Q:
Before and during the Rat Pack years, casino lounges were full of live music that lasted until dawn. Other entertainers would drop by after their own headlining shows around town. Lots of banter with the crowd. Are there any like that today - downtown, Strip, or neighborhood?
A:
Classic old-school lounges are something of a dying breed in Las Vegas, as are the old "Rat Pack" era restaurant hangouts like Capazolli's, where the likes of Frank Sinatra or Tom Jones were known to swing by and get up there with the house band. We do have a few suggestions for you, however.
- The Bootlegger Bistro, on Las Vegas Boulevard South, past what's technically the end of the Strip, is a good bet for catching local entertainers after hours. The venue features live music nightly, and it's not at all uncommon for guest performers to drop by and get on stage, although we can't provide any kind of schedule for that.
- You just missed out on another opportunity, because this summer The Freakin' Frog bar in UNLVland hosted a Tuesday night "JamCast!" session, hosted by Niles Rivers, who was the star of Lion King, and ex-Kool and the Gang trumpet player Skip Martin, who ran a jam session for Strip performers to swing by and do their own thing after their regular show. That ended with the departure of Lion King, however, and we've heard no word of it being reinstated, although it was cool while it lasted.
- Ovation Lounge at Green Valley Ranch is more of a showroom than a lounge, but admission's free and on the second and fourth Thursday of the month it features the Lon Bronson Allstar Band, a line-up of accomplished local musicians who are regularly joined on stage by other guest performers. Doors are at 9 p.m. and showtime's at 10 p.m.
Although a different scene to your classic lounge, Ellis Island is legendary for its nightly Karaoke and has been known to attract stars when in town: Nicholas Cage and Drew Carey both performed there recently, for example.
Those are the best suggestions we can come up with, off the top of our head; if anyone has any other ideas, please let us know. You can find complete listings of all lounges and live-music venues in our Nightlife section.
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