iHeartRadio ready to return outdoor festivals to the Strip
Vegas will do what Vegas does again in September.
The first outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip to be announced since the Oct. 1 tragedy is set for Sept. 22 at Las Vegas Festival Grounds. IHeartRadio Music Festival will host its Daytime Stage show on the 50-acre grounds at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, running from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
The event was previously reported in this space in February. IHeartRadio announced the date and lineup Monday on its Instagram feed. The acts set to appear are topped by 5 Seconds of Summer, Dua Lipa, Lil Uzi Vert, Dustin Lynch, Bazzi, Greta Van Fleet, Belly and Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots.
Organizers reportedly plan to honor the victims and families of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting during the Daytime Stage, and additional artists are to be announced as the event draws closer. Fan zones and interactive experiences are planned for the site, where the Rock in Rio festival was held in spring 2015.
The event has been held at Las Vegas Village, where Route 91 was staged on Oct. 1. As in past years, the outdoor show is a complement to the arena iHeartRadio Music Festival, which this year is set for T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 21-22. Of the acts announced, Bones and the Raging Idiots are the only band to play the 2017 Route 91 show. They were onstage Sept. 30, a night before the shooting.
Quavo incident
On the topic of artists who have experience at iHeartRadio Music Festival …
Quavo, of the hip-hop trio Migos, was involved in a reported dust-up at Encore Las Vegas valet on Saturday night. TMZ originally reported that the artist, whose legal name is Quavious Marshall, and members of his entourage scuffled with a hotel valet attendant. Migos had performed Friday night at Drai’s Live at the Cromwell, where they are resident headliners.
Reportedly, Quavo led a phalanx of SUVs into the Encore porte cochere. He and three other members of his entourage were in a physical altercation with a valet attendant after the staffer told the hip-hop star to move his vehicle to make way for an incoming EMT unit.
Video posted by TMZ showed a chaotic scene, as Wynn/Encore security detained all four men (including Quavo) and reportedly called Metro Police. No arrests were made. Hotel officials declined comment on the incident.
The downtown scene
About 2,000 ribald Vegas Golden Knights fans streamed into Downtown Las Vegas Events Center for the official downtown watch party for the Golden Knights’ 4-3 overtime road victory over the San Jose Sharks. D Las Vegas co-owner and DLVEC owner Derek Stevens hosted 30 Golden Knights staffers, led by president Kerry Bubolz. The facility is throwing open the venue again, with no cover charge, on Wednesday night for Game 4.
The ‘Sex Tips’ shuffle
Scheana Shay and Chester Lockhart are closing their run as co-stars of “Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man” at Paris Las Vegas this Sunday. Shay is returning to the reality series “Vanderpump Rules” and Lockhart will return to his music and acting career.
These two have been a lot of fun to have around; Shay has been a regular sceneseter at Kenny Davidsen’s shows at Tuscany Casino, where fellow co-star Chris Hodgson unleashes a full-force version of “Billie Jean.”
Hodgson is staying in the “Sex Tips” cast in his role as Stefan.
The two incoming co-stars are current swing Katie Kenner as Robyn, and cast newcomer Douglas Katch Gray as Dan Anderson. Kenner has performed in Disney touring productions and worked with David Copperfield in Las Vegas. Kenner joined the cast most unexpectedly: She won the role as swing for Shay after reading lines with Enoch Augustus Scott in his audition to understudy for Lockhart. Producers asked her back after that reading.
Gray, a Las Vegas stage vet, has performed in “Vegas! The Show,” “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” and “Dancing Queen.” He’s also recorded an eponymous album, available on iTunes.
“Headlining a Las Vegas show has been an incredible experience,” Shay said. “Audiences welcomed me and Chester with open arms and we’ve loved being a part of this hilarious production night after night.”
“I’ve had such a blast sharing the stage with Scheana and Chris these past few months,” Lockhart said. “ ‘Sex Tips’ is the best 69 minutes you’ll have in Las Vegas and I can’t wait to watch Katch and Katie bring a new ‘stroke’ of genius to this show.”
They do
The Clark County Commission has dubbed May Royal Wedding month, and as such kicked off the campaign with a ceremony that involved a fictional Elvis, a guy in a gila-monster suit and a trio of Blue Men.
Trumpeting the city as the “Destination Wedding Capital of the World,” Clark County officials summoned something old (an Elvis tribute artist and a trio of showgirls), something new (Chance, the Vegas Golden Knights’ ubiquitous mascot), something borrowed (Matt Goss, from the U.K. and who has moved to Vegas); and something blue (the rightfully silent Blue Man Group).
BMX star Ricardo Laguna and his girlfriend, Carl’s Donuts owner Amber Ramsay, posed as the lucky couple.
What works in Vegas
Roseanne Barr and Andrew Dice Clay. Yep, top draws in the ‘80s are heating up spring of ‘18.
Barr has sold out her upcoming show Saturday night at Orleans Showroom. The high ratings for the reboot of her sitcom have boosted her box-office magnetism. Clay returned to Laugh Factory at the Tropicana over the weekend and sold out his appearances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He returns May 25-27.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
