VEGASinsight Archives

Don, we can’t take our eyes off Rosario either.

Can you feel it in the air? No, we don’t mean the encroaching heat. We’re talking that rare, popcorn-smell-tainted buzz that comes to Las Vegas every June for the last 10 years: the CineVegas Film Festival.

Yes, kids, it’s the 10th edition already of the ever-growing film festival, which – much like all other major Vegas festivals and conferences – is really just an excuse to throw awesome parties for a week. But we digress; CineVegas – held this year from June 12 to 21 – affords locals one of the few opportunities to check out the latest in cutting-edge filmmaking from around the world and our own backyard.

Jackpot Premieres this time around include Big Heart City, Dark Streets and South of Heaven. There will be shorts programs featuring both Nevada filmmakers and UNLV auteurs. And one of the rare features of CineVegas, Le Próxima Ola — featuring groundbreaking Hispanic film making — returns once again. (more…)

Hatebreed totally aced metal shop.

If there’s metal in your blood – and we don’t mean the usual iron and whatnot – then you might be interested in the House of Blues Las Vegas‘ “2 for Tu” offers today, whereupon you can score two-for-one tickets to upcoming HOB shows, but only until 10 p.m. tonight.

Today’s selections include Saturday night’s Jagermeister Music Tour, featuring Hatebreed, Type O Negative and 3 Inches of Blood, only $22 for two head-banging tickets. Also up for grabs is the June 4 Nonpoint/Exies/Deepfield/Under the Flood show, practically a steal at $16 for two. These are internet-only specials, so head to HOB.com – not the box office.

Other shows of note coming up soon at the HOB worth checking out: Dethklok, Metalocalypse and Chimaira on June 7, Peter Murphy on June 8, Rancid on July 3, and just announced today, Mastodon, Machine Head and Black Tide on July 17.

Tuesday night seems as good a night as any to shake ya ass to soul, funk, hip-hop, lo-fi and house music, so we guess it’s a good thing DJs Slimm, Green and Frizzle will be spinning all that and more tonight at Beauty Bar Las Vegas (517 Fremont St.) for the second monthly installment of Hi-Fidelity, starting at 10 p.m.

If you missed out on last month’s edition, which featured a performance by Trackademics, peep our photo gallery to work up your jealousy, and then burn it off tonight with a special performance by U-N-I. Kashluv.com will be on hand to take pictures, and there will be drink specials for the ladies from 10 – 11:30 p.m. Cover is free for those females, $5 for the dudes, and as always, there is no dress code.

You know what we love about Dust Gallery (900 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Suite 120-B)? The gallery hosts its opening receptions in the middle of the month, realizing that there’s no point in competing with dozens of other galleries for attention on First Friday or, as has become popular of late in the Las Vegas art scene, receptions the Thursday prior.

We also love Dust’s new location on the ground floor of SoHo Lofts, which almost redeems the otherwise offensively mediocre architecture of this condo building. The airy, echoing space is perfect for Dust’s typically minimalist contemporary art offerings. As well, the gallery will have some worthy neighbors soon, in the form of Globe Salon, which is moving from its age-old Charleston and Decatur location to the retail level of SoHo this summer, further moving downtown toward livability.

The new exhibit worth checking out at Dust is “Make It Rain,” a show featuring new works by Curtis Fairman and Jeffrey Gibson. Fairman is a UNLV MFA recipient who lives right here in Sin City, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-residing Gibson received his MFA in London at the Royal College of Art. Fancy, huh? “Make It Rain” debuts next Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. Surely there will be refreshments and art scenesters aplenty. You know you love it.

If there’s ever a match made in heaven – well, we guess more like purgatory or something more hellish – it’s liquor and writers. So it’s fully appropriate that tonight, May 8, at 7 p.m., the launch party for Las Vegas Noir is being held at the Freakin’ Frog (4700 Maryland Parkway).

