Latest / Vegas Revealed / Caribbean Steakhouse Opens, Free Fireworks Every Saturday this Summer, No Doubt Plays Sphere, New Arts District Restaurant, Michelin Guide Ceremony Coming to Las Vegas | Ep. 320
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_06: Las Vegas is coming to Hawaii.
- 0:02SPEAKER_06: This summer, Vegas Revealed makes its Hawaii debut on Kiku TV.
- 0:07SPEAKER_06: Every week at the latest from on and off the strip.
- 0:10SPEAKER_06: Shows.
- 0:12SPEAKER_06: Dining.
- 0:13SPEAKER_06: The experiences everyone is talking about.
- 0:15Sean McAllister: Whatever's happening at the sphere is kind of taking over the town.
- 0:18SPEAKER_06: All from the city that never slows down.
- 0:21SPEAKER_01: And I can't shake my love for Vegas Revealed.
- 0:24SPEAKER_06: Let's go.
- 0:24SPEAKER_06: Vegas Revealed, your Las Vegas connection.
- 0:27SPEAKER_06: Sundays at 6.30 on Kiku.
- 0:30Dayna Roselli: It's episode 320 of Vegas Revealed.
- 0:33Dayna Roselli: Packed for Vegas.
- 0:35Dayna Roselli: We will have fireworks every Saturday for two months straight.
- 0:38Sean McAllister: Plus, a Caribbean steakhouse opens on the north end of the strip, and a slew of celebrities showed up for the grand opening.
- 0:45Dayna Roselli: Dive-in movies will return to the cosmopolitan on Monday nights, an affordable experience for summer.
- 0:51Sean McAllister: And we finally check out the Empire Strips Back, a Star Wars burlesque parody that's doing so well.
- 0:58Sean McAllister: It's now running seven nights a week over at the Rio.
- 1:01Dayna Roselli: A new restaurant opens in the Arts District, no doubt kicks off their sphere residency, and the Southwest Michelin ceremony is coming to Vegas in August.
- 1:11Dayna Roselli: What an honor.
- 1:12Sean McAllister: We've got this and more now on Vegas Reveal.
- 1:17Dayna Roselli: Welcome to Vegas Revealed, episode 320.
- 1:20Dayna Roselli: Dana Roselli and Sean McAllister here.
- 1:22Dayna Roselli: We kind of ended last week teasing the fireworks announcement.
- 1:27Dayna Roselli: And so we should probably dive right into it.
- 1:30Dayna Roselli: Uh we are kicking off summer with a bang.
- 1:32Sean McAllister: Yeah, with a big bang.
- 1:34Sean McAllister: For eight weeks, Las Vegas is going to be setting off fireworks to celebrate the 250th uh birthday of America.
- 1:42Sean McAllister: Okay.
- 1:42Sean McAllister: So this is uh kind of considered the biggest fireworks show in the nation to celebrate America's birthday.
- 1:51Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and then July 4th is going to be huge.
- 1:54Dayna Roselli: So we'll dive into that.
- 1:55Dayna Roselli: But yeah, it's going to feature an eight-minute show every Saturday night in June and July.
- 2:00Dayna Roselli: They start at nine o'clock.
- 2:02Dayna Roselli: They're synchronized to music.
- 2:04Dayna Roselli: So you can tune in to a bunch of different radio stations to listen.
- 2:08Dayna Roselli: Um, it's all complimentary and free.
- 2:10Dayna Roselli: Um, there's gonna be some uh exciting stuff on the exosphere at the sphere every Saturday, too.
- 2:17Dayna Roselli: So lots of things to see and do in Las Vegas.
- 2:20Sean McAllister: Yeah, and each Saturday, the fireworks are going to move, with the exception of Fourth of July, when nine properties are taking part in the firework display.
- 2:29Sean McAllister: Um, but the other Saturdays surrounding that, uh, they're going to move from the south end of the strip to the central strip, north end of the strip, downtown.
- 2:38Sean McAllister: So uh different portions of the strip are going to be having these fireworks on select uh Saturdays in June and July.
- 2:47Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I think that's great too.
- 2:49Dayna Roselli: It gives everyone kind of an opportunity, right?
- 2:51Dayna Roselli: It's like Saturday, June 6th, when it kicks off at Caesar's Palace, Treasure Island, the Venetian.
- 2:55Dayna Roselli: Um, and then they move down, you know, on the June the 13th.
- 2:59Dayna Roselli: They're going MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood.
- 3:02Dayna Roselli: So it's cool.
- 3:02Dayna Roselli: And then they go downtown for June 20th.
- 3:04Dayna Roselli: Now July 4th, like you said, nine rooftops along the strip are gonna launch fireworks.
- 3:11Dayna Roselli: So that's huge.
- 3:13Dayna Roselli: And it's all gonna be synchronized to music, so it'll be really spectacular, kind of like New Year's Eve.
- 3:18Sean McAllister: Yeah, and different genres of music for each of those displays as well.
- 3:23Sean McAllister: Um, each of the Saturday night firework shows are going to begin at 9 p.m.
- 3:28Sean McAllister: sharp.
- 3:28Sean McAllister: Uh, this is gonna be an exciting summer.
- 3:32Dayna Roselli: It is.
- 3:32Dayna Roselli: I mean, listen, it there's no doubt that everyone across America is trying to lure travelers in for the summer and come up with ideas.
- 3:40Dayna Roselli: And hey, we're basically offering free entertainment every Saturday night.
- 3:44Dayna Roselli: And you and I were even saying we were talking Vegas weddings last weekend.
- 3:47Dayna Roselli: I mean, it's a great time to plan pictures.
- 3:49Dayna Roselli: Yes.
- 3:49Dayna Roselli: First that, you know, with fireworks or capture all those videos that you want to put on your social media.
- 3:55Dayna Roselli: Um, they're doing things in some of our kind of feeder drive markets too, um, which they kind of already did, but they they went into LA County and San Diego and Phoenix and Scottsdale area, um, offering like the first 100 cars, a hundred bucks in gas, and there were show girls at the gas station.
- 4:13Dayna Roselli: And so we're making a push for it.
