Latest / Vegas Revealed / Entertainment Deal Brings Light to a Dark Year in Vegas | Ep. 26

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Entertainment Deal Brings Light to a Dark Year in Vegas | Ep. 26 · Vegas Revealed

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to Vegas Revealed episode 26.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's the Lead Beyond Vegas returned imminent.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Plus our nickname celebrity DJ to think fast on the Las Vegas trip.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: We're going in depth.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now we interview Melinda Jekylls, who recently wrote an exclusive article for Bill Ford, and it talks about a new theater coming to the Las Vegas trip.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Could be a game changer.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's all coming up on Vegas Reveal.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Vegas Revealed.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: It is a new week and we have entertainment to talk about.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: Big stuff happening here in Las Vegas.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for being here.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Sean McAllister.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm Dana Roselli.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're thrilled to be talking about something different other than masks, Sean, for once.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kidding.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Resorts World currently under construction on the Las Vegas trip.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: We've been watching it and watching it, and it is moving ahead and it's moving along really nicely.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: They've even lit up the side of the building with this huge like LED screen, and they've been testing it at night.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So good things to come.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and we have a lot to talk about this week from uh uh headliners to nightlife and restaurants.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: What do you say we just dive right in?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: We are excited to have Melinda Sheckels joining us on the podcast.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: She just has a long resume of writing, entertainment, uh, food.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: You name it, Sean.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I feel like uh we all have kind of grown up as as kids right alongside Las Vegas over the past decade plus.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Melinda, how's it going?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Hi guys, how are you?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me on the show.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've uh I've dreamed of being on this podcast.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, thanks for revealing that on Vegas Reveals that you wanted to be a part of it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um listen, Melinda, we want to talk to you about so many things.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one being this big article that was released this week in Billboard.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: But first, just kind of run down for our listeners your experience here in Las Vegas uh as a writer and what you've done through the years.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've been in Las Vegas now 13 years.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I actually originally came to Las Vegas.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I've been a journalist for uh 19 years now professionally, but I came to Las Vegas originally to be editor of a magazine called Las Vegas Home and Design.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: And this was a pre-obviously recession era home decor publication that was owned by Greensbone Media Group.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I really specialized in at that time uh interiors, you know, architecture, interior design.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that was what my background was in as an editor.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: I had not written about lifestyle topics or entertainment or about celebrities prior to coming to Las Vegas.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: That was all things that I learned here.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and obviously when the recession hit and that magazine kind of went away because of its topic and because it was focused on the real estate industry, I jumped over into lifestyle reporting, lifestyle editing, became the editor of Vegas magazine uh here in Las Vegas, and then also the editor of another publication called 944, which was very focused on, you know, nightclubs and that whole late 2000s, early 2010s era.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I made the jump over there from interiors publishing to lifestyle publishing and kind of never looked back from there and have since fallen into lots of crazy things like gossip, uh entertainment, celebrity, you know, things I always loved, but never did professionally.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Food, of course, and uh travel.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So that's me.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: All great topics when we're at a restaurant sitting a table apart, and there's just endless things to talk about.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I I you will you two are one of my favorite uh you know conversation pods, I would say.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because not only do we uh obviously all work in the same industry and have similar backgrounds, maybe in different fields, but uh, you know, you guys are always up to date on everything going on, so I can gossip with you, which is my favorite thing.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we love that.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we ran into you recently and you said, I've got this big story coming out, and Sean and I were sitting here waiting, going, what is it?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: What is what is Shekel's got up her sleeve this week?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a big one.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was a big one, yeah.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was a big one for the city.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we announced this week in Billboard in an exclusive the new theater that is coming to Resorts World, which is the genting group's property,$4.3 billion casino that's being built on the former Stardust site.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so that story, I broke that story this week.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's a partnership between uh AEG, which is one of the biggest concert promoters here in town and in the world, and uh and also the Resorts World team, uh, headed by Scott Sabella, the former president of MGM Grand and other MGM Resorts casinos as well.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: And they have partnered up to create a new 5,000 square foot theater, which will be called the Theater at Resorts World.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that project is set to debut in summer of 2021.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, as we all know, as we all know right now, uh we're not allowed to have entertainment in Las Vegas because of COVID-19 and the pandemic.