for people in the suburbs [to sit with strangers],” Kaplan says. “But by putting one in front of the fre, with one side facing the kitchen and the other facing the dining room,

we made that whole table one that we don’t reserve. So if you come in without a reservation and don’t want to wait, we can sit you there. You may have to sit next to somebody you don’t know. But most of the time people are fne with it; it flls up pretty quickly.”

Border Grill’s Susan Feniger frst incorporated communal tables at her L.A. spot Mud Hen Tavern to accommodate a niece and nephew who wanted the freedom to “start [dinner] with a group of four, but then friends come, and you grow into a group of like 12 people.”

But she’s also found that communal tables appeal to single diners. “People will come in with their computer and sit there,” she says. “And then two other people join. And then they end up talking. It’s such a great way to socialize.”

So the next time you see my mohawk at a communal table, feel free to pull up a chair and join me. Or maybe even fnd someone who’s a more pleasant dinner companion!

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

Communal seating at SkinnyFats on Warm Springs Road.

DRINKING 1

2 1

ONE MERCANTILE MASON SIPPER

This tallboy holds your 24-ounce smoothie with ease. Also available in 16-ounce clear and blue; all come with a hand-blown Pyrex glass straw. $12-$16, under “Camp & Travel” at OneMercantile.com.

2

Get a handle on your hot beverages with these leather mason jar holsters and koozies. $25-$35, HoldsterUSA.com.

3

4

HOLDSTER MASON JAR TRAVEL MUG

3

CUPPOW JAR DRINKING LIDS

Any regular or wide-mouth mason jar becomes an adult sippy cup with this plastic lid that secures under the jar band. $9, Cuppow.com.

4 5

THE MASON TAP STAINLESS STEEL INFUSER CAP

Turn your regularmouth jar into a handy, dispenser for herb-infused olive oil, bar syrups, coffee creamer… $20, Cuppow.com.

5

COFFEESOCK COLD BREW KIT

The mason jar of yesteryear is today’s trendiest glassware

By Xania Woodman

VegasSeven.com

everything from cocktails and beer to dips and desserts. But in the hands of artists and life-hackers, this honest, humble vessel becomes a statement about permanence and impermanence. ¶ We already love the Mason Shaker, a Brooklyn-designed shaker-strainer for the hipster set ($29, MasonShaker.com). But there’s a brave new—and breakable— world of mason jar accessories to take you from morning coffee to smoothie lunch and straight on to cocktail hour. Just hold on tight!

|

A Delicate Revolution

➜ In bars, restaurants and at home, the glass jelly jar conveys

January 15–21, 2015

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

If you can handle a Chia Pet, you can brew your own coffee—32 or 64 ounces at a time. $20$25, Cuppow.com.

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A&E

“Slick and slim, with a highly cultivated geek persona, SawChuck is the embodiment of the high school nerd who staved off bullies with tricks and quicksilver wit that lands just short of smugness.” SHOWSTOPPER {PAGE 61}

Movies, music, stage and the sound of innovation

This American Life host Ira Glass brings his storytelling genius to the Vegas stage, but not in the way you’d think

By Cindi Moon Reed

VegasSeven.com

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‘Glass’ Half Full

YOU DON’T EXPECT THIS AMERICAN LIFE—the storytelling radio show that’s been delighting millions of intellectual hipsters for nearly 20 years on public radio stations across the country—to tweak its format. ¶ Why mess with the thing that helped make David Sedaris famous? Why add some weird, new element? Or, as host Ira Glass says in an ad that’s been fooding our local station, KNPR 88.9-FM, “Nobody listens to my radio show thinking, ‘You know what this needs is some dancers.’”

January 15–21, 2015

PHOTO BY DAVID BAZEMORE

Bass, Glass and Barns show us the beauty of radio.

55

Finally, a face to match the voice: Ira Glass, performing live.

COULD YOUR DAY MAKE THE CUT FOR THIS AMERICAN LIFE? When I interviewed Ira Glass on December 22, he was rushing from a busy day at the office to a therapy appointment.

Was this day in the life of This American Life’s host worthy of This American Life? Here’s his answer:

THREE ACTS, TWO DANCERS, ONE RADIO HOST

7:30 p.m. Jan. 17, $29-99, Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center, 702-550-7625, TheSmithCenter.com.

together they added up to more than the sum of their parts. It took a lot of trial to see what worked and what fell fat.”

The show’s other dancer, Anna Bass, loves her role. As associate artistic director for Monica Bill Barnes & Company Productions, she works closely with Barnes. Their company’s mission is to “celebrate individuality, humor and the innate theatricality of everyday life, and to uncover and delight in the underdog in all of us,” which could almost double as the mission of public radio. Thus this seemingly odd collaboration reveals itself to be an ever more natural ft.

Also, Bass loves stepping inside of Glass’ stories. “Ira’s storytelling com-

bined with Monica’s choreographic storytelling is a dream come true for a performer,” Bass says. “There’s a lot of character development. We’re not just dancing, we’re really embodying different characters.”

So how does it feel for Glass to share the stage with Bass and Barnes? “It’s hard not to feel like a big construction truck that’s slowly backing up into a busy intersection, and they’re the cars that whiz around me.”

