At the Planet Hollywood press conference last Tuesday, longtime investor (since 1991) Bruce Willis joined owner Robert Earl onstage. “It is my honor,” Willis said, “and a great pleasure to announce that we will be throwing the biggest party that Las Vegas has ever seen on September 28th and 29th.” To hear one Planet Hollywood exec tell it, Earl was onstage practicing his presentation Monday night when he first dropped the grand opening date on his staff. When asked how he came up with that weekend—everyone naturally expected New Year’s Eve—he allegedly told them that he had simply opened his date book the night before and picked the dates out of the blue. The resort formerly known as the Aladdin will also be sub-branded as “ph” (yes, both lowercase as opposed to Treasure Island’s all-caps TI). You now have five months to get used to saying “See you at ... ph.”
Nightclub partner Roman Jones of Miami’s revered Opium Group attended the conference on behalf of his company, which is installing the Living Room lounge, Prive nightclub (opening in September) and later, another formerly undisclosed venue in the area that used to house Curve nightclub. In a private conversation with Jones later that evening, the magnate confided that the third concept would not be Mansion, nor Set, nor Opium Garden, as the rumor mill had long been churning about; rather he will install one of his first concepts, Opium Lounge, a pan-Asian restaurant that morphs into an ultralounge featuring opium beds in a very NY/Miami style. The menu will come “from the Opium Road,” he said, and will include items with aphrodisiac qualities, drawing dishes from Turkey and all around Eurasia. With the Living Room measuring 2,500 square feet, Prive 14,000, the new kitchen 4,500 and the Opium Lounge another 12,000, that gives Opium Group roughly 33,000 square feet to work with to begin its Vegas empire. When asked if he eventually intends to open a Mansion in Las Vegas, Jones’ answer—thankfully—was “Oh, definitely.” The Heart center bar and Extra Lounge are already up and running for your drinking pleasure.
Culture club
Starting on April 29, the fleeting goal of having a major and regular culture event in this city more than once a month inches closer to a reality with Flavor Sundays finally taking off at Empire Ballroom. Split up over four Sundays each month, the night strays from the mainstream to give back to the locals. Heading the effort will be arts impresario Iceberg Slick. Live performances will be paired with art exhibitions and even break-dance battles. Afterhours, of course, will follow. For the grand opening this Sunday (there was a soft launch last week), DJ MOTIV8 from the Black Eyed Peas headlines the effort, and RH Factor from Drumz also performs. Universal Scientists, along with resident DJ’s MestizoSix9, Ryan Milano and Duwop Rose provide further cultural enlightenment; and local break-dancing phenoms Knucklehead Zoo spin things up in a whole different way. Afterhours will get visual with a PXL8 video performance by DJ Crime, and the event is always free for locals.
Don’t Strike Out
Dubbed the Ultimate Vegas Insider by Matt Lauer on the Today Show, Steve Striker—a man who is usually surrounded by no fewer than 10 beautiful girls—is telling some of his industry secrets on TheBachelorGuy.com (“Because someone’s gotta tell you these things”) in a new monthly column. Offering some offbeat advice on how to plan a man’s last day of freedom in Sin City, the upscale ideas are almost always things we can’t afford, but they’re fun to hear about. Find out more about Striker at StrikerVIP.com.
And now, the weather
Whether it’s global warming or not, last week’s bluster may have put a damper on a couple of festivities, but this weekend is expected to bounce back strong. Bare Pool Lounge’s grand opening party, which was supposed to happen last Sunday, will now happen this Sunday, hitting on the same day as Rehab. Rock ’n’ Roll Wine’s reggae-themed event, slated for April 20 at the Tank at the Golden Nugget Pool, has been pushed back to this Friday, April 27. Though the performance of ForTwentyDaze won’t be as timely as originally scheduled, there should be plenty of wet and wild fun all over the city this weekend, with highs in the 90s and (fingers crossed!) no rain in sight.