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Imagine Dragons performs at The Event at MGM Grand Garden Arena on October 2.
Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021 | 2 a.m.
October is the month of mammoth-sized fundraising events with superstar entertainment lineups. Thanks to performances from Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson, Snoop Dogg, Andra Day and Imagine Dragons, The Event, the inaugural gala to benefit the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation hosted by Shaq himself, was able to raise more than $2.7 million at MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday night (October 2) for the Boys & Girls Club and Communities In Schools programs in Las Vegas and Atlanta. Next up is the 25th annual Power of Love Gala to benefit Keep Memory Alive and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, coming up on October 16 at Resorts World. Power of Love announced its celeb-stacked lineup this week taking the stage and the red carpet this year, including Smokey Robinson, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Bruno Mars, Anthony Anderson, Tori Kelly, Kenny Loggins, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men, Charlie Wilson, Greg Phillinganes, Jon Taffer and more. Go to keepmemoryalive.org to find your way to the event. And then on October 22, the Tyler Robinson Foundation’s seventh annual Rise Up Gala will take place at Wynn’s Outdoor Pavilion, hosted by Joel McHale and featuring a performance as always by Imagine Dragons, the Vegas-born band that created the foundation to support families dealing with pediatric cancer. Find tickets at trf.org.
It happened quickly so you may have missed it: “iLuminate” at the Strat took a break to retool and it’s returning to the Strat Theater on Friday, October 8, with new technology, additional cast members, new dance numbers and a new schedule. It will perform at 10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday with a bonus 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. The innovative dance act named “Best New Act in America” on “America’s Got Talent” has been tweaked and refreshed for Vegas audiences after initially debuting in August.
Las Vegas Strip resident headliners Usher and Carlos Santana announced additional performances this week. Santana will cruise into his 10th year at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in 2022, adding 16 concerts to the schedule in January, February and May; he’s already finishing this year strong with 16 shows from November 3 through December 12. And Usher, who opened his first Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in July with plans to return for New Year’s Eve, added two earlier shows this week, on December 23 and 24. His December 28-January 1 shows are practically sold out.
More new concert and live event announcements this week include: Punk legends Pennywise will play the House of Blues on November 27; Comedian, actor and singer Rodney Carrington will return to Las Vegas for rodeo week, performing December 3-4 and 10-11 at the David Copperfield Theater at MGM Grand; The Bonkerz Comedy series at Red Rock Resort continues with Ben Brainard on November 26 and Ms. Pat on December 11 at the Rocks Lounge; Alt-rock favorites 311 will once again bring 311 Day to Las Vegas with two nights of music at Park Theater at Park MGM on March 11-12; and New Kids on the Block will lead the Mixtape Tour into Michelob Ultra Arena, also featuring Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue, on May 29 at Mandalay Bay.
Spiegelworld’s “Opium,” just recently reopened at the Cosmopolitan, marked 1,001 performances on September 30, a significant number if you’re in on the joke. Hint: It’s a sci-fi comedy show. “We should have been celebrating our 1,001st performance on March 26, 2020, but the pandemic scuppered our shuttle to Uranus,” said the show’s impresario Ross Mollison, introducing a new word into our Vegas vocabulary. “It was a long slog to finally get ‘Opium’ back into outer space, but the excitement from our cast and crew and especially from our audiences has made it worth the wait.” The starry-eyed experience continues Wednesday through Sunday at 8 and 10 p.m.
We still don’t know the name or the place when it comes to the new Las Vegas production and experience from Criss Angel and Franco Dragone, previously announced as “Mr. Smiles and Molly.” But thanks to a recent casting call, we do know the creative duo is searching for contortionists and other circus-style oddities, “seductive female artists with unique skills” such as fire manipulation, ballerinas and other dancers, comedians and character artists, and auditions are being held this month. Stay tuned, and maybe go sneaking around Planet Hollywood next time you get a ticket for Angel’s “Mindfreak” magic spectacular, performing Wednesday through Sunday at 7 p.m.
Terry Fator will be bringing plenty of holiday cheer to his show at the Liberty Loft at New York-New York next month. “A Very Terry Christmas” is the name of Fator’s special holiday performances set for November 26 through January 1, which will continue to feature the ventriloquist’s cast of characters and original and cover songs as well as seasonal favorites. Tickets are on sale now at newyorknewyork.com.
Human Nature will be home for the holidays — the singing group’s second home, that is — when the former Strip headliners return to Las Vegas to perform some holiday-themed shows at the South Point Showroom on December 17-19. This will be the Australian vocalists’ first performances in town since departing from the theater recently rechristened as the Summit at the Venetian and could be an indicator that Human Nature expects to return to a regular Vegas gig sometime in 2022. Find tickets at southpointcasino.com.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas kicked off a new entertainment offering this week, a weekly open mic night inside the Shag Room (the hidden lounge off the Commons Club lobby bar) hosted by local music mainstay Shawn Eiferman. It returns Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and local musicians and vocalists who wish to participate should arrive early. All participants will be entered into a nightly drawing to win a one-night stay at the resort.
Save the date of October 18 — it’s the world live debut of Pauly Shore & The Crustys, a band that plays music, at the Sand Dollar Lounge. Since it’ll happen during the legendary bar’s Nightmare on Spring Mountain Halloween-themed pop-up, it’ll be extra crusty, er, crazy.