Barnes has a different perspective. “[Glass] would never say this about himself, but he really is one of the most skilled performers I’ve ever seen,” she says. “He has a stand-up comic’s sense of the audience and of pacing. It’s a pleasure to watch him gauge the audience and change his performance in subtle ways. He has such a natural way of making everything he says seem spontaneous. It’s a real pleasure to see him perform and know exactly what’s coming next, but to be hearing it as if he’s thinking and feeling it for the frst time.

He’s quite good.”

“Well, let me think. Nothing interesting enough happened today to make it on This American Life, which is true, thankfully, of most days. For something to be good enough to be on the show, it has to be pretty surprising.

It doesn’t have to be bad-surprising; it’s actually lovely if it’s goodsurprising. But how many surprises happen to a person that make the world seem like a new or more interesting place or change someone in some way? How often does that really happen in a month or a year?

So let me just think for a second if anything like that happened today.

There were some really good decisions made about some things. …

We talked about how the hell to find a story for Season 2 of Serial [a spinoff podcast]. We rewrote some things. I found a thing to fill three minutes of this week’s show, which was a miracle because it’s rare for us to have a threeminute hole in a show.

All of that said, nothing happened today that was good enough to make it on the radio show. …

Something could happen in this therapy appointment to turn this whole situation around. You never know. If it does, I’ll call you back.”

He didn’t call back.

– C.M.R.

PHOTO BY ADRIANNE MATHIOWETZ

A&E VegasSeven.com

| January 15–21, 2015

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His statement seems comically selfevident. ’Cause, you know, ya can’t see radio. Yet, somebody must’ve thought it was a good idea. Or else there’d be no way to account for Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, the stage show that has toured intermittently since debuting at Carnegie Hall in 2013. It will be stopping at The Smith Center on January 17, and yes, it consists of Glass telling stories while two dancers … dance.

“When the audience shows up, there’s a sense of, ‘We really don’t know if we’ve wasted our money,’” Glass says in a recent phone interview. “[When] you add a dancer, for so many people that’s like adding a modern poet or adding spoken-word poetry—something where people think, ‘that’s not for me.’ … Everybody walks in the room with a huge question mark that I feel hovering above our heads. [After] about 13 minutes, we fip ’em, and it’s satisfying.”

That right there, what just happened, is the genius of a master storyteller at work. No, not the fact that Glass could successfully combine dance with a proven style of radio, but the fact that he created this meta narrative that pulls you, the listener/potential ticket buyer, into the drama of whether his underdog experiment can even work. How wacky is it? Will audiences understand? Find out for yourself by buying tickets!

But when you do a little research into what this storytelling-dance combo actually entails, you realize that of course it makes sense. According to the show’s website (3Acts2Dancers1RadioHost. com), the program consists of three acts, exploring “the job of being a performer”; “falling in love and what it means to stay in love”; and “nothing lasts forever.”

Performance photos are appropriately joyous and quirky—exactly what you’d picture if you closed your eyes and imagined what public radio might look like. Additionally, once you’ve migrated the stuff of radio to a stage, there is nothing unexpected about upping the visuals by adding a little dance (and confetti) to the proceedings. Glass himself says that theatergoers get “an experience that’s pretty much exactly like the radio show … the dancing just makes the whole thing more intense.”

Director, choreographer and dancer Monica Bill Barnes expands on the ease of merging these two mediums: “A lot of our audiences are not dance audiences.

The show wants, at its heart, to welcome anybody. It purposely opens itself up. …

We wanted to create a performance experience that was really unusual. I don’t actually think people need to be big modern dance fans or need to know the radio show. It’s just a charming night of talking. It’s funny and a little bit sad.”

As director and choreographer, Barnes faced the practical challenge of “putting two art forms together that nobody asked to be put together.” She says: “It’s really tricky to understand how to make the movement and the language not be repetitive. It felt really important that we weren’t [just] narrating the stories. The stories could stand alone and the movement could stand alone, but

A&E

Graham Skipper, Jesse Merlin and George Wendt (inset) bring this delightfully gory musical to life.

ALBUMS WE'RE BUYING 1 J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

2 Rae Sremmurd, Sremmlife

3 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1

4

Taylor Swift, 1989

5 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour

6 D’angelo, Black Messiah

7

Hozier, Hozier

8 AFI, All Hallow’s E.P.

9 Pink Floyd, The Endless River

10

Arctic Monkeys, AM

According to sales at Zia Record Exchange at 4503 W. Sahara Ave., Jan. 5-11.

DEAD CAN DANCE Re-Animator: The Musical is a bloody good time

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

WHEN THEY SAY “SPLASH ZONE,” THEY AREN’T SCREWING

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around. Re-Animator: The Musical must go through 50 gallons of fake blood each performance, and most of it winds up on the folks in the frst three rows.

But everything about this show is excessive: There’s over-the-top performances; pseudo-operatic songs about death, dismemberment and marriage; and zingers such as this line, “I should probably call it a

night. I’m lobotomizing a chimp in the morning.” All of it works together to create one damn entertaining evening of theater, which you can see through January 18 at The Smith Center’s Troesh Studio Theater.