- 4:14Dayna Roselli: And you know what?
- 4:15Dayna Roselli: We've got some great summer deals.
- 4:17Sean McAllister: I mean, if you're driving by, if you're living in uh, you know, the LA area, Phoenix, um, wouldn't you just pull into the gas station if you were driving by and you see showgirls out there?
- 4:28Dayna Roselli: I would think so.
- 4:29Dayna Roselli: It's so normal for us that that's true.
- 4:32Dayna Roselli: I see showgirls filling up their car at the gas station.
- 4:35Sean McAllister: You see showgirls, you see Elvis filling up his pink Cadillac.
- 4:40Dayna Roselli: Occasionally the other day there was some guy walking down the street when I was driving here, actually, down Paradise, and I don't know what he was.
- 4:47Dayna Roselli: He was almost like Captain Hook or something, and then he had like some big like sword thing in his hand, just chit-chatting with his friend.
- 4:56Sean McAllister: He could have been Captain Jack Sparrow.
- 4:58Dayna Roselli: He could have been anyway.
- 5:00Dayna Roselli: We see a lot of stuff here.
- 5:01Dayna Roselli: But yes, in other cities, like you're saying, the ones you just mentioned, you know.
- 5:05Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I mean, you'd probably wonder what what the heck is going on.
- 5:08Sean McAllister: And look it.
- 5:09Sean McAllister: So, in addition to the fireworks happening, obviously, like you said, Dana, this is a huge free entertainment event lasting eight weeks this summer.
- 5:20Sean McAllister: But on top of that, we have all of these inclusive hotel packages that are being offered from MGM Resorts, Caesars, Resorts World.
- 5:30Sean McAllister: I mean, there are there's hotels downtown that are offering inclusive packages.
- 5:35Sean McAllister: So this really is uh a good summer to come out here and hang in Vegas.
- 5:41Dayna Roselli: It it is.
- 5:42Dayna Roselli: And I mean, you can do things that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
- 5:47Dayna Roselli: It may not be the thing you want.
- 5:49Dayna Roselli: You may browse and be like, I really wanna go see this show and I can't afford it.
- 5:55Dayna Roselli: But you can also walk the strip, interact with people, grab a drink, have some pizza, see the free fireworks, put some quarters in a slot machine.
- 6:04Dayna Roselli: You know, you can do things.
- 6:06Dayna Roselli: And with the all-inclusives, like you mentioned, there's a lot of those deals that come with food and free drinks and show tickets and a ride on the roller coaster or a ride on the high roller.
- 6:16Sean McAllister: And let's be honest, you could go and sit at Carnival Court outside there between Harris and the Link.
- 6:21Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 6:22Sean McAllister: Listen to the free music, and the people watching there is entertainment in and of itself.
- 6:27Dayna Roselli: It is, right?
- 6:29Sean McAllister: And you see some characters.
- 6:30Dayna Roselli: I know.
- 6:30Dayna Roselli: And it is really a walkable city like we were just talking about.
- 6:33Dayna Roselli: I mean, because you can walk the strip and then you can go downtown and walk downtown too, underneath the free mountain.
- 6:38Dayna Roselli: I mean, there's a lot of you don't have to get it, you know, get transportation.
- 6:43Dayna Roselli: So that's nice too.
- 6:44Dayna Roselli: And you know, I did have a friend visiting uh recently and he did hit me up and say, I just don't understand how the paid parking makes sense here.
- 6:51Dayna Roselli: I'm like, I don't know.
- 6:52Dayna Roselli: We've tried to make sense of it, but it doesn't.
- 6:57Dayna Roselli: Um, but we were we were just also uh chatting before the podcast about um Derek Stevens pop uh properties, Circa and the D and the Golden Gate and all and stuff like that.
- 7:06Dayna Roselli: But um they just put out a press release saying that like uh what did they say, like 50,000 Canadians have taken advantage of his at par Canadian deal.
- 7:14Dayna Roselli: So that's cool.
- 7:15Dayna Roselli: That's working, Lauren and some people from Canada.
- 7:18Sean McAllister: Yeah, and if you listen back a uh just a few episodes now, we talked about the the fact that uh Derek Stevens and Circa and his properties downtown were doing this.
- 7:28Sean McAllister: They're basically uh offering uh experiences at par for Canadian uh visitors.
- 7:35Sean McAllister: So basically the Canadian dollar, you don't have to do an exchange rate, they're taking the Canadian dollar at face value and having it be an equal one-to-one uh trade for what uh things would cost in US dollars.
- 7:49Sean McAllister: So you don't have to worry about the exchange rate.
- 7:52Sean McAllister: And 50,000 Canadians taking advantage of that.
- 7:55Sean McAllister: That's huge because as international travel dipped off and because of the political climate, etc.
- 8:02Sean McAllister: etcetera, um Canadian uh uh tourism dropped a lot.
- 8:07Sean McAllister: And we here in Las Vegas rely on Canadians for about a third of visitors every single year.
- 8:15Sean McAllister: So when that portion of visitation takes a hit, that's a big deal.
- 8:20Dayna Roselli: Yeah, it is.
- 8:22Dayna Roselli: No, and we needed to get that back, and he got creative with that.
- 8:25Sean McAllister: Um brilliant idea.
- 8:27Dayna Roselli: I mean, according to the release, um, it produced over ten million dollars in slot playing and five thousand one hundred uh hotel and room room booking, hotel room booking, sorry.
- 8:38Dayna Roselli: Um and it goes uh uh through August 31st.
- 8:42Dayna Roselli: So keep that in mind, everyone that's listening, uh, that might want to come over.
- 8:45Dayna Roselli: And they've added some other things at the uh for the the at par program.
- 8:49Dayna Roselli: They have a new uh free taiga show.
- 8:51Dayna Roselli: He's gonna perform at uh Fremont Street Experiences Main Street stage May 15th.
- 8:57Dayna Roselli: The Canadian DJ is known for his sharp wit and genre bending sound and influence and the modern electronic music.
- 9:04Dayna Roselli: So um they're also having, let's see, finger a finger 11 meet and greet at Bar Canada.
