Las Vegas Mixtape v54: Happiness Pills, Vintage House of Love, and Rocking Brunch — Track #5 (of 5): Around Town Medley: The Stray Cats @The Cosmopolitan, “I Shot “Andy Warhol” @Beverly Theater, Totally Tubular Festival @The Sahara

Track #5 (of 5): Around Town Medley: The Stray Cats @The Cosmopolitan, “I Shot “Andy Warhol” @Beverly Theater, Totally Tubular Festival @The Sahara

Brian Setzer is a guitar hero for the ages. (Image: Sally Steele)

Hats off to the Stray Cats for their triumphant tour kickoff in Las Vegas.  It was live and loud at the packed Chelsea inside the Cosmopolitan, with the trio’s famous clean tones and galloping “Rock This Town” rhythms delivering everyone to rockabilly heaven. No sampling, no backing tracks, just virtuosity and dynamic band chemistry—pure rock & roll. The band’s encore came off as a supersonic tip of the hat to Vegas with two Elvis hits—“Jailhouse Rock” and “Hound Dog”—topped off with their own “Built For Speed,” a blazing 1982 cut that bears some similarities to Elvis’ “Mystery Train.”

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

 
This is where the ‘60s took a wrong turn. (Image: Vegas 411)

I’m still haunted by Lily Taylor’s absolutely gripping portrayal of the troubled radical Valerie Solanis in “I Shot Andy Warhol” that was shown at the Beverly Theater in downtown Vegas. The screening celebrated the 30th anniversary 4K restoration of the Mary Harron-directed film which I somehow missed the first time around. Harron sharply captures the anything-goes artistic scene at Andy Warhol’s The Factory in NYC where art, film, music, and fashion—not to mention drug experimentation and "take a walk on the wild side" sexuality—were historically merged. But alas, there was trouble brewing in this creative paradise.

Warhol was fascinated by Factory hanger-on Solanis’ extreme feminist views, but her emotional instability led to her shooting and critically injuring him in 1968. One year later, the Charles Manson Family murders took place in LA, and the Rolling Stones’ Altamont free concert outside of San Francisco ended in tragedy—effectively gutting the idealism and promise of the ‘60s. On that note, it’s “Mob Month” in August at the Beverly, in partnership with the Mob Museum, with such violence-a-go-go films as “Casino,” “Miller’s Crossing,” and “The Departed” cued up for your viewing pleasure.

Hot in the city, poolside at The Sahara. (Image: Vegas 411)

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

“I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls is one of the most durable ‘80s songs—and the British band closed their set with this sci-fi-themed synth pop classic poolside at the Sahara. Fortunately, the misters were working overtime on a day where the temperature reached 114 degrees in the city. This was the sixth stop on this summer’s Totally Tubular Festival, the ‘80s package tour also featuring Thomas Dolby, Bow Wow Wow (with Annabella Lwin), Men Without Hats, the Producers, the Escape Club, Animotion, and Tommy Tutone. The well-attended show, even on this crazy hot day, underlined the popularity of ‘80s music on the concert circuit. Folks seemingly want to immerse themselves in what they remember as happier, pre-cyclospora times. The tour’s organizers are already plotting next year’s run, by which time The Great Lettuce Scare of 2026 will be just a memory.