VegasChatter

Tags: Tom Lowe / Vegas The Show / Saxe Theater / Miracle Mile / Brits / British Invasion / → All Tags

From Boy Band Stardom to Vegas! The Show: The D-Low(e) on Sin City's Newest Star

Tom Lowe. Only In Vegas.

Here at VegasChatter we are very excited about Thursday. Because it’s nearly the weekend? No. Because ladies drink free at Rock House? Not even. Thursday, ladies and gents, is the official opening of Vegas! The Show. And that means the official unveiling of our new favorite Vegas performer, Tom Lowe.

We first noticed the Lowe when we attended the dress rehearsal for VTS and couldn’t help noticing that as well as being English, he was rather well endowed with the whole singing skillz + charisma package. The proof: six weeks on, we still remember which Vegas characters he took off (Elvis, Frank, Elton and Tom Jones FYI) but the others are something of a blur. When even our friend who hearts Buble but (inexplicably) doesn’t dig Matt Goss (yes we’re still friends – we are nothing if not indulgent) gave him her seal of approval, we knew the Saxe Theater is in possession of something special.

So we decided to stalk investigate him. And having finally got some time with him on Saturday, as well as noting that he possesses the Best Laugh in Vegas and curiously un-English nice white teeth (more on those another time), we realized that with a back story like this, he could only ever end up in Vegas.

It’s a long story, which we shall separate into four acts. If you have ADD, you can follow his life through the marvel that is YouTube.

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Tags: Vegas Virgins / Stratosphere / Hoover Dam / MGM Grand / Planet Hollywood / Brits / → All Tags

This (Nearly) 30 Year Old Virgin Did It At the Stratosphere

We told you about our first time...visiting Vegas, that is. And you’ve told us about yours. Except you all seemed to do it with your parents. So we thought it was time for the next member of VegasChatter to tell you about her deflowering at the ripe age of 29.

My most shameful Sin City admission? That I only came here for the first time last year. Yes, I left it until I was pushing 30 to lose my Vegas virginity. Loser. On the upside, being such a late developer meant that I could do it in style, which kind of makes up for it.

2009 was my annus horribilis. I loathed my job in London, I had a catalogue of disasters come my way, and when a friend died in tragic circumstances last July, and I was expected to write about it for the newspaper I worked for, I knew I needed time (and job) out.

I wanted to go somewhere I could relax – somewhere with, as I thought, no culture, nobody I knew, no expectations and no judgment when I got completely onion bhajied. There could only be one place – Vegas! Ok, Vegas as part of a road trip across America. That way, I figured, I could do some Kerouac-esque finding myself in oblivion. Romantico! So I signed myself off work for six weeks and three days after the funeral I was on a plane to LA.

I stayed a week in LA but the place didn’t really speak to me. I’d planned three days in Vegas to douse myself in alcohol and move on, expecting the hangover to be the longest lasting effect it had on me. But the drive along the I-15 was kind of life-changing. I’d never seen a desert before, and I was utterly entranced – I remember pulling off the road near Barstow, mesmerized at how hot the wind was, and how there were real, live cacti sitting in front of me on the roadside. You know those three huge sandy lumps on the plain outside Baker? I was fascinated. I made them the desktop on my laptop that night, and I’m still staring at them today.

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Tags: Openings / VegasChatter Reviews / Riviera / Queen Victoria / Pubs / Brits / → All Tags

For Better and Worse, The Queen Vic Pub is Authentically English

Real live English men. Whoop.

As we said on the old Twitter last night, we popped over to the Riviera for our tea last night at the new Queen Victoria British pub. Being English, straight off a trip to the motherland, and fans of the Crown and Anchor (the atmosphere, not the food), we were eager to see what they were doing with the place. And despite its location in the Riviera, we had high hopes, seeing as they’d named it after the pub in EastEnders – this must either be run by some actual Englishes, or some Anglophile yanks, we reasoned.