- 9:11Dayna Roselli: They are a Canadian rock band.
- 9:13Sean McAllister: I've heard of them.
- 9:14Dayna Roselli: Yep, they're doing uh June 27th at 10 45 p.m.
- 9:18Dayna Roselli: Um and then they're doing uh Finger 11 themed cocktails at the Canadian uh beer uh and Bar Canada and lots of other stuff, but they're and they're also saying you know you don't have to be um in the at par program to attend some of that stuff either.
- 9:34Dayna Roselli: So they're really trying to lure and to do some things to bring the Canadians in.
- 9:37Sean McAllister: Yeah, so keep your eye on Vegas this summer.
- 9:40Sean McAllister: Uh the deals are going to continue, the free entertainment is uh happening, and I wouldn't be surprised if some other little perks pop up along the way here as well.
- 9:52Sean McAllister: But Dana, you were just talking about downtown Las Vegas with uh Derek Stevens and luring the Canadians in.
- 9:58Sean McAllister: Um but there's a new restaurant in downtown Las Vegas that we just stopped over to.
- 10:03Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and I was gonna say, if like all that isn't your thing, like big shows and gambling and doing all that, you might want to go someplace in the arts district that's still downtown, but more of a boutique style, a little more chill, but still fun.
- 10:16Dayna Roselli: And the English Hotel is a great little hotel there, and uh really cute.
- 10:20Dayna Roselli: I've always loved visiting uh a restaurant that was there that then closed.
- 10:24Dayna Roselli: Well, it's now reopened and it's called KJ's, and it offers these expedited uh power lunches.
- 10:31Dayna Roselli: They have happy hour, dinner, weekend brunch, even a pool brunch experience.
- 10:36Dayna Roselli: Like Sean mentioned, we stopped over to the Grand Open.
- 10:39SPEAKER_07: We can kind of be a little more adventurous and branch out because we get our support from the neighborhood as well as the hotel.
- 10:44SPEAKER_04: Well, I came here when the restaurant was under another name, and I'd come for some food, relaxation, and I like the location.
- 10:52SPEAKER_04: We're involved in that development.
- 10:54SPEAKER_04: We're doing a lot of financing over in the midtown Marriott.
- 10:58SPEAKER_04: So it made sense to have a nice restaurant here, and the food is very good.
- 11:01SPEAKER_07: I cook pretty diverse, you know.
- 11:03SPEAKER_07: I've and I think that's represented on our menu where we kind of have a little bit for everyone.
- 11:07SPEAKER_07: Um we wanted to be one of those places where you come in and you know everyone can find something where it's not that like, oh, I don't want to eat anything there.
- 11:14SPEAKER_07: You know, we just want to be that neighborhood you'll be that people can come to a few times a week.
- 11:17SPEAKER_04: So this side of Charleston is just going to continue to build because we're we're very much aware of the different developments coming in here.
- 11:25SPEAKER_04: The Evil Canaval Museum, a couple of in the midtown, Marriott and Towers.
- 11:32SPEAKER_04: Uh, we're also putting in another hotel and uh two separate condo buildings.
- 11:41Dayna Roselli: You guys are doing lunches, right?
- 11:43SPEAKER_04: Yes.
- 11:43SPEAKER_04: We put together a lunch special for professionals in the uh neighborhood, and it's just a combination of carbohydrate greens and a protein at a very low price, and we guarantee they'll be in and out within an hour.
- 11:57SPEAKER_04: The weekdays we uh open at 11, and during the weekends we open at 10 and we offer a brunch.
- 12:04SPEAKER_04: And then we have poolside parties that's catching on.
- 12:08SPEAKER_04: We have service out in the pool area.
- 12:10SPEAKER_04: Our customers can come in, they can take a swim, they can have a drink, a little bit of food.
- 12:15SPEAKER_04: It's just a nice combination.
- 12:17Dayna Roselli: And can you come and use the pool and do the brunch and everything, even if you're not staying here?
- 12:22SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
- 12:22SPEAKER_04: Because there are our customers.
- 12:25Dayna Roselli: So that was Kevin Jeffers, the owner.
- 12:27Dayna Roselli: He's excited to get things going in that area.
- 12:30Dayna Roselli: And then we talked to Chef, and um, he's said, I live right around the corner, so this is great.
- 12:36Dayna Roselli: I walk to work.
- 12:38Dayna Roselli: Um, but those quick power lunches that he mentioned too are 25 bucks, so not bad.
- 12:42Sean McAllister: Yeah, and they had a big bar in there, lots of seating around the entire bar.
- 12:47Sean McAllister: It was really cute.
- 12:48Sean McAllister: Yeah, a great uh shaded patio outside, and again, they have the pool area right out the the back door of the restaurant.
- 12:56Sean McAllister: Um, and there is an entrance to the restaurant just from the sidewalk on the side of the hotel building as well, so you don't have to go in through the lobby if you don't want to.
- 13:05Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 13:06Dayna Roselli: And we were busy uh working, but I knew we were going to a show after that and I wasn't gonna be able to eat.
- 13:11Dayna Roselli: So I snuck a slider in, a beef skewer, and then we had this like puffed mushroom pastry thing.
- 13:17Dayna Roselli: I don't know, but anyway, all the food was delicious.
- 13:19Sean McAllister: It was those beef skewers were so good.
- 13:22Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 13:22Dayna Roselli: So it was it was really good.
- 13:24Dayna Roselli: I'm glad they're doing a lot there with that whole midtown project.
- 13:26Sean McAllister: And yeah, we'll need to stop down there for a power lunch and and really have the KJ's experience.
- 13:32Dayna Roselli: I know.
- 13:33Dayna Roselli: It it's a great spot.
- 13:35Dayna Roselli: Well, we also went up to the top of Fountain Blue to the poodle room.
- 13:38Dayna Roselli: Um, and there was a big announcement.
- 13:40Dayna Roselli: We didn't know what was going on, but we were invited.
- 13:43Dayna Roselli: So, you know, we're known for our top-notch food here in Las Vegas.
- 13:46Dayna Roselli: So the culinary scene is always growing.
