360 Vegas

Random Vegas The original MGM Grand, now Bally’s, had the first movie theaters ever built into a hotel (@vitalvegas) Twitpic of the week One of the challenges new residents of Vegas that love the city like we do have to learn how to drive, is paying attention while you’re driving and not gawkin.  This week’s pic by @_GrandPaD illustrates that better than any I’ve seen before.  It’s just fuckin miles of eye candy and I have to try and ignore all of it.  While I am a giant fan of the FSE and Turing all that space into a pedestrian mall, at night, it must have been impossible to drive down Fremont St.

Random Vegas The lead singer of Devo did the cool/creepy art in the men’s room at Park on Fremont restaurant. (@VitalVegas) Twitpic of the week In what can be agreed is the sexiest Golden Nugget exterior signage ever looked as in the late 60s.  A time when Gold didn’t look like yellow.  The glow of the signage somehow embodies the phrase “feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” But Golden Nugget’s story is longer than that and even the signage couldn’t keep up with the demand caused its evolution into the property it is today.  Thanks to @las_when for sharing it News El Cortez expansion New Sphere, Same Problems The Match @Wynn

Random Vegas 40% of MGM Resorts guests decline daily housekeeping (VitalVegas) Twitpic of the week Simply Elegant and somehow sexy, like the leg lamp in a Christmas Story.  Milton Prell’s Aladdin’s original marquee was a looker, shared this week by @summacorp.  It’s not a marquee often featured in the great marquees of Las Vegas but it should be.  I can’t describe it without doing a huge disservice.  It’s like a neon ice cream cone but with an ad for Nudes On Ice on it. News Tropicana Stadium Play Playground Las Vegas BLVD complex

To summarize, although there were multiple service issues, it didn’t spoil our enjoyment. This place should do very well, having good beers, burgers and pizza right off the bat. The draw is going to be that roof terrace, the drawback is going to be the location. Price wise it’s in line with the rest of the strip with $11 beers and food at resort level pricing. Overall in our opinion, it’s worth a visit. It will be interesting to hear what other people think.

Random Vegas Caesars hotels in Vegas had 95% occupancy in Q1.  21% of those rooms were occupied by groups/conventions (@MeltzVegas) Twitpic of the week No doubt this week’s winner by @summacorp is a screenshot of a scene in a film but then again, film is just thousands of pictures capturing seconds of action.  Call it what you want, I call it beautiful.  I love the Fremont St experience canopy but I will always find pictures without it breathtaking.  Something about a pitch black sky illuminated by miles of neon tubing that does it for me. If you feel the same way your gonna love this week’s winner News Horseshoe Fire Parisian Expansion Aheren > Lucky Dragon?

Random Vegas Vegas is a trending topic on twitter almost 365 days a year. (@vegasClub) Twitpic of the week It’s a sign o’ the times.  The only thing that never changes is change.  However seldom does a brand from the past resurrected in Las Vegas.  This week’s winner by @jamesInLasVegas captures the conversion from Bally’s to Horseshoe, well, at least the signage.  So far the conversion has been little more than an updating of signage but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is the Horseshoe has returned to the market.  Make sure you enjoy it while you can because again, the only constraint in life is change this to will pass. News Bent Inn FSE 2023 concert lineup Illuminating Vic Sphere Tour w/U2 

One of the great things about a Vegas trip is all the opportunity for surprises. Not bad surprises, like the bell desk lost your luggage or you just checked in and there’s a used prophylactic in your sheets.Good surprises, like a jackpot, or a delicious new drink, or finding out that random restaurant you decided to try has the best food ever. On my most recent trip to Vegas, I got to experience one of those good surprises when we decided to check out SIX: The Musical during its limited residency at the Venetian. (An aside: I think that I’m a little more tapped into the theater scene than the average straight American male. This is due to a rather diverse resume that includes a non-zero amount of time working backstage in professional theater.  So I still hear stuff from friends in the entertainment industry.  But this show was not on my radar at all.) Werk. Part of the reason for this is that SIX: The Musical is a relatively new show.  Conceived in 2017 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, SIX quickly m

Random Vegas 39 Las Vegas poker rooms closed since 2012.  10 of those closed for the pandemic and never reopened. None have closed in since Sept of 2021.  Currently there are 19 poker rooms in Las Vegas.  (@john_mehaffey) Don’t ask me where they are because that information wasn’t in the tweet. Twitpic of the week Possibly the best picture of how the strip has evolved to today taken by @maverickheli.  True, it shows a still in progress Resorts World but that doesn’t take away from the picture.  It’s still an excellent capturing of Mandalay to Strat.  To top it all off, something that most visitors overlook all the time are the mountains.  Locals are surrounded by picturesque mountains because the strip and downtown are in a valley. Next time you get a chance, allow our eyes to venture beyond the builds and appreciate just how beautiful southern Nevada is. News Mirage/Hard Rock Local Offers Las Vegas Athletics Golden Nugget Sports Betting App Mekka Walgreens Little Brother 

