Rihanna, Reba McEntire and Gary Sinise spotted during Labor Day Weekend in Las Vegas

By Melissa Arseniuk

Published Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 | 8:20 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009 | 3:47 p.m.

Courtesy Photo

Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band will perform Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Cannery Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas.

Richard Brian

World-renowned and resident DJ Paul Oakenfold during Perfecto at Rain in the Palms in July.

Leila Navidi

Santana and his band eschew costumes for their show at The Joint at the Hard Rock, and the only dancers are in the seats. The show includes some ramblings by Santana as well music from 40 years.

Justin M. Bowen

Holly Madison joins Eric Bergen of Jersey boys during the Las Vegas Celebrates the Music of Michael Jackson concert in the Pearl at the Palms Saturday.

TVT

Dennis Haskins

Labor Day Weekend made for a busy, extended weekend of celebrity sightings in Las Vegas.

Things got underway a little early, with Eve, UFC fighter BJ Penn, and foul-mouthed oil heirBrandon Davis all spotted at Tao.

Ron Jeremy was also in Las Vegas on Thursday, and was spotted on the casino floor at the Hard Rock Hotel.

The action continued on Friday, as Steve Aoki kicked-off a DJ superstar-studded weekend at the Palms. Aoki spun at Ditch Fridays and the resort’s Labor Day Weekend-long “Fabulous Fest” went on to include DJs Carl Cox; Felix Da Housecat; Markus Schulz; Steve Angello; Manufactured Superstars; Miguel Migs; and Louis Puig, among others.

N9NE Group’s own, VP Michael Fuller, also played Fab Fest, as did Palms regulars like Scotty Boy, R.O.B., Jordan Stevens and Rain’s Saturday night headliner, Paul Oakenfold.

DJ Jazzy Jeff was also part of the festivities, and he filled the void the death of his fellow Philadelphia-born DJ, DJ AM left a week earlier.

The former “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star took to the booth just after midnight on Friday, while another ’90s throwback was going on at New York-New York, where Vanilla Ice hosted at Rok.

Joan Rivers had dinner on the terrace at Lavo on Friday, joined by her daughter, Melissa, and 8-year-old grandson. The elder two of the three enjoyed some white wine with their sea bass, swordfish, Kobe beef carpaccio, bread pudding and Oreo zeppole. Meanwhile, the youngest of the three took in the "Sirens of TI" show as it went on across the street.

Later that night, Grammy Award winner Jermaine Dupri returned to his unofficial home-away-from-home, Privé at Planet Hollywood.

Usher showed up to take in Dupri's show, and after the performance the two had some fun after in the VIP, dancing Tom Cruise-style, up on the couches.

And although they’ve come to be known as Privé’s unofficial resident act, Mickey Avalon, Dirt Nasty and Andre Legacy ventured away from their usual staple spot and make the trek out to Red Rock Casino on Friday, where they did their thing at Cherry nightclub.

(Avalon will return to Privé on Friday.)

Another off-Strip show went down at he Hard Rock Hotel, where Puddle of Mudd performed by the pool as part of the hotel's “Friday Night Live” concert series.

Santana was also at the Hard Rock this weekend, as part of his ongoing residency at The Joint.

"Entourage" actor and Vegas partyboy Kevin Connelly kicked off his Labor Day Weekend at the Bellagio, where he had dinner at Fix before hitting the club circut, at The Bank.

Flava Flav and professional wrestler Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair were both spotted, seperately, having dinner at Nove Italiano at the Palms.

Meanwile, newly-installed showroom star Matt Goss and his manager, Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin, celebrated the debut performance of "Matt Goss Live From Las Vegas" at Playboy Club, along with Chuy Bravo of "Chelsea Lately" and former Miss Hawaii, actress Kelly Hu.

Goss and his manager partied at the Palms on Saturday, too, and were seen soaking up the scene at Rain nightclub, along with actor Michael Clarke Duncan.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was also at Playboy Club on Friday, and was spotted having dinner on property the following night, too, at N9NE Steakhouse.

The Friday night fun continued as reality TV personality Megan Hauserman, who’s semi-famous thanks to a collection of VH1 gems like “Megan Wants a Millionaire,” “I Love Money,” “Charm School” and “Rock of Love,” partied at the newly-redesigned nightspot, the Playground.

The “Beauty and the Geek” winner was joined by her “Megan Wants a Millionaire” co-star, Cecille Gahr.

Back on the great boulevard, meanwhile, Shwayze pre-partied at Revolution before heading over to Jet, minus his under-the-weather counterpart, Cisco.

Over at the Venetian, meanwhile, LMFAO hosted at Tao. Dallas Mavericks star and UNLV alum Shawn Marion was also there, along with a group of 10 champagne-drinking friends.

Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger partied at Tao on Friday, too, along with his bandmates who were presumably doing a little scouting and pre-partying in advance of the band's concert on Sunday.

LMFAO did double-duty at the Venetian hotspot this weekend, as bandmembers Redfoo and Sky Blu returned to Tao the following day to host at Tao Beach.

As LMFAO entertained the rooftop crowd, another celebrity-infused pool party went down next door, at the Palazzo: Tori Spelling and husband Dean McDermott hosted Absolut Saturday at Azure.

The couples' weekend getaway began with a joint hot rock massage at Canyon Ranch Spa, Joan Rivers show in the Venetian Showroom, and a Friday night dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Cut.

They enjoyed another, poolside massage the following day, at Azure, and followed up their "Champagne on the Rocks" rub-downs with snacks provided by Puck's poolside restaurant.

