‘Las Vegas’ Category

First Friday Las Vegas faces new funding challenge in 2008

January 8th, 2008

capital h
(capital h gallery, First Friday, October 2006)

What started as hushed rumors last month has developed into full-blown — and painful — truth: the City of Las Vegas has cut its funding for the monthly First Friday arts festival in downtown Las Vegas, forcing Whirlygig, Inc. — the nonprofit that runs the event — to turn to its patrons for support.

“We believe the thousands of people who participate in First Friday want to see it continue, and will willingly make this small gesture of support,” said Whirlygig executive director Nancy Higgins in a press release. “We also thank the City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs for all they have done over the past five years and for what they will continue to do for this popular community event in the future.”

Just what the city will continue to do is act as host sponsor for only six events during the year, reportedly in the milder months, to better capitalize on opportunities for increased participation in the festival. Outside of that $80,000 annual sponsorship, Whirlygig is left to its own devices to support the festival’s hard costs — security, stages, power, toilets, lighting, etc. — and that means (you all saw this coming, right?) asking all First Friday attendees for a $2 donation. Remember those fences that went up around the heart of the festival on Casino Center Boulevard starting last year? Those gates will now become donation-making access points.

Now, $2 a month per person is not a lot to ask. And certain sponsors are offering incentives, such as drink discounts at the Downtown Cocktail Room and Big Island Smoothies, with the sticker each paid admission receives. But here’s the question: How does this help the art scene grow? The answer is: Even though it obviously won’t, maybe it shouldn’t.

For years now, what started as a relatively small gathering of a few hundred people in 2002 has slowly turned into a bloated street party that lost its connection to the original purpose, which we think had something to do with connecting artists and art-lovers. The festival likely reached critical mass long before its fifth anniversary last October, and with the development of the Fremont East Entertainment District, “First Friday” now has two meanings: The art festival, in which both artists and patrons have lost interest; and the pub crawl, which has increased in popularity to the point that for many people, “First Friday” starts at 10 p.m. inside the Beauty Bar.

Whirlygig has taken certain measures to try and revive the festival, especially the increasingly sparse offerings on Casino Center. Brian and Jennifer Henry, who ran capital h gallery inside the Arts Factory for a number of years (and who currently produce the First Friday Newsletter), have been tapped to curate the tents along Casino Center. However, especially starting with the coldest months of the year, the resourceful couple has an uphill battle ahead.

Some voices in the scene have anonymously noted this signals not only the death of First Friday, but also the Vegas art scene in general. Others speculate — as we do — that this could be just the thing needed to cut the fat from the bloated event and return it to a beacon for the art scene, not the beached whale it seems to have become.

R-J reports on ups and downs for Vegas Arts District

December 25th, 2007

I saw the sign.

Alan Choate wrote an interesting, in-a-nutshell article about the progress of development in Las Vegas’ ever-struggling Arts District in yesterday’s Review-Journal, spurned by the relocation of Mark Rowland’s Homage graphic studio to the S2 building at Main Street and Charleston Boulevard.

Tender this with derision over the proposed “gateway” arches planned for the very same intersection, well-reported in this Las Vegas Sun article from Oct. 23. Oh, hell, while you’re at it, scope out plans for the Smith Center in yet another Sun article from that month, since it was mentioned in Choate’s report as well.

Jew for Jesus?

December 7th, 2007

Just a quickie: Anyone else see the irony in Mayor Oscar Goodman — Sin City’s most prominent Jew — lighting the “official” Las Vegas Christmas tree on Fremont Street?

I guess it’s only me.

Well, if you want to watch, um, an old drunk guy with a red nose to rival Rudolph’s flip the switch on the lights for a 50-foot tree, head to the Fremont Street Experience at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11.

Give a toy, get a warm fuzzy feeling. Or else.

November 20th, 2007

The music KLUC 98.5-FM might not be up your alley—unless your alley is paved with Christina Aguilera, 50 Cent and Beyonce—but every year during the holidays, the station’s morning DJ team joins up with HELP of Southern Nevada for its annual Chet Buchanan & The Morning Zoo Toy Drive. For the ninth year, Buchanan will live atop a 30-foot scaffolding for the duration of the drive, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10, this time in the parking lot of Nevada Power’s main office on West Sahara Avenue between Jones Boulevard and Torrey Pines Drive.