Re-Animator is the story of Herbert West, a medical student who discovers a serum that will bring the dead back to life. He convinces his classmate/roommate Dan to aid in his

STILL SUPREME Mary Wilson was a founding member of the Supremes and can still belt out those classic Motown tunes (“You Can’t Hurry Love,” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” “Love Child,” etc.). Wilson plays a pair of shows at Suncoast Jan. 1718 ($18-$44).

experiments, but the Dean and the Dean’s daughter— who happens to be Dan’s girlfriend—disapprove. And, of course, there’s the professor who’s been working on some sinister experiments of his own …

Stuart Gordon directed the 1985 horror film on which the play is based, as well as the newer musical version, which has previously played in Los Angeles and at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Re-Animator, the movie had a strong current of black humor; Re-Animator: The Musical is nothing but—zombies, severed heads, dead cats and dance routines have never been so much bloody fun. – Lissa Townsend Rodgers

MUSIC THAT STYX TO YOUR RIBS Styx returns to the Pearl on Jan. 18 ($33-$83), which means singer Lawrence Gowan and guitarists Tommy Shaw and James Young will have the crowd on their feet with classics “Renegade,” “Come Sail Away” and “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights).”

ON SALE NOW Ringo Starr has a long history of getting a little help from his friends. In the case of his All Starr Band, he’s got Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather and Richard Page, just to name a few.

Ringo returns to the Pearl on March 15 ($73-$153).

PHOTOS BY THOMAS HARGIS

[ REVIEW ]

CONCERT

The

HIT LIST TARGETING THIS WEEK'S MOST-WANTED EVENTS

By Camille Cannon

Katchafire

Brooklyn Bowl, January 11 With Caribbean rhythms and endless soul, New Zealanders Katchafire brought their brand of reggae to the Brooklyn Bowl.

Lead vocalist Logan Bell ignited the set with “On the Road Again” and sparked the energy of a mellow crowd who grooved and swayed along with the band. Newest single, “Down With You” featured Jamey Ferguson at the lead and Logan and Jordan Bell on backup vocals. Along with the smooth, yet timely percussion rhythms and calypso horns, it made the audionstage to help cover the Bob Marley classic “Three Little Birds.” The collection of instruments and conviction of Bell’s voice made the cover shine and capped off a great and love-filled set. ★★★✩✩ – Brjden Crewe

The Best New Music Technology from CES Neil Young’s Pono player. Addressing a group at CES, Young said that listening to his own music on mp3 is “like Picasso painted in black and white with a little sepia tone and you could only look at it through a screen door.” Pono sound possesses more depth and resonance than your iPhone.

Nano, except with a lovely wood finish and some unique features: PatternPlay cues up songs based on your listening habits; the Mood Wheel organizes songs by color (energetic yellow, melancholy blue).

Sony’s revived Walkman. Costing about $1,200, the Walkman NW-ZX2 deploys Hi-Res audio and has a great sound, along with plenty of level and output options to fiddle with. Again, it’s an improvement on an iPhone, but is it worth five times as much?

Innovative Turntables. Onkyo has come out with a model that offers a nice sound without a hefty price tag.

Innovative Technology makes a series of portable suitcase models with or without speakers and the capability to record your vinyl to USB.

Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound Moment.

A dedicated music player for home use, it resembles an oversized iPod

Better-sounding headphones.

Marshall and Gibson are best known for supplying musicians, but their

headphones are worth a listen.

Marshall’s headphones offer a clear, rounded tone and a design reminiscent of its iconic Marshall stack amplifiers. Gibson’s new line includes a Les Paul model with the guitar’s signature wood finish, gleaming hardware and pure sound.

Feminine listening options.

Skullcandy has added more women’s products, which not only have unique stylized designs, but are tailored specifically to how women hear. Acoustic Research makes a line of Bluetooth speakers that resemble purses with leopard print and pink polka-dots.

– Lissa Townsend Rodgers

LIVE IN TECHNICOLOR Ever since we first saw Ace Young on American Idol Season 5, we knew his hair was destined for a biblical, musical epic.

Now that he and his wife (fellow AI alum Diana DeGarmo) have taken turns on Broadway, they’re taking off in the touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. See it at The Smith Center Jan. 20-25. TheSmithCenter.com.

BRAD PITT APPROVED The first rule of Boozy Movie Wednesdays at Inspire is that entry is free with purchase of a cocktail. The second rule is that Fight Club will be screened on Jan. 21. Third rule: It starts at 7 p.m. Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. Facebook.com/InspireLV.

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Amid the cars, computers and cameras on display at CES, there are quite a few items to make music lovers salivate.

Here’s the coolest of this year's crop:

VegasSeven.com

EVERYTHING’S KOSHER The 14th annual Jewish Film Festival started last weekend, but most of the action happens now through Jan. 25. Films include Night Will Fall, a new movie that explores the making of F3080, an of-the-time Holocaust documentary which Alfred Hitchcock helped direct. Screenings are held at CineMark Theatres in South Point and the Adelson Educational Campus. LVJFF.org.

January 15–21, 2015

K ATCHAFIRE BY CHASE STEVENS/ERIKK ABIK.COM; JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT COURTESY OF PRODUCTION

ence feel the passion from Ferguson’s lyrics. The highlight of the night was when opening act Iba Mahr joined the band

RISE AND READ Local author Laura McBride’s debut novel, We Are Called to Rise, has received high praise from the national press.

Recommended by Vulture, PopSugar.com and author Isabel Allende, the story—set in Las Vegas—follows the emotional ups and downs of post-war life. Meet McBride at Wild in the Ogden on Jan. 17, where she’ll answer questions and sign books.

