Third Thursday on 3rd
Downtown Grand’s 3rd Street corridor will come alive like Peter Frampton. Two Secret Walls artists will live-paint murals; DJs will provide beats; Truk-N-Yaki, Cousins Maine Lobster and others will serve up tasty bites; cornhole, Jenga and foosball games will stand ready. Bring the kids. July 20, 7-10 p.m., Free, 702-953-4343. –Geoff Carter
Erykah Badu at Brooklyn Bowl
The neo-soul goddess hasn’t released a new, full-length album since 2010 (!), so there’s no telling what she might play in her return to town. We’d sure love to hear “Orange Moon.” And “The Healer.” “Danger,” too. Oh, “Appletree” would be appreciated. And … With DJ Douglas Gibbs, July 20, 8:30 p.m., $60. –Spencer Patterson
Folk Tales From Around The World At Theatre in the Valley
Sick of Cinderella? Henderson’s theater company looks beyond overplayed fairy tales and instead presents folk tales from Greece, Sweden and Romania. Prolific local theater vet Maggie Saunders directs. July 21-August 6, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 2 p.m.; $10; 10 West Pacific Ave. –C. Moon Reed
CeeLo Green at Cleopatra’s Barge
If you thought the Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley singer—don’t forget, he was also one of the original judges on The Voice—was an odd fit for Las Vegas during his 2013 Loberace residency at Planet Hollywood, wait until you see CeeLo at the iconically cheesy Cleopatra’s Barge lounge. The tiny, frozen-in-time Caesars Palace venue has reached beyond typical Strip lounge fare recently with acoustic shows from Blues Traveler and Plain White T’s, but the voice behind quirky hits “Crazy” and “F*ck You” is the strangest—and coolest—new booking yet.
CeeLo is clearly a Caesars fan; he shot the 2011 video for “I Want You (Hold on to Love)” at the center-Strip property. You’ll only have four chances to catch the Grammy-winning soul singer perform his hits in the 165-seat lounge, stretching into next weekend as well, so hustle up. July 21-29, 8 p.m., $119-$199. –Brock Radke
Conversation with Bernie Sindler at Mob Museum
Talk about a life. As Bernie Sindler tells it, he’s on a train ride to Miami executing a card trick when he catches the eye of Meyer Lansky. The mob associate is so impressed, he tells Sindler to join him in Vegas, where the card man lands a job inside the mob’s new casino, the Flamingo, spearheaded by Bugsy Siegel. And just like that, he’s made … but not really. Sindler would deal with—and deal to—gangsters of all kinds, but he never joined their ranks. He had a more important role to fulfill: an eyewitness to the Strip’s most formative years.
Which means Sindler’s got stories, and he does us the solid of sharing them in his 2015 book, The Bernie Sindler Story: My Life With Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and the Mob. He’ll elaborate on them Saturday at the Mob Museum, the only place where one can peep the grisly crime scene photos of the murdered Siegel, and then hear Sindler talk about who likely fired the shots. It’ll be like a Bugsy DVD supplemental feature come to life. July 22, 1 p.m., Included with museum admission ($10-$24), free for members. –Mike Prevatt
Las Vegas Lineup at Clark County Library
We’re famous for imploding our history, but for the past 70 years, the Las Vegas News Bureau has also been quietly documenting the happenings here. A part of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association, the News Bureau captures events that will help boost the image of Las Vegas in the news: celebrities, parades, casino openings and, yes, implosions, along with regular people. The awesome result is millions of archival photos owned by the News Bureau and Nevada State Museum. But since most of the photos were shot before the advent of Facebook tagging and facial recognition, thousands of people, places and times remain unidentified. That’s where you come in.
The interactive exhibit Las Vegas Lineup draws upon our collective memories to fill in the gaps. The free show at Clark County Library’s art gallery will invite viewers to write down info about any photos that might look familiar. And even if you’re a Nevada newbie, it’s fun to view Old Vegas. The show moves to Nevada State Museum in October and then to Sahara West Library in December. July 25, Free, 1401 E Flamingo Road. –C. Moon Reed