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so it's anyone's guess really what's gonna happen next summer.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And and I hope we really open that theater, you know.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I know Scott hopes that we do too, and and so does John Maglin uh from AEG, who I talked to for the story.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's uh it's an uncertain time, of course, for entertainment, but it was finally nice to have some news, yeah, you know, break here.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I know it it is exciting um having this news that that AEG is really um, you know, diving back into the entertainment game here on the strip with a brand new property.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: For years, uh AEG was uh kind of the the sole proprietor inside the Coliseum at Caesars Palace and brought people like Celine Dion, Elton John, Cher, Bette Midler, Rod Stewart, you know, huge headlining acts.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Live Nation has since taken over at the Coliseum.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: So it is nice to see AEG back.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Are we kind of expecting that we'll see some of those uh familiar names and faces back this time, though, at Resorts World?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And specifically, I'm thinking Celine Dion.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I tried to get both John Maglin, the uh CEO of AEG and Concerts West, and also Scott, the president of Resorts World, to give me any details as to who we were going to see in the theater at Resorts World, but they wouldn't budge on that.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they did mention, I did ask if we would see any Las Vegas legacy acts.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: And uh they said that it would also be a mix of those types of acts and then also current day chart toppers.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest buzz that we have heard, though, is that you know, the rumor mill is churning that Celine will be in that theater, although nothing is confirmed.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh other names I've also heard Katie Perry, um, who does uh, you know, AEG manages her tour.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And although that is not confirmed by anyone, you know, knowing anything, it is a rumor uh that Katie could potentially be one of the acts in there as well.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Elton John has also been um, you know, part of the rumor mill on that.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we'll see.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there the rumors are are sometimes true, sometimes not, as you guys know.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll see.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing, nothing yet on the talent side, too early to tell, because uh tickets, you know, obviously cannot go on on sale until we actually have confirmation that we're going to have shows in that theater.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but the good news is that um Celine Dion has had a long relationship with AEG.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: She she partnered with them to build the Coliseum at Caesars Palace.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to believe that if she is going to come back with a new residency, it would be with AEG.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: 100% agreed.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think that if she does decide to come back, uh AG also handle handles her international touring and touring productions.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, both both John Meglen and John Nelson, um, who also, you know, was instrumental in the Coliseum deal, uh, are you know very closely aligned with her.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's it's anybody's guess, but if she does go anywhere, I'm sure it's gonna be there.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that's super exciting.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they also, you know, let me know that they have capabilities for sporting events and conventions and all sorts of things, um, you know, different types of live events in that space.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be, you know, it looks very similar almost to park theater.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: When I saw the renderings, it thought it looks very similar to park theater.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we, you know, the technology in these theaters changes so rapidly that, you know, even something that opened two, three, four years ago is now um, you know, going to be eclipsed by anything new, right?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: So everyone has to constantly keep updating theater technology.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then also the new spaces are have it fully integrated.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's gonna be really exciting.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: I hope it happens.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I do too.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I'm excited, I was excited to see the article, just even knowing, you know, resorts world plans on moving ahead.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think in these times we keep, and and we've seen a lot of resorts like the old Fountain Blue that was gonna be the Drew, that everything's get put you know put on hold.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: But but he's confident they're pushing forward for this resort to open, there's no doubt, right?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, that's what he told me.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: He says not, you know, not opening is not an option, right?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, he he definitely said that, and they will open the doors in summer of 2021, um, whether they open with uh what what we characterize as the non-uh gaming revenue spaces, which are theaters and things like that, um they will open.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, Scott had said that you know, overall something really has to give here because it the way these projects are structured economically, um, you know, you you have to have full capacity.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, theaters cannot be at this scale, the cost of the theater, the cost of the town, the cost of the crew, the cost of all of it really can't be scaled to 50% and have it make any sort of sense economically for these companies like AEG and Life Nation.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: So full capacity on theaters is kind of a must for us to have these residencies.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's been a consistent thing I've heard across town from everyone, you know, when we've been talking about entertainment options.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm interested to see that's gonna definitely be a, you know, it's a decision between gaming control board and the governor, really, about what's gonna happen.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: As much as the casino operators, you know, want to have a large stake in that decision, it really is up to those two two entities.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: So this is hopefully just the tip of the iceberg in in having entertainment news coming back to Las Vegas and coming out of Las Vegas.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um what what else do you have in the works?