Las Vegas Mixtape v23: Hawaii Street Food, Disco Ecstasy, and Feel-Good Mochi Donuts

Track #2: “DISCOSHOW” @The LINQ

Congrats to the entertainment visionaries at Spiegelworld (“Absinthe,” “Atomic Saloon”). With “DISCOSHOW” inside The LINQ, they’ve delivered another hyper-imaginative and totally enveloping extravaganza. Set in 1977, it lovingly tips its hat to the ‘70s NYC disco nightlife as well as the history and staying power of dance music overall.

At the show’s world premiere and party in early September, Spiegelworld head Ross Mollison told the’70s-costumed crowd that “DISCOSHOW” was “10 years in the making” and wondered if “the future of Vegas entertainment is without seats.” For 70 minutes that whiz by, you’re up on your feet grooving in an ample, gorgeously lit disco space while the cast dances around you on risers and moves above you on other levels.

The show also incorporates historic footage, including scenes from the infamous “Disco Demolition Night” in 1979 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park stadium. That’s where disco records were blown up in an ugly Major League Baseball promotion that ended with rioting disco haters damaging the field.

Your “DISCOSHOW” evening can begin or end with cocktails and dinner at the adjacent Diner Ross, named in honor of the legendary Diana Ross, whose disco hits “Love Hangover” and “I’m Coming Out” helped define the genre.

Walking into the multi-room venue itself is a gas. You enter a gritty space with a bar that recreates the Prince St NYC subway stop near where David Mancuso’s pioneering ‘70s club, The Loft, was located (99 Prince St). Upstairs is the “Glitterloft,” which has the industrial design aesthetic of The Loft and features a bar and a DJ spinning disco classics. Next, you’re led into the disco for a show starring a drag queen MC who celebrates the gay, straight, and multi-ethnic inclusiveness of the early NYC discos. Fortunately, the velvet-roped, celebrity-driven Studio 54—which opened in 1977 and was all about who got inside and who didn’t—is not saluted.

As a native New Yorker who went to classic pre-Studio 54 NYC clubs like Le Jardin, Infinity, and Galaxy 21, I’m happy to say that “DISCOSHOW” gets the spirit right. It’s also a terrific night out in Vegas.