Public service for Meow Wolf’s Matt King

The Meow Wolf family remains stunned at the sudden death of company co-founder and artist Matt King over the weekend.

But the company has stabilized enough to announce a public tribute to King at will be held at 5 p.m. Friday at Scottish Rite Temple in Santa Fe, N.M., which is Meow Wolf’s headquarters. The location and cause and manner for King’s death have not been made public. He was 37.

A company spokesman said in a statement Wednesday, “The Meow Wolf community is devastated and in absolute shock by the sudden passing of Meow Wolf co-founder, artist and dearest friend Matt King.”

Otherwise the spokesman said, “We are respecting the privacy of his family during this time.”

Guests at Friday’s memorial are instructed, “Bring notes, drawings, stories and burnable offerings for the altar. Dress as your You-est You. Black is not required.”

As that event nears, King’s friends continued to pay tribute online.

“He carried a wild, youthful, expressive energy that lit up this entire world. Meow Wolf’s ambition and explosive use of color and unbound style of play in our work was birthed from Matt’s spirit,” company co-founder Vince Kadlubek posted on his Facebook page. “The brilliance he showcased as an artist cannot be understated. A master of composition and color. He taught us all how maximalism could be soothing, using his artistic genius to pull us into the kind of simple wonder that is felt through the eyes of a child.”

Meow Wolf Senior Creative Producer Marsi Gray responded to that message, “Thinking of him, his bouncy, playful ways and always with laughter trailing all around him. One of the most beloved of all of us. holding you in my heart, Vince, and all of us who love him.

Kadlubek also said, “His work exuded his character. He lived it. His fashion, his relationship to music, his passion for cars, the way he partied and danced, his love of soaking in hot water … He was a living, breathing, walking summer camp. He embodied the spirit of summer camp.”

Still gaga for ‘Enigma?’

Lady Gaga is opening her “Chromatica Ball” world tour this weekend in Düsseldorf, Germany. Long delayed but never forgotten, “Chromatica Ball” will be laden — laden, I tell you! — with all kinds of other-worldly special effects. Video shows a healthy complement of pyro, strobes, and a runway that snakes to an auxiliary platform in the middle of the crowd.

The stage is backed by a giant heart and flanked by a pair of curved, high-angled ramps. The presentation is said to be “10 times more impressive than the Rammstein production last month,” according to one online report. So, Rammstein was in Düsseldorf last month.

#ChromaticaBall Stage Leaked Y’all Omg pic.twitter.com/WdwpTPeCvU

— Call Me Joanne 💋 (@fadgastan) July 13, 2022

The “Chromatica Ball” restart has us wondering about “Enigma,” Gaga’s pop production show at that opened at Park Theater (now Dolby Live) in December 2018.

“Enigma” has not returned, even as Gaga’s “Jazz + Piano” show has. There is no word on when or if “Enigma” be relaunched. Remember that “Enigma” was originally Gaga’s primary residency show, with the orchestral “Jazz + Piano” slotted in only after Gaga pushed to host a jazz show in Vegas.

The pop superstar is at least as passionate about singing Sarah Vaughan as she is soaring over the crowd in a mirrored suit while playing a keytar.

But from here, “Enigma” and its towering Transformer can be stored indefinitely. Sell that stuff online. “Jazz + Piano” is the show, today, followed up by Brian Newman’s “After Dark” throw-down at NoMad Library. Double down on “J+P,” and make that the Gaga experience for as long as she wants to play it. And I, for one, hope that would be for a long time.

Lounge hang, Circa 2022

As Circa opened, we asked co-owner Derek Stevens about a live-entertainment haunt. The downtown resort had no such venue. But Stevens said to watch for some activity, over time, at the rooftop Legacy Club. And it is so.

The resort has announced a Friday night series kicking off this weekend with Southern California singer/acoustic guitarist Jason Naron. TJ Gage and Justin Centeno fill out July’s Friday schedule.

Performances are 10 p.m.-2 a.m. We sense recurring Cool Hang status for this showcase.

Stone’s out

Joss Stone’s stop at Red Rock Resort is being pushed back, due to COVID. Stone announced the postponement Wednesday, saying the illness “seems to have gone straight to my throat with daggers.” That might be a catchy lyric, someday. Stone should be back Aug. 31. The fierce vocalist won these second season of “The Masked Singer,” playing the roll of Sausage. Should’ve gone with a big stone, no?

Name that room

Richard “Boz” Bosworth says he and AEG Presents are still vying to sign a corporate naming partner for the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Bosworth, president and CEO of the resort’s ownership group JC Hospitality, said in a phone chat a couple of weeks ago the timeline for a new name is within the next nine months.

“Those dialogues are becoming much more front and center,” Bosworth said. “They are not advanced enough to make any announcements, but it is our expectation the theater will be renamed.”

AEG is the exclusive booking partner in what was originally The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Upstairs at Virgin, the status of Limbo Baby — er, Money Baby — remains in … Doubt. Bosworth says only that this is a tenant-landlord relationship, with Money Baby the tenant. Bosworth and his team learned Money Baby was closing through media reports. I’d not been to Money Baby since the hotel’s opening, and hey, I’m out a lot. That spells some concern, right there.

Cool Hang Alert

Las Vegas singer-songwriter Hal Savar hosts “The Songwriters Showcase” from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday at SoulBelly BBQ at 1327 S. Main Street. Savar heads up a collection of 11 Vegas artists. The showcase is open to all ages ages. No cover, cool tunes, good food in the heart of the Arts District. You can’t go wrong, even on this one-way street.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.