59

MUSIC Cary Oldman and Choloe Webb (right) star as the titular Sid and Nancy.

[ OLD LADY IN A MOSH PIT ]

SEVEN BEST MUSIC MOVIES: PUNK ROCK EDITION

By Lissa Townsend Rodgers SOMETIMES, THERE ISN’T A SHOW. OR MAYBE

there is, but you don’t have the energy/attitude/money for a show. But if you have a screen, you can bring the music right to your couch (or bed or toilet). In the interest of keeping you out of trouble until spring (that’s in February, right?), here’s my list of the top punk rock flms. And, yes, a heavy metal edition is in the works …

Of course, the original punk rock fick is the one starring the original punk rock band. Rock ’n’ Roll High School (1979) is a throwback to the “Let’s put on a show” musicals of the ’40s and the juvenile delinquent ficks of the ’50s. Aspiring songwriter Riff Randall (P.J. Soles) and her favorite band (the Ramones) do battle with the psycho fascist principal of Vince Lombardi High School amid record burnings, hall monitors and blow-up dolls.

Hard Core Logo (1996) is a mockumentary about the inglorious reunion of a Canadian thrash band. The movie covers the confict between staying indie for the cred versus going major label for the money. Then there’s the smaller crises: Who sits where in the van, who drank whose beer and who made up a Saskatchewan-size lie to get this tour rolling in the frst place?

Sid and Nancy (1986) is the tale of two people who should never have fucking met: Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and suburban junkie Nancy Spungen. The movie’s oddly touching romance is the human (and humane) eye of a screaming hurricane of music, drugs, violence and self destruction. Gary Oldman’s performance as Sid was his frst on flm, but ranks as one of the fnest of his 30-year career.

Because truth can be stranger than fction, there’s The Filth and the Fury (2000), Julien Temple’s documentary about the Sex Pistols and the rise of the British punk scene. The flm features interviews with the surviving Pistols

and their brethren (Malcolm McLaren does his bit while wearing a gimp mask), as well as footage from the Pistols’ glory days, including their “Jubilee Day” concert in front of the House of Parliament and, naturally, their obscenity-laden talk show appearance.

The origins of the riot grrrl can probably be traced back to Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains (1982), a weirdly prescient account of the swift rise and swifter fall of a punk star. A war-painted Diane Lane stars as an orphaned teen who parlays 15 minutes of TV news fame into a band into a tour into a hit single into … right back where she started. Watch for the Clash’s Paul Simonon and Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and Paul Cook in the Stains’ rival band.

Penelope Spheeris has made a number of flms about teenage angst, but it all began with The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), her documentary about the L.A. punk scene. There are interviews and performances from Fear, the Circle Jerks, X and a pre-Henry Rollins Black Flag, as well as a star turn by the soon-to-overdose Darby Crash of the Germs. The late thenLAPD Chief Daryl Gates asked that this flm never be shown in his city. Last year it was screened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I’m sure he was spinning in his grave.

Long before Todd Haynes was an Academy Award nominee, he made Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987), a biography of the tragic singer … starring Barbie dolls. The dolls enact Karen’s descent into depression and anorexia, helped by her controlling, perfectionist parents and controlling, closety brother. Family outrage is the main reason why this flm isn’t shown anymore, but there’s also the lack of music rights. Still, a flm about slow death starring mutilated Barbie dolls that’s illegal to watch … what’s more punk rock than that?

STAGE

TRICKS AND GIGGLES Murray SawChuck’s comic sleight of hand still fzzy fun.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MURRAY SAWCHUCK

FUNNY, HOW THAT TRICK DIDN’T WORK. … NO,

really: Funny—how that trick didn’t work.

Comedy-magic shows invest in the entertainment value of—how to phrase this?—fake fuck-ups. Say, perhaps, Murray SawChuck “wrongly” guessing playing cards audience volunteers select. Or yanking a cloth from under a tray of glasses without toppling them, then “inadvertently” revealing they were glued on by fipping it upside down. Or tossing and catching 20 DVDs at once before letting us see they’re as attached as accordion bellows.

Payoffs are threefold: Get the laugh; subvert the aura of a magician’s invulnerability, making you more relatable to the audience; then use that as a setup to impress us with genuine illusions. At this, SawChuck—who recently resurfaced at Planet Hollywood’s Sin City Theatre after a stint at the Tropicana’s Laugh Factory—is affably effective on his own modest terms. Awe and wow you, he won’t.

Tickle and amuse you, he will.

First we get the now de rigueur ego-intro—a video chronicling his TV appearances, from Wipeout and Reno 911! to Wizard Wars and Pawn Stars. Upclose amusement begins the moment your eyes meet his peroxide jolt of mad-scientist hair— he resembles a llama that stuck its paw in a light socket—and his sartorial (non)sense, which on this night is an electric blue suit. “I’m not gay,” he says, “but the suit is.”

Slick and slim, with a highly cultivated geek persona, SawChuck is the embodiment of the high school nerd who staved off bullies with tricks and quicksilver wit that lands just short of smugness. “Your card is either red or black—hey, it’s a gift, comes with the suit,” he says to an audience volunteer. One-liners are followed up by, “Time to wake up, people. You’ll get these jokes on the way home.”