- 13:49Dayna Roselli: And guess what?
- 13:50Dayna Roselli: Now we're gonna be hosting the 2026 Michelin Guide Southwest ceremony in August.
- 13:55Sean McAllister: Yeah, there's a lot of people who are excited about this.
- 13:58Sean McAllister: Lots of chefs and restaurants are definitely on their game knowing that this is happening.
- 14:04Sean McAllister: It's uh the awards are going to take place at Fountain Blue Las Vegas, and we were over there at that award ceremony in the poodle room, Dana, as you mentioned, and got some insights into how big of a deal it is to have the ceremony here.
- 14:19Dayna Roselli: Yeah, you talked to uh Maurice Wooden, the president of Fountain Blue, Steve Hill, the head of the LVCVA, and Patrick Humel, the senior vice president of food and beverage development strategy at MGM Resorts International to kind of get their take.
- 14:34Dayna Roselli: This is the inaugural ceremony, so it really is a big deal.
- 14:40Sean McAllister: The Michelin Guide returns to Las Vegas with its Southwest edition, the go-to reference for excellence in dining and hospitality, announced its 2026 awards this August at Fountain Blue Las Vegas.
- 14:53SPEAKER_00: What Michelin recognizes and identifies with is excellence.
- 14:57SPEAKER_00: And to know that we're part of being able to be the host property for excellence and being uh not just hospitality this time, but in culinary experience.
- 15:07SPEAKER_00: We feel very fortunate and honored that we're part of that.
- 15:10Sean McAllister: For Las Vegas as a destination, the Michelin Guide Southwest ceremony signals Las Vegas' arrival as a true destination for world-class dining.
- 15:20SPEAKER_02: The recognition from the organization that people turn to most to define quality, to define excellence.
- 15:29SPEAKER_02: It just means a lot.
- 15:31SPEAKER_02: Most of the restaurants that get the recognition, but to the entire city and are messaging about what you can expect to find when you come.
- 15:40Sean McAllister: It's true that many fine dining restaurants will make the list, but Michelin stars can be awarded to restaurants of all price points.
- 15:49SPEAKER_01: Mexico City has a one-star taco stand.
- 15:53SPEAKER_01: The gentleman that's been making these tacos for the past 20 or 30 years probably didn't want the acknowledgement, didn't want the recognition, but he got it.
- 16:00SPEAKER_01: But what that signals to the entire global community is that as long as you have love enjoying what you're doing, it can be recognized and it can be put on a stage that now the whole world knows about.
- 16:10Sean McAllister: For host property found in blue Las Vegas, the ideals that Michelin guided inspectors search for every day are part of their regular service.
- 16:19SPEAKER_00: Perfection.
- 16:20SPEAKER_00: It's a very, very hard mindset to always stay in.
- 16:24SPEAKER_00: But if you always pursue that passion, you land in excellence.
- 16:28SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's not perfect, but you certainly achieve excellence.
- 16:31SPEAKER_00: And that's always been our goal in every restaurant that we have, whether it's fast food or whether it's one of our fine dining restaurants.
- 16:38Sean McAllister: Yeah, and I think it's interesting that uh you I don't know, at least when I think of the Michelin Guide, I think of these super fancy uh restaurants that are, I don't know, a little bit maybe out of my price range or like that employ culinary concepts that kind of go over my head.
- 17:01Sean McAllister: But that's not true.
- 17:02Sean McAllister: The Michelin Guide really does uh profile restaurants of all price points that just deliver excellence all the time.
- 17:12Sean McAllister: That's what it's about.
- 17:13Dayna Roselli: Yeah, like Patrick mentioned in the story.
- 17:14Dayna Roselli: Exactly.
- 17:15Dayna Roselli: Yeah, I thought that was interesting too.
- 17:16Dayna Roselli: I could tell you and I were all like, oh, okay.
- 17:19Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 17:20Dayna Roselli: So they look at a lot of things and they look at consistency.
- 17:22Dayna Roselli: I think we talked about this in a previous podcast because when we were talking to Chef James Trees, he was like, no, they don't just show up to your restaurant once and you get a star.
- 17:31Dayna Roselli: They keep coming back to make sure it's consistent.
- 17:33Sean McAllister: And that's what matters.
- 17:35Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 17:35Sean McAllister: That the you know, the service staff, the staff in the kitchen, even the cleaning staff.
- 17:41Sean McAllister: I mean, it's top to bottom.
- 17:43Sean McAllister: Everybody who uh works there needs to be on their game all the time in order for these uh Michelin inspectors to say, All right, you get a star.
- 17:52Dayna Roselli: Mm-hmm.
- 17:53Dayna Roselli: I know.
- 17:54Dayna Roselli: It's great, and it's great that it's gonna be at the Fountain Lou because it's a newer luxury property, so getting all these top-notch people in to experience the property was definitely good for the hotel.
- 18:05Sean McAllister: And you know what else is interesting about the Michelin guide?
- 18:07Sean McAllister: Like back when it started, uh Michelin, the tire company, put out this guide to encourage people to get on the road and travel.
- 18:16Sean McAllister: Like back when driving was kind of a novelty.
- 18:19Dayna Roselli: Right.
- 18:20Sean McAllister: You know, and they kind of developed it as um, it was more of a like a travel guide.
- 18:26Sean McAllister: A gas station guide, uh hotel, like place you can stop along the route, that kind of thing.
- 18:32Sean McAllister: But it's evolved into this dining guide that's known around the world now.
- 18:36Dayna Roselli: Listen, when we used to go to drive down to um Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for spring break, we would always get our trip tick.
- 18:43Dayna Roselli: Yes, you remember.
- 18:44Sean McAllister: Oh my gosh.
- 18:45Sean McAllister: And your your route would be highlighted.
- 18:48Dayna Roselli: And it was long so you can follow the path.
- 18:51Dayna Roselli: Wow.
- 18:53Sean McAllister: I used to love those trip ticks.
- 18:54Sean McAllister: You'd have your little triple A plastic bag full of your roadmap, your trip tick, all the little coupons to stop along the way.