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the other scoops that you can give us, Shekles?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, a lot of things start coming up.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: We are two weeks away from the stadium opening or the stadium being finished, let me say.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: So normally it would have been right, it would have been a Legion Stadium's big opening here.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because it's the construction's gonna be complete.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: So definitely starting to work on stories for that.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and hopefully having to have some big news coming up here.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I also just completed, and it's probably going to publish any minute now, a story on if it hasn't already published, um, a story also for Billboard that's really a state of the union from all of the industry experts in town about live entertainment, where we sit, and it's really positioned, obviously, Billboard is positioned for people in the entertainment industry, in the music industry, and also as a huge consumer crossover, too.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really a state of the union amongst the industry experts about what's going on in Las Vegas.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because we have the biggest industry in terms of live events and also the most to lose and have lost the most in this entire situation.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, our almost 99% of our entertainment industry here is is, of course, out of work currently.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the few and far between people that have jobs are, you know, um have working at reduced capacities or reduced salaries.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's been, you know, unfortunately, the industry that has been hit the hardest, I think, um, you know, across the world.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, we really have no idea of when this industry can come back.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I I sat down with all the industry experts here in town and really kind of got a state of the union from them about how they're using this time to shape not only what how Las Vegas reopens entertainment, but potentially how the world reopens entertainment.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so because we sit in such a unique space.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that article should be out any minute.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um nine weeks I worked on that article.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: So what's what's the cons uh no, what's the consensus there?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: How was the feeling?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Did they feel positive, or is it really just the unknown?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because Sean and I talk all the time, and it's like, you know, a lot of times, you know, in our profession, we we base things off facts, but during this time, it just seems like there's just not a concrete answer.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of we hope, or this is what we think, and this is how we see it.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the article changed so rapidly, which is one of the reasons why it's been in the works for nine weeks, uh, because the information was constantly changing.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Some people I even had to go back twice for interviews.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there is a Las Vegas COVID-19 events committee that was started by Pat Christensen at Las Vegas events, and it gathers 40 plus entertainment leaders from around the city in different sectors.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, not just entertainment, but sporting events and you know, concerts and stage shows and things like that.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a committee of all these people and they discuss what their plans are, what their opening plan is going to look like.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: They brought in consultants to discuss sanity, you know, sanitization and uh queuing and protocols in terms of that, but it is a wait and see.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have no idea until the gaming control board and the governor gives a green light to gatherings when we will ever be able to be in a theater together again.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really what it comes down to.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's wait and see.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, just kind of I think it ebbs.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think the mood though ebbs and flows.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Some days I've heard the mood is good and optimistic.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then some days, considering all of the setbacks that we've had recently with phase two to phase one and all this other stuff, I think then the mood gets a little scarier for people.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: And uh kind of another prong to the entertainment here in Las Vegas is obviously the nightlife.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's a big revenue driver that that is not uh currently able to operate.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um on the on the nightlife front, what kind of changes are?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, is it given the fact that theaters can't operate at uh you know half capacity, I imagine nightclubs are are kind of the same way.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: They count on packing those spaces.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um are we gonna see a huge shift in Vegas nightlife too?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, presently, and I I so funny, I lived in Las Vegas 13 years, even as a reporter, and I never even had a contact at the gaming control board.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And now I talk to the gaming control board literally, at least once a week, if not more.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like me and and the and the analysts from the gaming control board are like on a first name basis now.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um he probably wonders where I came from, for she just all appeared so appeared out of nowhere.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so presently where we're at with nightlife is um nightclubs have been allowed to reopen, but had to rebrand themselves as lounges and pools.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: So day clubs are now pools only and nightclubs are now lounges only.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: So the differentiation and classification between a lounge and a nightclub is is that a lounge, you don't have a a center, a center, your centerpiece is not is the is not talent.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: So in a nightclub, people are there to see a show essentially, just like they're in a theater.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: So at a lounge, the DJ is not front and center and it's not build talent.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not going to get, you're not basically kind of selling tickets to a concert there anymore.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like, you know, we were in a stage where you know you're gonna go see Calvin Harris at Omni on a Friday, you're basically buying a concert ticket for that show.