Aided by clownish “Lefty” (Douglas Leferovich) and SawChuck’s spouse, Fantasy dancer Chloe Crawford, who add touches of goofness and sexiness, respectively, SawChuck delivers largely small-scale magic that plays better into his comedy by inviting

audience participation. Card tricks go awry before they go all right. So does making a Champagne bottle disappear inside a paper bag and squeezing a cellphone into an infated balloon. In another cute bit, he asks an audience member to think of a celebrity and he’ll guess it—while Lefty dances, spastically, as Michael Jackson. Another chooses Willie Nelson, prompting SawChuck to produce a baby photo he insists is the singer.

Breaking up stretches of this are legit illusions—he spears Chloe inside a giant box before she re-emerges, her voluptuous curves intact; disassembles and reassembles her in another; and pulls off a trunk escape. While they punctuate the laughs, they’re also less interesting moments, drawn from the stock magic repertoire found in showrooms across Vegas.

Rather, it’s the fun, the fakery, the very Murray-ness of his impish shtick—the introduction of his tricks often preceded by a childlike, “Hey, ya wanna see it?”—that separates SawChuck from the prestidigitator pack.

Not to mention looking like a blueskinned llama.

Got an entertainment tip? Email Steve.Bornfeld@VegasSeven.com.

A&E

MOVIES

FUN WITH NOIR

Joaquin Phoenix and Benicio Del Toro go retro beach bum.

This trippy Pynchon book adaptation takes private eye tropes to a ‘higher’ level

By Michael Phillips Tribune Media Services

IT TAKES A GENUINE FILM ARTIST TO CREATE

an alternate-reality version of a familiar place—real enough to make us feel we’ve been there, or somewhere near there, unreal enough to push it over the edge of familiarity and even sanity.

Sorry, must be the dope talking.

But this is what writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson has done with Inherent Vice, an exasperating shaggy dog of a noir goof, nearly 2 ½ hours in length, based on the relatively compact 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel.

The mystery at the oscillating center of the story concerns drugs, but altered states of consciousness inform every second of every scene, from the beach to the canyons and the scary sunniness of greater Los Angeles.

The presence of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, laughing gas, alcohol and, most of all, Anderson’s devotion to Pynchon’s intoxicating language act as agents of heightened disorientation.

It’s set largely in fctional Gordita Beach. Joaquin Phoenix, with fantastic mutton chops, plays Larry “Doc” Sportello, a beach bum of a private eye— Don Quixote with a joint in each hand

and a third in a drawer somewhere.

The mystery begins with the return of Doc’s ex, Shasta, played by newcomer Katherine Waterston. She may be playing an ancient noir archetype—the slippery dame our hero trusts out of lovelorn loyalty—but she draws you in, just as she reels in Doc to help her out.

One paragraph of plot description is more than enough with Inherent Vice. Shasta’s lover is a powerful L.A. developer who has been packed off to a dubious sanitarium in Ojai. The developer, Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), works with neo-Nazi bodyguards, one of whom is murdered, and Doc’s a suspect.

In a variation on a hundred old crime stories, Doc’s frenemy from the old days is Bigfoot Bjornsen of the LAPD, who makes Jack Webb look like Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. All roads in Pynchon’s story lead to an Indochinese drug cartel

known as the Golden Fang, and Anderson has roped in as many characters from the novel as possible.

As a physical, tactile object, Inherent Vice is inspired. Shot on ever-rarer 35-millimeter flm by cinematographer Robert Elswit, the flm captures a moment (1970) in L.A.’s history when the counterculture ran headlong into Ronald Reagan (then California’s governor), Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War and the Charles Manson murders. The novel has its serious undertow, though primarily Pynchon was having a ball with the old private-eye clichés, inventing some of the greatest character names since S.J. Perelman. (Two of my favorites: Petunia Leeway and Scott Oof.) The flm strikes darker notes than indicated by its marketing campaign. It’s better for it, although a key emotional landing point—the fate of the session

January 15–21, 2015

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VegasSeven.com

SHORT REVIEWS

62

Into the Woods (PG) ★★★✩✩

For years, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 fairy-tale mash-up has hacked its way through the thicket of Hollywood development. And the movie now before us? It’s good. In creating the stage show, Sondheim combined the tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood. he added new characters: a baker (James Corden in the film, terrific) and his wife (Emily Blunt, also terrific). Their desire to have a child has been forestalled by a curse laid on them by a witch (Meryl Streep). Streep kills it and has serious fun.

Big Eyes (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

For Big Eyes, director Tim Burton cast four of the biggest eyes today. Two of them belong to Amy Adams, who plays painter Margaret Keane, creator of huge-orbed waifs mysteriously popular but credited to her scoundrel of a husband. The subjects and themes of Big Eyes are plentiful: the appeal of kitsch; the strictures of marriage in the 1950s and ’60s; the whims of taste; and the Keanes themselves, whose power struggle animates this bright but curiously flat movie. Big Eyes settles for a pastel set of emotions lost in a primary color world.