Last year, the drive collected enough toys to fill 14 tractor-trailers. Those donations were then distributed to needy children via more than 30 Southern Nevada charities.

If you want to help, drop off new, unused and unwrapped toys to the KLUC set-up at the aforementioned Nevada Power parking lot anytime during the toy drive. When you’re buying yourself a new game for your Xbox, think about the kids that have nothing and pick ‘em up something nice, too, you greedy bastards.

A little bit of comedy, a little bit of tragedy at Caesars Palace

November 17th, 2007

For the uninitiated, I live about a mile from the center of the Las Vegas Strip. That means when I have to attend an event taking place on or near that famous four-mile stretch of road, I usually don’t mind too much. It’s a five-minute drive to the back entrance of a property’s parking garage, especially if it’s on my side of the Strip (for you non-Las Vegans, the Strip essentially divides our fair city in half, east and west).

The Comedy Festival has been taking over Caesars Palace since Wednesday or Thursday, HBO bringing together a number of the world’s top comics for four or five days of funny business. A good amount of heavyweights are here–Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Eddie Izzard, Kevin James–as well as, um, some second-stringers and past-their-primers.

Being the media whore I am, I made sure I scored a few review tickets to a few of the performances this weekend, and tonight, I ventured over to Caesars’ Collosseum to check out the aforementioned Mr. Rock. (That sounds funny; read it aloud: “MISTER ROCK.” I picture some white dude in ripped jeans, a sleeveless Bon Jovi jersey and a glorious mullet, as opposed to the actual Mr. Rock, who is a skinny, well-dressed black man. Maybe this is why no one calls him “Mr. Rock.” Man, my tangents go on waaay too long.)

As mohawk-rocking journalist Al Mancini concurred, Rock’s performance was about 75 percent funny, which is pretty good for anyone, especially comedians like Rock who have used the same shtick most of their careers (in his case, of course, it’s race jokes). The Collosseum was well-packed, unlike the last time I was there for a Comedy Festival event, 2006’s Triumph the Insult Comic Dog show, which really should have been held in one of the ballrooms at the casino. It took about a good 20 minutes for the aisles to clear up after the show before I could even get out of my row of seats (hereafter known as “The Media Nosebleed Section”).

However, I should have seen what was next: The Caesars Palace parking garage debacle. Last time I was at Caesars for a big event, it was the Human Rights Campaign’s annual charity gala. However, there must have been another show/event letting out about the same time, because I found myself in my car stuck on the sixth or seventh floor of the behemoth parking garage, sitting unmoving for about a half-hour. My next destination was Krave, where the gala’s afterparty was being held. I pulled out of the line of cars, parked, and just walked to the gay club, which is only about two or three blocks from Caesars on the Strip.

Well, sure enough, the same thing happened after Chris Rock let out. After sitting in my car for another half-hour of pure boredom and frustration on the seventh floor of the garage, I parked, and decided to either a) grab some food at Caesars or b) hoof it home and come back for my car the next day. I walked back into Caesars, had a quick chat with the aforementioned Mancini and his wife, then decided to go with plan b.

As I mentioned at the start of this ramble, I live only about a mile from the Strip. In most cities, walking a mile isn’t so bad. In Las Vegas, however, it’s nearly unheard of to walk anywhere, let alone walk a mile somewhere. While I did consider grabbing a bus if one came along, it wasn’t until I was already a block from my apartment that one came rumbling down Flamingo Road heading east. The walk was nice; the weather has been about as perfect as it ever gets here, and at nearly 2 a.m., I had some quiet time with my thoughts for once.

However, Caesars Palace really needs to do something about the parking situation. A few years ago, they expanded the five-story garage to eight or nine stories, but the engineering geniuses neglected to incorporate such ground-breaking concepts as logic or common sense into its design. If every time a show at the Collosseum lets out, the situation is that bad (and I’m guessing it is, and I’m guessing between Elton John, Jerry Seinfeld and Celine Dion in that massive showroom, it’s often), then Caesars (or, I guess, Harrah’s, the parent company) needs to do SOMETHING to allow for better flow of traffic and/or another exit option in that garage.

