✦Weekender✦ Tequila therapy | Double shopfest | Gigantic Elvis | Anarchy striptease | Acoustic rawk | Horse zen 🐴

FROM MARGARITA heartbreak parties to didgeridoo horse therapy to spicy Italian surf-rock, here's what made The List this weekend. Cheers! – Andrew Kiraly 🤍

💔 Friday Feb 14

• I checked out Fantasy Lab at the Fashion Show Mall about a year ago and it was, well, a touch mid: a passable novelty walk-through of trippy rooms optimized for max Instagrammability, and not much more than that. I think my disappointment had to do with the fact there wasn't anything actually happening in a space just screaming for some fun programming, a problem they've apparently remedied with Broken Corazones, which alchemizes Valentine's disappointment into an emo Mexican fiesta where bottomless margs help you belt out breakup anthems from the safety of your table. No spotlight required, just tequila-fueled catharsis. 6p, Fantasy Lab
• I have this recurring anarchist fever-dream where InDecline teams up with the Culinary Union teams up with The Nevada Alliance teams up with anyone with a functioning brain stem and primitive moral awareness to decisively shut down the Strip, holding Nevada in strategic economic thrall in a historic anti-fascist protest, eventually leading to a West Coast Bloc federation that breaks away from the crumbling iceberg that is the neo-Orwellian United States and then of course I thankfully wake up before nagging specifics introduce themselves. But maybe the dream starts with InDecline showing instructive and inspiring agitprop films such as The Art of Protest and subversive plays such as For What It's Worth. 730p, Recycled Propaganda
• Sure, I'll admit that even I have furtively pumped a fist or three at the admittedly catchy light-beer bro-rock of Theory of a Deadman while browsing cargo shorts at Kohl's. But if you're in the mood for soul-swooning instead of head-banging, tonight's show is a special all-acoustic set that focuses on the feelz. 8p, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
• It doesn't get more truth-in-advertisingy than LA's Sadgirl, oozing up gorgeously morose hand-holdy slow-sway dancefloor mope anthems. If prom could cry, it would sound like this. 8p, Swan Dive
• If you're looking to throw a few kinks into V-Day doings, be advised that the next few items contain lots of exposed flesh and rhythmic gyration. First, Beautiful Anarchy Burlesque is serving up a spicy Valentine's Day cocktail of tease and sleaze with some added twang: LA-via-TX balladeers Texas Prison Rodeo are serving up their gravy-drenched outlaw rawk to complement the curves. 8p, Jackpot Bar & Grill
• Little Miss Nasty's Hollywood Witch Tour brings their famously high-voltage, high-production burlesque metal show to The Portal. 9p, Area15
• If Cupid and FetLife had a lube-slicked love child, it would be Liquid Red's Naughty & Nice Valentine's Day Ball. This eros-primed installment of the local leather-and-lace party series explodes in edgy burlesque, vampy fashion strutting, and, of course, a lingerie contest. 9p, The Usual Place
• If you haven't been to Cork and Thorn's Wine Garden on Commerce, it's a cute li'l faux-flowered niche with a solid bottle selection. Tonight they're setting the Valentine's mood with sultry sax and vino under the stars. 9p, The Wine Garden

🍚 Hella more weekend here, which may contain excessive amounts of bulgogi bao skewers:

💘 V-Day extreme | Free crime | Film fest | Punk comic DJ | Subversive luv | Black history | Weed + D&D

The coolest things to do in Las Vegas this week, ever.

The ListAndrew Kiraly

🏃🏾 Saturday Feb 15

• If you ever wanted to briefly jog alongside a marathoner and puckishly ask WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING FROM?!, now is your chance as the Jackpot Ultra Running Festival sees gazelle-legged, gorilla-lunged ultra-runners circuiting the pond all. Weekend. Long. All Day, Cornerstone Park
• What?! You forgot? You forgot to get a proper Valentine's Day gift for yr squeeze and now you're locked in an inescapable, miasmic shame-chamber? Well, you have a chance to redeem yourself – while boosting local biz: Market in the Alley (11a, Arts District) kicks off 2024 with 70+ local makers, live tunes from The Camper Daddy, and a deliciously petty "Get Your Ex Drawn" portrait session. Plus food pop-ups to fuel your makeup shopping spree. Meanwhile, in Green Valley, The Makers Hive Market is abuzz with face-painting, a mobile bookstore, aural paintings, bracelet-making booths, and 80+ local vendors busting out wares. Free bracelets and hot cocoa for the first 100 entrants. 11a, The District at Green Valley Ranch
• The Springs Preserve turns safari guide with a family-friendly wetlands tour where local wildlife puts on a show. 11a, Springs Preserve
• Your creative talents are sure to bloom with each buzzy sip at this Petal Party Flower Workshop vivified with doses of fine vino. 1p, Wineaux
• If you've been locked into doomscroll mode and wanna shake off the paralysis of our new administration dishing out constant domestic shock-and-awe, the Las Vegas Protest Against Fascism & Hate is a nice place to get those antifa juices flowing. 230p, New York-New York Hotel Casino
• As I write this, I'm feelin' full-on lamplit lofi girl as I gaze out the window and see my downtown street glazed in gauzy curtains of moody drizzle, but Saturday's looking to be dry and overcast, perfect weather for scarfin' up and catching some brutal but still low-key companionable Sin City Roller Derby as it kicks off its 20th season. 12p, West Flamingo Park

