Singer, pianist and comedian Sarah Hester Ross has a new gig, and it’s quite a bit different from her old one. Before the pandemic, she was performing as part of the dueling piano act at the Bar at Times Square at New York-New York, one of the most recognizable live music hubs in a Strip casino. Now she’s playing Saturday nights from 6 to 10 p.m. at the NoMad Bar at Park MGM, which became MGM Resorts’ last Strip property to reopen on September 30.

“It’s a little hard for me, because my shtick is to be really outgoing and talk to the audience, really use my surroundings and take requests, and this is definitely more of an atmosphere thing,” says Ross, who used her skills to build a half-million fan following on TikTok during the entertainment shutdown. “It’s a little different for me, but at this point, beggars can’t be choosers and I’ll take what I can get. It’s still great—a beautiful acoustic baby grand in the middle of a great bar, and I can still take requests. [But] it’s not quite as interactive.”

So it goes with live music in Las Vegas in the age of coronavirus. Before Gov. Steve Sisolak lifted some restrictions on October 1—upping capacities for events and gatherings—certain venues in casinos and elsewhere around the Valley were creatively installing “ambient entertainment,” live performance from socially distanced soloists or small groups.

Smaller Vegas shows including Absinthe at Caesars Palace, X Country at Harrah’s and Piff the Magic Dragon at Flamingo have planned their comebacks later this month (see Page 34), but larger concert venues are unlikely to resume events soon, meaning live music will soldier on at bars, lounges and restaurants in Las Vegas.

Elsewhere on the Strip, the Barbershop at the Cosmopolitan was one of the first nightlife venues to resume live performances within its hidden speakeasy-style club behind an actual operational barbershop. The saloon opens at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with a live band hitting the stage at 10 p.m.

Downtown casinos have restarted music in different spaces, too. Downtown Grand’s Freedom Beat, which has always focused on promoting local artists, turns it on every Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. during its recently resurrected Freedom 2 Brunch program (this weekend brings performances from Patrick Sieben and Yvonne Silva). And the historic El Cortez on East Fremont installed Friday and Saturday-night music at its Parlour Bar starting at 6 p.m., including performances this month from vocalist Michael Nugent.

Neighborhood bars and restaurants have experimented with minimal live performance in recent months in order to drum up business, but at least one new venue has built its entire operation around traditional Vegas-style performances. The Vegas Room at East Sahara’s Commercial Center has been serving up supper club-style dinner shows to small audiences since June, featuring a wide array of Las Vegas-based artists and musicians. Jazz singer Amanda King returns to the room with performances Thursday through Saturday, and the Sunday brunch starring Mayfair Supper Club pianist Patrick Hogan returns on October 18.

“They’ve taken the current reality of COVID and safety and all that stuff and still made it a very pleasant experience, which isn’t easy to do,” says local singer and producer Michelle Johnson, who made her Vegas Room debut late last month. “It’s only 15 tables … and around 35 people, and I really like that intimacy. And it’s so pretty inside, which you don’t expect at Commercial Center.”