Life Is Beautiful has distinctly Vegas feel
How do you know when you’re in Las Vegas at the Life Is Beautiful festival and not Bonnaroo, Coachella, New Orleans Jazz, etc.?
When those gathered to hear the persecuted Russian activists in Pussy Riot must wait for former mayor Oscar Goodman to crack a martini joke and wave around his signature prop glass, that’s how.
But the fact that a line formed to hear the two women was a reminder that Life Is Beautiful isn’t just a quirky music festival. Even if five wading pools for those who felt the need to cool off waited just outside the walls of the former Western Hotel, where Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina were speaking.
Those who showed up early Friday, for whatever reason, found the early hours of the festival’s added third day to be almost like a preview before the real crowd arrived for festivities that included evening headliner Kanye West on the main stage and local heroes Panic at the Disco on the second-largest stage.
The latter, at the site of the former Ambassador hotel, even had room at its periphery to start up a Foosball game or ride a “blender bike” to pedal your way to a margarita.
“We’re kind of enjoying having it all to ourselves,” said Las Vegan Samalee Matuszak, who had procured a downtown hotel room to make it “a little staycation” with her husband.
Harrah’s Las Vegas comedy magician Mac King was another repeat customer for the festival’s second year. On his way to “fulfill my foodly duties,” King said he had started the day not feeling great, “but then when I got here, I said, ‘I’m so glad I came.’”
The light traffic in the afternoon let attendees take in the details that the festival worked hard to add, such as a well-dressed couple bantering ad infinitum on a living room set inside a box. “That’s what I like about our house,” the lady of it proclaimed. “I feel like we’re never really alone.”
They were among those to notice it was a little warm before the sun set behind the downtown buildings that hosted the festival. “We’ve been on tour seven weeks and experienced all the elements,” announced a member of the band Priory as fans did salutes to see the stage through the backlighting.
Another band, Sleeper Agent, kept it casual enough on the same Western Stage to say hi to one of their uncles, Doug.
The festival is aimed at foodies as well as music buffs. King’s foodly duties could have taken him to a spit-roasting baby pig at the Hearthstone booth, or Rick Moonen’s Maine lobster roll for $15. Sorry, Moonen’s shrimp dogs sold out early, another perk for early arrivals.
Some foodies put up with the warm sun to watch a Jet Tila demonstration in the Container Park and were rewarded with the invitation, “Who would like to taste a bit of pad thai?”
“Celebrity pad thai!” Tila amended.
Those who found the afternoon warm, but not hot enough for the kiddie pools, could pull themselves up by a $12 Boot Strap full of rum at the Nacho Daddy booth or tote their happy hour to something called the Happy Wall.
By 5:30 p.m. or so, the main stage started to look more like a rock show, as hi-resolution screens showed Phantogram on the main stage and reminded you that giant music festivals really are a lot like watching them on television. But there was still plenty of room to wander up close, and people were still mellow as they carried beers amid the drifting marijuana smoke. Even the dudes who could hide behind their Dos Equis masks.
If there was any battle of the female singers, Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel won it handily with a technological advantage over Sydney Sierota of Echosmith on the nearby Huntridge Stage, when the latter lost power in the middle of their set.
By 8:30 p.m., the main stage took on proper rock festival atmosphere as a giant rear screen showed the Oz-like face of The Weeknd (Abel Testafaye) proclaiming “I’m so bad” at the beginning of “Enemy.”
“Oh, Las Vegas, I want to get sexy for you tonight,” he proclaimed at the end of the song.
Back inside the Western, those who waited through 70 minutes of Oscar and a moving talk by Ed Gavagan finally got to see their Russian activists interviewed, largely through a translator, by NPR’s Neda Ulaby.
“Once you’re out of prison, freedom is a huge responsibility,” Nadya said.
But it wasn’t always so serious. When Ulaby asked why Pussy Riot’s album was called their first and last, Nadya answered, in English, “Because we are not musicians?”
This weekend, at least, there are plenty of others to cover for her.
Contact Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.