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Tags: Vegas Virgins / The Frontier / Desert Inn / Brits / → All Tags

Her First Lover Was Imploded, But This (Former) Vegas Virgin Still Carries The Torch

We told you about our first time...visiting Vegas, that is. And now it's your turn to tell us yours. Our next reader comes from the UK, who chose the old Frontier as the setting for doing it the first time. Enjoy!

My Vegas cherry popped in 2000. I went with my mum, who had been once before. The journey from the UK was torturous, we learnt from that experience. A flight to Atlanta from the UK, and then another four-hour trip in what can only be called a breadvan, while Galaxy Quest played silently on the overhead TV (I didn't want to pay five bucks for headphones), the movie still makes me feel nauseous and tired if I see it now - hows that for a sense memory?

We arrived in Vegas at 10pm - 6am our time, the slots at the airport looked and sounded otherworldly at that point, and the tram from the D gate seemed to take three hours (I still hate that tram!).

Shuttle bus from the airport was pretty quick, we were the first stop, we stayed at The Frontier, the wonderful fantastic ramshackle Frontier (now long gone) which was just emerging from six years of union scuffles.

To me, a Brit who had grown up going to Butlins, the casino smelt like a penny arcade, all metal and coiney. I mentioned this to my mum, who was horrified that it was a bad comment but it wasn't and my love affair had begun.

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Tags: Airlines / Virgin Atlantic / Richard Branson / Dita Von Teese / Brits / McCarran / Celebrity Appearances / → All Tags

Richard Branson Does a Strip 'Teese' at McCarran

As our brother site, Jaunted, knows very well, whenever Richard Branson does something, he does it big. So it's no surprise that to celebrate 10 Years of Virgin Atlantic service to and from London and Vegas, Branson grabbed Dita Von Teese and stood on the wing of a VA plane at McCarran airport yesterday.*

But this wasn't any old plane. VA marked their 10th anniversary by unveiling a one-off Las Vegas-inspired flying lady on its aircraft, and yes, that lady looks remarkably similar to Ms. Von Teese.

VA started flying to Vegas in June 2000 and remember, there will be even more Brits on the Strip next when VA begins direct flights from Manchester Airport to Vegas. So we will expect more hen and stag parties but can Posh organize a WAG convention here too? Thxvmuch!

*We also hear that Branson did a stunt at the Bellagio fountains this morning, fake-dropping a Fox anchor into the water and almost providing early morning viewers with an upskirt shot. Cheeky monkey!

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Tags: Virgin Atlantic / Airlines / New Routes / Brits / → All Tags

Virgin Atlantic Continues the British Invasion By Launching Flights From Manchester

We heart Manchester and Mancunians, so this is very good news

The British invasion continues apace. Four months after British Airways launched its first direct London-Vegas flights, Virgin Atlantic has announced it’s going one up on them by adding a Manchester-Vegas route. Can we put it down to Matt Goss* storming the Strip?

There’s a while to wait – flights begin April 3 next year – and it’s only going to be twice a week (Thursday and Sunday) as opposed to the daily one from Gatwick, but at least that’ll give us some time to prepare for them. Also, means they think Vegas will still be banging next year, which is always good to hear.

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Tags: Freaky Friday / Luke Jermay / O'Sheas / Mindreading / Brits / → All Tags

Mental Goes Free, And You'd Be Mental Not To See It

Looks like everyone’s favorite tattooed English mindreader on the Strip Luke Jermay is trying to confuse us. First there was the announcement of his new show, Dirty Thoughts. Then Anthony Cools, who produces the show, kept tweeting about big changes to Mental, but every time we asked the O’Sheas O’Sheas lot, they professed total ignorance.

Anyway, now we know what the change was – and it’s a good one. Instead of charging $49 for tickets, it’s now free. Yes – an hour of a brilliant show (that we’ve been saying that you should go see since August, as it happens) for free.