Las Vegas Noir is the latest in Akashic Books’ series of city-specific, original noir anthologies, edited by Jarret Keene and Todd James Pierce. A number of contributing authors will be on hand for tonight’s party, including Pablo Medina, Christine McKellar, Bliss Esposito, Lori Kozlowski, Felicia Campbell, Jaq Greenspon, and Vu Tran. Following the reading and signing, local space-rock band Love Pentagon will perform.

Actual photo of Lismore. I know the kids are skinny these days, but come on!

New York City electronic duo Lismore headlines “Restless!” at Beauty Bar Las Vegas (517 Fremont St.) this Friday, May 9, sharing the venue’s backyard stage with PartyShank, Mother McKenzie and Ex-Dinosaur. Meanwhile, inside the bar, DJs AC Slater, Joee Irwin, MDY, Remy the Restless and Grimehaus will get your booty shaking.

It all goes down at 10 p.m. There’s no cover to drink and dance inside the bar, but it’ll cost you $5 if you want to see the bands (gas ain’t free, kids!). As usual, the indie-electro madness is brought to you by Remy the Restless and Indiekrush.com, the latter of which just launched a new blog full of all sorts of hipster cultural artifacts, including videos, photos and music samples.

No, I’ve never seen Justin or Adam smile, either.

Guess what today is? OK, yes, I guess it is the day you’re nursing a wicked hangover from far too much tequila consumption on Cinco de Mayo. But it’s also Tuesday, which means the House of Blues is offering two-for-one tickets over at HOB.com starting at 10 a.m. Sadly, these tickets are typically offered at half-price because the shows haven’t been selling particularly well. And sadly, one of those shows is Friday night’s Nylon Music Tour featuring She Wants Revenge, Be Your Own Pet, The Virgins and Switches at House of Blues Las Vegas inside the Mandalay Bay.

That’s a hell of a line-up. Seriously. We’ve seen She Wants Revenge three times, and have never been disappointed. The group’s last album, This Is Forever, is seriously good. Go get it. Now. Be Your Own Pet is a crazy punk band from Nashville barely out of their teens led by a super-adorable chick who sings about zombies and food fights. How can you miss that? And both The Virgins and Switches should be rad. Yes, rad.

Today only, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., you can get two tickets for $22. Come on, $11 bucks a pop? How can you pass that up? You can’t. Last time we bought “Tu-for-2” tickets, it was for Lupe Fiasco. And guess what? That show was sold out, packed to the rafters. Don’t make the same mistake.

May 2: The day the lyrics died. Or canceled. Or postponed. Whatever.

A few days ago we mentioned underground hip-hop legend Lyrics Born as one of the “2-for-Tu” shows worth checking out at the House of Blues Las Vegas this week. Well, for those of you who would have actually wanted to see and hear his late-night performance tonight, you’re out of luck — the show has been postponed indefinitely. Both Lyrics Born’s management and record label, Epitaph, were contacted but have not replied as of this posting.

What’s up with the House of Blues and show cancellations anyway?

It’s a month not worth living, that’s what. So you’d better hope your little $2 contribution at the Casino Center gate keeps this thing alive. I say, screw that, slip those volunteers a 10-spot and ixnay the extra Guinness at the Griffin later that night.

So what’s on tap for First Friday in May? How about checking out what the students, teachers and alums of the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts are turning out these days, art-wise? You can do just that at MTZC (1551 S. Commerce St.) as the renegade contemporary arts gallery presents “Generation Gap,” showing throughout the month of May but debuting during First Friday, of course.

Or maybe your style is more robots and rocket pods? If so, check out Sam Davis’ latest work in “For the Love of Pod,” showing at Trifecta Gallery (inside the Arts Factory, 103 E. Charleston Blvd.). His work is about the void between here and there, back and forth strangeness. He makes us believe in the make-believe keeping us playfully aware. But more importantly, his robots are really cool. Robots, people, art featuring robots! You can never go wrong. (more…)