Guns N’ Roses inks fall Colosseum dates
CAESARS Entertainment is serious about expanding its headliner lineup in the post-celine Dion era.
Guns N’ Roses is booked for a pair of shows Nov. 1-2 at the revamped Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the company announced Monday. Tickets start at $149 (not including fees) and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster or at the Colosseum box office.
Fronted by vocalist Axl
Rose and guitar great Slash, the band is slotting the two Las Vegas dates in its “Not in This Lifetime Tour.” The shows will make use of the new Colosseum design, which is to feature a flexible general admission seating area near the front of the stage. The venue is going dark for a month after Reba and Brooks & Dunn’s show on July 6.
The strategy that inspired the seating redesign of the Colosseum was to allow more flexibility in the type of acts to play the venue. Another famed arena rock band, Journey, will play the venue for nine dates starting Oct. 9.
Guns N’ Roses’ Colosseum dates are the band’s only 2019 tour stop in the West, other than Salt Lake City. Original band members Rose, Slash and bassist Duff Mckagan reunited for the much-hyped “Not in This Lifetime” tour in 2016, which played two soldout shows at T-mobile Arena in April 2016 and another in November 2017.
Wallendas on the wire
A courageous individual and a terrific artist, Lijana Wallenda is returning from a near-fatal accident in 2017 to cross Times Square on a high wire this Sunday. Wallenda and her brother, Nik, are performing the tandem act in a special titled “Highwire Live in Times Square,” airing 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Lijana Wallenda has been a high-wire trainer at “Absinthe” since the show launched in April 2011. Sunday’s walk is her first performance since she and four other artists fell from a wire about 30 feet from the ground while rehearsing a human-pyramid act on Feb. 8, 2017, at Circus Sarasota in Florida.
Lijana Wallenda was the most seriously injured, saying in the weeks after, “I broke every bone in my face.” She underwent multiple surgeries and has three plates and 72 screws in her face.
She also suffered a lacerated liver and a broken ankle, shoulder and hip.
Wallenda’s recovery since the accident has been remarkable, to be crowned by a walk in which she and her brother walk a tightrope spanning 1,300 feet, and some 25 stories above Times Square.
The Wallenda siblings are seventh-generation artists in the famous Flying Wallendas family of circus artists.
Michael Strahan, co-anchor of “Good Morning America” and host of “The $100,000 Pyramid,” and veteran sports broadcaster Erin Andrews are co-hosting the made-for-tv event.
Lijana Wallenda is not contractually allowed to talk on the record about the stunt until after the show airs. Nik Wallenda, who has walked across Niagara Falls on a high wire in 2012 and the Grand Canyon in 2013 in televised events, has been the assigned family spokesman.
“In 1928, my family performed at Madison Square Garden in the City of Dreams for the first time in the USA,” Wallenda said in a statement. “And on June 23, I have the great opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of my own by paying homage to that performance as we return for my most exhilarating feat yet. I am beyond excited to be able to walk with my sister, Lijana, as she overcomes near-death injuries and continues the Wallenda tradition of never giving up.”
Newton, Gaga meet
Wayne Newton and Lady Gaga met Friday night after Gaga’s “Enigma” show at
Park Theater. The night out was a late birthday gift from Newton to his daughter, Lauren, who turned 17 in April. Wayne’s wife, Kathleen, sister-in-law Tricia Mccrone and family friend Kimberly Glaser were also in the party.
There was no time for talk of Newton’s earlier offer to Gaga to show off his Arabian horses and lead a tour of Casa de Shenandoah.
Golden Bear visits D&M
Jack Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, attended the Donny & Marie show on Saturday night. The Nicklaus and Osmond families have been friends for many years, and Marie is a supporter of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Palm City, Florida.
An Angelil yarn
AEG Live Senior Vice President John Nelson recently told me what an avid fan of comedy was the late Rene Angelil, who engineered the deal that brought his wife, Celine Dion, to Caesars Palace.
Angelil especially loved Dom Deluise and one night decades ago saw the great comic actor playing blackjack at the old MGM Grand, now Bally’s.
Angelil pulled a $100 bill from his wallet and a Sharpie from his pocket and, between hands, asked Deluise to sign it. The actor tucked the $100 into his own wallet, pulled out a $1 bill, signed it and handed it back. Score!
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. A 30-day grace period for 24-hour-a-day high occupancy vehicle lanes on portions of Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95 ends on Thursday. There are multiple ways for a motorist to violate the new HOV lane regulations and face a $250 fine. Infractions include:
Vehicles that don’t enter or exit the carpool lane at one of the broken line enter/ exit points.
Vehicles with just one occupant.
Electric cars, unless with two occupants, as per Nevada law.
Trucks with more than two axles, even with two occupants. As of 9 p.m. Monday:
1. Las Vegas business complex destroyed by fire lacked sprinklers
A fire destroyed an 84,000-square-foot business complex near the Strip on Monday and left a haze of smoke hovering over the central valley.
2. Lady Gaga, Stanley
Cup, Raptors in Strip party mix
The Strip was bursting at the seams with the Grammy Award superstar, NBA and NHL champs all partying it up early Monday.
3. Kenan Thompson, exHenderson resident, talks ‘SNL’ and new sitcom
Thompson — “SNL’S” longest active cast member at 16 seasons — returns to town on June 19, to host the NHL Awards
4. Nevada remains a tough place for kids, report says
Despite marginal improvements in child wellbeing since 2010, Nevada remains ranked among the worst states in a nationwide study about the topic released Monday.
5. Drake parties with Toronto Raptors on Strip
For a night, XS Nightclub was dubbed Jurassic Park. A giant sign at Encore Beach Club flaunted that title. As of 9 p.m. Monday:
1. Fire damages an office complex in central LV
A fire causes heavy damage to an office complex at 3900 Paradise Road in Las Vegas on Monday.
2. Early morning fire engulfs business complex
Clark County Fire Chief updates the media on a business complex fire near Paradise Road and East Twain Avenue.
3. Tim Burton’s imaginative artwork coming to Las Vegas
“Tim Burton @ the Neon Museum” in Las Vegas will feature both new and previously exhibited largescale pieces beginning in October 2019.