Notes of note from across VegasVille, from nightclubs to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
• A place to be seen on the Strip is the “reserved” table at MGM Grand’s Crush, operated by Michael and Jenna Morton. The table seats anywhere from six to a dozen people, depending on how many folks are waved over by bartender, manager and self-dubbed “funologist” Johnny O’Donnell, better known as “JOD,” who also spins his magic downtown at La Comida. Casino execs, entertainers, businesspeople and athletes can regularly be found at that table at the restaurant’s entrance.
Last month, O’Donnell welcomed 50 Cent to the bar and invited the rap star to mix a martini. That went well enough, and 50 Cent was so proud of his concoction he tried to sell it for $10,000.
No takers, but a great story.
• Exotics Racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway recently unveiled a $4.5 million, 14,000-square-foot welcome center.
The high-end racing attraction is operated by David Perisset and Romain Thievin and is home to more than 30 exotic cars, including a Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Superleggera LP570, Porsche Turbo S, Aston Martin Vantage S and McLaren MP4-12C. But Perisset, an investment banker by trade, hasn’t always piloted such refined machines. His first car was a 1997 Volkswagen Golf, a vehicle that was finally “partied out” in 2013 after the odometer passed 250,000 miles.
• Interested in the mash-up of Las Vegas resorts’ profitability and electronic dance music? Then take note of the EDMBiz Conference and Expo set for June 16-18 at the Cosmopolitan. Speakers include Insomniac founder Pasquale Rotella (who has staged the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway since 2011), Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Live Nation President of Electronic Music James Barton and EDM artists Krewella, 3Lau and Hook n Sling.
The financial muscle of electronic dance music, reflected in the annual Electric Daisy Carnival and the preponderance of massive nightclubs on the Strip, can’t be ignored. I was in the club recently for the launch of Imagine at Omnia at Caesars Palace, a weekly themed production at the refurbished club. On a Sunday night, the venue was nearly at capacity. No official numbers were reported, but it was a strong night, with easily a couple thousand partyers up until at least 2 a.m. The place made a financial killing.
• More details on the Hooters restaurant planned for the Palms, which was announced in April and has been under concealed construction ever since. At 15,200 square feet, it will be the largest Hooters in the country, seat 500 guests and take up two stories.
The opening will be staggered, with the poolside bar to be in operation this month and the main dining room ready by the end of July. Nearly 50 TVs will hang around the restaurant.
Hooters is on the side of the hotel between N9ne steakhouse and the 24/Seven café, and will take over the space where the Mexican restaurant Gardunos and, later, Heraea, once stood.
• Tropicana has made a much-debated move regarding its lounge outside Tropicana Theater. The space that has been home to an assortment of live entertainment, including Skye Dee Miles and Jonathan & Music Magic, has opted for a dueling pianos show in the middle of the seating area.
Some entertainment fans feel dueling pianos is a fallback idea for people whose creative minds are stuck in idle. Others say it is a suitable, easy-access form of entertainment.
Two local piano aces who played at Times Square Bar at New York-New York both rose to prominence from Vegas dueling piano acts. Michael Cavanaugh went on to play Billy Joel hits in the Broadway musical “Movin’ Out,” while Brody Dolyniuk founded Yellow Brick Road.
It might not be high art but it works, and some of those shows are terrific fun if you’re in the right frame of mind.
• On the topic of interesting lounge info: You know who is a good crooner? Boxing analyst Al Bernstein. He sang “That’s Life” at Bootlegger Bistro during Kelly Clinton-Holmes’ open-mic night.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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