Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Just another fright night in Las Vegas

In Las Vegas, pretty much any night can pass for Halloween.

So when the real day comes, the night-life folks pull out all the stops.

The event with the most promise for true fear to emerge is the Houdini seance.

The most famous illusionist ever died on Halloween day -- Oct. 31, 1926.

A private seance at New York-New York featuring the world's top Houdini historian and collector, Sid Radner, and psychic Terry Nosek starts at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Perhaps the hottest Halloween spot will be Bikinis, a new club inside The Rio. Bikinis is having a Halloween party in anticipation of its Nov. 8 opening. Sponsors Montechristo Rum and KISS 101.9-FM are offering a $5,000 prize for Sexiest Costume.

The Trick or Freak Halloween Bash in The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel is offering a $3,000 first prize for its costume contest.

Rande Gerber's Whiskey Sky at the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino is hosting a party called Spirits. Gerber's wife, Cindy Crawford, probably will not be there, but Gerber's innovative space generally draws an A-list crowd.

Promoter and producer Scott E. Rodder is unveiling something called Hell-A-Billy at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. He'll showcase a pair of "Goth-A-Billy" (a cross between Goth and rockabilly, natch) bands, The Spectres and Big John Bates, and a "wicked dance performance" by the Voodoo Dolls.

Amazing Johnathan promises a special Halloween performance at his Golden Nugget venue.

A different kind of show -- for spirits of all ages -- will be a performance by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra at Artemus Ham Hall.

Tickets are $5, and there will be a costume contest for kids of all ages.

Meanwhile Baby's, the unadorned basement space at Hard Rock Hotel, is way too cool to pander to any commercial holiday sentiment. It's just another fabulous night, with disc jockey Tiesto spinning.

Thriller

Michael Jackson is apparently one step closer to opening an illusion-based show in Las Vegas -- he just put a binder down on a home.

According to some less-than-discrete folks at Spanish Trail (and columns like this live for such people), The Gloved One took a liking to a spread in the exclusive subdivision and wrote a six-figure deposit check to hold the property.

It may not be the same size or boast the accompanying menagerie as his Neverland Ranch in California, but Jackson will be a lot closer to his parents and sister LaToya, who also live in Las Vegas.

Per usual, his camp would not confirm or deny any recent real-estate transactions.

Coochi-Coochi

Heard from Charo after our item about all the local celebs that filmed promotional bumpers for CBS' "The Early Show."

Inexplicably, Charo's name fell off the list of names in the item.

The inimitable Coochi-Coochi girl, who does a regular show, "Bravo" at Sahara, was indeed high up on the network's list of gets, and it got her.

Look for her spot to air starting next week.

Art start

Saw a tremendous crowd spilling out of a storefront on Pacific Avenue in Henderson the other night, so I pulled the car over to check it out.

Turned out to be an opening at the Old Town Gallery.

Most of the artwork was equal to (or better than) anything you'd find in a trendy New York gallery.

Brad Blakely's playful, colorful images were mistaken by one viewer for that of contemporary art star Kenny Scharf.

The disciplined geormetric work of Yoko Kondo Konopic would be right home on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art.

David H. Cox's painting "Noon, Lake Las Vegas" offers a wonderful interpretation of a familiar locale.

"We try to filter things out to keep the quality high," director Kitty Boeddeker told VegasBeat.

Meow to that.

Believe the hype

My palate is often less than discriminating.

So when I wanted to see how the food was at the new Simon Kitchen & Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel, I dragged a chef along with me, Alan Morgan from Roy's on East Flamingo Road.

Celebrity-wise, partners Kerry Simon and Elizabeth Blau have quickly established their eatery as the A-list destination. (That with no paid advertising, as Hard Rock President Don Marrandino happily told me.)

Their VIP opening is tonight, yet they have already hosted parties for Paul McCartney and Sammy Hagar, and visitors from Joe Pesci to Lara Flynn Boyle.

Mick Jagger is in the reservation book for Thanksgiving weekend, when the Rolling Stones come to town.

But the scene aside, how is the food?

First thing in, Morgan noticed a waiter who had worked at Roy's until the week before.

The first appetizer, a tuna carpaccio, was a tad too citrus-y, Morgan opined.

Was this the beginning of the end? All downhill from here? Would the celebrity factor outweigh the food?

Then came the crab cakes. Perfect! Morgan said.

Osso bucco -- perfect again. Lamb chops -- perfect fancy food. Meatloaf -- perfect comfort food.

The side dishes. Yawn. Perfect again.

The bowl of flavored cotton candy for dessert. "Nice touch," Morgan said.

"I can safely say Simon's is among the best restaurants in town -- except for Roy's, that is," Morgan concluded.

Relatively speaking

This is Las Vegas. Money talks. Everything else walks.

Both Paul McCartney and Luciano Pavarotti last weekend had a top ticket price of $300.

Were they twice as good as Bob Dylan the weekend prior, who topped out at $150?

And will the Rolling Stones be three times as good? Tickets for their Nov. 29 show at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel retail for $1,000.

Ray Charles next week at Texas Station is $24.50. Is Paul 12 times better?

Discuss.

Gabby who?

Most clubs and restaurants love the public to know which celebrities are eating, drinking or partying at their venues.

They correctly deduce the public will also want to attend, in hopes of seeing a star.

But they don't always get their stories straight.

VegasBeat got a shout-out from two Palms employees Saturday night. Both said that a certain Gabrielle was in the house.

One said it was Gabrielle Reece, the slinky volleyball star and model.

She stands 6-foot-3, and could easily beat me up.

Another insisted the celebrity in the house was Gabrielle Carteris, who played brainy school newspaper editor Andrea Zuckerman on "Beverly Hills, 90210."

Ms. Carteris stands 5-foot-1, and I'd happily let her beat me up.

So c'mon, guys, which Gabby was it?

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