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's not happening anymore.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the DJs are not even present in these lounges, they're kind of hidden in a corner or behind it's such a shift because I mean, like a couple of months ago, it was totally the reverse.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: So they're kind of hiding the DJs away.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: People are not there, they cannot dance or congregate in a space that's not their table.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they do serve alcohol, they do serve food in most instances now.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I noticed I went to one of them, and what I noticed was people were actually interacting with each other within their party versus being on their phone all the time.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: So that I thought was a positive because people were happy to be out and happy to be with their friends.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and people weren't just sitting there filming the DJ.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what that does to talent deals, though, is on the business side of it, most of the nightclubs that had major talent deals have exercised the force majeure clause, which means act of God, meaning that uh they've had to basically put all those things on hold, wipe them, all the contracts on hold and wipe them out because of unforeseen act, which is COVID-19.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that gives them the ability on the business side to get out of those deals, which signifies a huge shift in Las Vegas because I don't think those deals and many of the experts I talk to, talent buyers in the story, also agree they don't see those deals coming back.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a huge paradigm shift for this city because you know, your your capacities are less, you can't charge, you can't have talent.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, you can't afford to pay the talent, you can't afford to pay the plane for private planes, you can't afford to pay for the, you know, I'll pay back the casino for the rooms and amenities.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it really shifts the entire uh way that uh talent uh fees and talent will get paid.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and I think that this could finally, you know, could be the nail in that coffin, um, you know, so to speak.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: So um we'll see.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: But as of now, none of those DJ performances are rescheduled.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think I saw that you went and and I went to um a week before you did to intrigue, right?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: At the win, which I didn't even know was there until, you know, I realized I had a friend in and we had to find someplace to go.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like you said, it was people sitting in in groups on a couch and with their friends, and but it was so quiet, right?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: The feel is so different.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's much different.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I I don't know, I kind of liked it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: I know it was I'm 44, but this is great.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I'm right behind you in 42.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, it was great.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I I like the fact that I could get, you know, it wasn't all just bottle service, so it was like I could order a cocktail, and uh, you know, it wasn't uh it was it was uh a nice atmosphere um for support solder windows.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: See, I I love that we're all in the same age bracket here, so I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping for a resurgence in the uh ultra lounge.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: I love that era of Las Vegas.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Bring back taboo.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we are, you know, uh I spoke with also Andy Massey uh for the article, who obviously used to run the light group and now has moved back into lounges uh well before COVID-19 with Click Hospitality.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: And he um he runs barbershop at the Cosmopolitan as well as Click Lounge.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, his places are pop.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I was there over the weekend and he already served food, so he was in the clear on the bar shutdown.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, it feels comfortable, it doesn't feel empty, distanced, it feels good.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And there were people were were loving that they were out, they were very happy to be out.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: So across the board.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, another, another uh, I don't know, category area that you cover a lot is food.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's been one of those things where during this whole thing, a lot of restaurants have been able to open and deliver and have pickup and all that, and then they they've opened and they can only be at a certain capacity.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: So what have you what have you noticed in that arena?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: It I noticed that a lot of people that own restaurants, run restaurants, still say even though they're open, they're they're suffering.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, it's it's hard to gauge because we have had a lot of, I mean, the the restaurant community here is so strong in terms of um, you know, the locals have really, really built up um following for, you know, uh kind of a dozen or so restaurants that have a very strong following.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then Those restaurants like Esther's Kitchen, we were talking about Sparrow and Wolf.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Their business has been very, very good.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: They're very small restaurants, though.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Esther's Kitchen, I think, you know, is only allowed to have like 30 people right now.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: So they're cutting half their capacity, did a lot to them, unfortunately, in terms of, you know, service aspects.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you even with the reservation now, you probably got to expect at these smaller restaurants to wait 30 to 45 minutes for your table.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, depending on who gets up before you, you know, there's a level of patience you have to have.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think everyone's been pretty good about it, but you know, you have to kind of go into it with that mindset that you're not dealing with uh, you know, uh a ship that's runner running on all its engines right now, you know.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So you have as customers, and I mean I'm an educated customer, so I understand these things.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just hope everyone else is cutting, you know, them slack because of the fact that, you know, you can't just expect to walk in and be sat right away because, you know, patrons stay now.