Top 10 things to do in Las Vegas this week

MUSIC

1. Gwar/Black Label Society

If you want blood, they’ve got it: Masked metallers Gwar are fond of spewing bodily fluids — synthetic, mercifully — all over the crowd during their Grand Guignol-inspired performances in which politicians and religious figures routinely get beheaded. On their current tour, they team up with British grindcore forebears Napalm Death and New Orleans sludge metal miscreants Eyehategod. Halloween’s over; long live Halloween. Four days later, on Thanksgiving Eve, another loaded metal bill hits town when the biker-approved Black Label Society, featuring ace Vegas shredder Dario Lorina, throws down with Florida death metal heavyweights Obituary and New York City noise-metal greats Prong. Your ears won’t know what hit them. See Gwar at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. Tickets are $27; houseofblues.com/lasvegas. Black Label Society comes to the House of Blues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets start at $37.

— Jason Bracelin

FAIR

2. Holiday Craft and Foodie Fair

Aloha! The 9th Island Cultural Club of Las Vegas plans its annual fair for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Las Vegas Buddhists Sangha, 4110 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. in North Las Vegas. The event will feature food and craft vendors, live entertainment and raffles. Admission is free. Visit 9thiccoflv.org

— Heidi Knapp Rinella

COMEDY

3. Jon Lovitz

We wouldn’t lie to you — although Tommy Flanagan certainly would — so believe us when we say that Jon Lovitz will kick off his residency at the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana Monday through Wednesday (more November and December dates are scheduled). The comedian (“Saturday Night Live”) and actor (whose credits include a famously scene-stealing turn in “A League of Their Own”) will perform at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $60.75 at troplv.com.

— John Przybys

MOVIE

4. ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’

When you’ve been mining your studio vaults for intellectual property to revive, and the last time you tried this it was both a critical and commercial disappointment, who ya gonna call? “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” reunites Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) with the family of the late Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) in this younger-skewing offshoot/sequel — of the original “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II,” not the maligned 2016 version — that brings Paul Rudd and Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) into the fold. See it Friday, only in theaters.

— Christopher Lawrence

CONVENTIONS

5. Big Boys Toys

You can stop scrolling Craigslist: At long last, that $12 million semi with 3,974 horsepower, 12 superchargers and 24 cylinders that you’ve been looking for is here. You can find it at “innovation & luxury lifestyle exhibition” Big Boys Toys, along with Swarovski crystal-studded bathtubs, flying cars and lots more space-age stuff. Big Boys Toys takes place at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday at the World Market Center Las Vegas, 75 S. Grand Central Parkway. Tickets start at $10 at bbtvegas.com.

— Jason Bracelin

MUSIC

6. Gunhild Carling

Experience that vintage Vegas vibe when vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling, billed as “Sweden’s Queen of Swing,” performs jazz classics from the ’20s during a dinner show Sunday at the Italian American Club of Southern Nevada, 2333 E. Sahara Ave. Doors open at 6 p.m., the buffet is from 6:30 to 7 p.m., and the music starts at 8. General admission tickets are $65, and vintage dress is encouraged. Visit iacvegas.com or call 702-457-3866.

— John Przybys

VISUAL ART

7. ‘Destination’

Heather Protz ought be be more widely celebrated as a photographer of the real Las Vegas. Hers is a shrewdly editing eye, somehow zeroing in on the city’s resonant details without abstracting them into ephemera. This exhibit at the Savidan Gallery will showcase her Las Vegas images, along with mixed-media pieces and collaborations with artist Michael D. Owen. We only wish it included more of her amazing street photography. Reception: 4-8 p.m. Saturday; on view through Jan. 22. Gallery is on the second floor of Faciliteq, 1310 S. Third St., savidangallery.com.

— Scott Dickensheets

CONCERT

8. Las Vegas Philharmonic

The Las Vegas Philharmonic celebrates its Reynolds Hall homecoming Saturday with a program that includes Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (featuring artist-in-residence cellist Joshua Roman), its first-ever performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major, and Missy Mazzoli’s “These Worlds in Us.” The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at The Smith Center, and tickets start at $29 at lvphil.org.

— John Przybys

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

9. Maui Invitational and other tournaments

The Maui Invitational is coming … to the Strip? For the second year, COVID keeps the famed holiday basketball tournament outside its native Hawaii. But at least it makes more sense to host it here, given the city’s deep ties to the islands, than last year’s site of Asheville, North Carolina. The tournament runs Monday-Wednesday at Michelob Ultra Arena with a field made up of Butler, Chaminade, Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Saint Mary’s, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. It’s part of a stacked week of college basketball tournaments that includes the Roman Main Event (UNLV, Michigan, Arizona and Wichita State, Friday-Sunday at T-Mobile Arena), the Good Sam Empire Classic (UCLA, Gonzaga, Central Michigan and Bellarmine, Monday-Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena), the Las Vegas Invitational (New Mexico, UAB, San Francisco and Towson, Thursday-Nov. 26 at Orleans Arena) and the Las Vegas Classic (San Diego, South Alabama, UIC and Hawaii, Thursday-Nov. 26 at Orleans Arena).

— Christopher Lawrence

THEATER

10. ‘A Christmas Carol’

Bah! Humbug! may be what you’re saying now with signs of Christmas springing up before Thanksgiving, but here’s a surefire way to get in the mood for the season: Bradley Whitford, late of “The West Wing” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” will fill the role of that durable curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge when the tour of “A Christmas Carol” lands in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday through Nov. 28. Tickets start at $30 at thesmithcenter.com.

— Heidi Knapp Rinella

Looking for more things to do? Check out our searchable database of events, exhibits and restaurants around the Las Vegas Valley.