1. Everybody say, “Thank you, Coachella!” The spillover from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival can be hit or miss for Las Vegas music lovers, but this year’s circuit brought us a Brooklyn Bowl show featuring the amazing Remi Wolf and the up-and-coming Lava La Rue, who might have just become one of my favorite openers.

Channeling the air of Jimi Hendrix and Erykah Badu, La Rue entranced fans during her Las Vegas debut. The London-based poet and hip-hop artist perfumed the room in a psychedelic, spoken word haze. “You show me how Vegas likes to party and I’ll show you how London likes to party and we’ll meet in the middle,” La Rue told the crowd before grooving through some of her hits, like the woozy “Hi-Fidelity” and “Angel,” for which one of her bandmates broke out a saxophone.

“All of the songs I play are lesbian love songs,” La Rue, who’s openly queer, said, “but this song is the gayest sh*t that’s ever happened to me.”

Breezing through lyrics like “My girlfriend has a boyfriend/He hasn’t met me yet” on unreleased track “Love Bites,” La Rue seemed quite comfortable in her skin, and the audience responded with one of the loudest post-show applauses I’ve heard at the venue.

2. We stan an eight-piece band. When it was her turn, Wolf brought an entire orchestra onstage, or so it felt. Backed by eight band members (one of which she pointed out as her ex-boyfriend), Wolf’s Juno album got the royal treatment it deserved. In addition to the drummer, two guitarists, bassist and keyboardist, the band included a trumpet player, a bongoist and a backing vocalist, creating a rich tapestry of sound that enhanced what Wolf had already accomplished in the studio. Favorites like “Michael,” paired with Wolf’s impeccable rasp and range, sounded crisp and clear, as did surprise covers like Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” which the band transformed into a funk ballad. 

3. Remi cannot be tamed. “We’re f*ckin’ back, baby!” the singer breathlessly announced, her chest heaving from the band’s run through of “Liquor Store.” “Whenever I enter a venue for the first time, I try to get a feel for the room, and this room feels pretty f*cking good.

This felt like a real moment for the 27-year-old singer, whose Brooklyn Bowl debut marked her first headlining gig in Las Vegas, too. In 2021, Wolf played a brief daytime set at Life Is Beautiful, and in 2019, she opened for Still Woozy at the Bunkhouse, but this show was all Remi, all the time.

The singer didn't miss a chance to engage the crowd in banter that felt true to her rambunctious character. If she wasn't encouraging fans to have "the wildest, sexiest night of your f*cking life," she was playfully throwing shade at a certain Coachella headliner. ("This show’s about you guys. Frank Ocean, I think, would beg to differ, but it’s OK.”)

The set, while fun-loving and puckish at times, delivered exponentially on the performance front. Wolf pranced the stage with a stormlike energy for “Sexy Villain.” She rolled along the floor for “Michael.” It was joyous, it was freaky and it was a little bit chaotic, but it was never boring.

4. This “Cake” was tasty. For the most poignant part of the evening, Wolf stripped down the explosive track “Cake,” creating an intimate and raw rendition that nearly brought me to tears. Wailing on the chorus like a battle cry, Wolf nailed every note of this newly reworked ballad. She mentioned it was the first time the band had ever presented the song that way live, and the original won't sound quite the same after hearing it like this.

5. Please, come back soon. With three successful Las Vegas shows in the books, Wolf has proven she can have this city whenever she wants it.