A&E

2014 Year-In-Review: Local Arts & Entertainment

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Life Is Beautiful 2014
Fred Morledge

January 7: Gary Wright, who drummed in 12 Volt Sex, The Nines and a slew of other local bands, dies at age 42 after a battle with cancer.

January 30: After nearly 33 years, Jubilee! at Bally’s closes to undergo a reimagining by Frank Gatson Jr. It reopens in March.

February 19: Imagine Dragons hit “Radioactive” sets a Billboard record by logging its 77th week on the Hot 100. It winds up spending 87 weeks on the chart.

March 8: NYC live-music transplant Brooklyn Bowl launches with a performance by Soulive, then celebrates full-on a week later with Elvis Costello and The Roots.

March 19: The Contemporary Art Center’s board votes to dissolve the organization. By April, a new board steps forward to rescue the group from dissolution.

The High Roller.

March 31: The High Roller, the world’s tallest observation wheel at 550 feet, opens at the eastern end of Caesars Entertainment’s Linq Promenade.

April 1: The Tempest, an adaptation of the Shakespeare play conceived by Teller and Aaron Posner, begins a sold-out run at the Smith Center’s Symphony Park.

April 21: After a two-year search, the Las Vegas Philharmonic announces former Nevadan Donato Cabrera as its new music director and conductor.

May 9: The Rock in Rio festival announces dates (May 8-9 & May 15-16) for its first-ever U.S. edition, set for Las Vegas’ MGM Festival Grounds.

May 23: Drai’s Beach Club and Nightclub rooftop complex opens at new boutique hotel the Cromwell.

May 26: Pure, the celebrity-favored nightclub inside Caesars Palace, closes after nearly nine years.

May 31: Strip headliner Frank Marino celebrates performance No. 25,000 during his Divas Las Vegas show.

June 1: Popovich and the Voice of the Fabled American West, the second feature from local filmmakers Jerry and Mike Thompson, premieres at LA’s Dances With Films.

June 3: Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis opens her first-ever restaurant, the Italian-inspired Giada at the Cromwell.

June 15: Hot Fuss, the triple-platinum-certified debut album by The Killers, turns 10 years old.

June 20: Victor Drai opens Liaison, the first LGBT nightclub in a Las Vegas casino-hotel, at the former temporary Bally’s location of his afterhours operation.

Fans pack the Circuit Grounds stage as Calvin Harris performs during the final night of the 2014 Electric Daisy Carnival on Sunday, June 22, 2014, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

June 20-22: Electric Daisy Carnival draws a reported crowd of 400,000 over its three days. One festivalgoer dies from an Ecstasy overdose in the parking lot.

August 6: Owner Marty Walsh announces that Trifecta Gallery will close at the end of January.

August 13: Caesars Palace headliner Celine Dion cancels shows through at least March, citing health problems—hers and her husband’s.

August 14: Todd VonBastiaans and Bryan McCarthy bring Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England to ArtSquare Theater from Chicago.

August 23: Life nightclub opens at the new SLS, which debuts the Sayers Club and Foxtail five nights later.

Built to Spill headlines the Bunkhouse's grand reopening.

Built to Spill headlines the Bunkhouse's grand reopening.

August 25: Downtown’s Bunkhouse Saloon reopens with a headlining performance from Built to Spill.

September 1: A Zedd Labor Day party breaks the attendance record at XS, drawing a reported 11,323 people.

September 6: Kinky Boots becomes the first Broadway show to launch its national tour at the Smith Center.

September 12: Folky Vegas band Dusty Sunshine plays its final show after four years on the local scene.

October 14: Hakkasan Group announces that Pure will become Omnia, with the remodel projected to cost $38 million.

October 16: The fifth edition of the PollyGrind film festival kicks off at the Galaxy Luxury Theaters in Green Valley after being pulled from its initial venue.

October 24-26: Kanye West, OutKast and the Foo Fighters headline Life Is Beautiful’s second edition, which also includes expanded culinary, learning and art components.

October 31-November 2: Phish returns to Las Vegas after a 10-year absence for a three-concert run that includes the band’s first Halloween show here since 1998.

November 1: After nearly five years, Haze closes with a headlining set from DJ Carl Cox, leaving megaresort Aria without a major nightclub.

November 4: Helen: A Literary Magazine launches with digital copies of the Las Vegas-based, biannual publication, followed shortly by print editions.

November 5: Kiss kicks off a mini-residency at the Joint, following in the hard-rock footsteps of Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses and Def Leppard.

November 12: Elaine Wynn buys Francis Bacon triptych “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” at a Christie’s Auction for $142.4 million, the most ever paid for a work of art at auction.

November 15: After announcing that it will close December 1, TastySpace Gallery holds its last art opening with work by Boston-area photographer Olivia Gatti.

The Writer's Block

The Writer's Block

November 29: The Writer’s Block bookstore opens on Fremont Street (with a rabbit mascot munching lettuce while you shop).

December 13: Caesars Palace headliner Shania Twain ends her two-year residency, which started with a stampede of horses on the Strip.

December 15: Clark County reveals that popular annual all-ages music festival Extreme Thing will not take place in 2015.

December 16: Hakkasan announces it will purchase Light Group for $36 million, expanding its Vegas profile to 24 venues.

December 20: Steve Wynn’s $10 million Steve Wynn’s Showstoppers celebrates its grand opening at Wynn Las Vegas.

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