VEGAS MUSIC ROUNDUP: Life is Unrecognizable, Thomas Rhett & Tom Jones Info, The Who to Play Sphere?

Posted on: June 25, 2024, 12:14h. 

Last updated on: June 25, 2024, 01:57h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

When the organizers of the annual Life is Beautiful Las Vegas music festival announced the lineup on Tuesday for their renamed and seriously downsized “A Big Beautiful Block Party,” the response was a giant “WHO??”

This 10-acre vacant lot will be the site of this year’s downsized “Life is Beautiful” Las Vegas music festival. (Image: KLAS-TV/Las Vegas)

Headlining the block party will be French electronic music duo Justice, South Korean DJ Peggy Gou, English DJ Jamie XX, British dance band Jungle, pianist James Blake, and American rock band LCD Soundsystem.

And if you suspect us of having to Google every single name other than LCD Soundsystem, your suspicions are correct.

“And the crowd went mild,” Cheri Kern commented beneath a post on the Facebook news page Las Vegas Locally.

“They had one job,” added Matt Bolt.

“James Blake? The guy dating the chick from the good place that plays the piano???” Hailey Richard chimed in.

To be fair, Justice performed at Life is Beautiful in 2018, as did Jungle in 2022.

“A Big Beautiful Block Party” takes place September 27-28 in a parking lot behind the Plaza Hotel instead of on 18 city blocks along East Fremont Street — its home since launching 11 years ago.

Running from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. on both days, the event promises no overlapping set times.

It turns out, dialing down the crowd capacity from 180K over three days to 50K over two was wise since booking nearly unknown talent is likely to dial down crowd demand even more than that.

This is the first edition of the festival since Rolling Stone magazine assumed full ownership.

Two-day passes, starting at $199, go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 27, via lifeisbeautiful.com.

And yes, Jamie Blake is the guy dating actress Jameela Jamil from “The Good Place.”

Speaking of “Who??”…

In an interview published today in NME, Pete Townshend expressed interest in finishing up The Who’s career with a run at the Vegas Sphere.

I must admit, I’m interested in the Sphere,” the band’s chief songwriter and guitarist said, “just as a crazy, narcissistic art school thing. It’s interesting as a venue because it challenges you to beat the fabric of the theater.”

Legendary crooner Tom Jones has announced the on-sale information for his Wynn Encore Theater performances we told you about two weeks back. Tickets for the September 28-29 shows go on sale Friday, June 28 via WynnLasVegas.com.

County star Thomas Rhett has announced a four-night stand at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Not coincidentally, the dates (December 6, 7, 13, and 14) coincide with National Finals Rodeo Week. The general on-sale starts at 6 a.m. PT Friday, June 28 at thomasrhett.com, with presales beginning at 6 a.m. PT Wednesday, June 26.