1. Track #1: Ru Paul’s Drag Race LIVE! @Flamingo Las Vegas
Drag shows are all about freedom from the mundane. They also offer an escape from societal judgment and oppression. So let’s raise our glasses to all the drag queens, who are, in effect, modern freedom fighters.
RuPaul’s hyper-paced “Drag Race LIVE!” show at The Flamingo triumphantly stands out in a city teeming with drag shows and brunches. With a rotating cast of 14 performers, all alums of the TV show, it conjures a day-glo planet where everyone lives their best lives.
The 90-minute show premiered in late January 2020, closed for the pandemic in March of that year, and returned in January 2022. It has been going strong ever since, having just celebrated its 700th performance on March 9. The all-ages “Drag Race LIVE!” show mainstream-izes drag culture and celebrates, in its own words, “love, laughter, and life,” soundtracked to pulsating disco, house music, and pop.
On an array of striking sets, the stiletto-heeled stars of “Drag Race LIVE!” deliver sassy attitudes and “lip-synch smack-downs” that honor artists like Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, and Dua Lipa. They provide visual drama, too, with elaborate costumes covered in sequins, rhinestones, and feathers (would you expect anything less?).
Add the energetic, chiseled male dancers known as “The Pit Crew” to the mix, and you have a lively and bold night out in Vegas.
The performers—and the cheering audience—get to exercise their freedom in this politically charged election year.
2. Track #2: TOUS les JOURS @Chinatown
The best way to properly explore Chinatown? Drive into one of the many shopping plazas, get out of your car, and walk around. That’s how I discovered the casual-and-stylish French-Asian bakery and cafe TOUS les JOURS, which opened this past December on Spring Mountain Rd.
TOUS les JOURS is a 20-year-old worldwide chain with 1,650+ stores, including more than 70 in the U.S. Now, those are some serious corporate stats, but it doesn’t feel cold at all inside the brand’s second Vegas location (there’s a smaller one on S Rainbow Blvd).
Walking into this sprawling spot is like entering a cozy dream. It’s attractively lit, accented with gorgeous wood, and has a calming brown, tan, and gray color scheme. What awaits you is a dazzling array of freshly made French-Asian-inspired baked goods (TOUS les JOURS translates to “every day” in French), coffee, and smoothies.
Try the cranberry cream cheese bread, garlic and cheese croissant, and blueberry lavender macarons, not to mention the chocolate cream-filled donut, which lifted me to a higher place.
There are also slices of many different cakes, including green tea cream and mango cloud. Conveniently, TOUS les JOURS marks every item with a calorie count to prevent you from going all the way down this wonderful rabbit hole.
3. Track #3: The Realms Within @W Sahara Av
Reality is a bummer, and losing yourself in the material world is a dead-end for those seeking true happiness and enlightenment. Let The Realms Within on Sahara Ave be your guide if you want a gateway to a higher consciousness in Vegas.
The spiritual store carries everything from incense, tarot cards, and crystals to occult items and books like “Psychic Vampires” and “Supernatural Sex.” There are even some fun bumper stickers with phrases like “Born Again Pagan” and “Never Piss Off A Witch.”
The Realms Within occupies 4,000 square feet, with rooms for classes offering healing techniques like Reiki and “meditations and psychic development,” as owner James Phoenix points out. He opened the store in 2017 and moved to its latest and third location in July 2023.
“It seems as though people are beginning to seek the magic that comes from inner exploration,” says Phoenix. “We try to offer a space where people can feel comfortable to pursue the ‘crazy’ questions without judgment. I’ve been there with the ‘crazy’ questions I was too afraid to ask.”
4. Track #4: The Guess Who @Golden Nugget, Downtown Las Vegas
Back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Canada’s The Guess Who was a non-stop hit machine that matched bright melodies with intermittently dark themes, like their 1970 smash “American Woman” (which Lenny Kravitz covered and took to the bank in 1999).
These days, the band retains its original drummer, Garry Peterson, and tours and records with newer members who keep the sound fresh and rocking, as their show at The Showroom at the Golden Nugget proved.
The evening’s highlight was definitely “American Woman,” a reminder of a time when songs with unflinching political lyrics—”I don’t need your war machines/ I don’t need your ghetto scenes”—could become major pop hits and really impact the zeitgeist.
The Guess Who’s set mixed their other classics, including “Undun,” “No Time,” and “These Eyes,” with new material, like the salvation-themed “Plein D’Amour,” the title cut of their 2023 album. The strong audience response shows that there’s a place for modern versions of classic bands.
The Guess Who will return to the Nugget on October 4 (tickets go on sale soon).
5. Track #5: Al Solito Posto @Tivoli Village
The culinary spotlight in Vegas now shines deservedly on chef James Trees—thanks to the buzzy grand opening of his new and bigger Esther’s Kitchen. Look for it on Main St. in the former Retro Vegas building around the corner from his original Italian eatery. Trees is also a co-partner in two other Vegas restaurants across town at the fancy Tivoli Village: Ada’s Food + Wine as well as a second Italian restaurant, Al Solito Posto, where I recently returned.
A colorful collection of vintage glassware lines the shelves of the eye-catching entryway. The good impression continues with complementary homemade bread, setting the tone for a soulful and refined dining experience.
We started with an immediate homerun: the Squash Blossom pizza (one of five pizzas on the menu), with its heavenly and healthy combination of shaved zucchini, goat cheese, and pepita pesto.
Next, we ordered two handmade pastas that were equally seductive: the rigatoni with vodka tomato sauce, basil, and house-made fennel sausage and the casarecce (short pasta noodles with curled edges), prepared with a mix of roasted eggplant, capers, and burrata.
As delicious as each dish was at the restaurant, the leftovers tasted even better the next day when the flavors had more time to magically blend into each other.
This is a good argument for not eating everything on your plate and taking food home with you, particularly when the restaurant you’re visiting is Al Solito Posto.
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