Melissa Etheridge Lagwagon

Thursday, April 17, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Go: Where to Go, What to Do & Why

With the brag machine that is the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority pumping the networks full of sexy and suggestive bombast in sync with the approaching big travel season (and, quite frankly, thank them for that), Las Vegas appears ready to emerge from 18 months of tediously waiting for the other foot to either drop or dance. Even though our city can at times seem less an entertainment capital than a has-been pasture, live music line-ups are definitely improving, and the bar and nightlife scene is picking up, thanks to several important additions the past several weeks. Everyone is waiting for travel to turn the corner, and although Las Vegas hasn't suffered from the downturn to the extent of most other destinations, it would be nice to see energy levels back up where they belong. This week takes a definitive step in that direction; there's so much going down in so many areas of appeal that if you stay home, well, retirement may be in order.

The middle of the road

Bad to the bone boogie rock guitarist George Thorogood returns to the House of Blues Saturday on the heels of his 2003 release, Ride 'Til I Die (Apr. 19, 8 p.m.; 632-7600). Though not all that original (he was clearly influenced by Chicago blues rock, and by inspirations Elmore James and Chuck Berry), Thorogood strode past the disdain of hardcore blues fans on his way to popular success. With a string of mainstream hits, each anthems of the smoke, drink and rock set ("One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," "I Drink Alone"), Thorogood and his Destroyers became the biggest bar band of the eighties. Bluesy singer-songwriter Joe Bonamassa opens the show.

Benefit shows are de rigueur since Live Aid's success in the 1980s, and this week, Las Vegas hosts two, both on Saturday. At the Hard Rock, rocking singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge will perform a short set during The Ride for Hope, a benefit for the Equestrian AIDS Foundation. The show at the Joint will also feature New York DJ Todd Mallis (Apr. 19, 9 p.m.; 693-5066). Meanwhile, Tiger Woods' sixth annual Tiger Jam reprises at the Mandalay Events Center (Apr. 19, 8:30 p.m.; 632-7580), benefitting the Tiger Woods Foundation (providing sports programs for urban youth) as well as direct donations to several local youth charities. Featured performers this year are Bon Jovi (whose recent release Bounce hit the ground running) and the formerly alternative Goo Goo Dolls. Celebrities expected to appear just for the sake of acting like celebrities include Ray Romano, Marc Anthony, Paula Abdul, and volleyball hottie Gabrielle Reece.

The path less taken

If all that seems a little too deliberately well-intentioned for your cynical chain-smoking ass, then sneer yourself down to the Huntridge Theatre, where the alt.venue's resurrection is progressing nicely. Saturday, SoCal pop-punks Lagwagon get all thrashy with Pulley, Staring Back and Black Market Elvis, while Monday, San Diego indie-rock darlings Rocket From The Crypt blow the roof off with The Spits. Both shows are all ages, and get underway at 7 p.m.; call 678-6800.

Friday, our second favorite show of the week (the best is yet to come) features legendary Los Angeles alt.roots rockers The Blasters at the House of Blues (Apr. 18, 11 p.m.; 632-7600). The Blasters infiltrated college radio playlists in the mid-1980s, an unusual accomplishment considering the punk and new wave that dominated campus playlists at the time. Not quite punk, not quite rock, the Blasters were closely aligned with fellow LA band X in both sound and audience, offering a raw and edgy reinterpretation of American rock and roll. Their first four albums are among the most underappreciated in music.

After suffering what is sure to be a smoke-filled House of Blasters, you'll be aching to get outside in the fresh, warm air. Saturday, in an event echoing the long-lost memories of the populist Jamnesty park concerts of the early '90s, Ecojam will celebrate Earth Day at Sunset Park with live music from Wailing Souls and Buchanan, plus eco-exhibits, a farmers market, and cooking demonstrations on what is claimed to be America's largest solar oven (Apr. 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; 455-8200).

Wanna shag?

After several years of Las Vegas embracing music-and-lifestyle-driven events (remember the Hard Rock's poolside swing dance parties? Or their reggae parties?), and then several years of...nothing...finally an event comes along that smacks of Gen X conceit and hipness, and, by golly, we love it. There's no good reason for you to miss Saturday's Mondo Tiki (Apr. 19, 2-10 p.m.; 693-5066), a poolside party celebrating all things tiki. Remember, way back in the 1950s, when the world was a much bigger place, and America's fascination with Polynesian imagery was fueled by contemporary readings of Herman Melville's 1844 tales of Papeete? Remember the Aku Aku restaurant and lounge at the Stardust? Remember Endless Summer, the surf flick? Of course you don't remember, you snot-nosed greenhorn, and that's why you must get your pasty white ass to the Hard Rock on Saturday and experience live music from surf rockers The Eliminators, cocktail loungecore from Cherry Capri & The Thurston Howlies and tiki devotees Ape, plus hula dancers, fire eating, live tiki carving, and an art exhibit featuring the works of contemporary tiki god Shag. This, plus a wahini bikini contest and more mai tais than you can stand make Mondo Tiki the first must-do event of the warm weather season.

James P. Reza is the editor of the Best Places-Las Vegas guidebook. E-mail nightlife, cultural event & dining tips to jpreza@lvcm.com. Deadline is the Saturday prior to publishing.