Ringo Starr visits The Beatles ‘Love’ one last time
The closing of “Love” at the Mirage is the end of an era, but this is not an abrupt ending. This is a kind of lingering shutdown, with stars paying a final visit leading to the show’s July 7 finale.
Ringo Starr himself, whose beats of course carry the Beatles-Cirque production, caught the show Thursday night with members of his All-Starr Band. Starr’s crew closed out their latest run at The Venetian Theatre on Saturday night.
Starr’s visit to “Love” was the last time he would see the production, which he has caught three times — the opening in 2006, the fifth anniversary in 2011 and, finally, last week.
The legendary drummer is celebrating his 84th birthday with a party in L.A., serendipitously the very night “Love” closes. There is no word on if Paul McCartney or such Beatles/Apple Corp. figures as Giles Martin, Olivia Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon or Julian Lennon will be back at The Mirage for the closing.
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In his Thursday visit, Starr posed for pics and addressed the cast along with his wife, Barbara Bach, and his current All-Starr band mates.
“I’m so glad I came to the show. You were all great!” Starr said as the performers assembled. “This is is three times I’ve seen this show, but the first time you’re all younger than me!”
Starr closed his shows at The Venetian by performing several jumping jacks, looking like a kid, and as always, sharing the love.
She looks and sounds great … https://t.co/FXkDn1lANN
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) June 3, 2024
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Change your passes
Live Nation is investigating the widespread data breach at Ticketmaster, which occurred May 20 and was disclosed in a regulatory filing on Friday.
The live-concert behemoth confirmed the incident, in which a hacking group had accessed and stolen information from more than 500 million Ticketmaster customers.
The hack does not seem to have included passwords for Ticketmaster accounts. Even so, users should change their passwords (this one has done that) as a precaution.
As reported by The Associated Press, Live Nation said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is “working to mitigate risk to our users.’’ The company is cooperating with law enforcement officials to tighten security.
Ticketmaster is a Live Nation subsidiary. That relationship has drawn an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice, which claims the companies are operating under an illegal monopoly.
Live Nation sells more tickets than any entertainment company internationally and in Las Vegas. The company has exclusive booking deals at Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood, the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau. Live Nation owns and operates House of Blues at Mandalay Bay and Brooklyn Bowl at Linq Promenade. All of these venues book tickets through Ticketmaster.
Yes to Lainey Wilson, for all you Lainey Wilson fans … Cracked the code … https://t.co/qgKeeDxK24
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) June 2, 2024
Tease this …
On the topic of Live Nation, the company and MGM Resorts International have teased to an upcoming residency on their social media channels. This is going to be an MGM Grand Garden play (originally I thought she would play a series at Dolby Live). The post shows the silhouette of a female in a cowboy hat, with the message, “Vegas, Hold your horses…wild horses that is! Big announcement coming tomorrow!”
Guesses range from Dolly Parton to Beyonce to Lainey Wilson. I’m thinking Wilson will take the theater during the National Finals Rodeo, and boy, howdy, that’s going to be a time.
Great Moments in Social Media
The original owner of Rejavanate Coffee Lounge made it known he plans to reopen the business by exhuming a Twitter/X account from about 15 years ago. The coffee house closed in 2010, having been undercut by the recession.
Now owner Tim Miller is seeking the licensing needed to reopen. No date yet. But Miller reposted a tweet from my account posted on May 14, 2009: “Rejavanate is one of the quietest coffee pubs in town, and I blame the free WiFi.” The original spot was a haven of live music, poetry, art and high-quality java.
Cool Hang Alert
Paul Stubblefield’s “Over The Hill Gang” show with Joe Darro on keys and Kenny Seiffert on bass plays the Dispensary Lounge at 2451 E. Tropicana Ave. from 7-10 p.m. Thursday. Robbie Robinson, Tom Hall and the esteemed Don Cunningham are special guests. No cover, two drink minimum. As always, try the cheeseburger.
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 X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.