Unbroken (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 nonfiction account Unbroken described Louis Zamperini, the Italian-American who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and, in World War II, became an Army Air Corps bombardier flying missions over the South Pacific. In Angelina Jolie’s film version, Unbroken makes for a grueling experience, which is not quite the same as a memorable one. At too-convenient dramatic junctures, the screenplay darts back into flashbacks of Zamperini’s youth, when we should really be sticking with the crisis at hand.

musician played by Owen Wilson— doesn’t land the way it should. By the time this character, Coy Harlingen, moves into a prominent story place you may fnd yourself a little confused.

I suggest the following: Watch the flm with neither eye on the plot.

Everything else is more interesting.

Phoenix is turning into his own comic master of unpredictable timing and sweet-natured naïveté. Josh Brolin (Bigfoot), Reese Witherspoon (Doc’s sometime lover, an assistant district attorney), Martin Short (marvelous as Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S., a dentist not to be trusted) and Joanna Newsom (as beachcomber Sortilège, Doc’s gal Friday and, in Anderson’s adaptation, the narrator) lead a huge cast all marching to the same hazily demented drummer.

Both times I saw Inherent Vice, I experienced delight undercut by puzzlement, followed by a happier sort of puzzlement. Some scenes, such as Witherspoon and Phoenix in a single-take dialogue on a park bench, are impeded by over-insistent musical scoring.

Shasta’s languid, explicit come-on to Doc and Doc’s reaction (Anderson’s idea, not Pynchon’s) trade one sort of movie for another, and it feels a little exploitative.

The mystery is both the whole deal in Inherent Vice and completely beside the point. Even if you’re transported by Anderson’s craftsmanship and sense of place, there are times when the flm itself morphs into “one of those unabridged paranoid hippie monologues” Doc loves so much, as the brutish Bigfoot puts it.

Whatever. Let the walkouts commence. For some of us, Anderson’s L.A. lamentation is a siren song, and there’s no more ardent and poetic chronicler of California mythology.

Inherent Vice (R) ★★★★✩

By Tribune Media Services

Mr. Turner (R) ★★★★✩

Mike Leigh’s excellent Mr. Turner asserts its rightness and sureness in the opening shot. It’s a beautiful film, and not merely that. This is the past brought to life, and Timothy Spall—whose first close-up as J.M.W. Turner follows the opening shot— makes the act of seeing and sketching a quietly compelling one. Mr. Turner covers a quarter-century in Turner’s life. Happy, or sad? It’s too complicated to say, and without a speck of pomposity Leigh’s film—one of the year’s best—honors its subject in all his tetchy ambiguity.

Top Five (R) ★★★✩✩

Annie (PG) ★✩✩✩✩

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG) ★★★✩✩

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (PG-13) ★★✩✩✩

Chris Rock plays Andre, a comic turned filmmaker. The New York Times assigns a feature writer, played by Rosario Dawson, to shadow Andre for a profile. Subject and interviewer thrust and parry all around New York. Both are recovering alcoholics.

Zigzagging through flashbacks to Andre’s drinking days, Top Five marshals a wealth of comic talent in the supporting ranks. Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer and Romany Malco spice their scenes, and everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Adam Sandler to Whoopi Goldberg pops in as well.

The risks taken by co-writer/director Will Gluck begin with pulling Annie out of the 1930s and plopping it down in contemporary Manhattan. Living in foster care in Harlem, the girl formerly known as “orphan” (each time she’s called that, she retorts, “I’m a foster kid”) is played by the confident Quvenzhane Wallis, of Beasts of the Southern Wild. The overall vibe of this folly is curdled and utterly blasé; it’s a 118-minute foregone conclusion, finesse-free and perilously low on the simple performance pleasures we look for in any musical, of any period.

This film rates as more determinedly heartfelt than the first and not as witty as the second (and best). It closes out this effectsdriven, family-friendly trilogy with three separate farewells. The most bittersweet parting involves the late Robin Williams. The third farewell is to the series itself, anchored

by Ben Stiller as night guard Larry, here upgraded to museum evening events planner, animatronic division. It’s a hectic pileup, but at least in its final laps it takes the time to say its goodbyes more or less properly

Bilbo’s barely in this one, but Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom are attractive in close-up, and true to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies is treated to at least five separate endings so we know that Jackson isn’t kidding: The trilogy’s really ending; the long march is over. I did find the logistics of waging battle on a frozen river entertaining. But, honestly, if it weren’t for Ian McKellen’s masterful Gandalf, a wellmade tough sit of a trilogy capper would’ve become a challenge of Tolkien proportions.

The Imitation Game (PG-13) ★★★✩✩

Exodus: Gods And Kings (PG-13) ★★ ✩✩

As mathematician, code-breaker and martyred gay icon Alan Turing, one of the most ill-served heroes of World War II, Benedict Cumberbatch goes to town—discreetly—in The Imitation Game. Director Morten Tyldum adheres to the tradition of uncomplicated, well-acted biopics about complicated makers of history. The movie is entertaining and, at the same time, extremely nervous about going over the heads of the average moviegoer, to the point of boiling down its code-breaking technicalities to watery generalities.

What do the entrails say about Exodus: Gods and Kings, director Ridley Scott’s ambitious retelling of the Moses story, the exodus from Egypt, the burning bush, the frogs, the boils, the hail, the commandments, the Red Sea crossing and the rest of it? Not bad, they say. Christian Bale is Moses, raised as Ramses’ brother and protector and eventual adversary. How you respond to the totality of Exodus: Gods and Kings will, I suspect, relate directly to how you responded to Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood from 2010.