Of course, I’m going back there tonight (well, actually, I’m going back there in a few minutes, to retrieve my car) for Eddie Izzard. But I think this time, I’m going to either a) leave the car at home or b) park across the street.

Making “Noise” to raise the dead at Aruba Hotel

November 15th, 2007

This Friday you could do whatever typical Vegas drinking/clubbing/sex toy partying thing it is you normally do to inaugurate your weekend … OR you could immerse yourself in something really sexy: CULTURE.

“Noise” — the semi-regular live painting/music/hippie fest held inside the Aruba Hotel’s Thunderbird Lounge (1215 Las Vegas Blvd. S.) — is hosting a special, themed event, “Day of the Dead,” this Friday night at 10 p.m. Yes, it’s two weeks after the actual dia le los muertos. Whatever, don’t get technical.

There will be spoken word, a drum circle, live music by The Experimental Freakshow with The Touch, and art by a whole slew of folks, including Gina Quaranto, Jada Fire and Katlyn Breene. There will also be a special slide show/altar set up to honor dead loved ones, featuring images submitted by “Noise” attendees.

The “Noise” people are also asking for canned food and sleeping bag donations for Las Vegas Peace Project and Project Purpose.

Oh, yes, and I’m sure you can drink and fornicate and whatever else you enjoy doing as well. Well, save the fornication for AFTER the event. Maybe get a room at the Aruba. I highly recommend it.

And a thanks to Chris Snethen for linking to my Killers rant from yesterday on his excellent blog, The Vig. Hope that Sam’s Town taste washes out soon.

Downtown Las Vegas — not just for hookers and crackheads … mostly

November 2nd, 2007

Occasionally — or maybe more often, but outside of this insider’s perspective — Las Vegas’ art scene actually makes itself visible outside of the monthly ruckus that is First Friday. Yesterday was one such day, where the axes of the universe aligned to draw moderate interest to downtown, both in the beleaguered Arts District and the now neon-lit Entertainment District.

Over at Marty Walsh’s Trifecta Gallery (inside the Arts Factory, 103 E. Charleston Blvd.), Eric Joyner was on hand for the opening reception of his new show, “A Twist of Fate.” There were (of course) donuts on hand for the donuts-and-robots-themed show. I made it over there with perfect timing: after the crowds (well, assuming there were crowds) left, but before Joyner left. We had a nice conversation about his art, my robot tattoo and how his mother basically bribed him into attending church with donuts.

Jerry Misko’s Smoke & Chanel Around the corner (OK, technically around three corners and about half a mile south) at Rick Dominguez and Cindy Funkhouser’s Fallout gallery (1551 S. Commerce St.), most of the same crowd that attended Joyner’s reception showed up for the opening of Jerry Misko’s new exhibit, “Smoke & Chanel.” Yes, it was more of Misko’s signature paintings of neon signs. But damn, no one paints neon signs with more vibrancy or compositional creativity than Jerry Misko. Now, if only I could ever afford one of his damn pieces.

Though your faithful blogger did not make it over there, the Downtown Cocktail Room (111 Las Vegas Blvd. S.) hosted an opening party for the Vegas Valley Book Festival, which runs this weekend, partially in concurrence with First Friday, which–oh look at that–runs tonight from 6 – 10 p.m. in the Arts District. There are some pretty cool readings, workshops and events taking place for this year’s Book Festival–follow the link above to find out more.

And don’t forget, among all the other First Friday nonsense and above-mentioned shows, “Wanksy” opens at Art Bar (1511 S. Main St.) tonight, presumably during the same time frame as all other First Friday nonsense. Look for the 16-foot “Wanksy” spray-painted on the side of the bar’s lime green exterior. Want more info? You should totally click here to read a certain awesome preview of the show and comments from the artists.

If Neon Crushes in a Forest, Does it Scream?

October 18th, 2007

Las Vegas poet, journalist and comic book enthusiast Jarret Keene is hosting “Neon Crush: A Celebration of Las Vegas Poetry” tonight at the Clark County Library’s Jewel Box Theater (1401 E. Flamingo Road) at 7 p.m.

