Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas temporarily cutting live shows
Fremont Street Experience is pulling live entertainment from its open stages, effective immediately.
FSE President and CEO Patrick Hughes said Sunday that he made the decision just after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its recommendation that events with more than 50 people in the U.S. be canceled or postponed. He is also adhering to Gov. Steve Sisolak’s social-distancing directives.
Fremont Street’s three open stages are characteristically open to thousands of pedestrians every night of the week.
“We are glad now we’ve been given direction by our leadership, and we are going to be socially responsible,” Hughes said in a phone chat. “We will be following all guidelines and working with (the Metropolitan Police Department) on how to enforce social separations.”
Hughes offered a reminder that Fremont Street itself is a public promenade, over which he has no authority. But his office does operate the Main Street, 1st Street and 3rd Street stages. Those platforms are host to such local favorites as Zowie Bowie, Velvet Elvis, AlterEgo, Spandex Nation, Empire Records and the Tony Marques Band.
The 3rd Street Stage is also home to FSE’s free Rock of Vegas summer concert series, which has featured performances such as Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Martha Davis and The Motels and Bret Michaels.
As recently as Saturday night, FSE’s 3rd Street Stage was packed for Zowie Bowie’s late-night performance. Friday, too, was busy with a primarily locals’ crowd at all three stages.
“It defies logic, to be honest with you,” Hughes said. “We’ve got St. Patrick’s Day coming up, which we’re not going to be promoting as a big party. But it’s traditionally our biggest day of the year. It’s an open street, and a lot of locals want to be on Fremont Street.”
FSE operates the SlotZilla zip lines, which run under the VivaVision LED show. Hughes said the highly profitable attraction is likely to stay open as long as the public demands.
Contact John Katsilometes at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