- 19:04Dayna Roselli: People don't realize it really was the good old days.
- 19:07Dayna Roselli: It was.
- 19:08Dayna Roselli: Oh, it was awesome.
- 19:11Dayna Roselli: Anyway, all right.
- 19:12Dayna Roselli: Well, you know what else is fun is watching a movie and taking a dip at the same time.
- 19:16Dayna Roselli: And I'm excited to um talk about this because dive-in movies are coming back, and you know, they sent us a video to kind of compliment the press release, and I was looking at it and going, you know, this really is a great thing.
- 19:27Dayna Roselli: It's all summer long, kicks off on uh June 8th, and it transforms the resort's boulevard pool into this open-air cinema.
- 19:36Dayna Roselli: Um, they have a 65-foot digital marquee right there.
- 19:40Dayna Roselli: It sits stripside.
- 19:42Dayna Roselli: You can take a dip, watch a movie, grab some food.
- 19:46Dayna Roselli: Um, and it's on Monday nights under the stars.
- 19:49Dayna Roselli: And tickets are only$15 for non-hotel guests,$10 for Las Vegas locals, hotel guests, military members, first responders, and MGM Rewards gold tier members and above, get complimentary admission.
- 20:02Dayna Roselli: So this is a steal.
- 20:04Sean McAllister: Yeah, it really is.
- 20:05Sean McAllister: And that's a great spot, right?
- 20:09Sean McAllister: Really in the center of the the strip corridor, really, and up on the pool deck.
- 20:14Sean McAllister: That's great.
- 20:14Sean McAllister: At Cosmopolitan, it overlooks uh you have some great views up there.
- 20:19Dayna Roselli: You do.
- 20:20Dayna Roselli: So you get everything you kind of want in in one.
- 20:22Dayna Roselli: And they have a great list of um movies that appeal to everyone, you know, like award winners and they they go back to nostalgic movies, and um, so you'll have to check it out.
- 20:32Dayna Roselli: June 8th, but 15 bucks for non-hotel guests.
- 20:35Dayna Roselli: You can't beat that, that's for sure.
- 20:37Sean McAllister: Yeah.
- 20:37Sean McAllister: Also, another place doing these uh cool movie uh combos is over at Fountain Blue.
- 20:44Sean McAllister: It uh the Oasis Cinema Club is what they call it.
- 20:48Sean McAllister: They've got a a lineup of uh great family movies as well.
- 20:53Sean McAllister: Um so that's just another another option if you want to take a dip and take in a movie at the same time.
- 21:00Dayna Roselli: Yeah, that's great.
- 21:01Dayna Roselli: Something different here in Las Vegas.
- 21:03Dayna Roselli: Hey, no doubt kicked off at the sphere.
- 21:05Dayna Roselli: Um let us know if you've seen the show and what you thought.
- 21:07Dayna Roselli: We didn't get there, but they have shows um, well, uh May 16th, the 21st, 23rd, Memorial Day weekend, 24th.
- 21:16Dayna Roselli: Um, so and then um really through the end of May, and then they're back at the beginning of June for a while.
- 21:22Dayna Roselli: So um they also had their pop-up experience, the No Doubt experience, over at the Venetian, and that's a collaboration with the band.
- 21:31Dayna Roselli: So you can look through a bunch of different stuff through the archives and some nostalgic stuff, and they I know the band toured through and stuff like that.
- 21:39Dayna Roselli: Um, but that's free too.
- 21:41Dayna Roselli: Um, you know, you can up your level, I think.
- 21:43Sean McAllister: Um right, you can turn it into a VIP kind of experience, but it is the pop-up is open to the um open to anybody who wants to go in.
- 21:52Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 21:53Dayna Roselli: My my friend that was visiting again said to me, they seem like they're really picking like a lot of like not older bands.
- 22:00Dayna Roselli: I'm using the wrong word.
- 22:01Dayna Roselli: He didn't even say that.
- 22:03Dayna Roselli: Bands from not the current generation to play the sphere.
- 22:06Sean McAllister: Bands from our generation.
- 22:08Dayna Roselli: Yes.
- 22:08Dayna Roselli: Yes.
- 22:09Dayna Roselli: And he's like, it seems to be working.
- 22:11Dayna Roselli: I'm like, yeah, I mean, that kind of seems like that's what the I don't know.
- 22:16Dayna Roselli: You're right.
- 22:16Dayna Roselli: And then I was like, oh yeah.
- 22:17Dayna Roselli: You know, even before, you know, the Eagles.
- 22:19Dayna Roselli: He's like, do the Eagles.
- 22:20Dayna Roselli: I'm like, the Eagles just keep adding.
- 22:22Dayna Roselli: Um, no doubt, Backstreet Boys, and I'm blanking Metallica.
- 22:27Sean McAllister: Metallica.
- 22:27Sean McAllister: It's huge.
- 22:28Sean McAllister: They're gonna be they're gonna be big too.
- 22:30Sean McAllister: And again, this is adding to the entertainment that you can expect here in Las Vegas this summer, too.
- 22:36Dayna Roselli: I know.
- 22:36Dayna Roselli: We got a lot going on, man.
- 22:37Dayna Roselli: We really do.
- 22:38Dayna Roselli: And then Wizard of Oz, like every day.
- 22:40Sean McAllister: Wizard of Oz, yes.
- 22:41Dayna Roselli: Still bringing them in in droves.
- 22:42Sean McAllister: And no doubt, they um, you know, when they announced the shows, they turned the sphere into a giant orange.
- 22:49Sean McAllister: And I I did see at one point during the show oranges fall down, foam oranges fall down from the ceiling.
- 22:56Sean McAllister: A lot like at the Wizard of Oz, where apples fall down during the the scary forest scene.
- 23:03Dayna Roselli: Oh, I bet I bet people are selling those on eBay.
- 23:06Sean McAllister: Probably.
- 23:07Sean McAllister: If not already, they sure will.
- 23:09Dayna Roselli: Well, we did go see Empire Strips back.
- 23:12Dayna Roselli: Um, we've been telling you we were gonna go do that at the Rio.
- 23:14Dayna Roselli: We're excited for them.
