Red Rock Resort’s concert schedule plays it big and small, inside and outside

By John Katsilometes

Saturday, June 4, 2011 | 2:06 p.m.

Midway through the Goo Goo Dolls show at Red Rock Resort’s Sandbar outdoor concert venue, vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik glanced up toward his right.

He then made notice of a stage effect plainly obvious to anyone in the audience at the 4,000-capacity concert haunt.

That would be, the Red Rock hotel itself. The tower looms high above the pool area, with dozens of rooms lit up and occupied, we presume, by resort guests.

Rzenik shouted into the microphone, “Sorry for the noise up there! We’re having a rock concert down here!”

We’re also playing poolside blackjack. We’re leaning on the outdoor bar, dipping our footsies into the hot tub next to the lighting standard and generally milling about. If nothing else, Red Rock offers any variety of entertainment, anywhere on its property. Playing $10 hands of blackjack as the Goo Goo Dolls churn out “Iris” would seem sufficient evidence of such.

Friday night was the second show in Red Rock Resort’s Revolution outdoor concert series. The latest lineup of Barenaked Ladies launched the series May 27, and coming up next Saturday is the highly improvisational jam band O.A.R. On June 17, its reggae vets Steel Pulse.

That show leads into the kickoff of one of the summer’s more promising concert series scheduled for the hotel’s new Red Rock Amphitheater: a triple billing of Motley Crue, Poison and New York Dolls on June 18.

If the Goo Goo Dolls rattled the hotel’s windows, this show might blow them out totally.

Red Rock Amphitheater is the latest, tangible indication that Stations Casinos -- especially Red Rock Resort -- intends to be a significant competitor for live shows in the valley. Check out the full entertainment schedule here. To be finished off this weekend, Red Rock Amphitheater is to seat 8,800 (over 1,000 more than Orleans Arena, as a comparison) and has a massive stage (60 feet by 40 feet) to accommodate big spectacles like, well, Motley Crue. Variety reigns at the new amphitheater, naturally, with Toby Keith and Eric Church headlining Aug. 6, Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance on Oct. 7 and Enrique Iglesias with “special guest” Pitbull the next night.

When the amphitheater is dark, Sandbar will be pulsating with such artists as Gavin DeGraw (June 24), Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (July 1), Puddle of Mudd (July 8), Neon Trees (July 15), Lifehouse (July 29) and Weezer (Aug. 5).

Red Rocks Lounge, too, is not to be overlooked for its busy schedule. Several of the city’s more popular lounge acts are showcased weekly at Rocks: Zowie Bowie (featuring the highly energetic and perpetually tanned Chris Phillips) and Dian Diaz (late of Fontana Lounge at Bellagio) are featured. So are Vegas rocker Franky Perez and the terrific rock/jazz fusion band the Steven Lee Group featuring Rocco Barbato.

Friday night was an eye-opener at the hotel. Just reading the signs promoting the acts showed the investment of energy and resources Stations Casino is pouring into the resort.

At the start of the Goo Goo Dolls show, I ran into Stations Entertainment Director Judy Alberti, who has one of the sharpest minds for entertainment of anyone in Las Vegas. On the spot, she offered a tour of the amphitheater, so eager she was to show off the new venue. Not tonight, though. We’ll take a look soon enough.

But at the time, we were having too much fun for hard hats.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.