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Tags: VegasChatter Reviews / Restaurants / Todd English / PUB / Aria / CityCenter / Brits / → All Tags

Todd English's P.U.B: Hold the Pickles and It Could Be Great

Hurrah! So Todd English’s P.U.B is finally open in the Crystals. We’ve shown you what it looks like, we’ve told you about the eggtimer trick (down your pint in seven seconds and you don’t have to pay for it). Now let’s get onto the heavy stuff – what the food is like. Our tipster told us that prices would be very cheap for the Strip, and the menu would be based on a "huge English pub style menu". Here’s what we found.

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Tags: Just Say No / Celebrity Appearances / Brits / Weddings / Trashy Vegas / → All Tags

Has Anyone Seen This Charming Pair?

By “pair” we mean Katie and Alex, not Katie’s pair

UPDATE: They're married! At the Wynn, at 4pm today (Tuesday). Just as we were hunting them down in the chapels.

Today is a special (read: trashtastic) day for the Strip. Stephanie Pratt is hosting tonight at Pure. Over at Moon, they’re having a giveaway of Fergie Footwear. But most importantly, most crucially, Katie Price has arrived in Vegas.

If you haven’t seen the Price before, and you’re thinking she looks like a slightly more wizened version of what you’d see down Tao on a Saturday night, you’re wrong. This woman is a phenomenon. In a nutshell, she made millions as Britain’s top glamour model, Jordan, in the early 2000s, then reinvented herself as Katie Price, supermum, horse-rider and loving wife to Australia’s drippiest émigré, Peter Andre.

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Tags: Brits / The Signature / MGM Grand / Hotel Packages / → All Tags

The Signature at MGM Grand Now Coddling The Brits

Wait a second. Isn’t the whole point of travel to experience something new, a different perspective, heck, even a different culture? While you may think Las Vegas is devoid of such things, it is a culturally diverse destination and we dare you to argue that there is any place on the planet like Las Vegas.

We make it a point to steer clear of safe, familiar, and predictable elements in our travels, which is why we give The Signature at MGM Grand’s new “Home Suite Home” promotion a big thumbs down. We love that British Airways is now offering non-stop service from London to Las Vegas, but seriously doubt that British travelers will be enticed to fly more than 5,000 miles by the promotional promise of PG tips tea and McVitie’s snacks upon arrival.

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Tags: Crown and Anchor / Pubs / Brits / Cheap Vegas / → All Tags

Easy Now... The Brits Are Coming, And They're Spinning Tunes

Remember when British Airways launched its direct flights to Vegas from Heathrow and we predicted a Brit invasion on the Strip? Turns out either we were wrong, or they’re keeping themselves on the d-low, because we’ve seen disconcertingly few drunken Essex girls and boys in the past week.

One place they’re making themselves felt, though, is the Crown and Anchor pub. And not just in its essential pubbishness, but with its free, weekly Saturday night British Invasion party.

At 9pm, out comes DJ Felix (a proper English name if ever there was one) spinning songs from the 60s to the 90s. We went last week and caught the likes of Erasure, New Order and Depeche Mode. ‘Choons! If he could only throw in some Take That this week, we’ll be sorted.

Tags: Simon Cowell / X Factor / Shows / Brits / → All Tags

Is Simon Cowell's 'X Factor' Coming to Vegas?

Yup, this could do well in Vegas.

More Brits could soon be in Vegas if the rumors are true about Simon Cowell bringing his X Factor show to Sin City. The NY Post reports that Cowell and his partner Sir Philip Green will bring an American version of X Factor stateside and that the finalists will be performing in Vegas, instead of Hollywood.

Cowell, who is still in talks with Fox and NBC about bringing the talent show to American TV, said over the weekend that his plans are to set up shop in Las Vegas when the deal is finally done. "Vegas is tailor-made for this show," says Sir Philip Green, the retail store-billionaire who is now partners with Cowell. "To sing in Vegas? I mean, hell, you get to the final 12 [and tell them] 'Your dream's come true -- you're going to sing in Vegas!' "

X Factor is an American Idol-type of show that spawned singing sensation Leona Lewis and is hugely popular in Europe. There's no word on where this show would set up shop but um, Planet Hollywood is our big guess. Then again, they could easily do Hard Rock or The Palms too.