- 23:15Dayna Roselli: Listen, this is a show at the Rio that uh plays nightly now, seven nights a week.
- 23:21Dayna Roselli: And on the weekends, I think, or is it just Fridays and Saturdays?
- 23:24Dayna Roselli: I forget.
- 23:24Dayna Roselli: They have two shows.
- 23:25Dayna Roselli: So, I mean, they have had such demand for this show that they needed to add shows, and now they're playing like every single night, which is really unheard of sometimes in Vegas.
- 23:35Dayna Roselli: There's always at least a dark night.
- 23:38Sean McAllister: Exactly.
- 23:38Sean McAllister: And so it's a big deal for them to be adding shows and doing seven nights a week.
- 23:44Sean McAllister: Um, and so Empire Strips Back, this is a Star Wars burlesque parody show.
- 23:51Sean McAllister: So there's a lot of comedy mixed in, but you do get uh some great nods to the characters, the moments in that Star Wars franchise that you know and love, especially if you are a hardcore Star Wars fan, which went the night that we went, Dana, it was on May the 4th, which is a big Star Wars celebration day anyway.
- 24:15Sean McAllister: It was packed.
- 24:16Sean McAllister: It was packed, and people were loving, they were eating up every second of this show.
- 24:22Dayna Roselli: Yeah, and we did interview the cast, and um, you can see that in our our on our YouTube because it's in our TV show.
- 24:28Dayna Roselli: We'll post it there probably in a couple weeks, um, because we're just putting it together.
- 24:32Dayna Roselli: I think it's airing in two weeks.
- 24:33Dayna Roselli: So um, but the costumes you have to see for yourself because they are really, really good.
- 24:37Dayna Roselli: And the cast was saying our costumes, even they are shocked at how good they are.
- 24:43Dayna Roselli: You know, I mean, you really do get everything, and it's literally like coming out, you know, popping out of the movie.
- 24:49Dayna Roselli: Um, so I am not a huge Star Wars fan.
- 24:52Dayna Roselli: I don't mean uh like I'm not a fan of it.
- 24:54Dayna Roselli: I just mean I haven't really sat down to it, watch the movies.
- 24:57Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 24:58Dayna Roselli: But I know, you know, I know the the staple characters.
- 25:02Dayna Roselli: Right.
- 25:02Dayna Roselli: So it it definitely was very true to the movie.
- 25:05Dayna Roselli: I thought, wow, and it was fun, and you don't need to be a Star Wars fan.
- 25:09Dayna Roselli: And I love that they came out for each kind of um routine, I guess you'd call it, uh, to a different song that was current, like mixing in well, some you know, like, and then also some like Michael Jackson.
- 25:22Dayna Roselli: So the crowd was into the music too, because it was really good, like pop songs.
- 25:25Sean McAllister: Yeah, the soundtrack really does.
- 25:27Sean McAllister: It makes you want to uh move around in your seat as the cast is up there moving around on stage.
- 25:33Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 25:34Dayna Roselli: And like, I'm just gonna say it the girls and the guys in the show are all very good looking and sexy.
- 25:41Dayna Roselli: And incredible dancers, incredible and strong and yep, really good.
- 25:46Dayna Roselli: So that adds, I mean, it really is well done.
- 25:49Sean McAllister: It is.
- 25:49Dayna Roselli: You'll enjoy it.
- 25:50Dayna Roselli: There's an intermission, just so you know.
- 25:52Dayna Roselli: Um, it I think it goes almost two hours, if not two hours.
- 25:56Dayna Roselli: There's a comedian in between each set or song or routine, whatever you want to call it.
- 26:01Sean McAllister: He was funny too.
- 26:02Dayna Roselli: Yeah, he was funny.
- 26:03Sean McAllister: He was good work in the crowd.
- 26:04Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so it's it's a really good show.
- 26:07Dayna Roselli: And I think it's good for them for doing so well.
- 26:09Dayna Roselli: We chatted with the producer.
- 26:10Dayna Roselli: Terry Fader was there with the Winston, the turtle.
- 26:14Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 26:15Dayna Roselli: And uh Terry was telling us, like, I'm a huge Star Wars fan.
- 26:17Dayna Roselli: I've been waiting to come to this show.
- 26:19Dayna Roselli: So he was excited to be at the one-year anniversary.
- 26:21Dayna Roselli: We didn't even mention that.
- 26:22Dayna Roselli: It's their one-year anniversary on May the 4th.
- 26:24Dayna Roselli: Um, so that's also why we were there.
- 26:26Dayna Roselli: They had a big cake and everything.
- 26:27Dayna Roselli: But Terry was like, Um, this is such a great idea, and I feel like it's so creative.
- 26:32Sean McAllister: It is creative.
- 26:33Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 26:34Sean McAllister: And uh, if you didn't know, uh the Empire Strips Back is currently in the theater where Chippendales had performed for years and years and years over at the Rio.
- 26:46Sean McAllister: Um, the theater, they've changed a lot in there.
- 26:49Sean McAllister: It does not look like the Chippendale theater anymore.
- 26:52Sean McAllister: There's like stadium seating in there now, but they still have that lounge out front.
- 26:57Sean McAllister: So you can go in before the show, have a cocktail, during the show if you want to grab another one or during admission.
- 27:05Sean McAllister: They have the window on the theater side of uh of the bar where you can walk up and grab a drink without having to go around into the lounge again.
- 27:15Sean McAllister: Okay.
- 27:15Sean McAllister: Um, they've got a good little merch area in there if you want to get your lightsaber as a uh you know a commemorative token of your evening out.
- 27:24Dayna Roselli: Yep.
- 27:24Sean McAllister: So it's it's a good addition over there at Rio.
- 27:28Dayna Roselli: Yeah.
- 27:28Dayna Roselli: Congratulations.
- 27:29Dayna Roselli: Great to know they're doing well, having fun.
- 27:32Dayna Roselli: Go support the cast.
- 27:34Dayna Roselli: Great crew.
- 27:35Sean McAllister: Tay, let's do some celebrity news with a Vegas twist.