The White Album Disc 1, bad tattoos, PETA, laser tag, road rage, Ren & Stimpy, Sony VX2000, Gonzo, Malala, Laura Jane Grace, baked cheetohs, Nintendo cheat codes, UFO sightings, The ‘59 Sound, fakie heelflips, Hyper Color, The Olson Twins, The Art of War, Clapton, port strikes, missing teeth, Ed Templeton, Kiwi Strawberry Snapple, Union Pacific, Easy Rider, weasels, Krishnamurti, Alf, NWA, animal fries, Mr. Sketch, Roman Holiday, Colossus of Roads, Eckhart Tolle, Mallick, breakfast burritos, Death On the Installment Plan, Minor Threat, Holden Caulfield, Dag, Andrés Segovia, Harmony Korine, Use Your Illusion 2, Buffalo ‘66, Jan Saudek, Shel Silverstein, Buddy Rich, Raymond Pettibon, Rain Dogs

We are

www.shoottokillmedia.com

MARKETPLACE

MARKETPLACE

BETTING

ODDS-ON FAVORITES The Seahawks and Patriots are both laying big numbers this weekend. History suggests it’s justifed.

BEFORE WE GET TO BREAKING DOWN THE

NFC and AFC championship games, a quick plea to Mr. Peyton Manning: Don’t do it. Please, for the love of God, do NOT hang up those cleats and call it a career. If you take your 76,491 combined regular-season and playoff passing yards, your 568 career touchdown passes and your 11-13 career playoff record and go home, how in the hell am I going to pay my mortgage each January?!? Come on, buddy, one more season! Do it, and I promise to sign up for that crappy insurance and start eating that crappy pizza you hawk every 15 minutes on my TV. Deal?

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s see if I can keep the momentum going after last week’s 4-0 performance in the NFL playoffs. (We don’t need to discuss the college football championship game. Besides, I told you there was no chance in hell I was nailing that pick—you were duly warned!)

Both of these conference title games feature nearly identical point spreads: As of January 13, the Seahawks were a 7 to 7½-point favorite versus the Packers, while the Patriots were laying 6½ to 7 points against the upstart Colts. A few interesting historical notes relative to these big numbers: Each of the last seven NFC Championship games were decided by seven points or less, with the average margin of victory being 4.7 points. Conversely, most of the AFC title tilts in recent years have been blowouts—since the 1998 season, 12 of 16 games were decided by nine points or more, with only three decided by fewer than six points.

Continuing with the latter theme, since the AFL/NFL merger necessitated the playing of conference championship games starting in 1970, nearly 72 percent (63 of 88) featured a victory margin of at least seven points, and nearly 57 percent were double-digit blowouts. One more startling fgure to digest, courtesy of our friends at The Gold Sheet: Conference championship favorites of 7 to 9½ points are 15-6 against the spread!

Translation: We all need to think long and hard before choosing to reinvest our Manning winnings on Green Bay or Indianapolis …

Seahawks (7½, 46½) vs. Packers: With last week’s 31-17 trouncing of Cam Newton and the Panthers, Seattle has now won seven consecutive games and covered seven consecutive point spreads. Combined score during this winning streak: Seahawks 165, Foes 56.

Amazingly, Seattle has given up two touchdowns in a game just twice since November 16 (and one of those was a

MATT JACOB

garbage-time Carolina TD last week).

Now let’s spike the punch with these ingredients: Seattle’s defense this season led the NFL in points allowed, total yards allowed and passing yards allowed, while ranking third in rushing yards allowed; Green Bay’s explosive offense managed just two touchdowns against that defense in a season-opening 36-16 loss at Seattle (and Aaron Rodgers had two good wheels that night); that 20-point rout of the Packers is part of the Seahawks’ 25-2 straight-up and 20-6-1 ATS record at home in the Russell Wilson era; speaking of Wilson, he’s now 5-1 SU and 5-0-1 ATS in the playoffs, with nine touchdowns and one interception; and while Rodgers (28 TDs, 0 INTs) and the Packers (9-0) have been fawless at home, they’ve been anything but on the road (going 4-4, with Rodgers posting a modest 13-5 TD/INT ratio).

Oh, and then there’s the whole Pete Carroll-Mike McCarthy mismatch on the sidelines. Seriously, Stevie Wonder in the dark of night can see this one coming: Seahawks 37, Packers 17 Patriots (-7, 54) vs. Colts: There are a lot of things working against the Colts in this contest, the most important being this: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady fat-out have their number. In fve meetings since 2010, New England is 5-0. In the last three meetings—all in the Andrew Luck era—the Patriots have won by scores of 59-24 (home), 43-22 (home) and 42-20 (road, two months ago). Luck’s numbers in those losses: 70-for-130 (53.9 percent), six TDs, eight INTs. Throw in the aforementioned history of blowouts in AFC title games, and it’s tough to side with Indy.

Then again, the Colts’ defense looks completely reborn in the playoffs (holding Denver and Cincinnati to 23 combined points). Then there’s this: After barely squeaking past Baltimore last week, the Patriots are now 3-11 ATS in their last 14 playoff games—including 0-3 ATS the last three years in this championship game. I smell a nail-biter: Patriots 28, Colts 26 Last Week: 4-1.

Final Bowl Record: 9-9.

