LINQ
Wed.-Sun. 7 and 9:30 p.m.
$117.62
You enter the Discoshow bilevel sanctum through a door off the casino and pass through a mirrored anteroom.
Out the back door is 99 Prince, the first-floor bar that’s as dark and sinister as a New York subway station. You walk up the stairs, down a long hall, and wait in the lounge outside the showroom. The Disco (drag) Queen, Mother, regales you for 10 minutes or so from a book of disco fairy tales, then the doors open.
You show the wristband you’re given upon checking in and file into Glitterloft, the theater, such as it is: a square space with no seats, a catwalk above and around the perimeter, and huge video panels encircling the room with non-stop scenes from ’70s Manhattan and Chicago. The Gloria Gaynor tune “I Will Survive” is playing — and you hope you’re not supposed to take it literally.
Looking around, you’ll note that a goodly portion of the audience is dressed in Vegas-disco outfits, ready to rock ’em and sock ’em.
And it’s hard not to rock at this $40 million show, especially if you were into the disco music and scene 40-50 years ago. You stand throughout the performance, which consists of a six-segment dance lesson from Ake (“Okay”) Blomqvist, modeled and named after a Finnish actor and dance instructor — bright white suit, Scandinavian accent, fun moves, and all.
The 10 dancers gyrate, luxate, and roller skate on the catwalk, backed by the intense videos.
At several points during the show, they come down to the dance floor and climb atop “dumpsters” rolled in and out to get up close and sweaty with the audience. The floor lights up with X-mark-the-spots rectangles and crowd managers with small paddles prod the audience out of the way of the portable stages.
It’s all as highly choreographed and produced and risqué as you’d expect from Spiegelworld, especially if you’ve seen Absinthe or Atomic Saloon. Also, it’s nothing if not high energy, revving up the crowd to a soundtrack of Chic’s “Le Freak,” “Good Times,” and “Everybody Dance,” The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno,” and the finale, “We Are Family,” the disco anthem from Sister Sledge, accompanied by — what else? — a strobe effect.
Then DiscoShow slams shut, the doors fling open, and you shuffle out after 70 minutes of standing, dancing, shoving, and swiveling to take it all in.
If this sounds kind of chaotic and a bit indiscriminate, that’s because it is. DiscoShow isn’t your grandfather’s Vegas entertainment. It’s immersive, participatory, and strenuous, so it’s not for everyone. But if you’re up for more of a party than any other Las Vegas production show in recent memory, this is an experience you won’t soon forget.
Awesome !