My latest anything-goes “mixtape” had me running all over town. I went to a poolside concert, ate at a newly opened French café/bakery in Chinatown, and discovered an elevated boardwalk in the desert. I tasted tri-tip lovingly prepared by an acclaimed chef, stood with the crowds in downtown Summerlin for a parade saluting the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands, and checked into “Suffocate City.”
Track #1: Train @M Resort Spa Casino
Train frontman Pat Monahan easily hits those high notes onstage. (Image: courtesy of The M Resort)
The pool at the M Resort is a massive 100,000 square foot venue, and American rock band Train impressively packed it out on a recent Saturday night. The group tossed beach balls into the crowd, and some folks watched the show while wading in water. Welcome, then, to another “pool season” in Vegas.
A poolside concert is the perfect setting for a feel-good band like Train who came fully loaded with sing-along breezy, melodic rock hits like the hope-fueled show opener “Calling All Angels” (2003) and the lyrically freewheeling closer “Drops of Jupiter” (2001).
Train’s devotees came out in full force. (Image: courtesy of Jerry Watson)
Frontman Pat Monahan is the sole original member of Grammy-winning, multi-million selling San Francisco-originated band. He has a voice that impeccably soars, not to mention a full head of hair (check, check), plus a star guitarist, Taylor Locke, whose runs provide plenty of muscle and sizzle.
Train were confident enough to weave many cover songs into their set, including the Eagles’ “Hotel California” and Led Zeppelin’s “Going To California,” at the risk of overshadowing their own material. (They even released a Zeppelin tribute album, “Train Does Led Zeppelin II,” in 2016.)
It doesn’t seem to bother Monahan that Train has never been invited to the “cool kids club.” They’re comfortable in their own skin. Like, say, REO Speedwagon, this is a band whose aim is to fully please their adoring audience and not outwardly seek endorsements from the music intelligentsia.
Track #2: Le Cafe Central @Chinatown Vegas
The braised short rib sandwich is the stuff that dreams are made of. (Image: Vegas 411)
There are endless dining options for Asian food and other international cuisines in Chinatown Vegas, the three mile-plus strip located on and around Spring Mountain Rd.
In fact, it’s absolutely head-spinning to try and keep up with all the outstanding restaurants, along with the ones opening all the time.
Consider Le Café Central. It’s part of the revered Le Café du Vegas family which includes Le Cafe du Sud in Southern Highlands and Le Cafe du Val in Henderson. Glad I stopped into the ultra-stylish and charming French eatery/bakery for weekend brunch ahead of its May 18 grand opening.
Slide into an intimate alcove. (Image: Vegas 411)
We ordered one of the house specials—a dreamy braised short rib sandwich on ciabatta, with Dijon mayo, and Gruyère cheese—and the seductively plated lox, avocado, and sliced hard-boiled egg salad. You can also easily fall into a tasty rabbit hole with their house made galettes, pastries, macarons, and crepes. Now you know where to go on Bastille Day (July 14).
For those who roll on the late side, Le Café Central offers dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays. With many casual restaurants closing in the late afternoon these days, this news is music to my ears.
Here is a detailed review about Le Cafe Central.
Track #3: Red Spring Boardwalk @Red Rock Canyon area
Stroll along the Red Spring Boardwalk for maximum serenity. (Image: Vegas 411)
Five years in to living in Vegas, I’m still amazed whenever I discover fantastic new places that have been here all along. I also frustratingly wonder why I didn’t receive “the memo” about their existence. Case in point: the Red Spring Boardwalk in the glorious Red Rock Canyon/Calico Basin area.
Strolling on this user-friendly, half mile-long wooden boardwalk—built around a meadow fed by a small spring—is energizing and relaxing. Good thing it’s elevated, given the (uh) rattlesnake habitat below.
Never mind the snakes below. (Image: Vegas 411)
Enjoy the views of the sandstone mountains and get instantly smart by reading the museum-like panels that describe the area’s birds, animals, and plants, not to mention the “rock art” images on the “walls and boulders that may be over 6000 years old.”
There’s free admission and parking—it’s definitely a place to seek shelter from the predicted recession. You can also hang out under a shade pavilion and at one of the picnic tables. Another option: drive further down the road and eat at the fast-casual, but distinctive Cottonwood Station in historic Blue Diamond village where the panini sandwiches reign supreme.
Track #4: Mabel’s Bar & Q by Chef Michael Symon @Palms Casino Resort
Chef Michael Symon delivers the goods. (Image: courtesy of Alice Goldstein)
Michael Symon knows his way around a grill. The award-winning Cleveland chef was in town recently for a grill demo and tasting event on the patio of Mabel’s Bar & Q by Chef Michael Symon at the Palms.
With his signature flair, Symon grilled tri-tip, which he noted was an inexpensive cut to smoke and not as popular around the country as it is in California. Everyone got to taste his wonderfully seasoned creation afterward—it was lean, tender, just perfect—and left with a copy of his new “Cooking Out” cookbook. Note to self: I must try the recipe for his “Chocolate Pudding and Pretzel Pie.”
The smoked meatloaf is your passport to heaven. (Image: Vegas 411)
Afterwards, inside the sports bar and restaurant, I ordered the smoked meatloaf. It’s impressive and fancy—served with Gruyère cheese, caramelized onion, and smoked spicy ketchup, topped with crispy onions—and fortunately retains down home appeal, too. Since my focus was on Mabel’s culinary pleasures, I tried to not let the “wall to wall screens” showing sports events distract me from what was on my plate (sorry, I’m not a sports fan).
Track #5: Around Town Medley:
Wild in the streets in downtown Summerlin. (Image: Vegas 411)
I used to dream about living in Oahu. But Las Vegas—known as the “ninth Island of Hawaii” with our large population of islanders—will have to do.
As part of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the “Aloha Spirit” was in full effect for the fourth annual Lei Day Parade in downtown Summerlin. Big crowds lined the streets and cheered on the performers who celebrated the rich heritage of the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands. It was inspirational to see our country’s diversity being honored with colorful and choreographed pageantry.
The Atlanta band immersed the crowd in “Holy Water.” (Image: Vegas 411)
You’re looking at Lee Jennings—charismatic frontman of The Funeral Portrait—onstage at the B-Side venue inside House of Blues. The show marked the Atlanta rock band’s return to Vegas following a big play in 2024 at the Grand Garden Arena on a seriously heavy bill with Vegas-based headliner Five Finger Death Punch and Marilyn Manson.
At B-Side, the emo-rooted Funeral Portrait received a hero’s welcome, with love from the city’s rock station KOMP 92.3FM, as they tore through songs from their latest album like the #1 Billboard smash “Suffocate City,” “Hearse For Two,” and the #5 hit “Holy Water.” Seems the kids are alright, especially the ones with spiky, multi-colored hair.
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