Season Record: 64-62-1 (33-32-1 NFL; 31-30 college; 6-10-1 Best Bets).

SUNDAY

MARCH 15

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

MARCH 21 & 22

SATURDAY

APRIL 4

FRIDAY & SATURDAY

MAY 1 & 2

SUNDAY

MAY 3

SEVEN QUESTIONS

THE BUCKET SHOW

Scullery Theater in the Ogden, 10 p.m. Wednesdays, pay what you want, MattAndMattingly.com.

we send someone out of the room. I got inspired a la Andy Kaufman and I took the whole audience outside, and we went back around and Paul was waiting. We literally snuck the audience up behind Paul in the hallway and surprised him. mattingly: It was pretty great. Improv allows for those true moments, and that’s a rarity in anything.

Do you worry about offending anyone?

Matt & Mattingly Matt Donnelly and Paul Mattingly on the thrill of improv comedy, nerds vs. jocks and gynecologists with penis hands

By Steve Bornfeld

70

matt donnelly: I co-host Penn Jillette’s podcast, Penn’s Sunday School. We wanted to keep it in that fake-churchy vibe, so Ice Cream Social was actually coined by Penn. paul mattingly: About episode 17, I decided we needed to name our fan base and “scoops” came to me. donnelly: Our fans are called “scoops,” “ice cream socialists,” “ice cream sociopaths,” and there is one “ice cream sandwich.” mattingly: There is a movement for certain people who want to be called “creamers.” donnelly: We’re totally against that.

You also put on The Bucket Show, doing improv comedy based on audience suggestions.

A big source of comedy for both [the podcast and the show] is nerds vs. jocks. Why?

donnelly: There are lots of similarities between nerds and jocks when it comes to their enthusiasm for stuff, but

there’s a huge divide in how they behave culturally. Right in that confict is a very funny space we really enjoy. I service the jocks culture, Paul is the nerd. We love not having a clue what the other person is talking about in any given podcast. mattingly: Both groups are obsessed with minutiae and ridiculous facts, whether it’s a favorite football team or a beloved comic book, so we cross over in those respects. Even to a greater degree, the nerd and jock lifestyles feed into improvisation because of the obsessive behavior. donnelly: But at the end of the day, Paul and I put comedy frst. We’re only going to fght if it’s funny. But the similarities end when I take Paul’s lunch money.

With Las Vegas hosting its own Comic Con last June, is the city becoming increasingly nerd-friendly?

mattingly: The underground nerd culture is very strong.

There’s an amazing amount of comic book stores in this town. And nerds have

conquered in a way. Video games are the No. 1-grossing entity as far as entertainment is concerned, movies are a close second, and many of those are helmed by superhero flms. donnelly: Here he goes. mattingly: But that pendulum is gonna swing back.

We’re gonna lose our lunch money again. donnelly: Last time I checked video games were a $9 billion-a-year industry—oh wait, it’s not. Football is! mattingly: There are football video games. donnelly: It’s true, the nerds won. Even fantasy football has become Dungeons & Dragons for jocks.

Why do you make a good team?

mattingly: Improvisers test by fre. If you have a bad night with them that [frst] night, you might not want to take the stage with them again. But we knew where each other was going. After about three performances, it got ridiculous. [To Donnelly] Remember the scene with the

Are there topics you’re tired of?

mattingly: If someone gives us the suggestion for the one-millionth time of a gynecologist who has penis hands, there’s only so much we can do with that. donnelly: I wish he was lying, but he’s not.

Who were your influences as improv comics?

director and the bee? I was a director trying to get a scene out of you. He was auditioning to be a bee. It blew the roof off the place. donnelly: What’s fascinating is Paul and I are from completely different backgrounds, him being from Kentucky, me from New Jersey. We have different comedy training. His is Second City and the Groundlings, mine is Chicago City Limits and the Upright Citizens Brigade. I love performing with Paul for those differences. He makes moves I would never make.

Why is improv more fulfilling than stand-up?

donnelly: You co-accomplish. You fail and achieve as a team. Shared glory feels a lot better than individual glory. mattingly: When you get someone who catches those Hail Mary passes and runs with it, that’s the fulflling part. You have someone truly say yes to you. A ridiculous idea is accepted completely. donnelly: It was Paul’s birthday, and we often do bits where

mattingly: The Second City players I worked with [here], where I really cut my teeth here in Vegas. And Jason Sudeikis, I took a lot of classes with him. donnelly: Amy Poehler taught me at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City, and I watched her perform every Sunday for four years.

I learned more listening and watching her than all my improv teachers combined.

Do you have higher ambitions for The Bucket Show?

donnelly: Paul and I do other shows on the side that are more adventurous, but The Bucket Show is a well-built comedy machine, designed to take on new tourists every night. I’d love to see it either in some late-night spot in one of the clubs on the Strip, but we could also do a clean version in the afternoon. It’s a good add-on to a Strip property, we’re local hires, and I really think we could entertain people night in and night out.

Are there any improv topics the duo tries to avoid? Read the full interview at VegasSeven.com/ MattMattingly.

PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA

January 15–21, 2015

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Your podcast is Matt & Mattingly’s Ice Cream Social. How was it named?

donnelly: I feel like it’s failure if we don’t. We’re giant children, and sometimes we do shows for people who have standards or dignity.

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