Melissa Rivers popped by the Palazzo pool that afternoon, too, as did "Southland" actress Regina King.

King had dinner later that night inside the resort, at Lavo, and the Spelling-McDermotts had dinner there the following night, after enjoying the "DJ brunch" at First Food and Bar earlier in the day.

Fashionable and an aspiring children's fashion designer herself, Spelling was also seen browsing the aisles at Barney's this weekend.

Meanwhile, "One Life to Live" actress Crystal Hunt was next door, at Tao, where she and two girlfriends sampled some satay bass and pot stickers before heading upstairs to continue their Saturday night in the nightclub.

Patrick O’Bryant of the Toronto Raptors was also there that night, and made quite the splash when he surprised his girlfriend, Molly Bergeson, and presented her with a stunning diamond engagement ring.

(She said yes.)

Meanwhile, NFL free agent Frank Thomas had his Saturday night dinner over at the Palms, at N9NE Steakhouse.

Also on Saturday, “Peepshow” starlet Holly Madison switched things up and headed to MGM Grand after her show at Planet Hollywood. The former “Girls Next Door” star played party hostess at Studio 54.

Meanwhile, old-school hip-hoppers Naughty By Nature were across the street, at Rok, while The Dan Band and DJ Marshall Barnes were slightly south, at Luxor, where they shared the spotlight at LAX.

Curvaceous "Sunset Tan" personality Holly Huddleston was at the Hard Rock on Saturday, and was seen living it up at Wasted Space with a large group of friends.

Champion boxer Floyd Mayweather was also at the Hard Rock that night, and was spotted as he enjoyed a late night snack at Mr. Lucky's with a few friends and bodyguards.

Saturday also included a serving of "the Ish,” thanks to a performance by DJ Class at Cherry.

The music continued as a classic rock trifecta took to the stage at MGM Grand. Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick played the resort’s Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night.

What’s more, country music fans had two options that night, first with country songstress Julianne Hough, who was across the street, at Mandalay Bay Beach, and second with the one and only Reba McEntire, who entertained at the Star of the Desert Arena in Primm.

The star sightings continued on Sunday as Bad Boy Bill hosted Sunset Sessions at Tao Beach before Erick Morillo took to the turntables at Tao.

Meanwhile, hip-hop collaborator extraordinaire T-Pain performed -- without his signature top hat or sunglasses but with his new band and back-up dancers -- at Rehab at the Hard Rock.

Rihanna and Fabolous were both there for the poolside show.

It was not the first pool party of the weekend for Rihanna, who caught some rays at the Hard Rock pool on Thursday and at Wet Republic on Friday. The songbird reportedly spent the better part of Friday afternoon at MGM Grand, where she kicked back in one of the private bungalows. While the venue stayed open past its regular hours for the kick-off of the Labor Day Weekend, the poolside kitchen did not -- which caused a staff member to run to a nearby McDonald's to fulfill a special Rihanna request.

The singer was later seen back at the Hard Rock, where she was staying, as she played a few games of craps before heading to Body English later that night.

Fabolous, meanwhile, put on a post-Rehab show of his own on Sunday night, at Jet. Before he took to the tuntables, however, he and Rihanna reunited at the Palms, where they had dinner with 10 others at N9NE Steakhouse.

Ja Rule joined them at Jet, and kept Rihanna company while Fabolous, who seemed to be her constant Labor Day Weekend companion, performed.

Minnesota Timberwolf Kevin Love also dined at N9NE on Sunday night, as part of his 21st birthday party. The power forward had to sip water through dinner, however, as he didn't officially turn 21 until the clock struck 12.

Actress Regina King and actor/director/musician Malcolm Jamal-Warner were in the N9NE dining room on Sunday night, as well. The pair shared a meal with a party of six, then headed up to Playboy Club where they finished their night with Ketel One cocktails and a few bottles of FIJI water.

Also on Sunday, Lindsay Lohan’s ex, Samantha Ronson, performed at Privé after having dinner across the mezzanine at Strip House, and Beastie Boys’ turntable whiz Mix Master Mike mixed things up as he guest DJ’d at Blush.

Funnyman Eddie Murphy was also spotted in Las Vegas as the Labor Day Weekend neared its close. The comedian kept things casual, though, and when he walked into The Bank nightclub at the Bellagio, he did so without a security escort. Instead, his female companion was his only escort for the night and the two enjoyed a relatively quiet night in one of the club's corner VIP tables.

Actor Gary Sinise was also in town this weekend, and showed his more musical side on Sunday when he stepped into the spotlight with his band, the Lt. Dan Band, at The Club at the Cannery.

Canadian rockers Nickelback played the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, after openers Hinder, Papa Roach, and Saving Able warmed up the crowd.

After the show, the boys headed over to the Palms, where Hinder partied at Playboy Club and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger threw a party in his sky villa.

The weekend continued on Monday, as Nick Cannon performed a guest DJ set at Privé.

Also at Planet Hollywood last night was actor Dorian Graham, who was seen having dinner at Strip House.

And finally, while most of us reluctantly returned to work today, Dennis Haskins will take the day off and throw a back-to-school party at Pure.

The actor, who played Mr. Belding on “Saved By The Bell,” will put in some extra-curricular activity and party alongside UNLV students (and other university scholars who have yet to return to their campuses after the long weekend) at the Caesars Palace hotspot.

Student I.D. is not required, but proof of legal age will be checked at the door.

Melissa Arseniuk writes about Las Vegas entertainment and celebrity events. She can be reached at 702-948-7823 or by e-mail at melissa.arseniuk@lasvegassun.com.