Home

2AM Club Guide

Archive

Contact

Personals

Wildside Personals

Go: Where to Go, What to Do & Why

By James P. Reza

The entertainment drought of the early summer is a bitter memory. Nightlife is once again deluged with concerts and events--a nice complement to the weather pattern that has stifled temperatures and spurred humidity. The monsoonal mambo offers perfect timing for this week's Polynesian-themed return of one our valley's most successful ongoing arts events, First Friday (Aug. 1, 6-10 p.m.; 678-6278). The tiki theme will be prevalent throughout the event, including at the Funk House, where the talented students of the Las Vegas Academy will exhibit "Tiki Time," and at the Gypsy Caravan Antique Village, where surf band Vista Four will jam. As always, there will be music, performance art and gallery receptions throughout the downtown arts district, plus a number of afterparties at neighborhood watering holes. Of note this month: Main Street's venerable style store The Attic is getting active in First Friday with a vintage fashion show, and the funky fun of The Get Back is moving to the new Ice House Lounge, where old skool Vegas DJ Create will join John Doe and Danny Boy to spin booty-shaking soul. If only we could all roll to the Stardust's long-gone Aku Aku for mai tais and mayhem afterward...

In the spirit of the diverse creative offerings of First Friday, The Living Jarboe--the latest project from alt.chick vocalist Jarboe (of New York's post-punk Swans)--will jazz it up in a post-First Friday gig at the Katherine Gianaclis Park for the Arts (Aug. 1, 11 p.m.; 451-6808). And in downtown the following evening, Austin-based alt.country guitarist Jimmie Dale Gilmore will perform his catchy Texas blend of folk, traditional country, and roots rock at the Clark County Amphitheater (Aug. 2, 6:30 p.m. (gates), 8 p.m. (curtain); 455-8200).

Tour de estrogen

Back in the mid-1990s, pianist and singer/songwriter Tori Amos assaulted a packed Artemus W. Ham Hall with her stage presence, her haunting, resonant voice and a repertoire that at once evokes Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell. During that show, after a brief interlude in which she preached to the (mostly female) choir that masturbation can free women of the need for men altogether, Amos launched into the chilling "Me and a Gun," an autobiographical confessional of her own suffering of rape. By the end, the men present must have felt as threatened and helpless as Amos had. Since then, Amos has released seven albums, including 2002's Scarlet Walk. Opening for Amos at the Thursday Hard Rock show is the guitar-free Ben Folds Five, self-anointed "punk rock for sissies" (July 31, 7:30 p.m.; 693-5066).

Alt.folkie Suzanne Vega opened doors for the Tracy Chapmans and Edie Brickells to come with her literate songwriting and left-of-center style that resonated with the college radio audience of the 1980s. After a decade of mediocre work, Vega again hit the mark with 2001's Songs in Red and Gray. She's touring again under the auspices of 2003's best-of Retrospective, so you'll be sure to hear the songs you know plus a few you don't, Friday at Boulder Station (Aug. 1, 8 p.m.; 432-7777).

Hipster heaven

If you've ever wondered what happened to so-called alternative music...well, put down your notepad. We're not going to detail the train wreck that followed the genre's ill-fated move from college to commercial radio, from coffeehouse to Lollapalooza. What we will do, however, is point you in the directions where you might uncover some of the better alt.music, the funky individualists who make it, and the self-righteous, often self-appointed music critics who adore it. First up: Reverend Horton Heat, who is neither reverend, Horton, nor Heat, but we digress. The Rev is actually James Heath, the charismatic leader of one of psychobilly's greatest party bands. Attracting an odd crossover audience of tattooed rockabillies, aging punkers and roots rocking T-shirt and jeans folks, the Reverend will stomp through an energetic set list at the House of Blues on Saturday (Aug. 2, 8 p.m.; 632-7600).

Then on Sunday, in an unlikely meeting of jam band fans, "adult alternative" listeners, and the self-consciously hip, singer-songwriter Ben Harper--the artistic love child of Erykah Badu and Lenny Kravitz--comes to the Hard Rock (Aug. 3, 8 p.m.; 693-5066). Sporting an eclectic musical style and boasting opening slots for bands from Pearl Jam to the Fugees, Harper is the college experience cast in musical metaphor. Opening the sold-out show (call in your favors or ring the ticket brokers) is Jack Johnson.

Speaking of the Fugees and Erykah Badu...Alt.rappers The Roots return to Vegas on Sunday to the House of Blues (Aug. 3, 8 p.m.; 632-7600). Critically acclaimed and proud purveyors of six impressively consistent albums, The Roots exemplify the radical differences found in hip hop. Forget hardcore, East Coast and West Coast styles, and get your mindset into the chill of the acid jazz-inflected grooves of Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest, rolling basslines and smooth, literate lyricism.

Or not. In which case, you'll be skanking to the third-wave ska beats of Huntington Beach boys Reel Big Fish on Monday at the Huntridge (Aug. 4, 7:30 p.m.; 678-6800). What is third-wave ska, you ask? Think reggae, played really fast, with a jumping horn section always trying to outdo the raging punk guitarists to the left. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!

We also recommend

For those of you for whom this is simply not enough stuff to keep you from strangling yourself with your iPod cord, check out the Broadway hit Stomp, which returns to Las Vegas at the Aladdin Theater on Tuesday (Aug. 5-10, various times; 736-0111). More music than theater, the once cutting-edge street-based percussion of Stomp has long been usurped by commercial media (Pringles and Captain Morgan's Rum have aired Stomp-inspired television ads), but that makes it no less enjoyable. And the UNLV-based Las Vegas Music Festival is presenting its 12th series of nationally recognized professional performances Aug. 1-17 in venues across the valley. Call 895-2787 for info, or click to the UNLV events calendar at www.unlv.edu.

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