• Gladius the Show gallops into Val weekend with Love Reins, where acrobats and horses combine for some seriously epic romance. (No, not like that.) Better yet, you can reserve a private couch with bubbly for peak date-night horsin' around. Barbecue is cooked by an entity named One-Eyed Fats, which I find simultaneously deeply comforting and vaguely troubling. 3p, Gladius the Show Ranch
• There's a loungey little locals dive bar in the perpetually moribund strip mall near Flamingo and Sandhill that admirably hold its own by balancing gaming-bar practicality with a touch of supper-club class featuring live music nightly: Ichabod's Lounge. Tonight they've got The Sinatra Guy channeling Ol' Blue Eyes' songbook for Valentine's vibes. 630p, Ichabod's Lounge
• Fresh off her 2024 Grammy win, jazz powerhouse Nicole Zuraitis brings her songful storytelling and soaring vocals to an intimate show. Her piano chops and bandleading talents aside, Zuraitis has one of those silky, assured, chanteuse voices that seems to emanate from another era entirely. 7p, Vic's Las Vegas

▼ Saturday cont'd

• Got a crazy fruity cabernet or plush pinot gris you desperately wanna share with the world's mouth? Crush Pad's super-casual Bottle Share turns wine tasting into a choose-your-own-adventure where you bring a bottle (or grab one there) to share with fellow grapeheads. Like a potluck, but with better buzz potential. 730p, Crush Pad
• I suppose you can technically call the mass quanta of jiggly bits quivering at this burlesque bash "teachable moments." The Burlesque Hall of Fame's Tease brings museum-quality bump and grind to life with headliner Ginger Watson. Your ticket supports the Burlesque Hall of Fame's commitment to preserving striptease history, making this possibly the most educational dose of sin in town. 8p, The Space
• Who else wants to tunnel back into some warm, doughy nostalgia right about now? Two options tonight: '80s Things turns The Composers Room into a neon-soaked time machine where big hair meets bigger feelings and mixtapes still say "I love you" without a whiff of irony (8p, The Composers Room). Meanwhile, DJs Manny B Madman and Ricky V turn the Ahern into a Boomer- and Gen X-optimized, time-traveling disco inferno with '80s and '90s bangers at Valentine's Disco Freestyle Party. 9p, Ahern Hotel
• Sure, surf music originally frothed up in '60s Cali, but in the '90s, an Italian dude named Lorenzo Valdambrini became obsessed with the sound, and the barreling, shimmering sonics of surf rock have gone truly international ever since. Lorenzo has since become known as Surfer Joe, and Italy's wave ambassador hangs ten in Vegas for two shows: a late-night session with The New Waves tonight at FatCat, then a Sunday surf brunch triple-set at Red Dwarf. 9p, FatCat

🪴 Sunday Feb 16

• Yeah, sure, a soul-fortifying, solitude-rich yoga sesh does wonders for your janky-ass chakras, but can't modern ingenuity make warrior-posing a little more fun? Yes: This technofied Immersive Yoga sesh at Area 15's Illuminarium will surround you with soothing visuals, positive vibrations, and fellow-traveling downward-doggers. 9a, Illuminarium
• The LV Craft Shows Festival packs Tivoli Village with 70+ makers, food trucks, and enough handmade goodness to make Etsy fume with boiling, carbolic jealousy. Bring your pup – this shopping spree's gone to the dogs. 10a, Tivoli Village
• Spilled Milk plays botanical matchmaker at Planty Hour, where lonely plants find their ceramic soulmates. Buy your dirt buddy's new home here and they'll pot it for free. 12p, Spilled Milk
• Vocal virtuoso Marian Anderson didn't just break the sound barrier — she shattered societal barriers with her stirring, powerful contralto that truly spoke truth to power. Grace City Opera puts on a Black History Month concert that pays tribute to how Black opera singer Anderson turned concert halls into cathedrals of change, featuring Claudia Merrill and Adrienne Mondeau bringing Anderson's voice to rich, loud life. 3p, Windmill Library
• Neigh-maste, fellow stressed-out human! This Healing with Horses psyche-centering sesh put on the admirably mystical-sounding Equiaura blends animal magnetism and human touch. Picture this: you, swaddled in blankets, vibing to didgeridoo and sound bowls while gentle horses radiate zen vibes stronger than your meditation app. It's part therapy, part horse-whispering, and totally not your average Sunday night. 4p, Calico Creek Boarding Stables

🙏 Hope you have the raddest weekend. Thanks for your support! – Andrew Kiraly 🤍