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's their only activity, it's their only diversion.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think that restaurants in the strip are probably hurting the most from what I've seen, is because um, you know, not just not having as many tourists and then also having to have cut capacity because, you know, some of the larger restaurants, you know, they see three, four hundred people.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, look at Tau.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Tau has not yet reopened.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tao's one of the largest, highest grossing restaurants in the city and has not reopened.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's an indicator to me that those high volume, high-grossing restaurants are maybe the ones that are in most peril in terms of being able to rebound because they survive on volume.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, that's something I think we're gonna look at and see more of.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: And and what I've been seeing in other cities too, like Chicago was a city I was spending a lot of time in because I was working on a project there.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of their very famous restaurants have announced permanent closures.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Some of their biggest, most award-winning restaurants are just not reopening.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that community was hit really, really hard um by COVID and the closures.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Las Vegas, we've been, you know, staying the course.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I think um, you know, some will fall, unfortunately.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh we haven't seen a lot of closures yet, permanent closures.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, what do you think uh once uh we we are able to uh uh get back to uh more of a sense of business as usual here in Las Vegas and start to welcome people back?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think is gonna be the biggest change that we see in the city?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest change, okay.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely think that the biggest change is going to be um, you know, uh how people, how people uh relate to the casino and non-gaming amenities, you know.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think as we reopen, we'll really see the full impact that non-gaming amenities have on casinos.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of something what Scott said was, you know, we're not able to do a model now where we can survive on gaming alone, right?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Which is essentially what we're in in phase two.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: We're trying to survive on gaming alone.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: So as we reopen, we'll really see how dependent we were on entertainment financially, you know, because it's gonna make the biggest difference.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be the big jumping point.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And some of my sources even said, which, you know, is mind-blowing, you know, you a casino will do 50% more business on a weekend when there's a residency show in-house.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, you know, so that's huge numbers.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like the casino, the the entertainment affects the casino floor, it's not the other way around.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: So entertainment is the main driver now, non-gaming revenue, main driver, you know.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're gonna really see what impact that was when those numbers switch over again.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of a reverse engineering, but that's really what the biggest, the biggest shocking moment will be for us, I think.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: And also, too, I mean, I think as as the city reopens, we will also see that we're not going back to the way things were.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: So there will be a lot of new things that we do.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I was over, this is fascinating too.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: We were over, I was over at Venetian Palazzo, kind of doing a walkthrough the other day of their changes on the casino floor.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And at any time, they need to be able to tell the gaming control board how many people are actually in the casino.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and that was never a thing that they had to do before.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: So they actually have to count heads now as they come in.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: So there the eye in the sky is counting heads now, and and if they have to shut down again at any moment, they have to be able to tell the gaming control board uh how many people are in the casino.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was wild to me because we never thought that that was happening, right?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: We never thought that they were actually counting the people that came in the door, but now they have to.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's I notice a lot of pressure on the staff, you know, to keep people wearing masks and and doing counts, like you said.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a change for everyone that's back to work too.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Melinda, before we let you go, so Sean and I usually do our secret tips at the end of the show.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we have a lot of listeners from all around the world.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're big in Australia and Canada and the UK.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um so um we have um a lot of people that obviously think about, you know, they visit a lot and some are putting their trips on hold a little bit or saying, well, okay, I'm gonna come in the fall.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: But do you have any tips or anything that you recommend if someone was to come to Vegas maybe in the next three months?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a couple things that you've seen, experienced, heard about that you think maybe they should hit up during this time that could make their visit enjoyable and maybe something different, maybe, maybe an old standard?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I would say what I like to do, okay, even when I have people coming or even things that like kind of I like to make I everything to me is a travel itinerary.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: So even like my Tuesday is a travel itinerary.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I really, you know, I think it's fun to play big Vegas by the themes, you know, like play it by the themes.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe like divide your trip up and one night you're gonna have like the old Vegas experience, right?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: So then visit, you know, a great steakhouse like the Golden Steer or go down to the Mob Museum or you know, go to the Neon Museum and really kind of see Vegas through the decades and through the ages.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then one night you're gonna want to do kind of, you know, artistic Vegas, right?