- 27:41Sean McAllister: So we start celebrity news with a Vegas twist with a new steakhouse that has a Caribbean twist.
- 27:50Sean McAllister: This steakhouse, uh, it's called Maroon.
- 27:53Sean McAllister: It's from James Beard award-winning chef Kwame Anwache.
- 27:57Sean McAllister: Uh, this just opened over at Sahara, and there were a ton of celebrities who showed up for the grand opening.
- 28:04Dayna Roselli: Yeah, he got a lot of support for this one, and I know there's been a lot of buzz.
- 28:08Dayna Roselli: I think it's our first Caribbean steakhouse on the strip.
- 28:12Dayna Roselli: I think it is.
- 28:13Sean McAllister: I mean, I've not really no I'm not gonna say it's the only one, but I've not heard of another one.
- 28:18Dayna Roselli: Like, but some people might serve uh some of that cuisine, but I feel like specifically.
- 28:23Dayna Roselli: Um, yeah, so I was reading up on it because we need to go over still, but um apparently Maroon brings the history of jerk and Jamaican cooking to a new audience here in Las Vegas.
- 28:32Dayna Roselli: So I I think it is, and this is gonna be the flagship restaurant, and it's the first uh in a foray of planned West Coast culinary restaurants, uh the culinary scene for Chef Kwame.
- 28:43Dayna Roselli: And because I think he um he has a lot of restaurants on the east coast of New York City, is the big one.
- 28:47Dayna Roselli: So yeah, but like you mentioned, a lot of celebrities in town for this one.
- 28:51Dayna Roselli: Um, and some live here, like Flavor Flav.
- 28:54Dayna Roselli: AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys was there, who actually just announced on a podcast that he bought a house here.
- 28:59Dayna Roselli: I don't know if you saw that, but I was like, oh, okay, all the Backstreet Boys move in here.
- 29:03Dayna Roselli: Macy Gray was there.
- 29:05Sean McAllister: I know, and this was they had Buster Rhimes do a performance at the grand opening of this show.
- 29:11Dayna Roselli: And Coco and Breezy were there.
- 29:12Dayna Roselli: Who's that?
- 29:13Sean McAllister: Coco and Breezy are DJs.
- 29:17Dayna Roselli: Oh, okay.
- 29:18Sean McAllister: Yeah, they're DJs.
- 29:19Sean McAllister: Uh Mana is uh a big uh Spanish language band.
- 29:25Sean McAllister: One of the band members was there.
- 29:27Sean McAllister: Um, it was a big deal.
- 29:28Sean McAllister: Yeah, it was a big opening for um Chef Kwame's restaurant.
- 29:33Dayna Roselli: Yeah, lots of different pictures out there.
- 29:34Dayna Roselli: We'll put them in the TV show.
- 29:35Dayna Roselli: But yeah, and I hear the the performance with Busta Rhymes was good.
- 29:38Dayna Roselli: So um great to see it.
- 29:40Dayna Roselli: I love that.
- 29:41Dayna Roselli: And I love a good celebrity studded, star-studded opening because we used to have them all the time.
- 29:46Dayna Roselli: I know, and they're more and more rare.
- 29:48Sean McAllister: They are, and this was a big one, like an old days opening.
- 29:53Sean McAllister: As this restaurant was opening, we were actually down the strip at Park MGM for the opening night of Mary J.
- 30:00Sean McAllister: Blige.
- 30:00Sean McAllister: Right.
- 30:01Sean McAllister: So there were see, we say it all the time.
- 30:04Sean McAllister: There's always there's too much to cover and get to.
- 30:08Sean McAllister: And this was one of those nights where there were just like five things happening all at once, and you gotta pick one.
- 30:14Dayna Roselli: You do, you have to pick one.
- 30:17Dayna Roselli: Always stuff going on here.
- 30:19Dayna Roselli: Um, hey, Olivia Rodrigo, you know, you remember the driver's license song when that came out?
- 30:24Dayna Roselli: She just blew up.
- 30:25Dayna Roselli: She was huge.
- 30:26Dayna Roselli: Well, she had a show here, I think it was like a one-off.
- 30:28Dayna Roselli: Um, I think it was at the Cosmopolitan a few years back, and she sold out immediately.
- 30:33Dayna Roselli: Well, now I'm proud of her.
- 30:35Dayna Roselli: She's playing T-Mobile Arena.
- 30:37Sean McAllister: Good for you, Olivia Rodrigo.
- 30:39Dayna Roselli: I know.
- 30:40Dayna Roselli: Uh, she is bigger than ever, and she's announced the Unraveled tour.
- 30:44Dayna Roselli: Um, and this supports her third studio album.
- 30:46Dayna Roselli: So she'll be here in Las Vegas for two nights, actually, December 19th and December 20th.
- 30:51Dayna Roselli: Tickets are on sale now.
- 30:53Dayna Roselli: So you might be uh maybe want to get them soon.
- 30:55Dayna Roselli: Because I know when she played at the Cosmo, we had a friend at work there and he kept putting up on his Instagram, like, stop hitting me up for Olivia Rodrigo tickets.
- 31:03Dayna Roselli: I don't have any.
- 31:05Dayna Roselli: So she's a big deal.
- 31:06Sean McAllister: Barking up the wrong tree.
- 31:07Sean McAllister: She just actually uh hosted Saturday Night Live.
- 31:10Sean McAllister: Oh, okay.
- 31:11Sean McAllister: And it was a great episode.
- 31:12Sean McAllister: If you haven't seen that yet, go back and go back and watch that.
- 31:16Sean McAllister: You can find it on YouTube or Peacock or wherever.
- 31:19Sean McAllister: I think they'll probably even replay it before this week's episode, which Matt Damon is hosting.
- 31:24Dayna Roselli: Oh, I love when Matt Damon hosts.
- 31:26Sean McAllister: Oh my, I just saw the promo.
- 31:27Sean McAllister: It's funny, and it was so funny.
- 31:30Dayna Roselli: He's so funny because he's like, it's it's like the dry delivery.
- 31:34Sean McAllister: I was just gonna say that.
