Living in Las Vegas

Only hours ago, about 3 a.m. this morning, Las Vegas Entertainer Danny Gans died at his Las Vegas/Henderson home in his sleep. His wife called 911 at 3:44 a.m. to say he was having trouble breathing but by the time paramedics arrived it was too late. He was only 52 years old and the exact cause of this death is unknown at this point. He is survived by his wife and 3 children.

Danny Gans is known as the “Man of Many Voices” and has been the reigning Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year for the past 11 years. He has had a longtime comedy and musical show at The Mirage and I recently posted about how in February of this year he moved his show over to Steve Wynn’s The Encore. His marquee on the Strip is the largest freestanding one in the world.

Danny Gans’ manager, Chip Lightman, told Fox 5 News, “Obviously everyone is in shock, I apologize, I want to give you more information but right now I have to tend to the family.”

Steve Wynn is in New York, but stated over the phone, “Elaine and I and all of us in the Company are devastated at the loss of our brilliant, talented and loving friend. One of the most unique human beings and entertainers in the world has been taken from us in an unexpected moment. A profoundly tragic event that leaves us all sad and speechless. The loss of Danny to his wife Julie, his children Amy, Andrew & Emily is at this moment impossible to comprehend. We will all try to go on with our lives without our dear friend. At this moment it seems almost impossible.”

The Mirage said “All of us in The Mirage family are deeply saddened to learn of Danny’s passing. We all knew of his devotion to his family and our hearts and prayers are with his wife and children.”

Once again, Las Vegas as we know it is changing. I will keep you updated as new information arises.

Wheel of Fortune is coming to Las Vegas!  Not permanently, but 4 weeks of shows will be taped at The Venetian and The Palazzo.  The shows taped in Las Vegas will be opening up Wheel of Fortune’s 27th season. Wow! I love it when game shows come to town because that usually means open auditions for Las Vegas locals, and this time is no exception.

Wheel of Fortune’s Wheelmobile will be rolling into town this Friday, April 24th at Planet Nissan on Centennial Center Blvd. and then on Saturday at Henderson Nissan in the Valley Auto Mall.  After that it will come back on Saturday, May 2nd at The Venetian and finish the auditions there on May 3rd.

I might have to try and get out to one of these auditions, I would love to be on Wheel of Fortune, and who knows, this could be the big one!

Spring break is officially over.   The April 15th tax deadline is on the horizon. All good things must come to an end.  Financial issues are on my mind.  And it seems like financial issues are affecting many members of the Las Vegas community. The top headlines today include:

Nevada bankruptcies skyrocketed in 2008

Bankruptcy petitions increased 71% last year while the national increase was only 31%

Educators protest outside Legislature, seek more funding

Today while lawmakers were voting on several education issues, over 150 teachers and students carried signs reading “Nevada’s children deserve better” and “Teachers are worth every penny.”

Harrah’s needs more debt relief to avoid bankrupty

Harrah’s debt swap offer cut Harrah’s debt by nearly $2.3 billion, but Wachovia said that may not be enough.

MGM Mirage faces Friday deadline for $70 million City Center payment

MGM Mirage and Dubai World, which each own 50 percent of CityCenter need to commit a combined $3 billion to finish the development by December. 

And to end on a happier note . . .

Reno mom hits $33 million Megabucks jackpot

Rachel Romanick had been playing for about 10 minutes at Terrible’s Rail City casino when she hit the jackpot.  This is the second largest Megabucks jackpot in history at a Sparks casino.

The 2009 Las Vegas Film Festival begins Friday, April 9th.  It being held at one of my favorite new hotel casinos, the Eastside Cannery.  The festival will show a variety of film screenings including world premiers and Oscar-winning films.

The mission of the Las Vegas Film Festival is to bridge the gap between independent film audiences and filmmakers, as well as to connect emerging filmmakers with established industry professionals.  The 2009 Festival will showcase Feature Files, Shorts, Foreign Films, Documentaries, Animation, Music Videos, Television Pilots, A Nevada Filmmakers Showcase, Experimental Films, a Screenplay Competition and more.

The Sin City Brewing Company was created by former Gordon Biersch Director of Brewing Operations, Richard Johnson.  He invented his own beer brands and originally sold them on tap in Las Vegas bars and taverns. Three years later the Sin City Brewing Company opened its first microbrew bar inside the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood and the newest location just opened last weekend inside the Flamingo.

There are four beers; Sin City Weisse is an unfiltered, straw-colored wheat beer with a low hop profile; Sin City Light is micro-brewed with imported malted barley and lightly hopped with a satisfying CO2 bite; Sin City Amber is full-bodied and made with imported and specialty malts; and Sin City Stout is a full, richly flavored beer with a roasted, coffee-like taste and a hint of chocolate.  The beers are brewed 100 kegs at a time at the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.

If the opening of new location goes well at the Flamingo, owner Richard Johnson hopes to expand to more locations on The Strip.  He stated, “We needed a microbrewery that identified with Las Vegas.  People go into cities and the easiest way to get to know the town is to buy some of their products. Beer is definitely one of those ways to get to know the city. It makes you feel like you get a taste of the place.”

My hubby and I are definitely interested in trying out Sin City Beer and will be giving a full review shortly!

Good news Las Vegas, good news!!  Carlos Santana is going to be in town for a while.  He is set to be the first headliner at the Joint at the Hard Rock playing a show titled “Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits”  Nice!  Who does not love Carlos Santana?

The band will include drummer Dennis Chambers and keyboardist Chester Thompson.  They are scheduled to play 36 shows at the Joint over the next two years. Opening night is May 27, 2009 and you can get tickets at the Hard Rock ranging in price from $79 to $299.