Random Vegas Sin City Sindy, formerly identified as the world’s biggest stripper at 31 feet tall, used to stand outside of the stripper bar located at the back of the Miracle Mile shops, by the V Theater and Blonde’s sports bar.  While Sindy is still there today, the name of the bar has been changed to the more politically correct “showgirl bar”.  While her stripper pole still remains her breasts, formerly said “Stripper Bar” now only says Bar. (VitalVegas) Twitpic of the week Proof that photoshop isn’t always a bad thing, or that you can create a pretty cool version of the strip with a light bright.  This week’s winner, shared by @Begas_Vaby, shows photoshop’s ability to enhance the view into something more like we see in our dreams.  Awash with various colored lights the strip is unrivaled in their use of exterior illumination, even if those have been dimmed to save money. News 360VV12 GA Harlem Nights Hotel & Casino Strat Still doesn’t Get It Strip Tiki Bar Returns Absinthe Expansion White Sands Motel

My heart just got all achey-breaky. This next review is one that I’ve been hanging on to for some time.  Listeners with excellent memories might recall that back in spring of 2022, when I submitted my first review to be read on the show, we figured out that my wife and I were at a show the previous week that Mark was also at. I’m kind of in awe at how much has changed since then. I started as a regular contributor, then I attended my first Vegas Vacation, then we all started hanging out together on the many trips I’ve taken to Vegas since, and then Keren got tired of reading my reviews on the show, and so now here we are recording together. So today, let’s talk about the first time Mark and I hung out in the same room, even though we didn’t know it at the time. Let’s talk about X-Country. Okay, so let’s get this out of the way. I like women. If women choose to be naked in front of me, I like that, too. As I type these words out onto the screen, it occurs to me that I probably cannot review this show without

Random Vegas In a casino cage, damaged currency (slot machines refuse to accept) is referred to as “mute money.” “Mute” is shorthand for “mutilated.” (Vital Vegas) Twitpic of the week The more I look at this picture the more I appreciate the evolution of the Riviera.  Not just the hotel towers but the signage as well.  While she wasn’t in the best of conditions at the end she was still a classy broad…or gawdy.  The two tend to often blur in Vegas.  This arial picture of the property in March of 96, shared by @summacorp, showcases a few things about the Riviera.  It shows the rooftop pool that never came to fruition as well as just how much of the marquee signage tower was an employ shell in the inside.  This property will always have a special place in my heart because of how much the Martin Scorsese movie Casino was filmed at the property.  For more on that, you’ll have to check out our 360 Vegas POV series on the film, available exclusively to Patreon subscribers for $7 per month, less than a fancy cup of

Random Vegas When Wynn was building Bellagio, to pull in the kind of numbers he needed to make the place profitable, he knew he needed a show that would put people in the seats 6 days a week. So he went to Cirque and requested a production centered around water. Originally, it was going to be called Eau, the French word for water. However, people inside the organization were concerned that Americans would mispronounce it as “Eww”, so instead they went with the way it was pronounced, O.   Twitpic of the week  Holy...fuckin...shit. This week’s winner, shared by @stratvegas is fucking epic. Come on, a desert icon like the Stratosphere in the foreground of an epic collection of snow covered mountains in the background is simply breath taking. Seriously, words are escaping me. Do yourself a favor and check this week’s winner out. Simply stunning News Nightmare Las Vegas Wahlburgers 2: Wahlburgery Six: The Musical

Random Vegas Treasure Island was originally planned to be an addition to the Mirage before eventually deciding it develop it into a separate property (sincitytalk.com) Twitpic of the week “Holy shit, that used to exist” is the first thing I exclaimed the first time I saw this picture of the Riviera’s porte cochere, circa 1969.  With stunning curves and swooping elegance, it stood as a shining example of the art deco playbook at its pinnacle and proves that buildings can be sexy as well as functional.  This is what the place looked like when Dino was part owner as well as headliner.  I’d like to imagine that @_GrandpaD is a vindictive old man who enjoys showing things the rest of us can only be teased by.  Thanks…dick. News 360 Vegas Vacation 12 Bottled Blonde

