74°F
weather icon Windy

Jagger’s Las Vegas visit: Neon Boneyard, Fremont … and a parking lot

Updated November 6, 2021 - 6:27 pm

The Kats! Bureau at this writing is Delano’s 3940 Coffee and Tea, just at the hotel’s valet entrance and near the Stadium Walk across the Hacienda Avenue bridge to Allegiant Stadium.

This place is actually closed. Curious decision, on the afternoon of a major event at the stadium, on what might be the Rolling Stones’ final show ever in Las Vegas.

A tip from a consumer and a Vegas local: Extend business hours at 3940 (a reference to the L.V. Boulevard address) on days and nights of concerts and Raiders games. Insiders (meaning, those inside the hotel) indicate this is a good idea. Scoop up the revenue and thank me later.

On the topic of the Stones and being perked up, officials at the Neon Museum were thrilled to know Mick Jagger stopped by the attraction Friday afternoon. Yep, the unassuming tourist at the Boneyard entrance who looked like Jagger, was.

On Friday night, the Stones’ iconic frontman posted a photo in front of the museum’s similarly iconic sign at 770 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Jagger did not tour the exhibits of all the famous, decommissioned neon signs inside. But he did post a series of photos on Instagram of himself on this Vegas tour. He wore different outfits, alternating between a dark jacket, green slacks and a cap in one look, and a black T-shirt and baggy, gray-striped pants in another.

The gallery included a stop at the Fremont Street Experience, in the parking lot of CJ’s Auto Repair on West Bonanza Road (random) and what appeared to be Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The last shot in the carousel was of Jagger at a roulette wheel in the 2001 movie “The Man From Elysian Fields.”

Neon Museum Executive Director Aaron Berger said the Jagger visit was an illuminating culmination of his first 90 days on the job. He passed that celebratory mark during the week.

“What is great is we were not involved in this. It was not a planned shoot,” Berger said Saturday. “We have had a lot of celebrity shoots at the museum that are organized by us. This wasn’t one of them.”

Jagger’s trip seemed spontaneous and organic, as no one at the museum was aware he planned to stop by for a single shot in front of the classic neon sign at the entrance. The 78-year-old frontman likely arrived before the 3 p.m. business opening. Certainly, no employees saw him on the property.

Jagger also moved mostly anonymously around the Fremont Street Experience. Two major operators downtown, Circa and the D co-owner Derek Stevens, and Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel, said they were unaware Jagger was in the neighborhood.

I have to agree with Jossel’s assessment: “Mick Jagger can walk up and down Fremont Street, and no one would recognize him.”

Berger is confident Jagger’s endorsement will boost business and even notified the staff that there might be “more attention” and extra walk-up business in the coming days. Just four hours after the museum re-posted Jagger’s original photos on IG, its account had amassed more than 3,600 likes. Between 150-200 is the norm.

“His post was wonderful, he chose the museum as an iconic spot where he wanted to be identified on social media,” Berger said. “It gives us some wind to our sails.”

Light us up

On Thursday night I caught up with famed Vegas communications director and political operative Sig Rogich at the grand opening Eight Cigar Lounge at Resorts World Las Vegas. We remarked about all the Vegas power players who turned out for the event.

At the same moment, we said, “old Vegas.”

The party was indeed brimming with newsmakers from around the country and around the corner. Celebrity attorney David Chesnoff and the chic businessman Guiseppe Bravo are investors in the swanky nightspot. Andy Masi’s Clique Hospitality is a partner, too.

That group held court with such famous folk as boxing legend Mike Tyson, actor Michael Cudlitz (“Southland,” “The Walking Dead”), social media kingpin Dan Bilzerian (he’s in one the shorts and white T-shirt), soccer star Cobi Jones, poker great Phil Ivey, boxer Ryan Garcia, and ex-NBA star Charles Oakley. Earlier in the week, NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and baseball star/broadcaster Alex Rodriguez stopped by to christen their private booze lockers.

The “old Vegas” crew was further represented by Clark County sheriff and gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo, The Siegel Group founder Stephen Siegel, Resorts World CEO Scott Sibella (chatting with Tyson about possibly staging Tyson’s one-man show at Resorts World) and the storied Vegas entrepreneur and mover/shaker/high-limit gambler Jeff Beacher. The cigar scene would not have been complete without Beach, and he didn’t disappoint, wearing his formal red sweatshirt, on his way to the tables.

Weir here

What’s great about my #QuoteofTheNight posts on Twitter is, you always know the quote when you hear it. It happened again Friday, when the ever-rocking Sammy Hagar told a packed house at The Strat, “Bob has been in the Grateful Dead all his life. Can you imagine that? I’ve been in the Grateful Dead for 20 minutes, and I’m (messed) up!”

Using saltier language, Hagar was referring to Bob Weir. The happily tousled co-founder of the Dead was Hagar’s unbilled guest at The Strat Theater on Friday night. Weir took the crowd “into the woods,” as Hagar termed it, performing extended versions of “Good Lovin’,” “Not Fade Away” and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”

Weir arrived to a combination of cheers and gasps. Santa Claus couldn’t have arrived to a more robust greeting among the sold-out crowd of 900. Hagar spent much of Weir’s set signing fans’ memorabilia near the front of the stage. He seemed to be regrouping for “I Can’t Drive 55,” which culminated another rowdy rock experience. To quote the great bassist Michael Anthony, “We got ya, Sammy!”

Cool Hang Alert

The Mob Museum’s Underground hideaway hang has The Gatsby Gang, Anne Martinez’s band that matches the room’s speakeasy vibe, on Friday night. Saturday it’s the fine vocalist Michael Ross Nugent. Performances are 8 p.m.-midnight, no cover, and the still is cranking.

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.

THE LATEST