The event will feature original, unpublished spoken word pieces by area poets, and a limited-edition “Neon Crush” chapbook will be distributed free at the reading.

Yeah, I know it’s late notice. We here at Bleeding Neon were just informed about a half hour ago. So there you go.

Oh, and if you don’t read the Rebel Yell, UNLV’s student-run newspaper, maybe you should. Its political coverage and commentary of late has been interesting, especially the recent furor the paper received over a recent Ron Paul editorial. Click here to read the follow-up and about three dozen comments from zealous Paul-ites.

This Fire is Out of Control

October 17th, 2007

Troy Nkrumah of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention replied to a post (click here to read it) I’d written about the national college walk-out organized by the organization to increase awareness of and inform students about the Jena 6 case. You can read his response at the above link as well, but basically, he agreed that the UNLV campus in general is apathetic as all get-out (“in my opinion the turn out was worth being ashamed of for UNLV students,” wrote Nkrumah), while reinforcing the reasons why it takes the hip-hop community to spearhead action in situations such as the Jena 6.

Well, the Las Vegas Local Organizing Committee of the NHHPC and UNLV Students for Hip Hop are presenting a town hall discussion at UNLV on Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 7 – 9 p.m. in room 207 of the student union. Titled “Is Race Still a Factor?,” the discussion will be based around questions of racial bias in the media, with specific examples such as the Jena 6 case, the Michael Vick scandal and more.

It’s open to the public and should be enlightening — assuming more than “the same few non apathetic UNLV students” show up, as Nkrumah joked in his blog comment.

Showgirls of Yesterday: ‘Peeping Todd’ pays tribute to the visual splendor of burlesque’s history

October 17th, 2007

Peeping Todd

It seems as though burlesque has experienced a resurgence of popularity in the last half-decade or so, albeit in different forms. Modern-day outfits such as the Pussycat Dolls and Suicide Girls have taken progressive twists on the classic art of choreographed strip tease, applying, respectfully, pop and punk music styles. Other parties, such as the multi-city Babes in Sin troupes, produce shows that hem closer to the glamorous origins of the art form.

Here in Las Vegas, all of the above approaches to the rebirth of burlesque have made Sin City into its unofficial home. From mainstream nightclubs featuring their own take on burlesque dancing–such as Forty Deuce and Tangerine–to the retro stylings of groups such as the aforementioned Babes in Sin to the modern moves of groups such as the Vegas Vixens, there is no denying burlesque’s prominence in the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Dixie Evans and friendHowever, this past year, the relocation of the Burlesque Hall of Fame to Las Vegas cemented that standing. The organization behind the Burlesque Hall produced the Miss Exotic World convention and contest in Vegas for the last few years, so its nesting here only made perfect sense.

One of the Burlesque Hall’s biggest supporters has been Todd VonBastiaans, an art patron and enthusiast who first made his splash on the local art scene by co-creating, with First Friday organizers Whirlygig, Inc., the Obstacle Art Course, an interactive miniature golf course designed by a number of local artists. He recently opened a curated retail space called Atomic Todd, located at 1541 S. Commerce St., adjacent to the Arts District in downtown Las Vegas.

VonBastiaans featured “In Bed with Liz Renay” at Atomic Todd early this summer, which featured the paintings, books and furnishings of legendary burlesque performer, model and actor Liz Renay, who died in Las Vegas this January.

His love affair with the classic era of burlesque did not end there, however. On Oct. 3, VonBastiaans opened “Peeping Todd: Select Treasures from the Burlesque Hall of Fame,” an exhibit featuring the costumes, posters, headdresses and other paraphernalia of performers from the golden age of burlesque. At the opening reception, performers Kalani Kokonuts and Jami Deadly were on hand to entertain the gallery’s guests, as well as retired burlesque legend Dixie Evans, looking as radiant as ever.

According to Atomic Todd’s website, many of the costumes on display have not been shown publicly for years, and quite possibly not since these classic performers originally wore them.

“Peeping Todd” shows throughout the month of October at Atomic Todd. For more information, call 702-386-8633 or visit www.atomictodd.com.