Las Vegas Mixtape v58: Metallica’s Sphere Extravaganza, New Mexican Hotspot, and Carlotta Champagne’s World — Track #5 (of 5): Around Town Medley: Brit Floyd @Orleans Arena, ShangHai Taste @Chinatown Vegas, MJ Live @Saxe Theater, Planet Hollywood

Track #5 (of 5): Around Town Medley: Brit Floyd @Orleans Arena, ShangHai Taste @Chinatown Vegas, MJ Live @Saxe Theater, Planet Hollywood

Brit Floyd took everyone into outer space. Some passengers never came back. (Image: Vegas 411)

Tonight Queen Selena 7:00 PM · Pegasus Showroom, Alexis Park Get tickets

Pink Floyd stopped touring in 1994, but their legacy as an experiential live band continues via the 15-year-strong Brit Floyd, “widely recognized as the world’s premier Pink Floyd experience” (Rolling Stone). At Orleans Arena, the virtuosic band made good on its ability to offer the audience musical transcendence—a spaceship ride, if you will, far from Earth—with celestial sounds, majestic guitar passages, and startling visuals. This year’s setlist tipped its hat to two Pink Floyd album masterpieces, “Dark Side of the Moon” (1973) and “The Wall” (1979). Next year, Brit Floyd’s tour will raise its glass to the mothership’s 1977 album, the five-track “Animals,” the one with song titles referencing pigs, dogs, and sheep. Judging by the crowd’s size and enthusiasm at the Orleans, it’s a good bet that Vegas will be on the itinerary. 

Dumplings, especially the purple kind, forever. (Image: Vegas 411)

What the world needs now is peace, love—and most certainly more dumplings. Particularly the irresistible lovingly folded handmade ones that emerge from Chef Jimmy Li’s kitchen at ShangHai Taste in Chinatown. These are level-up dumplings with lobster, abalone, and black truffle fillings.  The popular restaurant opened its doors in late 2019 as one of the first establishments at the massive and always bustling two-level Shanghai Plaza. It’s located on Spring Mountain Rd—definitely one of the most distinctive culinary destinations in the world with 248-verified restaurants in the Spring Mountain corridor.

ShangHai Taste’s co-creator and partner, Joe Muscaglione, also heads the Chinatown Vegas brand and social channels which provide important community cohesion to the area.  Joe knows the whole world is watching the continued development of Chinatown Vegas—and he excitingly puts its best foot forward.

Related: Las Vegas Mixtape v45: Elvis’ Honolulu Bash, Italian Delights, and Catching An ‘80s Wave

It’s like he never left Earth.   (Image: Vegas 411)

It’s hard to take your eyes off all the action happening onstage at the long-running “MJ Live Tribute Concert” which I’ve seen twice. On The Strip since 2013, the production celebrated its new home in October before an exuberant crowd at the Saxe Theater inside Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Who needs the modern world when you have this tribute concert making you feel retro-groovy? (Image: Vegas 411) 

Jalles Franca as the legend MJ continues to have serious star power as a vocalist and performer with a super-tight band and dancers accompanying him, as he digs his heels—and of course gloves—into all the hits. One of the show’s key highlights is the high-energy section celebrating the Jackson 5’s run of smashes that importantly brought Black culture to the masses in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

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