Intersection

Downtown Grand and other Fremont area casinos add live music options

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The Beer Garden at the Plaza in downtown Las Vegas Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015.
Photo: Steve Marcus

October will see Downtown’s tourist area taking advantage of cooler temperatures and unconventional performance spaces as it attempts to evolve its music programming. A new effort to book more independent local and touring talent could usher in a new era for Fremont’s western end, which usually features more mainstream entertainment compared to the trendier Fremont East.

Downtown Grand just rolled out a new live music and entertainment initiative, headed up by Judy Alberti, former VP of Entertainment for Station Casinos, including nightly programming at the new indoor venue/restaurant Freedom Beat and featuring solo artists like singer-songwriter Cameron Dettman (September 29) and pop groups like the Shaun DeGraff Band (October 1). The rooftop pool Citrus will stage everything from tribute acts to Downtown favorites like GoldBoot (October 7).

“Each of the stages presents an opportunity to highlight some of the great local artists we now have ... as well as play host to top touring bands,” Alberti said in a release. In addition, Alberti will book special events just outside the Grand on 3rd Street, along with more traditional lounge acts on Fridays and Saturdays at the casino’s Red Velvet Stage.

Also getting in on the action is Binion’s, with the return of its Rooftop Fall Ball featuring local jam/funk outfit Moksha and Donzo’s Cosmos on October 1.

But for local indie-heads, the Plaza is where it’s really at. The casino recently tapped brand consultant Bronson Olimpieri for his entertainment expertise, and he’ll collaborate with local agency Bad Moon Booking on a monthlong Saturday music series at the Plaza’s Beer Garden. The shows will serve as a test run, Olimpieri says. “We are talking about doing a remodel of the outdoor space [to] be able to do more live music. Rock ’n’ roll [is] kind of my background … That’s why I partnered up with Bad Moon. They have their finger on the pulse.”

Bad Moon Booking founder Tsvetelina Stefanova says she hopes locals are excited by the possibility of a new place for shows. “We wanted to make it easy and accessible for people,” she says. Bad Moon at the Plaza begins on October 1—with Hidden Levels, Special-K, Indigo Kidd and DJ Fish—and ends on October 22 with LA’s Adult Books.

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