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: And experience and take a look at and really keep your eyes open for the things that you might not be noticing.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's a lot of hidden details in Vegas that people just walk right by, especially, you know, like oh my goodness, at the palms when it was open, the the art collection was so fantastic.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Or even at M, you know, at Aria, the art collection, like keep your eyes open for the art and the little details when the art collection is so amazing.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like people kind of walk by that stuff because they don't really realize what it is and they're looking at the machines.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: And there's so much detail in our environments here in Vegas that just goes unnoticed.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: And in in, you know, if you don't have a lot of other entertainment options like shows and such, it's a great way to kind of play play games with yourself in the environments, in the casinos, um, and discover things that you may never have known were there, you know.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um those are great, those are some things that I love to do.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and by all means, if you're in Australia and you're coming to Vegas and want to hit and you want to hit me up for a recommendation, yeah, my Instagram is at MelindaShekles.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Easy enough, right?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: And you'll also notice on Instagram that uh if Melinda is doing a themed night out, chances are there's an outfit that matches the theme.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: There is.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: I am very big on uh gimmicks, as someone once said.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Melinda, you love a gimmick, and I do really love gimmick.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's very true.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I must say, you know, it's been it's been interesting seeing all of us when I when we look at our circle, you know, we we we kind of have a circle here, and like you said, and you know, the journalists, the entertainers, the the entertainment, the the people who hit the town a lot for different kinds of events and whether they're media events or or just a fun, maybe even a fundraiser.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's been interesting to see us all in a different element, hasn't it?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just I love I love I've learned so much about about our group, you know, that we can step back, but it we're we're so at the beginning, we're just so confused on what to do with ourselves, don't you think?
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I for the last 13 years of my life living in Las Vegas, I've been going out five to seven nights a week.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: And that all changed, you know.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I now go out maybe, you know, now that things have loosened up a little bit or maybe won't be loosening up a little bit anymore.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I'm I'm averaging about two to three nights a week, but for a long time I was five to seven nights.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, having more time, you know, at home has been very interesting.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I do miss seeing everybody.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's always like we, you know, there's still so many people to to see that we haven't seen.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully we'll be all back together really soon.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: Fingers crossed, and and hopefully it'll be for a big concert and a night out at a bar.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we can all what we can all hope for.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: Melinda, thank you so much for joining us.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: We appreciate your time, your insights, and your scoops.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and as Melinda mentioned, she's on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and she loves uh playing, you know, concierge.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you ever have questions you want to ask her directly or read some of her articles, you can check her out on her socials.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: We'll make sure to tag her when we push the podcast this week.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Melinda's always a great resource and obviously always good for conversation too.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's for sure.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: We talked a lot today, and uh, I thought it was a good, good interview and a good chat.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: We hope that we informed all the listeners on kind of what's going on here in Vegas when it comes to entertainment, nightlife, food.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's you know, those are our main things.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's what we we thrive on, Sean.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so uh keep it here on uh future episodes of Vegas Revealed as we have developments on all of those.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week, everyone.