Imagine Dragons get a lift from Shaq, Wayne Newton in record night

The Kats! Bureau at this writing is the Circa Sportsbook. A lot of emotion in this wagering cathedral on an NFL Sunday. I am looking LIVE at the broadcast legend Brent Musburger, seated next to Circa co-owner Derek Stevens.

Musburger apparently has called so many games in his career that he sometimes slips subconsciously into play-by-play. Like, “THAT is a critical penalty!” And, RAIDERS fall short!” Stevens gets all kinds of information in this seating position.

More from this scene, and elsewhere:

The TRF evolution

Imagine Dragons raised $3.5 million at Friday night’s Tyler Robinson Foundation event. That’s a record for the organization in its first event at Resorts World Las Vegas. TRF is the band’s chosen charitable foundation to support children battling pediatric cancer. The annual gala has raised more than $15 million in its nine-year history.

Comic actor Joel McHale hosted the sold-out event, which drew more than 750 guests, also an all-time high. Wayne Newton served as this year’s event chair, joined by 2019 chair Shaquille O’Neal. Name-checks around the room included Guy Fieri, “Impractical Jokers” star Brian Quinn, PBS Chef Ming Tsai and actress/model McKenna Roberts.

Also, 2018’s TRF Community Impact Award honorees and Vegas Golden Knights reps were in the mix: Michael Amadio, Laurent Brossoit, Jack Eichel, Deryk Engelland, Adin Hill, Brett Howden, Ben Hutton, William Karlsson, Phil Kessel, Keegan Kolesar, Sakari Manninen, Alec Martinez, Brayden McNabb, Alex Pietrangelo, Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone, Shea Theodore and Zach Whitecloud.

Band members Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee and Daniel Platzman performed its usual acoustic set, made special by broadcast across Resorts World’s West Tower and livestreamed on Bandsintown’s Twitch. The set list included such Dragons anthems as as “Believer,” “Sharks,” “Nothing Left To Say,” and “It’s Time,” the latter song a favorite of Tyler Robinson, the young fan who died of brain cancer in 2013 and for whom the foundation is named.

XS-ive crowd

Post-TRF, Reynolds hit XS Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas, where A-lister Jamie Foxx performed Kanye’s hit “Gold Digger” with headliner Diplo. Foxx also stayed back for “Rack City.” In a TMZ account, Reynolds arrived at about 4 a.m., waved to the throng but did not perform.

Foxx was also reportedly a late-night visitor Saturday to Delilah at the Wynn.

Mirage loses K2

An 11-year-old dolphin has died at the Mirage Secret Garden and Habitat.

K2, a bottlenose dolphin, died Saturday, the company announced Sunday afternoon. The company’s statement said he had been receiving treatment for a respiratory illness. The attraction was temporarily closed as the company investigated a specific cause of death.

K2 is the third dolphin to die at the Secret Garden this year. Bella, a 13-year-bottlenose dolphin, died in April after undergoing treatment for gastroenteritis. Maverick, a 19-year-old bottlenose dolphin died earlier this month following treatment for a lung infection.

Mirage’s Interim President Franz Kallao said in a statement: “All of us are heartbroken over this tragic loss, especially our amazing animal health and care teams who love and care for our animals on a daily basis.”

According to the international organization Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, a bottlenose dolphin’s life expectancy is about 28-29 years old. The AMMPA website states that “dolphins in U.S. zoos and aquariums today live as long or longer than dolphins in the wild.”

K2 was born at the Secret Garden.

“Many of our team were standing poolside the day that our matriarch, Duchess, gave birth to K2. They saw with relief when he took his first breath,” Kallao said. “They watched him grow and learn, from an infant to an adolescent and finally to an adult. K2 was very vocal, energetic, loved his toys and was a joy to be around. He always made us smile.”

(Cigar) smoke, no mirrors

Magic superstar David Blaine turned in some close-up card routines for guests at Eight Cigar Lounge at Resorts World on Saturday afternoon. Blaine is prepping for his first Vegas series, at The Theatre at Resorts World beginning Friday and Saturday. He’s back Oct. 28-29 and Dec. 16-17.

UNLV’s Jazz experience

UNLV Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Dave Loeb and Nathan Tanouye, celebrates the release of its latest CD, “Almost There” at 4 p.m. Sunday at Artemus Ham Hall. Vegas vocalists Laura Taylor and Toscha Comeaux will be featured. Tickets are $10, available at the UNLV Performing Arts Center box office.

In April, UNLV Jazz Ensemble I performed at the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City. It was among 10 of the top university jazz ensembles in the nation invited by jazz legend,Wynton Marsalis. Since 2010, UNLV jazz studies has received 39 prestigious DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards, considered among the highest recognition in jazz education worldwide.

Performers from the UNLV music-study programs populate Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns, David Perrico and The Raiders House Band, Lady Gaga’s “Jazz + Piano” show, Celine Dion’s orchestra, and several other prominent Vegas productions.

Cool Hang Alert

The retro-’70s (as opposed to future-’70s, I guess) Vegas band Aquarius plays Mama Rabbit at Park MGM at 9 p.m. Thursday. Rockie Brown, Chris Cicchino, Rachel Gonzales and Carl Collison bring the energy until 1 a.m. No cover. Make it count.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.