Santana has been performing since 1966 when he formed the Santana Blues Band.  In 1999 Santana’s album, “Supernatural,” won 9 Grammy’s and the single “Smooth” was the last #1 single of the 90’s.  In 2003 he was named #15 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review Journal did a phone interview with Carlos Santana that I liked. in it, Santana stated:

“I’m 61 years old. I understand that if you go see (a legacy performer), there’s certain things you need to hear. We’re respecting and abiding with that,” he said.

“I can use my imagination and go to a sound check in Fresno in 1969 and it’s the first time we ever played ‘Black Magic Woman,’” he said. “I can go there and stay there. I can tell you what it smells like, I can tell you where the sun is. I utilize my imagination to take me to that place where it’s a first-time wonderment.

“A sunset and a sunrise is never the same. Making love is never the same unless you’re doing something wrong.”

I really need to see this show!

The results are in! Here’s a quick run down of the staff and reader picks for Best of Las Vegas 2009.  To get the complete list, head on over to the Las Vegas Review Journal and click on the Best of Las Vegas.

Best Nightclubs: Pure and Prive

Best Family Attractions: Adventuredome and Bonnie Springs Old Nevada

Best Local Rock Bands:  The Killers and The Black Jets

Best Steakhouses: Outback and Capital Grille

Best Performers: Danny Gans and Bette Midler

Best Comedians: Rita Rudner and Craig Ferguson

Best Magicians:  Lance Burton and Keith Barry

Best Singers: Bette Midler and Rick Faugno

Best Strip Hotels: Bellagio and Paris

Best Downtown Hotels: Golden Nugget and El Cortez

Best Locals Hotels: Red Rock Resort and Eastside Cannery

Best Buffets: Bellagio and Wynn

Best Malls: Fashion Show and Town Square

Best Places to take out-of-town guests: Red Rock Canyon and Mount Charleston

Best Celebrity Residents: Andre Agassi and Vince Neil

Best Local TV Anchors: Paula Francis (KLAS-8) and Jim Snyder (KVBC-3)

Best Local Radio Personalities: Mark & Mercedes (KMXB-94.1) and Dave Berns (KNPR-88.9)

Best Local Politicians: Mayor Oscar Goodman and Senator Steven Horsford

Attorney Glen Lerner won the most annoying local TV commercial, beating out John Barr from last year. I have to disagree with this because John Barr’s commercials are beyond annoying, but at least Glen Lerner’s are somewhat catchy, and effective. 

And a special congrats to Paris Hilton who uniquely managed to win top pick as both best and worst celebrity tourist!

Here is a rare picture of The Strip with most of the lights off.  I didn’t actually get a chance to go down there myself but it would have been fun to go just for GP.  I bet it was crazy if you were flying in and everything was all dark! 

Anyway, Earth Hour was created by the World Wildlife Fund with the intention to raise awareness about climate change.  Las Vegas was a Flagship City for Earth Hour and one of about 2,5oo cities around the world that dimmed it’s lights on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m. to show its support.  Lights stayed on at City Center and of course headlights and some hotel rooms remained on, but other than that it was dark on The Strip.

The casinos on the Las Vegas Strip do not turn their lights down too often, but there have been a few occasions. In 1992 the lights were dimmed during the filming of “Honey I Blew Up the Kids”.  In 2004 for the death of president Ronald Regan . Also, for the deaths of Elvis and the members of The Rat Pack the lights were dimmed.

Check out Earth Hour Las Vegas for more info about Las Vegas’ participation and what you can do to help.

It gets windy here in Vegas, real windy sometimes.  Today was one of the those days. It was just annoyingly windy outside.  Everything is dusty, trash is flying around and everyone is sneezing.

Unfortunately for two window washers, they did not get the day off.  Early this morning, two workers were outside the Encore up on scaffolding washing windows and doing maintenance.   At about 9:15 a.m., when they were at the 15th floor, a cable broke on their scaffolding.  30 to 40 mile an hour winds gusts pushed them as far as 40 feet away from the side of the hotel.  The men were blowing in the wind hanging from their harnesses and the scaffolding broke 15 windows on the south side of the building.  Firefighters rescued the workers by going inside the Encore and breaking several windows to secure the scaffolding and rescue the men.  Neither the workers nor any hotel guests were seriously injured.

Many questions remain about this incident.   According to an employee of another high-rise maintenance company, they will typically stop working when wind gusts reach 20 mph. There was a wind advisory was issued for Clark County all day today, and some wind gusts reached over 45 mph.  Why were these men working in such unsafe conditions?

I finally found out the complete list of performers that will be headlining at the new Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

4/17 8 p.m. The Killers
4/18 8 p.m. Avenged Sevenfold (with Atreyu & Rev Theory)
4/19 8 p.m. Paul McCartney
4/24 9 p.m. Bon Jovi
4/25 8 p.m. Kenny Chesney (with Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum)
5/23 9 p.m. Flight of the Conchords (with Arj Baker)
7/13 7:30 p.m. Rise Against (with Rancid & Billy Talent)
9/13 8 p.m. Ricardo Arjona

In addition, things look like they are going to be sounding pretty good over at the Hard Rock pool for awhile also.

5/1 Rusted Root
5/15 Eek-A-Mouse
5/22 Ozomatli
5/29 Sugar Ray
6/5 Gavin Rossdale
6/26 Gin Blossoms (with Tonic)
7/24 Unwritten Law
8/14 Los Lonely Boys (with Los Lobos)
9/11 Collective Soul

All these concerts are going to be held on Friday nights starting at 9:00 p.m. 

As usual things are going to be pretty hot over at the Hard Rock all summer.  And congrats to The Killers for getting opening night, they deserve it!