Long, long ago, in the Miracle Mile Shops far, far, away… All right, so if you and the listeners haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big dork. In my youth, I enjoyed video games, Star Wars, and installing A/V equipment so much that it’s a wonder I ever got laid. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve shifted my dorky obsessions to things like bourbon and Vegas, but I’m still a dork. So when it was announced that the show “A Musical About Star Wars” was coming to the Miracle Mile Shops, I had to check it out.  Over the holidays I grabbed a pair of tickets and we went to see it. Some background on the show: While I had never heard of the show before it was announced that it was coming to Vegas, it has been around for a few years. It premiered off-Broadway in New York back in 2019, and one of the stars of the Vegas version is a co-writer, and he was also part of the original cast.   Let’s just get this out of the way: the comparisons to Potted Potter playing at the Horseshoe are inevitable.  Both shows are in relatively sm

Random Vegas For the 23rd consecutive month, Vegas is reporting earnings over $1 billion (Review Journal) Twitpic of the week The New York skyline, shared by @VegasTravelNews, eloquently recreated on the Las Vegas strip, provides just enough of the real experience to check it off of my to-do list.  Plus it has a roller coaster.  Where is your theme park attraction real New York?  In all seriousness, the ability to enjoy different themes & experiences per property is one of the magical things about this city.  A pyramid, a Medieval Castle, Paris and a number for tropical themed resorts, all in one desert. News 360 Vegas Winter Vacation Report Crazy Housewives Heart Attack

Random Vegas It was reported that while building the MGM Grand, today known as Horseshoe, Kerkorian offered to pay Sinatra half a million to come out of his most recent retirement to perform a 1 week engagement. Even if he wanted to, Sinatra wouldn't have been able to because he was still under contract with Caesars who planned litigation if he attempted to play at another hotel (Vintage Research)   Twitpic of the week   There it is, north strip, as it was known in 1996. We still see the Stardust, La Concha, Silver Dollar, El Rancho (2ndone) and Riviera. Today, all that’s left is Circus Circus, Sahara and Stratosphere. Today, most of this picture is a wasteland. Comprised of empty lots where dreams were inspired but progress couldn’t match. Sure we got Resorts World and will soon have the Fountinebleau but still. It was a portal into the past, something Vegas doesn’t often regarding with nostalgia. At least we still have Peppermill to visit and transport ourselves to the time and period of Vegas we r

Most remember the Riviera as the old rundown place it felt like towards the end of its existence.  But the Riviera roamed the landscape like giants for a time, attracting the biggest names in entertainment.  However that was a long time ago and the Riviera was not able to keep up with changing tastes.  And as Liberace and Dean Martin’s stars began to fade, so did the Riviera, gradually declining into the property she was for her last 20 years, a grind joint. The Riviera is no longer with us.  While romantic hearts will look at this tragically, realists will acknowledge that Riviera is simply a story of a life cycle, the evolution of a property, from inception to implosion. Here is that story.

Random Vegas Riviera was the first casino in Las Vegas to have a fast food restaurant, a Burger King (@VitalVegas)   Twitpic of the week  With the help of @Maverickheli, at first glance, it looks like a large metropolis.  Half a second later you realize you’re looking at the strip and goddamn is it sexy.  It isn’t a colorful as it once was but it still glitters and glows.  This POV is simply breathe taking and a sweet addition to our Twitpic of the week collection   News The New Bazaar Shops

So this is actually the first Cirque show I’ve reviewed for the podcast. I’ve seen several Cirque shows; the wife is a big fan. Our first trip to Vegas together included The Beatles - Love, which I really need to revisit. Maybe Tony will go with me, since he really should see it. Since that first trip we took together, my wife and I have seen “O”, Mystere, as well as Zumanity. Confession time: I liked Zumanity. I think we saw it twice. I was definitely disappointed when I heard it was going away. But we really like Cirque, and we like New York- New York. We’ve never stayed there, but we always end up hanging out there. So I was very interested in what we were going to get when Mad Apple was announced. I heard a lot of buzz that it was “not your typical Cirque show,” which actually made me really nervous because that’s also what they were saying about “R.U.N.” and that show was apparently a giant belly flop…    Not the best photo, but she was hanging by her hair. By her hair! To me, it’s kind of funny that si

Random Vegas The 93 acres of land Caesars sits on requires 14 full time gardeners to maintain with an annual budget of $350k (Las Vegas: Behind the Tables) Twitpic of the week While a significant number of people in America are experiencing a brutal winter season, in Vegas, when it happens, its breathtaking and typically doesn’t last very long.  Clearly someone agreed with us as this week’s winner, brought to us by @summacorp, is a picture of Stardust Jan 5th, 1974.  There is something about snow that gives one the feeling of serenity and evokes thoughts of a warm fire and hot beverages.  The peaceful silence of its falling to the dangerous elegance of its presence reminds us once again that snow is only good for show in very limited doses and for recreation. News 360 Vegas Winter Vacation Downtown Stadium EarthCam