- 31:35Sean McAllister: He's so dry, and it's just like little off the cuff comments that he'll make, and it it cracked me up.
- 31:42Sean McAllister: I had to rewind and watch it again this morning.
- 31:45Dayna Roselli: My dream is to be on Saturday Night Live, not host it, to be in the skits.
- 31:50Sean McAllister: It's so it's such a I Saturday Night Live is just such good TV.
- 31:55Dayna Roselli: It is good TV.
- 31:56Dayna Roselli: I mean, like people always say like it's not as good as it used to be, and I'll agree.
- 31:59Dayna Roselli: But there's some really good when they hit a good skit, it's really good.
- 32:03Sean McAllister: And some of the comedy is so out there, especially some of the like produced skits, which I'm thinking of one that uh Olivia Rodrigo was just in, but it uh started with her singing a song about all the things in her bedroom, and then it pulls out and it was she her bedroom was actually in exhibit at uh a zoo, and she was a human, um I don't know, like what do you call zoo?
- 32:37Sean McAllister: She was like a human zoo animal.
- 32:39Sean McAllister: Okay, and she had glass walls on her bedroom and she was living in a bug land.
- 32:44Sean McAllister: There were like all these giant bugs that were being the patrons of the human zoo and watching her in her bed.
- 32:51Sean McAllister: I mean, weird, weird, weird.
- 32:54Sean McAllister: Yeah, but it was like it's clever.
- 32:57Dayna Roselli: It's clever.
- 32:58Dayna Roselli: They do, and they do it quick because every week they're pumping out show.
- 33:01Dayna Roselli: We know what it's like to do a show every week.
- 33:02Dayna Roselli: We oh my gosh, we do an audio podcast and a television show every single week, and sometimes we're like, I don't even know what well, I mean, if we had the team of writers that they have at SNL, maybe it'd be easier.
- 33:13Sean McAllister: True, but they're like building sets and costumes and hair and makeup and bringing in new guests, and that's a whole nother level of of stress, I think.
- 33:27Dayna Roselli: It is true, very true.
- 33:28Sean McAllister: Good, good stress, but after that, I imagine you have to be like, okay, after a week of SNL, I need a week nap.
- 33:38Dayna Roselli: Right.
- 33:39Sean McAllister: But the guest hosts are there to promote something, so they have to be just like on to the next.
- 33:44Dayna Roselli: Yeah, you know?
- 33:45Sean McAllister: On to the next.
- 33:46Dayna Roselli: Hey, what do all our LA friends think of Spencer Pratt running for mayor?
- 33:49Dayna Roselli: He just did a debate.
- 33:50Dayna Roselli: I was just thinking, though, when you were talking about SNL, I was thinking of because someone, uh I think it was even my mom, did she say, Did you used to watch Spencer Pratt's reality TV show?
- 33:59Dayna Roselli: I was like, Oh yeah.
- 34:00Dayna Roselli: I did.
- 34:01Dayna Roselli: Back when Spencer Pratt was in reality TV, there there weren't very many reality TV shows, and everyone watched those.
- 34:07Sean McAllister: Watch the hills.
- 34:08Dayna Roselli: The Hills, Laguna Beach, all that.
- 34:11Dayna Roselli: I mean, kind of kicked off with the real world, really is where reality TV started, but um, and then it just blew up from there.
- 34:18Dayna Roselli: Then the Jersey Shores came and all that kind of thing.
- 34:20Dayna Roselli: Then Bravo shows, you know.
- 34:22Dayna Roselli: So um, yeah, interesting to see what's going on uh there in Los Angeles with that mayoral race.
- 34:28Dayna Roselli: Um, we interviewed Spencer Pratt uh just about a year ago on the red carpet at the American Music Awards, yeah.
- 34:34Sean McAllister: And so he was pushing uh Heidi's new album and stuff, and they were talking about what they lost their home and the fire and so just speaking of Heidi's album, because that's when we were talking to him, he was like, Oh, Heidi Wood, everybody get Heidi Wood.
- 34:48Sean McAllister: That's Heidi's album.
- 34:49Sean McAllister: Yeah.
- 34:49Sean McAllister: Um Spencer has been he pulled an airstream trailer onto the lot of where their home used to stand in Los Angeles before it burned down.
- 35:03Sean McAllister: Yeah.
- 35:03Sean McAllister: And the back wall of their lot, he's been working out of there for his uh campaign headquarters, kind of, and the back wall of their lot, he painted pink with the Heidi Wood logo painted across it.
- 35:18Sean McAllister: So he is still pushing Heidi's album even while he's running for mayor of LA.
- 35:24Dayna Roselli: He's savvy.
- 35:25Dayna Roselli: We always said he's got ideas.
- 35:27Dayna Roselli: He does.
- 35:27Dayna Roselli: He's committed when he's committed, he's committed.
- 35:30Dayna Roselli: And I don't know, it will be interesting because um I'm what I was watching all the kind of post-analysis, and people were saying, like, what he says about Los Angeles uh Los Angeles is not wrong.
- 35:42Dayna Roselli: He's right about what needs to change and things that should be done and things that haven't gone right.
- 35:49Dayna Roselli: But you know, the big thing will be is do people think he has the tools and the mind and the capability to handle it?
- 35:58Dayna Roselli: And even in the debate, he said, listen, I may not, but I'm gonna get a team of people around me that know how to do it.
- 36:03Sean McAllister: I saw an interview with him and he said the same thing.
- 36:06Dayna Roselli: Yeah, so interesting.
- 36:08Dayna Roselli: I don't know.
- 36:08Dayna Roselli: Um, again, we always love to hear from you guys about anything Las Vegas, anything we talk about.
- 36:13Dayna Roselli: We do have a link in our show notes where you can text us.
- 36:16Dayna Roselli: Don't worry, your number doesn't come through, your location doesn't come through.
- 36:19Dayna Roselli: You can add your name and where you're from if you want, but we love to respond to those as well.
- 36:24Sean McAllister: Hey, uh, that is it for us this week.
- 36:26Sean McAllister: We will be back again next week with an all new episode and probably lots more summer deals coming down the pipeline, too.