Swedish House Mafia reunited to close last year’s Ultra Music Festival—the supergroup’s first live performance in five years—and has announced additional festival headlining gigs, including Creamfields, Tinderbox and the Frequency Festival, along with February, March and April gigs at home at Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena. Steve Angello, Axel Hedfors (Axwell) and Sebastian Ingrosso have also been teasing new music for 2019, so it was only a matter of time before the Mafia members, who have all had various residencies in Vegas clubs over the years, made plans to return to the Strip. Last week, Wynn Nightlife announced homecoming residencies for Angello and Ingrosso, but there’s no confirmation yet on whether Axwell will join the fun or if they’ll spin together or as solo acts. Angello has XS dates on March 9 and June 1 and 15 along with a June 7 date with Encore Beach Club. Ingrosso has one party on the calendar, June 7 at EBC. And it looks like the other new resident is none other than Drake, who packed the house for his first Wynn gig during CES week and announced, “I’ll be back at XS all year.”
We have more details about the Barbershop Cuts and Cocktails, the new venue from Clique Hospitality and nightlife partners Ryan Labbe and Jason “JRoc” Craig, coming to the Cosmopolitan in the spring. The modern speakeasy and barbershop will be located in the former Bond bar space on the Strip-level casino floor, where master barber Jose Sosa and his team will serve up classic cuts, trims and straight-razor shaves. At night, live entertainment and an extensive cocktail program focused on vintage favorites will kick in at a Prohibition-era bar found behind the barbershop’s janitor’s door. The bar itself was crafted in Kentucky in the 1800s and appeared in the movie The Greatest Showman, a dramatic place to enjoy barrel-aged whiskey drinks and craft beers. “The Barbershop is unlike anything the Las Vegas market has seen before,” Clique Hospitality founder Andy Masi says.
House music godfather and Las Vegan Jesse Saunders is commemorating the 35th anniversary of the release of On and On on vinyl by dropping a collection of new remixes by Stacy Kidd, Demarkus Lewis, Jerome Baker, Veev and Matthew Brian, along with Saunders’ own remastering of the original track. He’s also issuing a European release on vinyl (with Juno Records) featuring new mixes by Paul Johnson, Cinthie and Kristin Velvet and Beste Modus. Check out soundcloud.com/jessesaunders/sets/kaleidoscope for a taste. –Brock Radke
