Best of Vegas: Summer Concerts
The best of the Las Vegas 2008 summer concert schedule
May 22, 2008
By Leah Bailly
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer
It's summer in Vegas. It's 110 degrees, and the air is thick with heat and the smell of hot dogs. Step out of the hotel, past the twirl of cigarette smoke and bling-bling of the slots. Breathe it in. Take an evening stroll along the Strip, just after sunset on the longest day of the year. There will be fast girls in light dresses, hot cars and music pounding from every club. Summer nights in Vegas are known to be reckless and rowdy, and real hipsters don't cruise the Strip on a quest for cheap Cher tickets. Real Sin City scenesters are here for bottomless booze and endless encores.
Sure it's 9,000 degrees in the shade, but Vegas rules the summer concert circuit without the massive price tags of New York and the sellouts of L.A. There's something special about a little Baccarat with your head banging, a little Roulette with your classic rock. Vegas makes the best medleys: Bette Midler and Motley Crue on the same night? Elton John and the Sex Pistols? Every summer, Sin City's class-act casinos play host to hip-hoppers, indie crooners and relic rockers. But which to choose? Of the hundreds of listings, what tops the charts?
Splash Down
Catch Gnarls Barkley at the Outernational Music Festival. (AP Images)At the top of this summer's ticket, the Mandalay Bay beach stage will host the Outernational Music Festival on June 21 with hip-hop geniuses Gnarls Barkley and guests Thievery Corporation. The neo-soul duo Gnarls Barkley, founded by the crafty DJ Danger Mouse and amigo Cee-Lo, has proven unstoppable through the 2008 release of their new album The Odd Couple. Surrounded by palms and the breezy 11 acres of Mandalay's waterpark, the festival is geared to raise awareness of global warming and is scheduled late to avoid the searing desert heat. Tickets are steep at $85, but Vegas is one of few 2008 tour dates for Gnarls Barkley besides the Montreux and Chicago's Lollapalooza. This will be the best solstice party in town.
Other poolside concerts this summer will be equally as delicious. First up, on May 30, the hip-hop team Ozomatli will fire up the Hard Rock pool. Featuring the most luscious combination of salsa, cumbia, dub, rap and Middle Eastern groove, Ozomatli's shows are known for raucous dance sessions and layered instrumentals. The nine-piece Latin/American funkateers are frequenting only the best festivals this summer, and for $20 a ticket, Vegas is lucky. The pool bar at the Hard Rock will also host hip-hop gurus De La Soul on July 18. Again floor tickets are a mere $20, but cabanas are available for $200, with private bottle service and fresh towels if you take a mid-show dip.
Rock It Old School
This summer, there are a few old-schoolers that would be truly hilarious to see in a glamorous (and massive) Las Vegas venue. The top of the oldies list this summer is George Michael, live at the MGM Grand on June 21. Named "the Justin Timberlake of the 1980s" by the Las Vegas Weekly, his first tour in 17 years should prove interesting, with material reaching as deep into pop history as "Faith" and far back as Wham! For a mere $250 per ticket, the George Michael show will remind us of all that misdirected, steamy heart throbbing our aunts did all through the 1980s to the tune of "Please, please, please don’t go away..."
If you're not satisfied with just one old-school crooner, Rod Stewart will be at the MGM Grand on Aug. 2 on a slightly less expensive ticket than George Michael. The really old tanned guy turned reality TV dad may prove just as perky as his deadbeat sons or model wives. Sing along! And to kick off the season, this week, The Police will appear at the MGM Grand's Garden Arena with special guest Elvis Costello on May 23. Despite the fact that Sting’s musical career drifted hazardously into uber-sentimental cheese territory, the Elvis Costello connection will prove that intelligent (albeit old) music shall conquer all.
Pop Monsters and Punk Minors
Beat the heat and cool down with Coldplay at the MGM Grand. (AP Images)Moving in the same mainstream yet still not too bad direction, British pop monsters Coldplay will appear on July 19 at the MGM. Yes, the heat outside will be implausible, but perhaps a few tinkling notes on the piano will cool both young girls and their soft-rock moms. Viva FM radio! Southern swooner Tim McGraw hopes to do the same on the heels of his 2006 tour with wife Faith Hill, which was the highest grossing country music tour in the history of America. This Louisiana actor/country superstar sells out in every city across the nation with his hokey honky-tonk, proving that Americans love football and Tim McGraw. There's no reasoning with leather chaps and a camo-cowboy hat.
On the completely opposite badass side of the spectrum, Vegas will host two of punk music’s true historians. The Sex Pistols will be appearing at the Hard Rock's more intimate venue, the Joint, on June 7 to perform the hits from their one and only album. At least someone’s still pissed at the Queen. Also appearing this summer on the punk(ish) side of things is the classic California band, Rancid. Of the Green Day variety, these ska and dub punks will please the kids and 30-somethings alike, appearing at the House of Blues on July 3 for $20.
Top of the Charts
The Constantines will give Las Vegas a real taste of indie rock this summer. (Courtesy of prusakolep at Flickr.com)So what is the underground favorite on the summer concert schedule? The small but furiously awesome indie outfit The Constantines will be appearing at Fremont Street's Beauty Bar on July 5. On the famous hit-finder record label Arts & Crafts, (home to Broken Social Scene and Feist), their evocative lyrics and textured tracks have lifted them to the top of the Canadian college radio charts and to the depths of the hipster psyche. This will be the real rocker show of the summer. Don't trust a music reviewer who doesn’t know them. The Constantines are the tip of the iceberg. The Constantines are the future of rad.
And finally, everyone's choice for 2008's most incredible show is the indelible Erykah Badu, who will be performing at Las Vegas' House of Blues on June 13. Touring her newest album, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), Badu will prove once again that she is the sweet sister of soul, even in one of America’s spiciest cities. Not since Mama's Gun does her repertoire appear as loaded with loveliness, nor her poise as steadfast. With her grace, this rare, intimate performance with Erykah Badu could prove to be the touchstone of the 2008 concert lineup.
So step out into the desert and return to the swelter of a good summer dance party. Fire up the poker profits and join thousands of American music aficionados in one of the world's best music venues. This 2008 Las Vegas music schedule looks unstoppable, and though we all know what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay here, this year's best shows are one night only.
TOP PHOTO: At $250 a pop, you can see George Michael at the MGM Grand on June 21. (AP Images)
